Print Exchange Idea -- please read (long)
2003-08-30 by chipcarterdc
I have never participated in the print exchange run by this group, so I have no idea how it works. If the idea I'm about to present is duplicative of what's currently being done, please disregard this post. By way of background (mostly for people who are new to digital monochrome output, so skip the following if you're a seasoned vet), I have about a decade of wet darkroom experience and about a year and half of digital darkroom experience. Like everyone else who enters the realm of digital output and loves black and white, I've been struggling to find a system I like. I have an Epson 2200 and have tried the following methods for getting "good" (subjective) B&W out of it: (1) The Epson driver: looked pretty good at first, actually, until I started noticing the lack of neutrality and metamerism. (2) The Epson driver w. the Gray Balancer: Maybe I don't have a good eye for hue, but the eyeballing method of the gray balancer just didn't work for me -- my prints looked worse when using it. (3) Epson's Stylus 2200 RIP: the prints didn't show metamerism, but were not "neutral" to me -- they were too warm for my taste. And this software is way too complicated to install and use. (To my surprise, Epson let me return this software - they wouldn't give me $ back, but did give me an Epson Store credit for ink and paper). (4) Black Only printing: same results as #3 above, except not at all complicated. (5) QuadTone RIP: seems promising, but the setup and use was too intimidating and technical for me -- I'm sure many would disagree, but I'm not particularly tech savvy and didn't want to spend the time and energy that would have been required to learn how to use this program properly. On the other hand, it's free....But I'm willing to pay someone for a program that hides the technical details from me. (6) Open Print Maker/InkJet Control (OPM/IJC): actually, I never tried this one for the same reasons as in #5 above -- I couldn't get past the overly technical nature of making it work (I know, I know, I COULD learn it, but I just don't want to). (7) ImagePrint RIP 5.5: I've been the most satisfied with this solution thus far. No metamerism that I can see and the prints meet my definition of neutral. But I clearly have too much time and disposable income, because I got to thinking, hey, if ImagePrint can do this good of a job with software while using a combination of color and gray inks, how much better would it be to print using a spectrum of ALL gray inks? Which is why I now have.... (8) The Septone Basic Kit for the 2200 (7 gray inks plus a Photoshop plug-in). I haven't installed it yet, so I have no comment, but the sample print looks good to me. (Start reading here again if you don't need the review of methods I've tried) What does all of this have to do with a print exchange? The point of the above is this: not everyone has the time, patience, skill or $ to experiment with the different methods above, let alone the ones I haven't tried (at least 5 more that I can think of off the top of my head). But I bet amongst the members of this list, we own all of the possible methods. So how about a print exchange that works like this: (a) One person uploads an image to the files section of this group (with a copyright watermark in it, of course). This image can be of any subject, and can be from a scanned neg or a digital file, as long as it has a full tonal range representative of a typical black and white image. (I leave the nomination process of whose image this should be open for conversation, but I think it should be one of our "heavy hitters" -- someone with a lot more experience in photography and digital image processing than me). This person makes all the adjustments to the image necessary for what they think is a "good" print, including sharpening. No toning please -- make it neutral grayscale. (b) 15-20 people (to cover all the different digital B&W output options) then sign up to print an 8x10 of this image using the method they currently use for their own images. (Since I have IP 5.5 up and running, I'd be happy to volunteer to be the printer for this method). I say an 8x10 b/c the sample I got from Inkjetgoodies of a Septone print looked great, but it's hard for me to evaluate all the tonal areas since it has 3 tiny images on one 4x6 inch sheet of paper. (c) In printing the image, everyone agrees to do NO manipulation of the file beyond what is needed to make your chosen method work (e.g., if you're using an RIP that requires you to convert the image to grayscale, but it's in RGB, you can do that). No curves, levels, etc -- the point is to standardize the process, so the only variable affecting the outcome is the output method, not the image or the skill of the person doing the printing. Also, all the printers agree to use the same paper -- I suggest Epson Enhanced/Archival Matte b/c a lot of people use it and it's cheap. (d) We all send our prints at (roughly) the same time to the first person on the review list (I don't care who it is). That person keeps all the prints for 24 hrs to evaluate, posts his or her opinions under an appropriate thread here (one thread, please) then forwards all the prints via next day air to the next person on the list, who does the same, and so on. (I know next day air is expensive, but we want to get the review process finished before the end of the millennium and hey, it's cheaper than spending the $ yourself to buy and try all the possible output options). Anything I'm missing? Feel free to add to, criticize or modify this proposal and make logistical suggestions, or tell me "this is already exactly what we do with the print exchange each month", in which case I'll feel like an idiot. I think it's a good idea, though -- no matter how many reviews I read, I need to see the different methods on paper in my hand before I can evaluate them. I'll be offline until Tuesday -- talk amongst yourselves. :-)