Digital BW, The Print

Hi Jim,

>Just a quick update on my use of Paul's QTR Eboni-3 curves 
>for the R1800. ...


> The downside ... is the increased grain in the mid-tones...
> With my eye 1 foot from the 8x10 print I can clearly 
> see the extra grain. ...

> (Note: my wife, who does not have much experience in 
> comparing B/W prints, could not detect the difference 
> in grain)

That's the same reaction I'm getting.  We can see the difference, but most
viewers can't.  I even took samples to a group of fine art B&W printers at a
B&W gallery.  None of them saw the problems I was worried about.

So, I stopped worrying about it.  The fine grained structure is there in the
midtones, but, fortunately, it is not like the large, visible dots in the
highlights that I did find irritating with the older printers.  It looks to
me like a print from a fine-grained film, and as many silver printers found,
a sharp fine grain actually gives the illusion of more sharpness to a print.

>I am now wondering if I try increasing the number of Eboni inks 
>to 4 or more will this help to reduce the grain while keeping 
>the current dmax?

I played briefly with up to 6 inks and thought the optimum might be 4.  The
3-ink version was actually smoother than the 6 ink version.  I did not see a
significant difference in the grain structure with any of the versions
between 3 and 6.

Since I rarely print color, what I may do is put in 4 Eboni carts and 4
cleaning carts.  The idea of being able to simply swap positions (and
re-load) the minute there is a bad nozzle, thus avoiding cleaning cycles
(except for the re-loading/swapping) has some appeal to me.  I might even
swap positions with each re-load so that the channels stay cleaner and don't
wear out as fast.  Obviously, I'll have to keep track of which channels are
loaded and include in the profile name which channels are being used.
However, with QTR this is easy.  It should make a printer that will last a
long time with a minimum amount of maintenance.  The idea of only 2 bulk
bottles to mess with has appeal.

Back to the issue of smoothness, note how much smaller the highlight dots
are than the midtone graininess.  (See the magnified scans at page 2 of
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/R1800.pdf )  I think, like with silver
grain, we're not seeing the individual dots, but a pattern -- perhaps close
to random -- of how the ink is distributed.  It makes me wonder if there is
a way to optimize the curves to avoid some of it.  So far, I have not found
such.  As with silver grain, there may be a random pattern that is
unavoidable.

At any rate, I must say I'm back to producing 11x14 prints for the gallery
(I sell matted, un-framed 11x14 versions in clear bags) that please me more
than any I've made recently, in part because I know they are the most stable
I can make -- and it's just plain easy.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com