Digital B&W, The Print: Topic, Rules and Guidelines

Welcome!

This forum was started in response to a strong desire by many people to make high quality digital B&W prints and a need for a central place to post and find information. To facilitate the free flow of this information we established this forum with no ties to any commercial enterprise.

The hope is that this will become a place where all of the current and future techniques for making digital B&W prints will be discussed, evaluated, disseminated, compared, critiqued, reviewed, debated and refined in a dynamic exchange of ideas and information.

You are invited to participate and share your knowledge. There are many people out there who want to know how to make digital B&W prints. Please ask. That's a primary reason the forum is here.

In order to help screen out SPAM all new members are initially on "Moderated" posting status. This means that your first post to this group goes into a "Pending" area until it has been approved by a moderator. If it is not SPAM and is on topic your posting status is changed to "Unmoderated" and the message is posted. From then on your messages are directly posted to the group. There can be a delay in your first post appearing if none of the moderators are immediately available. Please be patient.

Please visit group’s homepage and visit regularly. In a frame on the left hand side of the page you will find several links to a range of resources that you can click on.

“Files” will take you to several file folders containing a variety of information. This includes selected messages from the list that have been placed here for easy reference, a database on paper for inkjet printing, files that are linked to a specific message to illustrate the subject, etc. Please explore these folders and their sub-folders.

“Photos” includes images that were posted in connection to a specific message to demonstrate something graphically that is not easily described in words.

“Bookmarks” include links to suppliers of supplies, other related user groups and photographers actively using digital techniques in there workflow to produce a B&W print.

“Database” contains some of the information in the main paper database in “Files”

“Polls” contains current questions that are being asked in order to better determine users wants and needs.

The “Search Archive” tool is located on the homepage also. This is a great place to start if you have a specific question. Type in a key word and click the “Search Archive” button. A list on messages containing the word or words in your search will be listed. As the archive grows the chances of finding an answer to your question gets better all the time.

Please visit the homepage and these resource pages regularly. If you have any information or files you would like to add to these resource areas please let us know.

Rule and Guidelines for participating in this forum:

This is an “unmoderated” forum meaning that messages are not checked for content before they are posted and sent out as e-mail. It is expected that the members of the group will monitor the forum and themselves. The Owner and Moderators of this forum have no control over what may be posted and assume no responsibility for the content of any post or message. By participating in this forum, users agree to hold the Owner and Moderators blameless for what may be posted on the forum and for any actions the Owner and Moderators may decide to take to ensure the group rules and guidelines are adhered to.

Please only post messages and questions relating to making B&W (monochrome) prints using digital techniques. This may sound rather narrow but it can be very broad since it is impossible to discuss final output without considering input in great detail. The discussion will include all aspects of photography from image capture through final print, but posters should make an effort to relate their posts to the ultimate production of B&W prints.

Users who repeatedly make off topic posts may have their ability to post restricted or their membership terminated at the discretion of the group Owner and/or Moderators. By participating in this forum users agree that what constitutes an off topic post is solely at the discretion of the group Owner and/or Moderators This may sound harsh but from experience it is essential to maintaining a high quality and useful forum.

If you have not done so already, read the Yahoo! Groups Terms of Service These cover key issues regarding posting on this forum and other Yahoo locations. By participating in the group you agree to adhere to the Terms of Service and recognize that failing to adhere to these terms will result in a loss of membership.

Use of the forum by the members includes an expectation of basic good manners and good taste. While digital B&W printing would seem like a very mild topic to most, those of us with experience know that people can become very impassioned over their art, ideas, and choice of materials. Open and candid discussion is encouraged. However, courtesy must prevail and it is expected that exchanges should not deteriorate into personal insults, harassment, threats, etc. Beyond these obvious breaches of civilized behavior, users who are persistently hostile, aggressive or argumentative will be considered to be in violation of the rules and spirit of this forum. In addition the group Owner and Moderators reserve the right to restrict the access or membership of any member of the group as they feel necessary in order to maintain the guidelines and decorum of the group.

If posts are made in violation of these rules, intervention may be taken by the Owner and/or Moderators as deemed necessary including restrictions on posting,or loss of membership by offending members and/or the deletion of messages posted to the forum. Due to time constraints and the large size of the forum actions may be taken without advance warning or notice to those effected. By using this forum members agree to abide by the group guidelines; to be bound by the decisions of the group Owner and Moderators regarding posts and membership status; and to hold the group Owner and Moderator blameless for any actions they may take to uphold the group guidelines.

No SPAM please. Spamming will be grounds for being barred from the forum. The decision of whether a post is or is not SPAM is solely at the discretion of the group Owner and/or Moderators.

Postings by commercial ventures or their representatives to promote their products for digital B&W printing are welcome and encouraged provided they follow the guidelines below:

1. Only post announcements of products relating to making B&W prints using a digital device.

2. If you want to use this forum as a place to announce or promote your product, it is expected that you reciprocate and promote the forum by placing a link to this forum on your website. This should be an obvious win-win situation.

3. If you promote your products here, you are expected to be a regular participant on the forum and respond to questions regarding the products and/or services by other forum users.

4. Please limit purely promotional posts to roughly once a month. The forum should not become a string of advertisements.

To users that are affiliated with a company or commercial operation involved in digital printing, we ask that you please indicate so on all your postings to this forum. This is requested in order to maintain the level of candid discussion we all desire.

BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE “OWNER” AND “MODERATORS” OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE “OWNER” AND “MODERATORS” OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP.