Digital BW, The Print

Jon

Can I pick up on your comment below and one which you made in an earlier
post "we are playing with the final curves for QuadTone Rip to get some more
out of the highlights and shadows - and produce a Gamma 1.8 for previewing."
This to me sounds like fine tuning the linearization process.  Can you
explain a little bit more?

We have grappled with this issue a lot on this forum, particularly in
relation to matte papers.  Linearizing L* when making curves produces a
distinctly different gamma than 2.2 which many are using as their workspace,
and the print gamma will change depending on the dMax and dMin end-points.
This is the old "why are my prints 'flat' and 'lighter' (even in the mid
tones) than on screen issue" when using a linearized Same as Source
workflow.  The issue persists with the new Epson K3 driver.  The Epson
driver and a 4800 produces a greyscale whose L* ramp is very linear.  Couple
this with dMax of, say, L*=15 on matte and you get every tone from about 85%
white printing "lighter than it should" when no colour management is in
place (a la Adv B&W).  Apparent (and actual) contrast falls and prints look
flat out of the box.  (It's much less of an issue on the photo papers
because dMax L* is down at 3.3ish and the shift is much less pronounced.)

If I am right, you are driving at the heart of this issue and since you
clearly have enormous knowledge some input from you would be very much
appreciated.  

[Roy tackled this issue by profiling the luminance "shape" of the print
space with a greyscale ICC profile and consequently gaining access to CMM
technology to manage the transition. The CMM manages the greyscale luminance
axis (and the hue of the curve is managed by the curve designer as before).]

Steve


> From: piezobw <piezobw@...>

> 
> I don't think there is any doubt though that additional dilutions increases
> fidelity, as long
> as its handled properly by software or driver.
>