Digital BW, The Print

After reading and contributing to this list and seeing the great body of work 
in the first portfolio, I thought I would post two tips regarding piezo and 
general inkjet output.  I am also giving a two day color correction/inkjet 
printing workshop at my studio this weekend 12/8,9 and a link to more info 
can be found at the bottom of the page. 

I recently recommended a technique to Jerry Olson that is used in conjunction 
with Paul Roark's curves.  He used it for his 1270/MIS VM Hextone setup and 
he can probably comment on exactly how much the image was improved.  

My recommendation was based on his interest in using the Matte Heavyweight 
setting because of a nice grey ramp, but the blacks were weaker than the 
backlight film setting.  I recommended he stay with the Matte Heavyweight 
setting but add a transfer curve with the following parameters:

Put in 50-50  60-60 70-70 80-80 90-92 95-97 100-100

It may need a bit of tweaking, but these settings eliminated Jerry's 
highlight dots and increased the shadow strength.  

In the past I thought the transfer function was a waste, but it seems a very 
small adjustment is the key.

INKJET PROOFING TIP

This is a tip which I shared with members of my digital newsletter, which I 
send out to consulting clients and past students.  

Inkjet Tip of the Month- Better test prints:  A topic I'd like to cover is 
how to make test prints of a standard calibration file or any other file for 
that matter.  When I want to calibrate a printer, I generally start by 
printing out a file that all my former students will probably remember (the 
ole no moire Carmen Miranda lady).  It can be found on the Photoshop 6 CD. 
Just run a search of the CD; it is in the calibration folder.  

Recently, I've added a greyscale gradient ramp to the picture by making a 
gradient from black to white and then choosing Image/Adjust/Posterize with 12 
to 21 levels.  It really helps to see the transitions across the entire tonal 
range.  If you use the image on the PS6 disk, you will probably want to size 
it down and crop out some of the color bars.

I then print the test file on the paper I plan to use, at a few different 
media settings and usually 1440 dpi.  This will yield very different results, 
depending upon which you choose.  Often, a setting like Photo Paper or Photo 
Quality Inkjet Paper will work better on archival matte than the Archival 
Matte setting..  I also choose "Printer Color Management" in the drop down 
menu at the bottom of the Epson Driver dialog box. I've noticed that on the 
newest printers like the 1280/2000P/5500/10000, you can often use the high 
speed feature and get nearly identical results with most images at half to 
one third the speed.  You'll need to run your own tests to determine the best 
options.

Getting back to how I do multiple prints: I like to use the "Print Options" 
feature under the File Menu.  If you have a 3"x3" file, you can go into Print 
Options and click off the box that reads "center image" and click on the 
"show bounding box" feature.  Then just move the image to where you want it 
to print, press print and setup the Epson driver.  Once your first print is 
done, go back to print options, move the image somewhere else and print 
again.  As always, the paper will come out of the printer upside down. Also, 
when you are done testing, make sure you reset the print options to center 
image so that you don't mistakingly print something in the wrong place.

If you have a large file, like an 11x14, or even an 8x10, there is another 
great way to test a portion of your photograph before committing to the whole 
sheet of paper.  Let's assume I have an 11"x14" file at 300PPI.  It is of a 
group of people with some green grass and a blue sky.  Assuming I know which 
setting is right in the Epson driver, I will make a square marquee selection 
that encompasses the people, grass and sky in the actual file..  Let's say it 
is a vertical square selection of 3"x5".  My Page Setup should be for 
11"x14"(though it could be smaller). If I then go into "Print Options" making 
sure that the "Print Selected Area" box is checked, I can move the image to 
anywhere I wish and only the section that is selected on the main file will 
print where I have moved it to.  The "Print Options" dialog box will show the 
whole picture, but only the area selected will actually print.  Then just 
move it somewhere else and you will save time, ink, paper, etc.  

Another ink/paper saving technique is to use the preview command by checking 
the little magnifier next to the print button just before printing.  This 
will show you what is about to come out of your printer.  I hope that was 
clear enough.  Maybe I should do a streaming video newsletter!

Also, thank you Paul and others for the opportunity to participate in the 
upcoming quadtone exchange!

All the best!

Andy Darlow

WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT (long winded, but hopefully covers any major questions)

Please take a look at my site (www.andydarlow.com)if you are interested in 
taking any of my workshops or classes.  I have been teaching for five years 
at New York City's International Center of Photography and for the last few 
months I have also been doing my own workshops.  Since there a few spaces 
left and only three days until the class begins, I am offering members of 
this list a 25% reduction ($670.-normally $895).  This includes 2-50MB drum 
scans(which we will see being scanned at a local graphic arts company) as 
well as at least one archival print up to 20"x24" on the paper of your 
choice.  Or 2-3 archival quadtone prints.  I have many art and commercial 
grade papers to test as well.

I have an Epson 9000 with Generations4 pigment inks, an 1160 with a Piezo 
Gen4 mix and a 1270 with MIS VM inks. The workshop is geared to those who 
want an overview of digital printing options and I also cover profiling 
options, whether you choose to use or not use them.

Payment will be due on the first day of class, and if for any reason you 
don't feel the first day was beneficial, you obviously won't need to return 
and you will not be obligated to pay for the course.

If you can't make it to this class, please just let me know you are 
interested and I'll give you first opportunity to register when I decide on 
future dates.  If you would prefer an ICP class that is similiar to this one, 
with about 10 students (one day at my studio and one day at ICP's lab), 
please consider my class called "The Inkjet Print", scheduled for the first 
weekend in February.  That will be available for registration in about a 
month.

Also, in case I didn't mention it, I am doing quite a bit of private 
consulting at people's homes and offices, and even by phone/e-mail.  The cost 
is generally $150/Hr, but in my ads, I have been offering 1 free hour with a 
3 hour consulting session.  In 3 hours, I can generally get a monitor, 
printer and scanner talking nice to each other.  It has been a joy to be able 
to see people's faces light up when screen matched prints start popping out 
of their previously "jinxed" printers!

I can be reached via phone and e-mail if anyone has questions regarding my 
post.

Andrew Darlow Images International
920 Broadway -Suite 701
NY, NY 10010
www.andydarlow.com
andy@...
Toll free- 1-877-A-Darlow