Digital BW, The Print

Hi Folks,

I have long wondered whether leaving my 1160 on all the time (or at least on 
at a time when all the nozzles are working!) would improve my life 
immeasurably.  In fact, whenever I'm in the midst of a big printing job, I try to get it 
all done as quickly as possible without turning the printer off in between, 
because it is sure to go through those extensive start-up shenanigans that seem 
a clear precursor to clogged nozzles.  Does anyone know whether there's any 
problem leaving on an older printer, like the 1160?

Thanks,

Rita


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

>   Does anyone know whether there's any
> problem leaving on an older printer, like the 1160?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rita
>

I leave the one I use now (I still have 3) on all the time.  It has 
Fotonics in it (which make excellent prints on Entrada, by the way).  
If I haven't printed for a while I might have to run a clean or two, 
nothing worse than that.

James Irelan


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

I use Jon Cone's piezotone inks in my 1160.  Do you know whether there are 
any special implications (re clogging) of leaving the printer on all the time 
with those inks?

Rita 


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

Does there exist an uncompressed version of Paul Roark's 21step wedge?
The one in the file section is JPEG compressed and very uneven along the
gradient, showing distinct vertical lines. It's hard to see on screen,
but it really shows up in the prints. The same thing is present in the
technical.psd file that is floating around (at least some versions of
it).

--
Daniel Staver
http://daniel.staver.no

For the best test strips and technical stuff try the GATF association.
(Grephic Arts Technical Foundation) They have it all. Try them on the web.

Charlie Dennis

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Daniel Staver [mailto:daniel@...]
  Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 12:49 PM
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [Digital BW] Uncompressed version of Paul Roark's stepwedge?


  Does there exist an uncompressed version of Paul Roark's 21step wedge?
  The one in the file section is JPEG compressed and very uneven along the
  gradient, showing distinct vertical lines. It's hard to see on screen,
  but it really shows up in the prints. The same thing is present in the
  technical.psd file that is floating around (at least some versions of
  it).

  --
  Daniel Staver
  http://daniel.staver.no





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

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Staver" 
<daniel@p...> wrote:
> Does there exist an uncompressed version of Paul Roark's 21step wedge?
> The one in the file section is JPEG compressed and very uneven along the
> gradient, showing distinct vertical lines. It's hard to see on screen,
> but it really shows up in the prints. The same thing is present in the
> technical.psd file that is floating around (at least some versions of
> it).
> 
> --
> Daniel Staver
> http://daniel.staver.no

Hi Daniel,

The compression probably messes up some of the transitions but I think
the main thing you are seeing with the vertical lines is just the individual
256 steps of gray.  Photoshop will create two kinds of gradients -- 256
hard edged steps and smooth dithered gradients.  The "dither" option
in the Gradient tool there a check box for the two kinds.

It's real easy to fix up the 21step.  Just select the top half and make a new
gradient with dither on.  Select the bottom half, make a gradient with
the dither off, and posterize to 21 levels.

Roy

> The compression probably messes up some of the transitions 
> but I think the main thing you are seeing with the vertical 
> lines is just the individual 256 steps of gray.  Photoshop 
> will create two kinds of gradients -- 256 hard edged steps 
> and smooth dithered gradients.  The "dither" option in the 
> Gradient tool there a check box for the two kinds.

I think there are more problems than just the individual steps
showing... Here I've increased the contrast on the stepwedge to make the
problem more visible, then enlarged it quite a bit:
http://daniel.staver.no/img/compressedstepwedge.jpg
 
> It's real easy to fix up the 21step.  Just select the top 
> half and make a new gradient with dither on.  Select the 
> bottom half, make a gradient with the dither off, and 
> posterize to 21 levels.

I made a new cleaned-up version without artifacts and updated the
technical.psd file with the new stepwedge. I also made a smaller version
of for test prints. All three files are available here:

http://download.petraflux.com/technical.zip (3.59mb)

--
Daniel Staver
http://daniel.staver.no

I am glad to see that you also cleaned up the LPI section of the file,
it was also hampered by jpeg artifacting, hence did not have clean
black to white line transitions and could be translated differently by
different drivers and was certainly not a valid test. If you want to
see a clean line from a printer, you have to start with a clean source
line. In fact, it's quite possible that any driver that excelled with
that portion of the test has some built in sharpening as the original
Pro24 RIP did.
This file has been floating around for quite a while used as a
technical reference, any source material used for comparisons like
this need to be very carefully considered.
Thanks for your efforts, anyone using the old should consider
replacing with these.
Tyler

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Staver"
<daniel@p...> wrote:

> > The compression probably messes up some of the transitions 
> > but I think the main thing you are seeing with the vertical 
> > lines is just the individual 256 steps of gray.  Photoshop 
> > will create two kinds of gradients -- 256 hard edged steps 
> > and smooth dithered gradients.  The "dither" option in the 
> > Gradient tool there a check box for the two kinds.
> 
> I think there are more problems than just the individual steps
> showing... Here I've increased the contrast on the stepwedge to make the
> problem more visible, then enlarged it quite a bit:
> http://daniel.staver.no/img/compressedstepwedge.jpg
>  
> > It's real easy to fix up the 21step.  Just select the top 
> > half and make a new gradient with dither on.  Select the 
> > bottom half, make a gradient with the dither off, and 
> > posterize to 21 levels.
> 
> I made a new cleaned-up version without artifacts and updated the
> technical.psd file with the new stepwedge. I also made a smaller version
> of for test prints. All three files are available here:
> 
> http://download.petraflux.com/technical.zip (3.59mb)
> 
> --
> Daniel Staver
> http://daniel.staver.no

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Staver" 
<daniel@p...> wrote:
> > The compression probably messes up some of the transitions 
> > but I think the main thing you are seeing with the vertical 
> > lines is just the individual 256 steps of gray.  Photoshop 
> > will create two kinds of gradients -- 256 hard edged steps 
> > and smooth dithered gradients.  The "dither" option in the 
> > Gradient tool there a check box for the two kinds.
> 
> I think there are more problems than just the individual steps
> showing... Here I've increased the contrast on the stepwedge to make the
> problem more visible, then enlarged it quite a bit:
> http://daniel.staver.no/img/compressedstepwedge.jpg
>  
> > It's real easy to fix up the 21step.  Just select the top 
> > half and make a new gradient with dither on.  Select the 
> > bottom half, make a gradient with the dither off, and 
> > posterize to 21 levels.
> 
> I made a new cleaned-up version without artifacts and updated the
> technical.psd file with the new stepwedge. I also made a smaller version
> of for test prints. All three files are available here:
> 
> http://download.petraflux.com/technical.zip (3.59mb)
> 
> --
> Daniel Staver
> http://daniel.staver.no

Much nicer, Daniel.  One thing I noticed however is that two of the
files, the smaller wedge and technical, are Adobe RGB rather than
Grayscale.  This introduces some profile conversion differences
especially in the 95% step -- it comes out 96% with a dither.

Roy

> Much nicer, Daniel.  One thing I noticed however is that two 
> of the files, the smaller wedge and technical, are Adobe RGB 
> rather than Grayscale.  This introduces some profile 
> conversion differences especially in the 95% step -- it comes 
> out 96% with a dither.

Thanks for letting me know! I've updated the zip file with new grayscale
images where the problem is fixed.

--
Daniel Staver
http://daniel.staver.no