Digital BW, The Print

Hello,

It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to calibrate my 
monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need software 
and just color calibrate it?

Are there any good links that explain for to calibrate your entire 
workflow from scanner to printer?

Thanks
steve

> From: spersky123 [mailto:spersky@...]
>
> It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to calibrate my
> monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need software
> and just color calibrate it?

I'd do the same think as for color: buy a package with a colorimeter. You
can teach yourself to ignore a color cast on the screen when doing B&W work,
but you still need a colorimeter to get an accurate gray scale, especially
at the dark end.

--

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

Steve,

from your questions, I'm guessing you'll benefit from reading up on Color
Management in general. The "Real World" series by Bruce Fraser are an excellent
place to start. 

Regarding the monitor: yes, you first calibrate, then profile using a good 
kit that combines spectrophotometer and software. However, you'll find that
depending on your printing workflow, the monitor will not match your bw
print. That's where you need to take advantage of some Photoshop tricks
like softprooofing, transfer functions, working space definitions etc. A lot
has been covered here - and will probably be again - so, you may search 
our archives (i.e. the messages in the home page) or hang out here and ask
more specific questions as you tackle each area of your digital bw workflow.


Antonis


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "spersky123" 
<spersky@s...> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to calibrate my 
> monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need software 
> and just color calibrate it?
> 
> Are there any good links that explain for to calibrate your entire 
> workflow from scanner to printer?
> 
> Thanks
> steve

You mentioned BO in your original post. My method is much simpler than
others mentioned. First I read and digested (emphasis on digested)
Clayton Jones excellent articles on BO printing. I used the "auto
calibrate" button on my monitor. Then I varied the print space
settings till I found that dialing in 10% dot gain in the printer with
a non color managed or Gray Gamma 2.2 b&w file gives me a print that
matches the screen when printing BO Eboni on EEM with my 1280.

When printing with UT2 on EEM if found that just setting the print
space to be the "same as source" matches the print and the screen. 

Maybe it's too simple to believe it works. But it does for me. My
theory is to expend your energy on capturing better images and you'll
have better prints. 

Bob Michaels

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "spersky123"
<spersky@s...> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to calibrate my 
> monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need software 
> and just color calibrate it?
> 
> Are there any good links that explain for to calibrate your entire 
> workflow from scanner to printer?
> 
> Thanks
> steve

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Michaels" 
<bob@b...> wrote:
> You mentioned BO in your original post. My method is much simpler 
than
> others mentioned. First I read and digested (emphasis on digested)
> Clayton Jones excellent articles on BO printing. I used the "auto
> calibrate" button on my monitor. Then I varied the print space
> settings till I found that dialing in 10% dot gain in the printer 
with
> a non color managed or Gray Gamma 2.2 b&w file gives me a print that
> matches the screen when printing BO Eboni on EEM with my 1280.
> 
> When printing with UT2 on EEM if found that just setting the print
> space to be the "same as source" matches the print and the screen. 
> 
> Maybe it's too simple to believe it works. But it does for me. My
> theory is to expend your energy on capturing better images and 
you'll
> have better prints. 
> 
> Bob Michaels
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "spersky123"
> <spersky@s...> wrote:
> > Hello,
> > 
> > It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to 
calibrate my 
> > monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need 
software 
> > and just color calibrate it?
> > 
> > Are there any good links that explain for to calibrate your 
entire 
> > workflow from scanner to printer?
> > 
> > Thanks
> > steve


I just read Clayton's site about color managment.  I read it twice. 
It was great. I experimented with my current printer. My epson 2200 
in on the way.  Anyway, I understand the concept fairly well. I will 
have to reread it I am sure.  I tell you what Clayton's web site has 
been so informative, I dont think I would have known where to start 
without reading that site.

Thanks

Steve,

>... what should I do to calibrate my monitor for my 
>black and white digital darkroom.  
>Do I need software and just color calibrate it?

