Digital BW, The Print

Clayton,
You mentioned that you are using the LIGHT setting in the ABW driver.  Me too.  I can't understand how come Epson have selected their DARKER setting as the default.  For me and my setup (on a 4800) it blocks up the shadows far too much with little separation.  I had been wondering if there is something in my own setup forcing me to go have to go with the LIGHT setting, but I now think perhaps it's simply that I want more separation in the shadows than Epson's Mr or Mrs Average.  I've played around with the SHADOW TONALITY and HIGHLIGHT TONALITY settings too.  They are great for fine tuning as are the tint wheel settings.  I noticed from a previous post that you (was it you?) would like decimal setting for even greater control.  I don't think I'm that discriminating!
Steve
http://www.virtuallygrey.co.uk

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones" <cj@c...> wrote:
>
> Hello Mitch,
> 
> Thanks for the good report.  I'm using a 2400 with MK on matte papers
> in ABW mode, and there are some things in your report that are
> different from my experience.
> 
> 
> >The Epson Driver for the K3 printers in Advanced B&W mode puts  
> >down a light-gray rectangle...it means that the "paper white" is 
> >not as bright as the original paper, which is also true for the 
> >highlights in general
> 
> I have never noticed anything like this rectangle in my prints.  In
> fact, I have been pleasantly surprised that the 2400/K3 prints have
> more luminance than I was used to seeing in full ink prints.  I've
> been printing mostly with BO until this, and one of the things I love
> about that approach is its wonderful luminance caused by the paper
> white that shows between the dots, so this is one area where I have
> been particularly attentive.  
> 
> In analyzing my K3 prints with a loupe, I saw first that the ink dots,
> while tiny, are distinct, and further that there is what appears to be
> uncoated paper between them in the highlights.  One of my complaints
> about full ink systems in the past has been the opaque look caused by
> what seemed to be a thin coating of nearly clear ink over the paper
> between the dots in the highlights, which has a dulling effect.  So my
> impression is that 2400/K3 is more luminous than many other full ink
> systems.  They have a good glow to them and I've been very pleased. 
> One of my samples has bright sky and cloud reflections on water, which
> is very delicate and high key.  It is right on the edge of density,
> close to paper white.  It can make or break the print and the 2400
> handles it beautifully.  So my over all impression is that K3 is
> extremely good at luminance and holding subtle tonal gradations.
> 
> I'm wondering if what you're seeing is the result of some kind of
> driver setting.  There is something in ABW mode called "Highlight
> Point Shift" which is defined in the Docs as"
> 
>  "Select this check box to add a little more ink to white 
>  areas to give it a glossy look."
> 
> ...I think this is for avoiding gloss differential on glossy papers,
> and I'm wondering if this might be what's causing the rectangle (I've
> never used it, so I'm just guessing). 
> 
> 
> >The ImagePrint print has more shadow detail than the one made with  
> >the Epson Driver Advanced B&W mode. 
> 
> ABW settings are also important here.  There is a "Tone" picklist with
> 5 choices from "Light" through "Darkest", and it turns out that this
> does more than an even change of the over all density.  It turns out
> that the actual contrast curve is modified so that the shadow zones
> are increasingly compressed as the setting gets darker.  This was
> demonstrated clearly in a set of 5 prints someone sent me recently. 
> They were of the identical image printed at each Tone setting, and
> included a step wedge on each one.  The low end compression is clearly
> seen to increase as the settings get darker, to the point where the
> last few steps on the "Darkest" one are nearly indistinguishable.  So
> my default setting is always "Light", and I'm getting excellent shadow
> separation.  For some reason Epson's default setting is "Darker", so
> we must be careful to put this where we want it.
> 
> 
> >Moreover, the blacks on the K3 print were slightly darker than  
> >on the Ultrachrome print
> 
> K3 is definitely a different technology.  One thing that seems to be
> emerging from reports is that it's dmax varies significantly than
> other inks on certain papers.  A recent thread here discussed these
> differences on Epson's VFA paper.  K3 dmax on VFA is superior to some
> other papers, but with UC and MIS inks the reverse was true.  So it
> seems we're dealing with a very different technology with K3 and some
> of the old rules are being broken.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton
> 
> 
> Info on black and white digital printing at    
> http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
>