Digital BW, The Print

Steve-

You've question leads to a core issue in printing on the OEM path. You have an excellent printer, inks, and you're working with excellent papers. And, while ABW is pretty nifty, it is part of the "black box" that is the print driver software. This means you are printing through a embedded profile locked in the box; this, combined with the fact that Epson print drivers habitually lay down too much ink, can easily result in loss of tonal definition. In your case, the inability to replicate image code values into print tonality accurately.

If you want to stay on the OEM path, there are two options you can explore. First, make adjustments in the Printer Color Management panel; try using Normal or Light in the Tone menu. You can also experiment with the other controls in this panel, but I'd suggest making small moves, printing, trying again, until you get something usable. If you do find something usable, be sure to save the settings through the Presets menu. You'll have to do this for each paper in turn. Sorry.

Also, you can experiment with the Color Density slider found in the Paper Configuration panel. Again, make small changes, print, try again.

What you'll be doing, essentially, is twiddling with the knobs and switches attached to the black box. While this will allow you to stay on the OEM path, it will never produce the accurate print that a properly ink limited, linearized, and profiled system is capable of. Understand, I'm not advocating that you stray off the path. You may be able to tweak your workflow enough to solve the problem. You'll certainly learn a lot about the behavior of the print driver this way.


 


Bill Kennedy
K2 Press
Austin, Texas
Author of "The Photographer's Guide to the Digital Darkroom", Allworth Press.


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: SteveZ <blizzie12@...>
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 10:23 am
Subject: [Digital BW] Dark skies and Dmax


















  



    

            
I need some advise on printing images with dark skies and/or skies that 

have a distinct transition gradient from dark to lighter tones



Unlike most of you, I'm relatively new to digital b&W printing

and, as such, technically challenged when it comes to measuring dmax, 

creating profiles, etc.



I'm using a 3800 with k3 inks with matte papers that include VFA, HPR 

and MPR. For b&w I normally use the the ABW driver but even when using 

the RGB driver/media profiles the results invariably are the same.



I've also made test prints with all of the above papers with similar 

outcomes: solid black skies with no detail.



Without getting too technical,

can anybody shed some light?





    
  

    
    




 


________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]