Digital BW, The Print

Frank, it's mostly a matter of the choice of ink type as it relates to
the choice of paper...that's assuming you've not fiddled so much with
the system that you've under-inked...which is possible, but not by
default.

Some of the "special" inks beloved by the pixel peepers among us
inherently produce lower Dmax than OEM inks on some of the
most-favored papers. However, there's not much argument for anything
other than OEM inks these days, at least with new Epson
printers...unless you're trying to use one for mass production, where
lithography would make more sense.

Dmax is a pixel-peeper obsession, having little or nothing to do with
the looks of the print, as even the pixel-peepers will admit, since
they assert Dmax can't be determined by eye.

Relax. There are more important issues than Dmax. 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Frank Jay
<frankjay02@...> wrote:
>
> With all the talk about Dmax I am wondering is this dmax  actually
measured by most users with a densiometer or is it perceptual Dmax as
experienced by how the prints actually look framed, matterd , hung and
viewed at a normal viewing distance. Normal being a few feet away as
oposed to abnormal with someone's nose stuck to the glass and pixel
peeping. 
>    
>   I have read a few articles by Caponigro and he mentions often
about the amount of ink that is being put down by certain drivers and
printers and how that affects Dmax. If a paper has let's say a Dmax of
3, (just for an arbitrary number) and your printer is not laying down
enough ink to get the the 3 , then you will never experience the full
potential of a high Dmax paper being your printer can't achieve it. Or
will you?
>    
>   I have seen several posts where the poster is trying different
papers and saying that they don't like the Dmax of certain paperss and
then try another paper with a higher Dmax. It is seemingly almost like
climbing the Dmax ladder with no satisfaction on any rung on the way
up. Is it the printer, or the printer settngs as to the amount of ink
being laid down, or is it actually the Dmax itself or is it perceptual
and personal preferences
>    
>    I have also seen posts where one poster like the Dmax of paper A,
another poster with the same  printer does not like it and has to use
paper B to get the blacks they want. Should or should not both the
same printers, using the same inks should acheive the same Dmax, or
again..is it the individual characteristics of each printer and/or the
personal preferences of the viewers. 
>    
>   I am reading this posts very closely because I am about to make a
few hundred dollar purchase of papers, and being a lot of companies
don't make sample packs of all their papers, I do not want to make
mistakes and waste a lot of  money on papers that don't produce the
results I want. 
>    
>   Any help or comment that will give me a better understanding of
Dmax, be it measured or perceptual will be appreciated.
>   thanks
>   Frank
> 
> 
> "The luckiest dogs are those with clipped tails....they're the ones
who won't be chasing their own arses."
>        
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