Digital BW, The Print

Johnny,
All in all those numbers don't look that odd, except for perhaps the
low dmax, but I don't know what it should be for that paper. On
Photorag I would expect closer to 1.7.

The following sort of assumes you are using a Mac. On a PC there
may be other ways to not get what you want.

So, a couple of clarifications:

1. Are you using the exact same file as your "supplied paper curve"
with the exception of the LINEARIZE statement?

It sounds like you might be printing with the wrong black.

2. Did you use the same settings for dpi etc?

Printing at a different dpi will change the curve.

3. Did you delete the LINEARIZE statement to print the test strip?
 
You don't want the old one in effect, since there is only one linearization
done, so that when you put new values in, you would lose the effect
of the old one.

4. Does the linearize statement look like: LINEARIZE="0.03 .10 .19 and so on
all on one line?

5. Are you getting any errors during the curve generation? They can go by
very quickly. Do the individual inks come in and go out in a reasonable way?
Sometimes you can get NAN and other indications of an error. Usually, in 
that case you can't use the curve, however.

Hope that's a start.

Costa

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Johnny Eades" <jeades1@s...> 
wrote:
> 
> Today I had access to a densitometer for about an hour at a nearby
> print shop. The gentleman showed me how to read paper white and then
> the rest of the 21 step grayscale. After the numbers were recorded I
> brought the readings into QTR to linearize. Printing a previous 21
> step grayscale with the supplied paper curve and comparing it to one
> printed with my paper curve created from the readings, mine is
> extremely dark and flat. I've changed the ink limit and the black
> boost with no favorable results. I'm bidding on an X-Rite 810
> densitometer on Ebay. The one I used today at the print shop was an
> X-Rite 500. With the supplied paper curve, the 85-100 steps were
> clearly separated; but with my readings, 85-100 was totally black and
> shiny with ink lay down. The actual numbers for my readings were much
> smaller than those with the supplied curves. My DMax was 1.52 and the
> paper white was .03. I am using H'Muhle Photo Matte 170gsm paper with
> UT2 inks.
> 
> Could someone make sense from the percentage readings?
> 0--.03
> 5--.10
> 10--.19
> 15--.26
> 20--.34
> 25--.44
> 30--.52
> 35--.60
> 40--.70
> 45--.80
> 50--.89
> 55--.97
> 60--1.03
> 65--1.09
> 70--1.13
> 75--1.18
> 80--1.23
> 85--1.29
> 90--1.34
> 95--1.38
> 100--1.52
> 
> My ink limit for the test was 70% with Black Boost of 85%.
> 
> Any and all help will be greatly appreciated in helping me get this
> resolved.
> 
> Your frustrated friend in Photography,
> 
> Johnny