Digital BW, The Print

I'm using the Roark VM inkset.  In comparing prints made with 
the "nc" curve ["nc" means neutral to slightly cool; to my eye the 
prints appear perfectly neutral], and those made with the "mw" curve 
["mw" means medium warm; to my eye, it is a rich sepia tone], there 
is a significant difference in perception of tonality.

I am consistently finding that, when comparing the same image printed 
with these two different hues (neutral vs. sepia), the neutral ("nc") 
prints seem lighter and less weighty than the sepia ("mw") prints.  
Do we differently perceive the tonal range (white to black) of 
different hues?

BTW, the 21 step gray scales for the "nc" curves and "mw" curves are 
very comparable.  After having worked on the curves for much of 
yesterday, I have now locked down a final, "nc" curve and am close to 
the same for the "mw" curve.

I am working on an Epson 1200 on a Mac, and am happy to share those 
two curves with any other VM users.  I am also working with Paul to 
develop a complete set of curves for the 1200.

> After having worked on the curves for much of
> yesterday, I have now locked down a final, "nc" curve and am close to
> the same for the "mw" curve.

Sorry, I don't as yet have an opinion to offer on your main point regarding
perception, but I would like to hear your process for tweaking and "locking
down" your curves. If I were to do it it would be by eye, and trial and
error, (or using Dan Culbertson's RGB softproof method if I were starting
from scratch), but I'd love to hear if you have a more methodical approach.

Todd

I'm using Paul Roark's curves and no, it's not methodical.  Trial 
and error.  I've examined his curves closely and think that I've 
begun to develop just a little  intuition, but it's mostly trial and 
error.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Todd Flashner 
<tflash@e...> wrote:
> > After having worked on the curves for much of
> > yesterday, I have now locked down a final, "nc" curve and am 
close to
> > the same for the "mw" curve.
> 
> Sorry, I don't as yet have an opinion to offer on your main point 
regarding
> perception, but I would like to hear your process for tweaking 
and "locking
> down" your curves. If I were to do it it would be by eye, and trial 
and
> error, (or using Dan Culbertson's RGB softproof method if I 
were starting
> from scratch), but I'd love to hear if you have a more methodical 
approach.
> 
> Todd