Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message ----- 
When I am in the darkroom, I print many test-strips to get what I want.
Is this being done in digital B&W too? Saving ink and paper (and time)
certainly prevents from printing too many full test-pictures. Or does
WYSIWYG with a reasonable monitor get you close enough to the final print?


In my wet darkroom days I always used test strips to fine tune without 
wasting too much paper. Now that I have gone digital I still use test strips 
but I don't do any cutting. I make many of them, as I need them, on a single 
sheet of paper. For example, I get 22 1x4 strips on a letter size sheet, but 
I use whatever size and shape I need at the moment. With Grid and Snap to 
turned on, I use the crop tool to create the strip of the right dimensions 
(with a single diagonal drag of the mouse). Then I position the strip where 
I need it on the image. To keep things simple and quick, I stick to whole 
inches minus 0.05" in each dimension to avoid overlap and provide space for 
notations. This lets me use whole numbers in the Position box in Print 
Options. I save the sheets for future use until I have used up every inch of 
space.



This system allows me to fine tune things like Unsharp Mask settings to a 
degree that would not be possible any other way. I use the same method to 
make small test prints. Monitor calibration is important but in my opinion 
there is no substitute for using actual ink on paper tests and this method 
makes these tests quick, easy and cheap.



Olaf Ringdahl