Digital BW, The Print

Ed

Given you are using QTR ICC Profiles any Adv B&W luminance settings (ie most
of the settings) will be reversed out by the profile use.  The only issue
that arises is whether you can get reasonable stimulus-response observations
to create the profile in the first place.  I recall a while back that you or
others had issues with Adv B&W showing reversals in the black end on some
non-Epson papers, this being most likely an ink limit issue.  Personally I
have not experienced this to any real extent with my 4800 using 51 samples
for the profile.  My display (EyeOne Match profiled using the PM5 LCD target
reference file) to print match is very very good.  PS is a better editor of
an image than the Epson driver!!

The point of printing should not be to open (ie edit in an active way) the
shadows in an image but rather to render them as appropriately as possible -
ie to reflect the edits you have done to the image file in PS.  In many
respects it is a bit of a nonsense to say, when you are using a luminance
managed approach such as with QTR ICC profiles, that you get more open
shadows with one setting over another.  What you want is the degree of
"openness" you have edited into the image, period.  To do that you want good
management via a good luminance profile of the file to print transform.  I
would take a look at your profiles - and remember that you'll need a profile
for each group of settings you use.  I leave all the Adv B&W settings other
than the hue picker at their default and profile that output with 51
observations (far more than you would typically do for colour).  My print to
soft-proof display match is very good and I am extremely happy with the
output.

Cheers

Steve

PS: one thing to check is your print viewing conditions.  You can use your
EyeOne to measure the amount and colour temp of light falling on your print
at your workspace.  Of course if you room is not well lit versus the light
being emitted by your display then the prints will appear darker.


> From: Clayton Jones <cj@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:48:18 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: ABW users:  which ABW setting do you use?
> 
> Hello Ed,
> 
>> Hi all... I've just gotten a 2400 and am using it to print on Innova
>> F-type Gloss.  I've made QTR-Create-ICC profiles.  Etc.
>> 
>> The default ABW setting, Darker, seems.... dark.  Any thoughts on why
>> that's the default?  And what are most of you using who are doing K3
>> ABW printing?
> 
> I use the Light setting.  It seems to be the equivalent of printer
> gamma 1.8 in the driver's color control mode.  Darker is closer
> to gamma 2.2.
> 
> I think it's the default because the gray space and image profile
> default is more likely to be GG2.2, and they work well together.  But
> I get much more open shadows in the print using DG20 for the front end
> and printer gamma 1.8 (or Light with the 2400), so I use that.  It
> doesn't hurt anything to not use the default, but everything has a
> trade-off.  You just have to find the combination of settings that you
> like the best.  
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton