Digital BW, The Print

Scott-

You might take a small measure of comfort in knowing that you're 
certainly not the only one having trouble in the digital darkroom. I 
have a simple suggestion that may help until you're ready/willing to 
dive into deeper water.

Use the Epson ABW mode to make a print from a grayscale image you know 
well and has a full range of tonal values. If you know how, add a tonal 
ramp to the image in Photoshop (I typically use a 21-step ramp). The 
ramp is useful for visually evaluating how the color inks are producing 
the grayscale values from print black (dmax) to print white (dmin). If 
you want help with this, contact me off-list and I'll provide the 
instructions for you.

In Photoshop's Print with Preview panel make sure that Document is 
clicked on and select No Color Management. Your rendering intent will 
be the choice you made in PS's Color Settings (either Perceptual or 
Relative Colormetric; if you're unsure about this use Perceptual). In 
the ABW print panel do not change any of the default settings.

View the print under a trustworthy light; this is actually very 
important. Have the file opened in Photoshop and experiment with 
different gamma and/or dot gain settings until you find one that is a 
close match to the print. If you have a good match, you'll effectively 
be "soft proofing" grayscale image files by using the gamm/dot gain 
setting you've determined is the best match.

If you find a gamm/dot gain setting that is close, but not close 
enough, open PS's Color Settings panel and navigate through the Working 
Spaces Gray menu to Custom Dot Gain. The Custom Dot Gain panel will 
allow you to tailor a curve to better match the image on-screen to the 
print viewed under your trustworthy light. Give this custom dot gain 
curve a unique name and make sure it's selected as your new Working 
Spaces Gray profile. If you need help with this, contact me off-list.

Done properly this approach provides a very simple and easily 
implimented means to improve your on-screen to print match without 
needing a spectrophotometer or densitometer. It's a good idea to keep 
in mind that you'll never achieve a complete on-screen to print match; 
the laws of physics won't allow it. But you can author a PS working 
environment and use the new ABW workflow--without the need for 
specialized equipment--that can produce predictable high quality prints.

Bill Kennedy
Austin, Texas

-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Jones <peanutdogs@...>
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 23:52:09 -0000
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Solving this BW tonal management issue . . .

   Well I have been following this thread and the forum for a long
time. I am a R2400 user and am getting great results but am having
troubles matching my calibrated screen to the print. Most people say
I am a pretty smart guy, but I must admit that all of the talk about
gamma curves and profiles has my head spinning and I really don't
think I understand what is going on here. (maybe no one does??) I
don't own a spectrophotometer and feel that this is too expensive
for me. I even took a course from the QTR creator and must admit
also that I remain baffled as did most of the participants.

If someone could provide some service to provide a resonable way to
match screen and print (I use R2400, K3 inks, EPSG paper)and some
instructions on how to use a "profile", I would certainly pay them
or thank them. I guess my frustration stems from the apparent fact
that there is no standardized method yet and that the R2400 driver
lacks a clear soft proofing method so we are still using
experimental workaround methods created by users trying to come to
grips with this.

At this point after reading all of this I am so confused what to do
that I am somewhat exhausted by the whole affair. Color printing
seems so stright forward. Such a pity that we haven't got something
similar with B&W.

Hopefully someone like Clayton will continue to work out a
standardized approach and help all of us non-engineer types with a
tutorial on how to proceed. Thanks for all the continuing efforts.

Scott






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