Digital BW, The Print

This question refers to the spreadseet: CurveTemplate.xls 
 located in: Files > Image Processing  (on this site)

Could someone tell me what the gamma field in this spreadsheet should 
be set to?

It seems to me that if it's not set to a value of 1, then the output 
will not linear (ie 50%in = 50%out, etc).

In all the books I've looked in so far, none have given an exact 
procedure to generate a dot gain (or transfer) curve - at least what 
sort of curve the outpout should have.

Are we to shoot for a particular gamma in the print or is this just a 
matter of taste?

I'm trying to use this to get better results from BO printing on a 
Epson 820.

I'd appreciate any help at all with this as I'm about to mad will all 
the prints, tests, experiments, etc. that I've done so far.

Even a response of just half a word ..........?

Thanks.
David Polasek
dp4391@...

David,


> Could someone tell me what the gamma field in this spreadsheet should 
> be set to?

Generally, either 2.2 or 1.8 depending on what your system is set up for.


> Are we to shoot for a particular gamma in the print or is this just a 
> matter of taste?

It's not a matter of taste, rather part of your screen calibration and "color settings". 
You may want to read up on Color Managment under Photoshop 6 or 7.  Also, 
Windows like 2.2 and Macs like 1.8.

You are right that gamma = 1 would give you a linear plot, but that's rarely desirable 
in a print (would be too light). Since you are experimenting anyway, you may want to 
try all 3 gamma options and see what happens. Just be sure to coordinate all that 
with the rest of your workflow environment (settings). 



Antonis

Antonis,


> You are right that gamma = 1 would give you a linear plot, but 
that's rarely desirable 
> in a print (would be too light). 

Thanks.  That's what I needed for all to make sense.


David