Digital BW, The Print

Does anyone have any pointers for generating a test strip for 
printing in Photoshop? Are there any actions floating around for this?

> From: kcongdon [mailto:kurt@...]
>
> Does anyone have any pointers for generating a test strip for
> printing in Photoshop? Are there any actions floating around for this?

You mean a step wedge? I put one in
http://www.pbase.com/pderocco/test_images. (The zebra step wedge, by the
way, is useful for measuring with an Eye-One.)

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...

> -----Original Message-----
> From: kcongdon [mailto:kurt@...] 
> Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 8:48 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Howto generate a B/W test strip
> 
> 
> Does anyone have any pointers for generating a test strip for 
> printing in Photoshop? Are there any actions floating around for this?
> 
Kcongdon,

While you could create your own file, you can find several test strips or
wedges in the Files section of the group home page in folder:

Files > Image Processing

The most used being the 21-step. There are also a couple of 100 step wedges
and Tyler's Z's which can be very useful in locating trouble spots on the
tone ramp.

Martin Wesley
www.carolynfrayn.com/Guests/MartinWesley/pages/MW_01.html
www.borderless-photos.de/guests.html

> Does anyone have any pointers for generating a test strip for 
> printing in Photoshop? Are there any actions floating around for 
this?

There is/was a PS plug-in called 'test strip' by vivid details which 
may suit your purpose - I just tried to get a link for you but didn't 
find it ?

Kurt,

Create a new file in Photoshop of whatever size you want - 8x1 inch or
whatever. Select the gradient tool and drag it from one end to the other of
the new file. If you have got the correct type of gradient (black to white)
selected (look at top) you will get a black to white gradient. Then go to
Image/Adjust/posterize and select how many steps you want. Hey presto, one
test strip.

Bob Frost.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "kcongdon" <kurt@...>


Does anyone have any pointers for generating a test strip for
printing in Photoshop? Are there any actions floating around for this?

Hi,

Coming from a traditional darkroom background, what I had in mind was 
more of an exposure test strip than a step wedge.  I'd like to see 
what effect varying the print density in varying degrees might have 
on a printed b/w image.  

Kurt


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. 
DeRocco" <pderocco@i...> wrote:
> > From: kcongdon [mailto:kurt@c...]
> >
> > Does anyone have any pointers for generating a test strip for
> > printing in Photoshop? Are there any actions floating around for 
this?
> 
> You mean a step wedge? I put one in
> http://www.pbase.com/pderocco/test_images. (The zebra step wedge, 
by the

> way, is useful for measuring with an Eye-One.)
> 
> --
> 
> Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul                mailto:pderocco@i...

> From: kcongdon [mailto:kurt@...]
> 
> Coming from a traditional darkroom background, what I had in mind was 
> more of an exposure test strip than a step wedge.  I'd like to see 
> what effect varying the print density in varying degrees might have 
> on a printed b/w image.  

A step wedge will do that just fine.

-- 

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...

Ok.  So, to do this, would I create a new layer containing the step 
wedge?  What blending mode would I use to blend the step wedge with 
the test image?  

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. 

> 
> A step wedge will do that just fine.
> 
> -- 
> 
> Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul                mailto:pderocco@i...

Kurt,

If you mean a test strip as we used in the darkroom, I do the following:

1-Duplicate the image.   Adjust it lighter or darker with curves.

2-Crop the image to a strip that covers the area of interest.   Rename it as 
"name-strip"

3-Print the strip.   Readjust, crop and print again.   

4-I use Bowhaus Ink Jet Control which allows changes to lightness and 
contrast at the printing stage and is faster than working with a new duplicate image 
each time.

This method saves a lot of paper and nails the exact look the print will have 
when done full size.   You can cook the strip for 10 seconds or so in a 
microwave to get the dry down effect.   I find it very hard to get a print to look 
exactly like the monitor or all the reasons of a monitor is not a reflective 
surface, calibration etc.   It also has the advantage of printing the 
variations close together on one 8x10 sheet for accurate comparisons under the viewing 
light.

Cheers,

Angelo



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> From: kcongdon [mailto:kurt@...]
>
> Ok.  So, to do this, would I create a new layer containing the step
> wedge?  What blending mode would I use to blend the step wedge with
> the test image?

