Digital BW, The Print

Inkjet printers, whether BW or color, are simply amazing in how far they
have come the last few years.  And the amount of manipulation and control
Photoshop allows us is simply incredible.   However, a chemically printed
darkroom gallery print on a fixed grade rag content paper done by a
knowledgable printer still has an obvious superior quality in luminosity of
the highlights, shadow separation and certainly surface finish.  There's
just something about it.   The finest digital prints can be excellent.   The
finest darkroom prints are great.

In less hallowed uses, say glossy prints for everyday use and reproduction,
I feel that digital printers rival the quality of darkroom prints.   In
terms of user friendliness, the digital prints is superior.

Rick Schiller
www.rickschiller.com

Rick,

This is something that I have been saying for quite some time.  IMO a 
finely printer silver print made from a well constructed negative will 
often yield a print that exhibits a luminous and richly detailed image. 
A fine platinum/palladium print is capable of a degree of tonal subtlety 
that is for the most part not possible with silver gelatin paper.

It is now my feeling that digital printing serves the purpose of 
commercial photographers, and those fine art image makers that do not 
want to spend their days and hours in the dark somewhat at the expense 
of creating a "hand made" fine print.

The ink jet prints can be sold and exhibited, but will not be revered by 
collectors for quite some time. Old habits are hard to break and these 
old dogs may not be willing to embrace the newest of the photographic 
processes. We must still remember that what we are doing here is a 
printing process. In some instances it will be art, in some instances it 
may be commercial imagery. In either event, the final product is and 
will remain the expression of the creator.

Mike

On Monday, May 6, 2002, at 01:03 PM, Rick Schiller wrote:

> Inkjet printers, whether BW or color, are simply amazing in how far they
> have come the last few years.  And the amount of manipulation and 
> control
> Photoshop allows us is simply incredible.   However, a chemically 
> printed
> darkroom gallery print on a fixed grade rag content paper done by a
> knowledgable printer still has an obvious superior quality in 
> luminosity of
> the highlights, shadow separation and certainly surface finish.  There's
> just something about it.   The finest digital prints can be 
> excellent.   The
> finest darkroom prints are great.
>
> In less hallowed uses, say glossy prints for everyday use and 
> reproduction,
> I feel that digital printers rival the quality of darkroom prints.   In
> terms of user friendliness, the digital prints is superior.
>
> Rick Schiller
> www.rickschiller.com
>

At 10:03 AM 5/6/2002 -0700, Rick Schiller wrote:
>There's
>just something about it.   The finest digital prints can be excellent.   The
>finest darkroom prints are great.

Let's see now.  "Excellent" is better than "great", right?  ;-)



****************
James E. Martz
Milan, OH
jemartz@...
*****************