Digital BW, The Print

Hi
I have been lurking around this site for awhile and am most impressed 
with the level of knowledge and the over all effort to help each 
other out.

About me
My name is Don Rooney
Live in Northern California (between San Francisco and San Jose)
Shoot with Fuji S1
Am currently using an Epson 880 4 color (8.5" x 11") printer (was 
free with computer and does not use the "chip" on the cartridges)
I'm using the MIS variable mix quadtone inks after going to Paul 
Roark's site and reading what he thinks.
I'm using Red River paper 47# but I see that everyone is using 
something else. 
After making a bunch of regular B&W prints I'm now ready to move on 
to the "real" stuff. But just a note ---- with the Epson default 
driver my prints look pretty good.
So some questions
1. when you actually output are the files RGB or B&W / grayscale to 
start with ?
2. I'm sure I'll get various answers but what is the most used / 
preferred paper
3. Paul -- do you think the 1280 curves you have would be close on 
the 880 ????
4. Is anyone using a reflective densitometer (xrite / gretag) to read 
the black values ????
5. The print exchange sounds great  -- how can I find out more about 
it ???
Thanks in advance for your help and answers.
Don Rooney

Wecome, fellow S1 user.  You'll get great results from S1 images 
converted to B&W.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised how much more you can get 
out of your printer if you do not use the plain vanilla Epson 
driver.  Paul's curves or Piezography should both give much better 
results (particularly in shadow detail).

Paper is such a personal choice.  My faves are Hahnnemuhle Photo Rag 
(comes in two weights) and Lyson Fine Art (aka German Etching).  
Photo Rag is smooth and quite bright, Lyson FA is has a more textured 
surface, but still quite smooth.

I assume that you convert to B&W in Photoshop.  I convert the S1 8 
bit output to 16bits in Photoshop and then do the curves / levels / 
B&W conversion.  I am currently using Convert to B&W Pro, the lazy 
man's way to B&W riches :-)  I think it is an excellent plugin, and 
works on 16 bit data.  Some don't like it, however.

Good luck with your adventures.
--
Quentin



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "dpr94025" <donr@r...> 
wrote:
> Hi
> I have been lurking around this site for awhile and am most 
impressed 
> with the level of knowledge and the over all effort to help each 
> other out.
> 
> About me
> My name is Don Rooney
> Live in Northern California (between San Francisco and San Jose)
> Shoot with Fuji S1
> Am currently using an Epson 880 4 color (8.5" x 11") printer (was 
> free with computer and does not use the "chip" on the cartridges)
> I'm using the MIS variable mix quadtone inks after going to Paul 
> Roark's site and reading what he thinks.
> I'm using Red River paper 47# but I see that everyone is using 
> something else. 
> After making a bunch of regular B&W prints I'm now ready to move on 
> to the "real" stuff. But just a note ---- with the Epson default 
> driver my prints look pretty good.
> So some questions
> 1. when you actually output are the files RGB or B&W / grayscale to 
> start with ?
> 2. I'm sure I'll get various answers but what is the most used / 
> preferred paper
> 3. Paul -- do you think the 1280 curves you have would be close on 
> the 880 ????
> 4. Is anyone using a reflective densitometer (xrite / gretag) to 
read 
> the black values ????
> 5. The print exchange sounds great  -- how can I find out more 
about 

> it ???
> Thanks in advance for your help and answers.
> Don Rooney

Quentin
Thanks for your advise.
I convert to B&W using Photoshop 6.0.1 and I also use Silver Oxide 
plugins (tmax, tri-x and I think t100). I'm still coming up to speed 
on the use of curves. Do you adjust each channel individually or do 
you adjust the collective "rgb" group ?????

Thanks again 
Don

> I assume that you convert to B&W in Photoshop.  I convert the S1 8 
> bit output to 16bits in Photoshop and then do the curves / levels / 
> B&W conversion.  I am currently using Convert to B&W Pro, the lazy 
> man's way to B&W riches :-)  I think it is an excellent plugin, and 
> works on 16 bit data.  Some don't like it, however.
> 
> Good luck with your adventures.
> --
> Quentin

Welcome, Don-

I'm NorCal, too and shooting Nikon digital... we should share a lot 
of the same issues <g>.

Let's see if I can hit a few  of your questions:

> 1. when you actually output are the files RGB or B&W / grayscale to 
> start with ?

Not sure... Assume they are which ever you set it at? In the Epson 
curves model (FS or VM using John or Paul's curves, it's RGB), with 
Piezography driver, it's GS

> 2. I'm sure I'll get various answers but what is the most used / 
> preferred paper

Probably Epson archival matte, though nobody admits it 'cuz they now 
have a watermark on the back that says "epson" and has a series of 
arrows to show you what direction to print it with (hey !!! anyone 
try printing it the WRONG WAY???)

Some other favorites are the Crane Museo, any Hahnemuhle paper, but 
especially Torchon and Photo Rag for the deep blacks, Somerset 
enhanced photo, some of the Cone papers at InkjetMall.com

You can order sample packs at reasonable prices from the various 
outlets...definitely worth the effort.


> 4. Is anyone using a reflective densitometer (xrite / gretag) to 
read 
> the black values ????

Not me...

> 5. The print exchange sounds great  -- how can I find out more 
about 
> it ???

I may be regretting it, but I just came very close to offering to 
host one... Stay tuned here... If there is some response/feedback in 
the forum as to size, theme, etc, I will post formal a invite over 
the weekend (after I've checked my own schedule tonight)

You'll enjoy this forum... I lurked for a couple of months before 
jumping in and I'm finding it very rewarding... No tie to any one 
brand or sponsor, some creative thinkers and some really good 
photographers jump in... Maybe I'll bump into you down the coast one 
of these days.

Tom O'Connell