Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
> Well then I don't think we can help you.  I get great prints from
QTR.  I
> get accurate soft proofs for both B&W and colour.  I get no banding with
> 1440 super/ordered dither.  We were trying to narrow down the
issues. 2880i
> won't make it blacker.  The ink slider is generally not used.  Have you
> bothered to print a step wedge and compared it with one printed with the
> Epson driver?   Sounds like you have so much going on that it's all
a bit of
> a mess.  I think your colour work is pure luck 

It did take some calibrating work, but now my color prints are
perfect. No matter how it was obtained, I have a workflow where what I
have on my screen is reproduced on paper.

My best test for this was this image:

http://www.pichevinphoto.com/popped.php?id=0384

Every single color comes out perfectly, the way I see it on screen.
The pink is pink, the purples are the same purples, the shadow areas
are good and the orange is beautiful. Based on this, I decided that my
setup is right.

But that's not all, the B&W result from PS is also just as good
(except for the metamerism due to the yellow ink of course).

That's not luck, that's just called something that works well.

Without the metamerism I would not even have tried another program.

> If I were you I would
> just give up and print "black only" with the Epson driver (I pointed
you in
> that direction with an earlier post).  The 2200 driver with Black
checked
> will just use the K ink.  Your prints will reflect the tone of the ink -
> quite warm but to get better requires some investment in time on
your part.

I think that if I cannot get to a satisfying result I will let a pro
lab take care of my B&W shots.

I am beginning to think that doing your own printing is mostly a waste
of time and effort, as well as money, that detracts from the
photography part. If not for the fact that I can better control my
print sizes and that I figured out the color part...I'd be very close
to going to other route right now.

In any case, thanks for your efforts.