Digital BW, The Print

A basic PS question:  I am working my way thru Martin Evening's PS book as I try to 
learn more about digital.   I am a little confused by the discussion re Output Levels in 
the Image > Adjustments > Levels section.  Martin always seems to talk in terms of 
half tone printing presses and talks about constraining the output levels (eg 12 to 
243) to suit the press.  What if any alteration to these output levels should I do to 
print on an inkjet printer?   (I predominantly print using my Epson 2100 - both B&W 
and Colour but would also like to deliver content to larger format Epson printers or 
even a Lightjet printer at a lab.)

Thanks in advance

Steve

Steve,

I want some 100% black and 100% white in my prints.  The 100% white spots
have to be very small, but they add some sparkle as spectral highlights.
So, I avoid significant blank spaces at the ends of the levels histogram
(just a little for scanning and processing to give some room for errors and
sharpening), and for printing I have none at all.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com
_____________________________________

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Kale [mailto:stevekale@...]
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 10:37 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Basic levels adjustments


A basic PS question:  I am working my way thru Martin Evening's PS book as I
try to
learn more about digital.   I am a little confused by the discussion re
Output Levels in
the Image > Adjustments > Levels section.  Martin always seems to talk in
terms of
half tone printing presses and talks about constraining the output levels
(eg 12 to
243) to suit the press.  What if any alteration to these output levels
should I do to
print on an inkjet printer?   (I predominantly print using my Epson 2100 -
both B&W
and Colour but would also like to deliver content to larger format Epson
printers or
even a Lightjet printer at a lab.)

Thanks in advance

Steve



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With some simple tests you can find what level your printer starts 
printing full black at (typically not 0) and limit output to that.  
White is trickier.  If you have spectral highlight with a hard edge, 
going to paper white gives you a real sparkle, but if you are 
breaking to pure white on something like someone's cheek, it doesn't 
usually look that good.  You can do tests and find out what the 
lightest shade of gray that you can *print* and then limit output to 
that.  Taking 5-10 off each end isn't a bad starting point.

mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Kale" 
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
> A basic PS question:  I am working my way thru Martin Evening's PS 
book as I try to 
> learn more about digital.   I am a little confused by the 
discussion re Output Levels in 
> the Image > Adjustments > Levels section.  Martin always seems to 
talk in terms of 
> half tone printing presses and talks about constraining the output 
levels (eg 12 to 
> 243) to suit the press.  What if any alteration to these output 
levels should I do to 
> print on an inkjet printer?   (I predominantly print using my Epson 
2100 - both B&W 
> and Colour but would also like to deliver content to larger format 
Epson printers or 

> even a Lightjet printer at a lab.)
> 
> Thanks in advance
> 
> Steve

This is a lot like planning a negative to print in the darkroom.  You first must know the ranges of your paper/printer/profile (paper/developer/light source, in the darkroom).  Once you khow where the points of blackest black and whitest white start you are in a position to make the call about what output levels you need in your output file for printing.  You need to run those basic tests on your printer(s) to start.  That's a lot easier on an ink jet than in the darkroom.

Steve Kale <stevekale@...> wrote:A basic PS question:  I am working my way thru Martin Evening's PS book as I try to 
learn more about digital.   I am a little confused by the discussion re Output Levels in 
the Image > Adjustments > Levels section.  Martin always seems to talk in terms of 
half tone printing presses and talks about constraining the output levels (eg 12 to 
243) to suit the press.  What if any alteration to these output levels should I do to 
print on an inkjet printer?   (I predominantly print using my Epson 2100 - both B&W 
and Colour but would also like to deliver content to larger format Epson printers or 
even a Lightjet printer at a lab.)

Thanks in advance

Steve


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Please follow these basic guidelines:
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- Include the address of your website, if you have one.
- As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep them short.
- As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames
- Complete your Yahoo profile.
- Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various resources on the homepage. 




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