Digital BW, The Print

Hello Ben,

>I'm getting washed-out looking mid-tones when printing BO with 
>Eboni on HPR.  I've played around with curves and levels and 
>whatnot, but I haven't found any really good solution.  Anyone 
>have a nice "rule of thumb" or curve I could use?
>I'm not looking for a perfect match, just trying to get close.

It's hard to answer because of not enough information (what printer
and settings), and also I don't know what you mean by "washed out". 
BO's weakness shows up in the midtones in smooth areas (without lots
of small detail), but it's because of the more apparent graininess,
not something I would describe as washed out.

That term to me suggests lack of density or contrast, but my
experience with BO printing is that it is very strong in these areas,
giving a very accurate rendering of the screen image (when using the
settings I suggest for good WYSIWYG) with excellent contrast and tonal
separation.  So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to suggest, other
than experiment with adjustment curves and other papers.

Each paper has its own contrast curve and I've found that this can
make a huge difference to an image.  After a proof is worked up on EEM
I usually try prints on 4 to 6 different papers to find the one that
looks best (the A-List in the "Great Paper Chase" article).


> Clayton, do any of your articles address this question?

The BO articles (#3 and #4) give a general description and
instructions, but nothing that specifically addresses "washed out mid
tones".


>On second thought, even better would be some kind of profile so 
>I could tell Photoshop about BO's odd curve.  That way, what's 
>on my screen would bear some resemblance to what prints.

I'm not sure what you mean by "BO's odd curve", but one of BO's
strengths is that profiles are not needed.  IMO pursuing this would be
an excersise in frustration and a waste of time.  If you aren't
getting good WYSIWYG then you might try the approach described in
those articles.  It works great for me and many others who have
reported good results.  

Regardless of what you mean by "washed out", it may be that the image
simply doesn't work well in BO.  I have a number of images that didn't
and I used UT7 for them (now am using K3/2400). 

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm