Datacolor User to User Support Group.

>> Since the "shadow detail" adjustment has be maxed out (at 20), the only thing I can think of to open the shadows more is to work out some kind of curve to do this in Photoshop, and then add the curve to profile-making process.
> 
> Yes, that will certainly work, though it begs the question: why do you need so much shadow adjustment in your prints? Is your display too bright? Do you just prefer detail to punch in the shadows? Personally, about five points of shadow opening is all I need on a matte Moab paper.

This has puzzled me as well.  Over a wide variety of ordinary lighting conditions the +20 shadow versions of most of my images look more "relaxed" or "natural" (i.e. not over-inked, burned-in, or "heavy").  This is much more obvious with matte paper on the Epson 4880 (using MIS inks).    

Even with my new 3880, which I am using exclusively for photo black glossy prints, +20 shadow prints of natural scenes with wide brightness ranges appear rich and detailed throughout the range.  So far I haven't had any images that looked weak because of the shadows.  The shadows don't *look* dodged or elevated.  Most of my recent work involves more detail than graphic impact...

I just now printed out and measured the standard 21-step Adobe RGB 8-bit greyscale.  I used the +20 shadow profiles I made for the Epson 3880 (Kirkland paper) and 4880 (Lasal matte paper).

The high and low values look pretty normal for these papers and printers (at least for me). 

I'm guessing that with the 3880 the jump from 4.37 (95% black) to 11.47 and then 16.69 are so large because of the +20 shadow settings.

The 4880, with less range in the dark tones, has much less stretch in this region, although it is obvious that something has happened.  It may well be that I cannot expect the visual separation that I get with glossy papers.

Do these values seem appropriate, given my settings?  Would you *expect* real-world images to look "off" if they followed these L-curves?

Here are the L-values:

3880			4880
95.25		96.14
90.89		91.92
85.85		87.27
80.95		82.37
76.34		78.12
72.92		74.77
68.03		68.83
63.63		63.91
58.89		57.66
54.35		53.88
49.33		49.26
44.59		43.24
39.29		38.60
34.09		35.48
29.41		32.66
24.88		29.86
20.63		27.67
16.69		25.34
11.47		21.87
4.37			18.37
3.71			17.32

Myron