Digital BW, The Print

By the way, I think you misunderstand the nature of this "self profiling" and its 
ramifications.  These are mechanisms for countering the instability of the device with 
respect to colour over time - ie they are designed to correct the device back to profile.  
Firstly, you still need a profile.  So you will have the OEM one embedded or need a 
measurement device to construct your own before loading that.  Secondly, and even worse 
for us, these mechanisms may prevent the use of dedicated inks, non OEM inks and no 
OEM paper if they don't allow you to load your own profile.  Even if they allow you to load 
your own profiles there aren't any B&W ICC profile generators that I am aware of.  (If 
anyone knows of one then please let me know.)  They all expect colour input and 
construct colour (RGB or CMYK) profiles.  Frankly, this would be a disaster if it couldn't be 
turned off.  Would you buy a printer that forced you to only use particular inks and 
particular papers?  I know I wouldn't.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Djon" <westsidemaurice@y...> 
wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> The chatter about matching monitor and print is analagous to
> discussions of refinements to buggy whips or high button shoes. The
> skillsets won't have significant value within two (2) years. 
> 
> Printers are becoming self-profiling (HP) and cheap monitors with
> simple cardboard baffles are better today than were expensive monitors
> two years ago. Inexpensive photo-oriented monitors will be precisely
> self calibrating by 2006. Goodbye Macbeth. 
> 
> I'm thinking now about Ansel Adams' most famous photograph:
> Dramatically underexposed, it was saved by an old time chemical
> intensification workaround. The workaround, part of Ansel's closed
> loop system, produced literally millions of dollars in profits to the
> various galleries who peddled and re-peddled the prints. 
> 
> It's worth considering how digitial printmaking contrasts with
> photography. What's similar, what's different? Which side of the brain
> does which? Do artists work with closed loops or open loops?
>