Digital BW, The Print

"ClaytonJ" <cj@...> wrote:
>

> > I just ran some Black Only on the 1400 with Eboni.  Briefly, the Gen. Alise Natural turned in an excellent performance.  I think it's the lowest Lab B rise I've seen with 100% carbon, going from Lab B = 1 to 3, then diving to -0.5 at 100%. 
 
> Wonderful...but can you translate this into conversational English?

Probably not.  But, in general, the simply way to compare warmth is with the Lab B (yellow-warm positive, blue-cool negative) numbers.  Lab A (red/magenta-warm positive, green negative) is also important, but it typically varies much less.  

With respect to Lab A, usually the paper manufacturers set a slight positive Lab A value and the inks or profiles keep that relatively level or slightly rising from the paper white through the midtones.  I think in B&W we really want to avoid a negative Lab A, as it'll give the print a greenish tint.  On the other hand, a Lab A that is a bit more elevated is what we'd call a light "selenium" tone.  The Premier Art Smooth BW that I like has a relatively high Lab A, and with an image like my Disney Concert Center, it gives that metallic exterior building a true metal look.

But for simplicity, Lab B is the main variable.  It's not just the absolute Lab B value, however, that matters.  The eye will do a "white balance" on whatever large white area is around.  So, if you're displaying with typical natural (not bright) white matte board, that will, roughly and typically, have a Lab B=3 or more.  So, that becomes your white reference.

So, when a natural paper has a Lab B = 1 and the image peaks out at Lab B = 3, the image is going to look quite neutral.

With respect to the Alise Natural, even when I have the test strip on my desk along with brightened typing paper, the paper looks creamy, but the image looks fairly neutral.



> > At 100% I'm getting Lab L in the 14's, with the lowest being 
> > 14.1.  This is mid-1.70's dmax. 

> If you can nail down an exact Dmax value I'll add it to my chart.

This varies not only with the ink, but also paper batch, printer, and how long the MK has "cured."  I suspect our spectros also vary.  With the 1400 and Eboni, my AliseN values vary from 14.1 to 14.8.  I'm not sure if the 14.1 was same day or after curing a few days.  It's what is recorded in my QTR linearization for one of my AliseN profiles, so I may well be a same-day reading (dried with a hair drier), in which case it would have broken into the Lab L = 13 range later -- very rare in my experience.


> >Quite a paper.
> Yes indeed.  Do you know of any other non-OBA paper with this kind of Dmax? 

No, I've use a lot of Premier Art Smooth Fine Art 325, and with some printers I've seen a dmax of 1.69 with it.  On other printers or with different batches, it can be in the low 1.60's.  I used to like the PermaJet "Alpha" (oddly named -- it's Innova Soft Texture but on an cotton base, not alpha cellulose like the Innova version MIS sells, and it makes a big difference).  With PermaJet Alpha is was getting mid to sometimes high 1.60's with some printers.


>... this stuff blows everything else out of the water and it's less inexpensive as well. Imahappycamper <g>.

Yes, Premier Art may become a bigger player with this one.  I've been impressed with the company for some time.  They are close to me and have roots in the wet darkroom.  With paper they've been innovators and heavy into the longevity issue.  The Smooth BW I like, for example, does use OBAs, but the paper actually meets the silver print standards for the use of such.  They managed to negotiate a dual name with Epson on the "Epson Premier Art Scrapbook" paper, which may be Epson's most archival.  I think this enhances their credibility in that area, which, of course, was the point.  The Smooth BW that I use is, I'm told, the Scrapbook paper base with OBAs added to the coating.

By the way, I've found one source of some of the variables in my measurements.  The OBAs of typing paper under a sample being read influence the spectro measurments.  I now read only on a natural mat board.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com