Digital BW, The Print

Maybe someone can help me here... 

I printed a large project a year ago on FB paper, on 11x14 paper, and 
these final "master" prints were intended to be used for a high-
quality book project. These prints are the only ones available - I 
couldn't afford to print several copies. 

These prints are going to be sold at an exhibit soon, but I would like 
to keep an exact "digital copy" of the image as it is on the print, so 
that there is consistency in the look of the silver print and the 
image on the (upcoming) book. On the other hand, I might want to make 
digital negatives of these images later on to propose more affordable 
versions of the image. What would be better, keeping in mind that 
image quality is the first priority: having the prints drum-scanned 
and "ready" for any sort of output (book, digital negative, inkjet) or 
drum-scanning the 4x5 negatives and re-doing the work on the computer? 
Also, what's the least expensive of the two, considering that I would 
be doing this to 50-70 images through a service bureau? 

Any help would be great. 

Thanks, 
SR

My personal opinion is that silver fiber prints look better than inkjets,
all other things being equal and working from top quality negatives (in
other words, the silver print itself has a better appearance).  Having said
that, if the output is to be inkjet and publication scans, you will get a
better look by scanning the negative in hi-bit mode (16 bit). The negative
scan will give you more tonal range to work with.

dodging/burning with the history erase in high bit mode, although time
consuming, yields inkjet print and publication scans that have noticeably
improved definition in the shadow and highlight values, compared to darkroom
prints.  The ability to dodge and burn by changing midtone slider gamma on
any section of the image can produce outstanding aesthetic quality that can
only be achieved in the darkroom with masks at least, if not pin
registration masks.

Prints made in the darkroom for publication or scanning are usually a bit
soft in contrast and have almost no pure blacks or whites, whereas darkroom
prints made for exhibition usually have as much pop in them as possible.  So
a third option exists, which is making a set of prints in the darkroom for
drum scanning.  If you lack the ability to personally do high-bit dodging
and burning on a scan in the computer, this would probably give you the best
result.  Often now the scanning for coffee table books is done in Hong Kong
or elsewhere and you don't have hands-on access through the process.  By
making publication 8x10s I had excellent results in both tri-tone and
halftone books.

Probably one of the persons who is going to be most interested in this
discussion is the book designer.  Get their name and number from your
publisher, go to the library and see a few other things they have done, and
then call the book designer to come up with the best strategy.  Designers
are very individualistic, and each publisher has an existing pipeline, and
what would be best for one may be different for another.

good luck
Tom Robinson

Thanks, Tom. What you wrote makes sense. It makes even moresense since 
I was asked about $80 per print and per scan at a local service 
bureau. I guess I'm better off either buying a 4x5 film scanner or 
waiting to see if the publisher will do it.
JMF

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Historic Photo 
Archive <tom@h...> wrote:
> 
> My personal opinion is that silver fiber prints look better than 
inkjets,
> all other things being equal and working from top quality negatives 
(in
> other words, the silver print itself has a better appearance).  
Having said
> that, if the output is to be inkjet and publication scans, you will 
get a
> better look by scanning the negative in hi-bit mode (16 bit). The 
negative
> scan will give you more tonal range to work with.
> 
> dodging/burning with the history erase in high bit mode, although 
time
> consuming, yields inkjet print and publication scans that have 
noticeably
> improved definition in the shadow and highlight values, compared to 
darkroom
> prints.  The ability to dodge and burn by changing midtone slider 
gamma on
> any section of the image can produce outstanding aesthetic quality 
that can
> only be achieved in the darkroom with masks at least, if not pin
> registration masks.
> 
> Prints made in the darkroom for publication or scanning are usually 
a bit
> soft in contrast and have almost no pure blacks or whites, whereas 
darkroom
> prints made for exhibition usually have as much pop in them as 
possible.  So
> a third option exists, which is making a set of prints in the 
darkroom for
> drum scanning.  If you lack the ability to personally do high-bit 
dodging
> and burning on a scan in the computer, this would probably give you 
the best
> result.  Often now the scanning for coffee table books is done in 
Hong Kong
> or elsewhere and you don't have hands-on access through the process. 
 By
> making publication 8x10s I had excellent results in both tri-tone 
and
> halftone books.
> 
> Probably one of the persons who is going to be most interested in 
this
> discussion is the book designer.  Get their name and number from 
your
> publisher, go to the library and see a few other things they have 
done, and
> then call the book designer to come up with the best strategy.  
Designers
> are very individualistic, and each publisher has an existing 
pipeline, and

> what would be best for one may be different for another.
> 
> good luck
> Tom Robinson