All I do is use the Adobe Gamma routine (see the Windows Control Panel) and
the Photoshop preview feature described here: 
http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/Monitor-Profiling.htm 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Bob is correct with what he did. I did a similar thing with BO which 
also turned our to be correct for MIS Full Spectrum Neutral inks. 
With BO I used the front end of 20% dot gain and for the proof I used 
10% dot gain and then printed with 15% dot gain and it matched the 
proof after working the image in Photoshop.

Your friend in Photography,

Johnny


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Michaels" 
<bob@b...> wrote:
> You mentioned BO in your original post. My method is much simpler 
than
> others mentioned. First I read and digested (emphasis on digested)
> Clayton Jones excellent articles on BO printing. I used the "auto
> calibrate" button on my monitor. Then I varied the print space
> settings till I found that dialing in 10% dot gain in the printer 
with
> a non color managed or Gray Gamma 2.2 b&w file gives me a print that
> matches the screen when printing BO Eboni on EEM with my 1280.
> 
> When printing with UT2 on EEM if found that just setting the print
> space to be the "same as source" matches the print and the screen. 
> 
> Maybe it's too simple to believe it works. But it does for me. My
> theory is to expend your energy on capturing better images and 
you'll
> have better prints. 
> 
> Bob Michaels
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "spersky123"
> <spersky@s...> wrote:
> > Hello,
> > 
> > It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to 
calibrate my 
> > monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need 
software 
> > and just color calibrate it?
> > 
> > Are there any good links that explain for to calibrate your 
entire 

> > workflow from scanner to printer?
> > 
> > Thanks
> > steve

Did you say spectrophotometer, instead of colorimeter, Antonis 
because a spectro' will be needed anyway in the use of a RIP or to 
profile the printer(s)? I'm thinking about not using a RIP and buying 
custom printer profiles from CHROMiX.com for $70 - $80 each. But 
assuming in that case that I'd use a colorimeter for the monitor and 
not need a spectro' at all?

Thanks.
--
Sam

>Steve,
>
>from your questions, I'm guessing you'll benefit from reading up on Color
>Management in general. The "Real World" series by Bruce Fraser are 
>an excellent
>place to start.
>
>Regarding the monitor: yes, you first calibrate, then profile using a good
>kit that combines spectrophotometer and software. However, you'll find that
>depending on your printing workflow, the monitor will not match your bw
>print. That's where you need to take advantage of some Photoshop tricks
>like softprooofing, transfer functions, working space definitions etc. A lot
>has been covered here - and will probably be again - so, you may search
>our archives (i.e. the messages in the home page) or hang out here and ask
>more specific questions as you tackle each area of your digital bw workflow.
>
>
>Antonis
>
>
>--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "spersky123"
><spersky@s...> wrote:
>>  Hello,
>>
>>  It may seem like a dumb question but what should I do to calibrate my
>>  monitor for my black and white digital darkroom.  Do I need software
>>  and just color calibrate it?
>>
>>  Are there any good links that explain for to calibrate your entire
>>  workflow from scanner to printer?
>>
>>  Thanks
>  > steve

> From: Sam McCandless [mailto:samcc@...]
>
> Did you say spectrophotometer, instead of colorimeter, Antonis
> because a spectro' will be needed anyway in the use of a RIP or to
> profile the printer(s)? I'm thinking about not using a RIP and buying
> custom printer profiles from CHROMiX.com for $70 - $80 each. But
> assuming in that case that I'd use a colorimeter for the monitor and
> not need a spectro' at all?

True. If by colorimeter you mean a three-band device, that's all you really
need for monitor profiling, since it puts out three rather distinct
narrowband colors.

For printer profiling, a colorimeter is enough in theory, but I suspect that
in real life having 36 10nm bands like the Eye-One Pro makes it easier to
match the spectral response of the human eye, compared to brewing up the
right color dye filters to do the same thing.

--

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