Digital BW, The Print

I don't usually keep other messages connected to a reply, but this is 
an exception. I only convert to Gray Matte to softproof the image 
before saving it for QTR. There probably isn't any valid reason to do 
so, but that's just part of my workflow. Maybe convert isn't the 
right word to use for softproofing, so i suppose that is what caused 
some confusion.

Your friend in Photography,

Johnny





--- In 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "ferdinand_paris" 
<ferdinand_paris@y...> wrote:
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Walt Farrell
> <wftemp1@h...> wrote:
> > Johnny Eades wrote:
> > > You DO CONVERT the target to Gray Matte before printing. That
> > > is what you normally do to print QTR, right? Don't feel it's
> > > a dumb question, often I read something and try to understand
> > > it several times and often try several different things before
> > > I really see what the process is. As Thomas Edison said after
> > > 25000 tries on the electric light bulb, "Now I know 25000 ways
> > > NOT to make an electric light bulb."
> > >
> > 
> > This has me somewhat confused.
> > 
> > I do NOT convert the target to Gray Matte before printing with
> > QTR (on the PC).
> > 
> > Is this a Mac vs PC workflow difference?  (Ferdinand, to whom you 
> > responded, is a PC user.)
> > 
> > 	Thanks,
> > 	Walt
> 
> I thought I undertood this, but maybe I don't.  Yes, I'm a PC user. 
> On a Mac, presumably you'd be printing a grayscale image which is
> originally in the lab-gray space, using "print with preview" in 
PSCS,
> and converting to gray-matte as part of the printing process.  You 
can
> print direct to QTR, and do the profile conversion on the fly.
> 
> On a PC, you have to convert the grayscale image in the gray-lab 
space
> to gray-matte yourself, and first save to file before giving it to
> QTR.  I can't see a huge amount of difference in the Mac vs PC
> workflow, but perhaps I've missed something.
> 
> Is it something to do with the differences between gray-lab and
> gray-matte?  On a PC you'd be making adjustments to the output 
levels
> on the gray-matte file.  On a Mac, you'd be doing it on the image in
> the gray-lab space, and doing the profile conversion on the fly when
> printing?
> 
> I found that if I don't convert the target chart to gray-matte, then
> my Epson 2100 (UC, EEM) can print distinguishable blacks virtually
> down to zero.  If I do convert the test chart to gray-matte, then 
it's
> black from about level 5 down.  This probably isn't a huge 
difference
> for most images.
> 
> Even so, perhaps someone can explain *WHY* we need to convert the
> chart to gray-matte.
> 
> F_P