Digital BW, The Print

Hello all,

I am printing with an 1160 and MIS FS-N inks and lately I've been
quite pleased with my results as far as smooth tonal gradations and
sharpness of my prints on EAM. Yesterday I printed this image:

http://www.contaxg.com/document.php?id=6276&full=1

and it came out just beautifully with wonderful highlights and smooth
mid-range tones. But the blacks seem more of a very dark grey instead
of a rich, deep black, especially in that area in the bottom right
corner. Is this an ink issue or paper issue? Perhaps I'm getting the
darkest black I'm going to get from FS-N ink? Would another paper 
give
me blacker blacks than EAM? EAM is so cheap and the results usually 
so
nice that I'd hate to have to use a much more expensive paper but
would for those images which are prominent with darker black areas. 
Or
perhaps it's a curve or levels adjustment issue?

Suggestions?

Regards,

Richard

Richard,

you can test better by printing a gray scale (such as the one that came with the 
piezo s/w) and taking a density reading of the 100% patch. If you let us know 
the numbers, we can all compare notes. Generally, you will get slightly better 
blacks by going to PhotoRag, but if you are seeing a dramatic lack of depth in 
the black, it may not be EAM which is very good that way.

If there is no banding with the black ink (which would reduce density), there 
may be other issues. Settling of ink that sat for a long time may be involved, or 
something you did to the file before printing....  

some things to consider.

Antonis



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "rich8155" <richard@c...> wrote:
But the blacks seem more of a very dark grey instead

> of a rich, deep black, especially in that area in the bottom right
> corner. Is this an ink issue or paper issue? Perhaps I'm getting the
> darkest black I'm going to get from FS-N ink? Would another paper 
> give
> me blacker blacks than EAM?

Richard:

The quickest way to check how black your ink is with your printer, 
inkset, and paper combo is to print out a step wedge and look at the 
black step. If this is too small, create a black (0 value or 100%) 
rectangle and print this out. Typical inkjet blackest black is not 
(imo) as black as wet chemistry photo paper, but can be close. Black 
black is the holey grail of BW inkjet printing.

You didn't indicate what editing program you use, but if it has a 
readout tool (to read pixel values 0-255 or density % 0-100%) check 
the dark areas of your image. There are very few times you will get 
absolute black in a natural light photo. The ability to print and 
see fine shades of dark right up to 100% black is strength of the 
Quad/Hex BW inkjet approach. If you want it really black, like from 
the consumer photolab, then you will probably have to work with the 
histogram/curves. 

Good Luck.

Jeff Randall


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "rich8155" <richard@c...> 
wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I am printing with an 1160 and MIS FS-N inks and lately I've been
> quite pleased with my results as far as smooth tonal gradations and
> sharpness of my prints on EAM. Yesterday I printed this image:
> 
> http://www.contaxg.com/document.php?id=6276&full=1
> 
> and it came out just beautifully with wonderful highlights and 
smooth
> mid-range tones. But the blacks seem more of a very dark grey 
instead

> of a rich, deep black, especially in that area in the bottom right
> corner. Is this an ink issue or paper issue? Perhaps I'm getting the
> darkest black I'm going to get from FS-N ink? Would another paper 
> give
> me blacker blacks than EAM? EAM is so cheap and the results usually 
> so
> nice that I'd hate to have to use a much more expensive paper but
> would for those images which are prominent with darker black areas. 
> Or
> perhaps it's a curve or levels adjustment issue?
> 
> Suggestions?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Richard