Black and white digital workflow

Hello,

This is my first post at dpug, but I have posted at apug before since most of my printing is done in a traditional darkroom.

I am looking for a good source of information (new and updated) on digital printing, especially B&W. I have a project done on dr5-chromes (from 120-film), and I will print this on an Epson 7900 printer at 24" wide.

It could be a website or a book, I just need the "know-how" that provides the information on how to achieve the highest quality prints from my scanned positives, scanned on a Hasselblad Flextight X1. I want theese prints to look as close to a traditional silverprint as possible.

All tips are welcome: books, websites, podcasts!

Thanks in advance,

Marius

Wrong forum, or..?

Marius-

you're asking for advice on something that can't be answered briefly - that's a huge subject with thousands of variations and and equal number of opinions on which variation or combination thereof is best. Try being more specific in your questions and you may get better answers. I'd start by reading up on Cone inks and Piezography - google both names to get more information.

To expand on TheFlyingCamera's comments...

Here are some factors to consider:

--Do you have a profiled monitor, and a color-managed workflow through your image-editing chain?

--Are you planning on using Epson inks or 3rd-party inks?

--Are you planning on using Epson papers or 3rd-party papers? Glossy/Lustre/Baryta papers or Matte/Fine Art Papers?

--Have you tried just straight output through the Epson driver in color mode? Were you satisfied with it?

--Have you seen Epson's Advanced B&W (ABW) output? Were you satisfied with it?

--Are you willing to learn a new piece of software, Quadtone RIP (QTR), for ultimate control over inks and curves?

--Do you have any interest in making digital negatives for contact printing on to actual silver-gelatin paper, using either QTR, or the PDN system, or other methods?


If you're looking to preserve the subtle non-neutral coloration that I understand DR5 has, your best bet is to simply print straight through the driver, perhaps with a custom profile for your paper that has extra patches for neutrals and near-neutrals. The other choice is to carefully craft a profile in QTR that matches those hues/tones.

If you're looking for an image that more closely represents a particular style of paper/developer combo, you can probably find what you want from Cone, or by using the Epson ABW output. Or by making digital negatives and using your preferred paper/developer/toner/etc.

Hope that helps some...

--Greg

To my mind, Cone's Piezography inks offer the very finest resolution and tonal qualities on matte paper from an Epson printer - they do look amazing. Unfortunately, you sacrifice your ability to print colour on your machine ...

For that F-type look, you can print on baryta-based papers - try Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta, it has a beautiful surface. Here, I'm not sure how much advantage you would get from the Cone inks over Epson's OEM inks using a QTR curve.

Thanks all for the replies. I see that I'm used to posting at pug, and getting a lot of replies right away, almost.

So, let me be a little more clear:

I am an experienced printer in the wet darkroom, I am an experienced photographer, both analog and digital. I am a novice in digital printing, but I am very into the digital workflow, even though I have never done the printing myself. Now is the time to try that, and what I need, I guess, is someone pointing me in the right direction on how to get information on the subject.

I have this project that I am going to print, but the printer is not mine, so I can not change the inks. I have a profiled monitor, but for this specific project, colour is not an issue, even though the dr5-chromes have a slight cast, I scan them and neutralize colorcast with PS.

So, the finished prints should have a neutral, meaning a monochrome look to them. I do not want green or magenta casts. I can go in either direction of blue or yellow, but only slightly.

I am printing on Canson Baryta Photographique, on an Epson 7900.

So, I hope that was a little more clear!

Thanks for the tips on QTR an so forth, I will do a little reading on the topic.

Marius

To end up with a dead-neutral image, without having control over the printer or the ink, you'll be doing a lot of back-and-forth tweaking. This is an instance where being able to profile everything to match is hugely beneficial. I'm no expert on inkjet printing, but I know from personal experience that you can pull your hair out over shifts in color, especially when trying to print black-and-white on a color printer. Funky metamerism has been largely cured by the K3 Epson inkset, so you'll not have wierd greenish overtones to your shadows when viewed at an angle, but getting a pure neutral-gray color will take some playing around.

As Greg suggested, select Epson Advanced B&W in the Epson printer driver. No books or profiles required, just try making some test prints There is a simple color wheel provided so you can tint the image if you like.

A most useful book on B&W printing is that by Amadou Diallo "Mastering Digital Black and White". Chapters 6,7,8, and 9 outline a workflow for printing that I have used with great success.

But yes, this is the wrong forum - try Dpug for stuff digital.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

I'm working on the book right noww.Watch for the October release of Digital Monochrome from Focal Press.