Digital BW, The Print

I think that, when using ABW, the profile is used for soft-proofing
only. With it you can view the way the image should print (and thus
make adjustments so that it prints the way you want) prior to printing it.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Marc
Humbert" <humbertjm@...> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
> 
> My tools : Epson 3800, PrintFix Pro v2.1, PSCS2, QTR, calibrated Eizo 
> screen.
>  
> I am fan of B&W and just bought the 3800! What a fantastic tool!  
> 
> My favorite papers are semi gloss (such as Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl) 
> since IMO the blacks are richer and deeper than with the fine art 
> papers (I use also Hahnemuhle Photo Rag). 
> 
> Now of course I would like to fine tune my settings with the 3800 and 
> I very carefully studied the excellent workflows described by Eric 
> Chan 
> (http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/printworkflow.html)
>  and Giorgo Trucco 
> (http://www.outbackphoto.com/printinginsights/pi045/essay.html). 
> 
> My first conclusions : 
> 
> with no specific profile, the results with B&W pics printed on FAP 
> are really better with the Epson ABW mode (set to dark, 2880dpi and 
> semi gloss paper) than when using the Color mode (all my files are 
> RGB/16bit); with the color mode, I loose all details on the deepest 
> shadows and the transitions are poor. 
> 
> With the PrintFix Pro (v.2) software and the Colorvision 
> spectrocolorimeter, the profile I have made for Fine Art Paper does 
> make a real improvement for the color pictures, still not for the B&W 
> ones (Epson ABW mode is still better with respect to the deepest 
> shadow details). 
>  
> Following Chan's and Trucco's recommendations, I did the following to 
> optimize b&w prints on FAP paper:
> 
> -          I printed a 100-step gray scale (as provided by Roy 
> Harrington with QTR) using the Epson ABW mode (dark, 2880 dpi) : I 
> noticed visually that there was a huge gap between the 100% black and 
> the 99% (confirmed by the readings of density from 2.06 to 1.70)
> 
> -          I read the 100 patches (plus 1 for the 100% white) with 
> the PrintFix spectro using the "measure" menu (which gives in a txt 
> file the Lab readings)
> 
> -          I converted the txt file using QTR Create ICC.exe to 
> obtain an .icc profile.
> 
> 
> Now, I am blocked! How can I use such profile (I put it in the 
> relevant windows folder) to print a picture under Photoshop using the 
> same settings as for the 100-step gray scale? Indeed, how can I apply 
> such profile to print going through the Epson ABW mode (I had to 
> check "lets printer determine the color" to be able to print through 
> the ABW mode; if I apply the profile in the "Print with preview", 
> then I will have to check the "no color management" option in the 
> Epson driver and use the color mode.)
> 
> I must have missed something…! In both above mentionned workflows, 
> their authors mentionned that you may use the .icc profile obtained 
> via a spectrophotometer/colorimeter to "soft prove" and "print". 
> 
> What I did (certainly wrongly) to move forward : I applied to my file 
> the profile (using the photoshop "convert to profile" option) and 
> then printed through the ABW mode : the result was really not 
> satisfactory with all my deep shadow details converted to 100% 
> blacks. 
> 
> The question I have is according to these workflows, how can I use 
> this profile and still go trough the ABW mode to print. The question 
> is not about neutrality but about linearization (when I see the 100 
> step gray scale, I see the need to have a better transition in the 
> 100% to 95% areas). 
> 
> Thank you for your contribution and your help.
> 
> Jean-Marc Humbert
> Paris, France
>