I think I'm starting to get what you're driving at. You want to print a test
image with various parts of it "exposed" differently, to see how they all
come out? I suppose you could do that, but remember, in digital you don't
just have one exposure time variable, you have an infinite range of
possibilities through curve adjustment. The most generally useful
"brightness" adjustment is a gamma-like curve created by dragging the
midpoint of the Curves dialog up or down, but this isn't the same as an
exposure variation in an enlarger.

If you want to try out a bunch of such curves in a single print, I suppose
you could create a number of adjustment layers, each with a different curve,
and fill each layer with "black" to disable it, except for square "white"
patches that are in different positions for each layer. You could build this
set of layers once, save it in a .psd file, and then insert various image
layers underneath the adjustment layers.

However, the kinds of tweaks you need to do to improve a particular image
usually involve specific parts of the dynamic range (e.g., darkening the
blacks or bringing out shadow detail), rather than the whole range. When I
polish a B&W image, I usually wind up appying a fairly odd-shaped curve, of
the sort that one could never get away with in a color image, and one that
is tailored to that image. So I don't think a strip that merely "exposed"
the test image by varying amounts would be that helpful.

I think the better approach is to try to improve your tools for better
screen-print matching. Then you won't have to experiment so much.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...

Thats a good point about curves.  I'm loving the control Photoshop 
affords, but I don't think it's completely sunk in yet.  I still find 
myself falling back to old ways.  For example, I still find it easier 
to judge an image by it's printed output, than by looking at it on 
the monitor.  I'm sure that will change as I spend more time with 
Photoshop and become more comfortable working in digital.

Regarding tweaking curves for black and white, do you know of any 
good books that address this control in terms of b/w prints?  There 
are loads of good photoshop photography books out there, but I've yet 
to find one that focuses on using photoshop for strictly b/w output. 
They all seem to be focused on color, and treat b/w as an 
afterthought.  

Thanks for the feedback, it's been very informative! 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. DeRocco
> \I suppose you could do that, but remember, in digital you don't
> just have one exposure time variable, you have an infinite range of
> possibilities through curve adjustment. The most generally useful
> "brightness" adjustment is a gamma-like curve created by dragging 
the
> midpoint of the Curves dialog up or down, but this isn't the same 
as an
> exposure variation in an enlarger.
>  
> .... some stuff snipped ...
 
> However, the kinds of tweaks you need to do to improve a particular 
image
> usually involve specific parts of the dynamic range (e.g., 
darkening the
> blacks or bringing out shadow detail), rather than the whole range. 
When I
> polish a B&W image, I usually wind up appying a fairly odd-shaped 
curve, of
> the sort that one could never get away with in a color image, and 
one that
> is tailored to that image. So I don't think a strip that 
merely "exposed"
> the test image by varying amounts would be that helpful.
> 
> I think the better approach is to try to improve your tools for 
better

> screen-print matching. Then you won't have to experiment so much.
> 
> --
> 
> Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul                mailto:pderocco@i...

> From: kcongdon [mailto:kurt@...]
>
> Regarding tweaking curves for black and white, do you know of any
> good books that address this control in terms of b/w prints?  There
> are loads of good photoshop photography books out there, but I've yet
> to find one that focuses on using photoshop for strictly b/w output.
> They all seem to be focused on color, and treat b/w as an
> afterthought.

Not really. I started with color, and have just been experimenting with B&W
on my own, sometimes using guidance found here.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "kcongdon" <kurt@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 8:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Howto generate a B/W test strip


Hi,

Coming from a traditional darkroom background, what I had in mind was
more of an exposure test strip than a step wedge.  I'd like to see
what effect varying the print density in varying degrees might have
on a printed b/w image.

Kurt



My way is to crop down to just the area I want to include in the test strip,
save it separately (Save As) and print just that strip. If I want a 1 inch
by 8 inch strip, I can print up to nine of them on a single letter size
sheet of paper, experimentally changing tonal adjustment settings between
printings. If I don't fill the whole sheet, I save it for future test
strips. If you need a strip longer than 11 inches, you'll obviously need a
larger sheet of paper but the principle is the same and you can get a lot of
test strips on a single 13 x 19 inch sheet of paper. That is currently my
way. If someone knows a better or faster way of accomplishing the same thing
I would like to hear about it.

Olaf Ringdahl