Digital BW, The Print

Ken,


>... for an R280 that I'll be setting up for B&W printing only.  

> I have a question about ink curves in profiles for doing Paul's 
> new EB6-YK approach.  Specifically, Paul mentions he likes to 
> use 3K's and 3Y's in this mode and I was planning on doing the 
> same on my R280.  
 
> What I wonder about is the ink curves for the 3K's and 3Y's.
> I notice in the 3MK profiles that there are separate custom 
> ink curves for each of the MKs that appear to stagger when 
> the various inks start firing -
> I presume to get the smoothest BO approach. 

Yes, particularly on the 1800, which banded too much to make a smooth 
single black only print.  My 1400 does not band significantly, so 
it's not as important there. 


> Should the same thing be done in a EB6-YK approach? 

I was working on that, but it makes generating profiles much harder. 
If you can use QTR's semi-automatic partitioning, it's just simpler.  
Since I use the 3YK profile with a staggered start 3-MK profile, I 
get the staggered starts anyway.

> Or does the inclusion of the Y ink make this not necessary 

That is also a factor.

> ... should I just divide the ink limits by
> 3 and use the "standard" K and Y curves created from a "standard"
> calibration session with QTR? 

You'll notice some of my profiles are 3YK (only one K).  

> Anyone have a EB6-YK profile they are using I could see
> for reference?

See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-YK.zip 

>... 50/50 mixing a 3MK and YK profile as his
> preferred QTR output.  Paul - what do you like about this 
> over a 100% YK approach?

It has a more neutral tone; it accomplishes the 3-MK staggered MK 
starting; there is more continuity of tone and texture; and I 
actually think an extremely fine random grain can have a positive 
affect on an image.  Among other things, I'd rather have people 
barely able to see a random noise than some digital artifacts.  Also, 
all darkroom printers probably experienced the illusion of sharpness 
a very sharp grain could lend to an image that was reallly not that 
sharp.

Have fun.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com