Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "horstenj" <j.h.j.h@...> wrote:
>
> The classic theory of density & color blending of printed inks is given by the Neugebauer equations. A Google search will give you plenty of sources.
> 

I guess I should have added a bit to save you some time. 

The Neugebauer equations themselves are actually very simple. GIVEN 1) a dot distribution, 2) ink color/densities, 3) color/densities of comined inks the resulting color/density can be computed in a straightforward way. However, in practice that is of very little use as one is usually interested in the inverse problem: what should the dot distribution be to achieve a certain color/density? Now that is still a nonlinear problem that can be solved, either numerically or by approximation. 

But that's still not of much use for profiling/curve creation. I'm not familiar with the mathematics of color profiling but I've spent some time on how to compute an "optimal" BW multi-gray curve. I tried to approach it as a numerical nonlinear constrained optimization problem. At a certain point I gave up. The problem appeared ill-defined to me without a clear objective optimum. There's just quite a bit of "art" in curve creation as opposed to "science".

I'm still sure I could have gotten further but just lost the urge to spend more time on it.

Joost