Digital BW, The Print

Dear Daniela,
 **DISCLAIMER**
 Bear in mind what I've done only applies to my monitor (Hitachi CM815
plus), Merlin Natural and the particular set of negatives I am working
with right now. The settings that worked best at getting close to
reproducing the BO output of my 220 are somewhat strange, imo.
 But, here is what worked best with this particular batch of negatives
at approximating the 220 BO output on Merlin Natural:

  Media type=VFA
  Best Photo
  Uncheck high speed
  ABW-fine adjustment
  Tone=Light
  Brightness= -5
  Contrast= +11
  Shadow Tonality= +7
  Highlight Tonality= -25 (!)
  Horiz= +3
  Vert= +8

  Best Regards
  Howard

  

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Daniela Gattarino
<dgattarino@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Howard,
> would you, please, share with us your findings and tell how you managed
> to got BO-like prints with the R2400.?
> Thanks
>  Daniela
> 
> how786 <how786@...> wrote:     Dear Clayton,
>  
>    Thanks for the marvellous details in your reply. Your explanation
>  helps me to understand just what is going on and why my eye sees what
>  it does.
>   Yes, the BO prints DO have a luminosity, a glow that is quite
>  amazing. And, yes, the 2400 prints look just fine until you place them
>  next to a BO print. Then they look a tad 'blocked'. 
>   With all my fiddling around I finally did manage to get the output of
>  the 2400 to look very close to the BO prints. VERY close, so I am
>  pleased and relieved.
>   You know, the 220 prints SO well that I am tempted to buy a second
>  one and put it away as a backup. The place I bought mine from still
>  sells them for $69. It's a steal.
>  
>   :)
>  
>   Thanks again for your ever-present willing help
>   I deeply appreciate it.
>  
>    Howard
>  
>   
>  
>  
>  --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones"
>  <cj@> wrote:
>  >
>  > Hello Howard,
>  > 
>  > Sorry to come into this so late.  Have been busy all day & evening.
>  > 
>  > There are several things going on here.  First the dmax.  As Carl
>  > said, Eboni has slightly better dmax than MK on most matte papers
>  > except Epson ones.  So if you tried it on VFA the result might be
>  > different.  Also, Eboni is a bit cooler than MK, which can make the
>  > blacks appear darker to the eye.  Another thing is that in BO prints
>  > the blacks are made from pure black ink.  With full ink systems there
>  > is usually a mixture of MK and LK way down into the darkest zones,
>  > only getting to pure black ink at RGB 0 and 1, maybe 2 (above 99%).  
>  > 
>  > Dmax tests that print patches of pure black usually show just as good
>  > a dmax with full ink systems.  But in most real world prints even the
>  > darkest areas only get all the way to RGB 0 in small areas, so
there's
>  > often very few places that contain pure black ink.  The end result of
>  > this varies with different combinations of ink, paper, printer and
>  > driver, but in general, most of the systems I've tried or viewed
>  > produce slightly less dmax than BO, with normal images.  This is
why I
>  > use Eboni BO for all my tests in the Paper Chase article.
>  > 
>  > Next, the general look and feel.  BO prints are famous for their
>  > intensity, or "pop", or whatever you want to call it.  Besides the
>  > excellent dmax, there a clarity to the ink tones that comes from the
>  > pure K ink without anything else blended in.  There is also the
>  > incredible luminance or "glow", which is caused by the bare paper
that
>  > shows between the dots.  Because BO prints don't get to full paper
>  > coverage (no more white specs showing) until around 85% or so (it
>  > varies with the paper), this luminance extends way down into the
lower
>  > mid-tones.  The paper is reflective, so the resulting prints have
this
>  > wonderful clear, open and radiant look to them.  
>  > 
>  > Full ink systems don't allow this bare paper to show and as a result
>  > have a slightly veiled or opaque look.  The degree of this effect, as
>  > with dmax, varies with different combinations of ink, paper, printer
>  > and driver.  The result is that a full ink print can look great until
>  > you put a BO print next to it, and suddenly it looks weak in
comparison.
>  > 
>  > What I like about the 2400 is that its prints have better luminance
>  > than many full ink systems I've seen.  It allows more bare paper to
>  > show between the ink dots in the highlights than many other systems. 
>  > For example, I'm using the R2 ink sets in my R200, so I can do Eboni
>  > BO and smooth full ink prints with it.  It's really quite good, but
>  > the R2 prints are more veiled and opaque looking than ABW/K3 prints
>  > because there is no bare paper showing anywhere except at RGB 254 and
>  > 255 (0%).   The ABW prints show bare paper down to around RGB 190
>  (25%).  
>  > 
>  > The resulting K3 prints are not as clear and glowing as BO
prints, but
>  > they are much better than many other full ink systems.  BO's great
>  > weakness of course is the graininess, which can be a curse or a
>  > blessing, depending on the image.
>  > 
>  > I'm very pleased with the R200/2400 combination.  I still use BO for
>  > prints that look good with it, and the 2400 is producing really
>  > beautiful prints that are wonderfully smooth with the three blacks. 
>  > I'm finding it a good combination, but I do miss my trusty old 2200
>  > because now I'm limited to letter size BO prints.
>  > 
>  > So you might as well give up trying to make a K3 print look like a BO
>  > one.  It's just an excercise in frustration.  Just learn to wring the
>  > most you can out of the 2400 and be thankful.
>  > 
>  > ps - there is still the possibility of getting good BO from a 2400
>  > using a RIP.  I tried it with QTR last fall but the results were poor
>  > due to a very coarse dot pattern.  Roy says the later versions have
>  > better 2400 handling and maybe it's improved.  I've been too busy to
>  > try it, but hope to get to it after the end of May when I'll have
more
>  > time.  I haven't given up on it yet.
>  > 
>  > Regards,
>  > Clayton
>  > 
>  > 
>  > Info on black and white digital printing at    
>  > http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
>  >
>  
>  
>  
>  
>       
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