Digital BW, The Print

I have a very small collection of b&w streetcar negs taken primarily
in the mid- to late-1940s.  The quality of the images is mixed (many
lack the rich contrasts and detail I normally like in my images) and
the production was spotty.  Nevertheless, the images are very
interesting.  Getting nice prints is a challenge however.  Am
wondering if others in the group have done this kind of printing and
if they'd be willing to share advice/tips/successes/flops.  Thanks.
Bob Paterson

A way to increase local contrast is to use the unsharp mask filter with a
very large radius.  As always, beware of too much; push it way up so you can
identify what happens when too much is used.

Best regards,
John Moody

-----Original Message-----
From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of rpaterso47
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 9:52 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] printing from old negs

I have a very small collection of b&w streetcar negs taken primarily
in the mid- to late-1940s. The quality of the images is mixed (many
lack the rich contrasts and detail I normally like in my images) and
the production was spotty. Nevertheless, the images are very
interesting. Getting nice prints is a challenge however. Am
wondering if others in the group have done this kind of printing and
if they'd be willing to share advice/tips/successes/flops. Thanks.
Bob Paterson
__.


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

Try Akvis Enhancer, great for local contrast improvement.
Some people suggest applying after sharpening, I apply before.

Mike


On 13/02/07, John Moody <moodymz3@...> wrote:
>
>   A way to increase local contrast is to use the unsharp mask filter with
> a
> very large radius. As always, beware of too much; push it way up so you
> can
> identify what happens when too much is used.
>
> Best regards,
> John Moody
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com<DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint%40yahoogroups.com>
> [mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com<DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint%40yahoogroups.com>]On
> Behalf Of rpaterso47
> Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 9:52 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com<DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] printing from old negs
>
> I have a very small collection of b&w streetcar negs taken primarily
> in the mid- to late-1940s. The quality of the images is mixed (many
> lack the rich contrasts and detail I normally like in my images) and
> the production was spotty. Nevertheless, the images are very
> interesting. Getting nice prints is a challenge however. Am
> wondering if others in the group have done this kind of printing and
> if they'd be willing to share advice/tips/successes/flops. Thanks.
> Bob Paterson
> __.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> 
>


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

Mike, John,

Interesting thread, not only for negative improvement...

Just last week I was trying to do the following: copy the image, 
desaturate if applicable, set the blending mode to "soft light" and 
apply a high pass filter with large radius. My guess is that in 
effect this is the same as John's method, with the difference that 
this one is non-destructive.

I checked out Akvis Enhancer. From the limited info they give, it 
looks like something very similar. Or do they have more tricks on 
their sleve....?

Joost
 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Michael King" 
<drmrking@...> wrote:
>
> Try Akvis Enhancer, great for local contrast improvement.
> Some people suggest applying after sharpening, I apply before.
> 
> Mike
> 
> 
> On 13/02/07, John Moody <moodymz3@...> wrote:
> >
> >   A way to increase local contrast is to use the unsharp mask 
filter with
> > a
> > very large radius.

Joost,

here's a review on Akvis Enhancer, that might give a little more  
insight:

http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_93/essay.html

Cheers,

Andrew


Joost Horsten wrote:

> I checked out Akvis Enhancer. From the limited info they give, it
> looks like something very similar. Or do they have more tricks on
> their sleve....?
>
> Joost



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