Digital BW, The Print

I scan 6x9 film at 16bit and 4000ppi for something like 650mb starting 
file size. After adding layers it can grow to 2gig. I shoot all my b&w 
with color neg now and keep the image in RGB mode until ready for 
printing. Of course it looks b&w once I've added a channel mixer 
(monochrome checked) adjustment layer.

I'm working on a mac G4 dual 1gig machine with photoshop CS. Opening 
the files can take a while, and even though I have 2 gig of memory, I'm 
always into disk swapping with these large files.

What I find workable, with the least waiting for computer rendering, is 
to make all my changes via adjustment layers. Adjustment layers don't 
render the large file until flattening or printing, so changes appear 
instantly on screen while I work. Using a filter such as unsharp 
masking does render the one layer I'm working on, but not the others, 
so it's not too too bad. And, I don't do the sharpening, till I'm 
finished tinkering with the image. I do all my "dodging and burning" 
through curve adjustment layers and painting them on the image using 
the layer mask. Much more accurate and flexible than using the dodge or 
burn tools which require rendering in real time. For those not familiar 
with this technique, you will love it once you've learned it and you'll 
wonder how you ever worked applying each curve or hue/sat to the entire 
image for each edit.

Using this strategy, I avoid the big WAIT until I want to print or 
save. Then I have plenty of time to wash the dishes etc.

I work on the big files because once I've done all this work, I would 
not want to do it again should I desire a large print in the future. I 
save the images with all the layers intact so future changes do not 
require multiple rendering of the image and loss of data.

-bruce

www.brucealangreene.com

On Thursday, Dec 2, 2004, at 06:48 US/Pacific, 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> RE: Computing power