Digital BW, The Print

Hey Bill,

How's it going?

That certainly was nice of you to go throught that with him in such
detail.

So, how is the K7 thing going? I am having a replacement printer
delivered to me the first of next week and I have to make a choice
very soon about the mono inkset, either the original Piezzone Quads (
which I like very much) or K6 using Roy's curves and then a custom
linearization. I'm all about longevity so I am against using any
Portfolio Black in there when I only have six channels to work with. I
have heard this and that and that and this about max black and the
neutral set. Do you have any suggestions down there in Austin? You've
worked on both sides of this fence. Whatever I start with I'm going to
stay with.

John 



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, BKPhoto@a... wrote:
>
> 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@h...>
> 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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