Digital BW, The Print

In a message dated 5/16/2007 10:33:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time,  
drmrking@... writes:

Not sure  what people are expecting from this book, I was expecting some
indepth  coverage of the tough issues in mastering digital black and white.
But  essentially the book is an overview of the whole topic. Nicely written
and  illustrated, but more a one step beyond beginners guide to the all
issues  you need to consider, rather than a book about mastering digital
black and  white.

If you don't know much about Digital B&W its a great  overview of the topic.

Mike



I don't think there is such a thing possible as "in-depth coverage of the  
tough issues" in B/W printing. I remember when I was trying to learn to print  
'like the pro's' in the late 1960's. I read every book I could find, but when I 
 came out of the darkroom, I was convinced that the pro's were using 
materials  that were either secret, or only available to them. I couldn't get that 
"look"  to save my life. It wasn't until an excellent printer told me to go look 
at  gallery prints and study what he called print values, that I began to get 
the  hang of it. I noticed though, that "print values" were not always the  
same....WTF!!! So the tough issues are the tough issues, and I think even with  
the 'convenience' of digital, we have to wrestle with them print by print just 
 like in the old days. A case in point is the amount of discussion about 
every  new paper that hits the market, glossy, semi-gloss, rag, fiber, air dried 
look,  etc., etc. If someone wrote a book that dealt with ALL the in-depth 
issues of  B/W printing, the next generation(s) of inks, papers and software would 
kill it.  If Amadou gets the average 'Joe' into the ballpark to begin his 
pursuit of the  holy Fine Print, he will have done a great service and reduced 
the wastebasket  volume of printers all over the world.
 
Richard (Brooklyn)



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