Digital BW, The Print

If one had a reasonable spectrophotometer, how difficult would it be 
to make a profile that could be used in Photoshop to soft-proof not 
just the density, but also the hue of the ink/paper combination?

Is this a service someone is willing to provide for a fee?

Thanks in advance,
Peter.

Peter,

Not difficult at all.  There are samples available here at Roy 
Harrington's site:
http://www.harrington.com/QuadToneRIP.html

and instructions for creating your own for any B&W workflow, inks, and 
papers here:
http://www.harrington.com/SoftProofing.sit

You would need the eye-one spectrophotometer and i1 Match software to 
make your own profiles with this method.

Carl

On Dec 22, 2004, at 5:10 PM, Peter wrote:

>
>
> If one had a reasonable spectrophotometer, how difficult would it be
> to make a profile that could be used in Photoshop to soft-proof not
> just the density, but also the hue of the ink/paper combination?
>
> Is this a service someone is willing to provide for a fee?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Peter.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Peter,

>If one had a reasonable spectrophotometer, how difficult would it be 
>to make a profile that could be used in Photoshop to soft-proof not 
>just the density, but also the hue of the ink/paper combination?

>Is this a service someone is willing to provide for a fee?

I have experimented with small files that have curves layers on them that
can do for those with PS Elements all that we can do with curves.  This
includes not only control of the inks for printing, but also density and hue
control of the image on the monitor.

As an example, the file that has the matte paper printing curves on it for
the 2000P and FS inksets can be downloaded from
http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/2000P-FS-curves.htm.  This is one of the pages
accessible from my general printing info index at
http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/index.htm. 


I have not posted the soft proofing files because I'm not sure previewing
the hue of either an FS inkset print or even a variable tone inkset print is
worth the effort, including the problems that would result from people not
removing or deactivating the layer before printing.

So, I'm currently inclined to post only the UT printer-control types of
layers files to support PS Elements (and other) users with respect to at
least some of the UT inksets I've worked on.  Since the 1280 currently comes
with Elements v. 2.0, all recent 1280 purchasers will be able to use the
curves-controlled inksets with no further outlay of cash or work. So, a
small file for 1280 users will probably be made at some point. 

I'm probably going to wait and see how that goes before I get into any more.
However, in my experiments, all the necessary B&W soft proofing can be done
with simple curves that are put onto layers, and these layers can be put
onto small *.psd or *.tif files that people just download.  For the monitor,
there would be a variety of density adjustment curves layers that people
would just try until they found one that worked.  They could then delete the
others.  The correct density layer(s) might also be combined with hue/color
layers for RGB files.

At any rate, all of this can be just a drag and drop procedure to adjust a
file for viewing, even for those who simply have the free Elements that ship
with 1280s.  (I wonder what other Epson printers ship with Elements.)  

I think the soft proofing curves can be made visually without any
instruments.  In fact, I see very little return to investment for individual
B&W printers for any of the profiling or color calibration software.  The
programs and costs are, in my view, a color printer's problem that B&W
printers just don't need.  They also just don't work as well as a soft proof
that is done with a custom dot gain curve (more complex) or a simple image
adjustment curve or layer -- as long as the user remembers to remove it
before printing.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Thanks for the responses, Carl and Paul.

When I switched from the PiezoBW ICC system to IJC/OPM with Piezo 
inks, the hue-based soft-proofing in Photoshop is the only thing I 
that I really missed. Since the hue of the ink/paper combination 
plays such an important part in the mood of the final image, I found 
that having the ability to edit my image with the hue already in 
place made a big difference in how I interpreted the "work in 
process" image. And with a library of soft-proof profiles, it 
allowed me to visualize what the image might look like on papers I 
had never even considered before, which I found very useful in my 
creative process.

I'll take a look at the materials you two suggested.

Thanks,
Peter.


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Peter,
> 
> >If one had a reasonable spectrophotometer, how difficult would it 
be 
> >to make a profile that could be used in Photoshop to soft-proof 
not 

> >just the density, but also the hue of the ink/paper combination?
> 
> >Is this a service someone is willing to provide for a fee?

I agree, I love it. Of course you can do without it, or soft proof
other ways. It's not just hue though, I find many subtle distinctions
more clearly represented on the monitor, and the selected hue can have
an effect on the feeling of tonal contrast in different areas. Paper W
and ink K are very useful to me as well in evaluating how things will
feel on paper.
It could be considered a luxury, but I'll take it.
Tyler


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Peter"
<spamme2001@m...> wrote:

> 
> Thanks for the responses, Carl and Paul.
> 
> When I switched from the PiezoBW ICC system to IJC/OPM with Piezo 
> inks, the hue-based soft-proofing in Photoshop is the only thing I 
> that I really missed. Since the hue of the ink/paper combination 
> plays such an important part in the mood of the final image, I found 
> that having the ability to edit my image with the hue already in 
> place made a big difference in how I interpreted the "work in 
> process" image. And with a library of soft-proof profiles, it 
> allowed me to visualize what the image might look like on papers I 
> had never even considered before, which I found very useful in my 
> creative process.
> 
> I'll take a look at the materials you two suggested.
> 
> Thanks,
> Peter.
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" 
> <paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> > Peter,
> > 
> > >If one had a reasonable spectrophotometer, how difficult would it 
> be 
> > >to make a profile that could be used in Photoshop to soft-proof 
> not 
> > >just the density, but also the hue of the ink/paper combination?
> > 
> > >Is this a service someone is willing to provide for a fee?