Digital BW, The Print

> From: wwodets <odets@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 15:16:44 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Create ICC Soft Proofing question . . .
> 
> How are people using the Soft Proof with the Create ICC profiles?  I
> find that (using 2.3.2) checking BPC makes no difference in the
> appearance of the image on screen, but that selecting simulate paper
> white washes out the black unrealistically, *particularly in prints
> with large shadow areas.*

Unfortunately this is "real".  Look away when you hit the button.  As a
test, take an ICC profile for colour output to the same paper and compare
the look of the soft proof.  I would be surprised that Adobe's
implementation of these features has not been checked and approved by many,
many colour gurus.


>In high key or largely mid key images,
> however, the BPC and simulating paper white actually improves the
> accuracy of the preview.  So I find that the settings have to be
> changed (particularly simulate paper white) depending on the image.
> 
> On a related issue:  Steve's last post (or was it Tyler's?) suggests
> to me that for those profiling ABW output, what we should be
> profiling is the "light" output which is natively much more linear
> that the "darker," at least in the shadows.  The gamma shift on
> the "light" setting should be taken care of by the profile.  I'm
> going to give that a shot re the black compression issue that Paul
> and others have been talking about.  I am hoping it will also take
> care of some of the shadow "reversals" I have seen with non-Epson
> papers.  V. 2.3.2 will not accept any reversals or even flat spots
> (identical consecutive numbers), but refuses to make a profile with
> the message: "LAB data not in order).


Your issue here is that there REALLY is a crunch of shadow compression in
your (un-managed) printer response.  This would be fixed if you could
linearize the output.  So yes you need to try to use the printer controls to
get separation in the shadows perhaps by lowering ink density (adding more
ink is not resulting in more density so back it off a little).  QTR ICC has
a check built in to make sure it is being fed sensible data - there is a
limit to what a profile can fix.