Digital BW, The Print

I'm thrilled with the VM Sepia that I got last week from MIS.  Not so thrilled with my 1160 which is still microbanding in the darks.  I read someones elses post on this subject and the comment that his wife gives him "are you kidding they are the same" is the same type of feedback I get from my husband.  I guess if someone else needs a loupe to see it I must be too critical.  But why then does it still bother me so much.  I was able to correct a majority of the problem by realizing that High speed was checked on the printer.  The 21 step wedge prints perfectly on the VMQW curve but the test strips I did on the VMQC curve were severly posterized. 

I'm shooting with the Fuji 6900z and am still not getting the quality out of the camera that I would like (but that is a discussion for another board) here's how I'm converting to black and white.  Is this a logical approach in photoshop 6

1.  Background layer photo from camera 72dpi 2128 x 2832
2.  Image adjust size to 300dpi, 8 x 10.6,  bicubic enabled
3.  Image adjust canvas to 8x10
4.  Adjustment layer color fill / red - blending mode set to colour
5.  Adjustment layer hue/saturation - saturation  -100
6.  Adjustment layer curves - load curve VMQW
I think at this point I need to add another adjustment layer to lighten the image because it prints about 10% darker than on screen.  I have to still trial all the different paper samples I have.  

I bought the virgin empties and the vaccuum fill apparatus but I think I like the tone of the ink so much I'll go CIS.  I've read all of the differences between the mediastreet cis and the MIS cis but have to decide which one to get still.

I don't get a chance to post often but thanks for taking the time to read, if indeed you did.

Thanks 

Elizabeth
Elizabeth's Art Gallery
www.elizabeths.ca



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Elizabeth,

Others on this list can answer questions re inkset better. But 
regarding your image:

(1) you are doing two things (both mathematically intensive) at the 
same time when you enable bic-cubic. Instead do it this way. First 
change from 72 to 300 dpi (360 may be better) without enabling bi-
cubic. 
(2)Your 2128x2832 image will now be at 300 dpi and 7.1x9.4 inches in 
size. After that, resize the image with bicubic enabled to whatever 
you desire. If you are making it much larger than 7.1x9.4, then do 
this in smaller multiple steps (say 10%). You can also use other plug-
ins like Genuine Fractals. I personally use 10% increments.
(3) Crop image to desired size.
(4) Try other blending modes to get b/w, e.g., channel mixer, or 
lightness channel after conversion to LAB mode.
(5) Make all image changes BEFORE you apply the VMQW curves 
adjustment layer. If your print is drastically different from the 
image on the screen BEFORE you applied the VMQW curve, you need to 
calibrate your monitor.

Good luck

Shilesh

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Elizabeth" <eprofit@h...> 
wrote:
> I'm thrilled with the VM Sepia that I got last week from MIS.  Not 
so thrilled with my 1160 which is still microbanding in the darks.  I 
read someones elses post on this subject and the comment that his 
wife gives him "are you kidding they are the same" is the same type 
of feedback I get from my husband.  I guess if someone else needs a 
loupe to see it I must be too critical.  But why then does it still 
bother me so much.  I was able to correct a majority of the problem 
by realizing that High speed was checked on the printer.  The 21 step 
wedge prints perfectly on the VMQW curve but the test strips I did on 
the VMQC curve were severly posterized. 
> 
> I'm shooting with the Fuji 6900z and am still not getting the 
quality out of the camera that I would like (but that is a discussion 
for another board) here's how I'm converting to black and white.  Is 
this a logical approach in photoshop 6
> 
> 1.  Background layer photo from camera 72dpi 2128 x 2832
> 2.  Image adjust size to 300dpi, 8 x 10.6,  bicubic enabled
> 3.  Image adjust canvas to 8x10
> 4.  Adjustment layer color fill / red - blending mode set to colour
> 5.  Adjustment layer hue/saturation - saturation  -100
> 6.  Adjustment layer curves - load curve VMQW
> I think at this point I need to add another adjustment layer to 
lighten the image because it prints about 10% darker than on screen.  
I have to still trial all the different paper samples I have.  
> 
> I bought the virgin empties and the vaccuum fill apparatus but I 
think I like the tone of the ink so much I'll go CIS.  I've read all 
of the differences between the mediastreet cis and the MIS cis but 
have to decide which one to get still.
> 
> I don't get a chance to post often but thanks for taking the time 
to read, if indeed you did.

> 
> Thanks 
> 
> Elizabeth
> Elizabeth's Art Gallery
> www.elizabeths.ca
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]