Split Printing

[photomc]

Been reading Steve Anchell's The Variable Contrast Printing Manual and being a little dense have a couple of questions.

1. What is the difference between Multiple-Filter Techniques and Split Printing? Isn't split printing, the same more or less?

2. How often do most of the members here use split printing?

Oh, yeah what is a highlight and/or shadow printer Steve talks about..new term to me.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

[Nige]

2. Occasionly.

If something about a print is just not working, sometimes I'll splitgrade filter. Sometimes I reckon it works (ie my prints ends up looking how I want it) other times that neg gets shelved anyway!

 

[Bruce Osgood]

Been reading Steve Anchell's The Variable Contrast Printing Manual and being a little dense have a couple of questions.

You might consult Les McLeans book Black & White Photography. There is a lot of information there.

1. What is the difference between Multiple-Filter Techniques and Split Printing? Isn't split printing, the same more or less?

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think Multiple-Filter is the use of both Yellow and Magenta in a single exposure; Split Printing use a single exposure of Yellow (Grades 00 to 1-1/2) or 0 filter for Grade 2 and a second exposure of Magenta - usually at your enlargers Grade 5.

2. How often do most of the members here use split printing?

For me it has become Standard Operating Procedure. A single contrast filter has never produced what I can with split filtering. I just gave up trying to use only a magenta filter. It makes unquestionable sense to me that VC paper resonds differently to highligh and shadow exposures using seperate filters.

Oh, yeah what is a highlight and/or shadow printer Steve talks about..new term to me.

I don't know.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

[Leon]

I only use what i think of as true split-grade (only use 00 and 5 filters) as a resue effort for difficult negs.

I prefer to make all attempts to print at a single grade if at all possible as I have filter drawers in my enlargers so am always concerned about moving the head each time i open the drawer, ruining any sharpness.

 

[Flotsam]

I have had unimpressive results with true, 00/5 split filter printing and don't really consider it while printing, but when needed, I don't hesitate to add a second, brief, high contrast exposure just to punch up and enhance the Blacks and deep shadows in a print disproportionally to what I can achieve with a single grade exposure.

I haven't read Anchell's VC book but was considering buying it with a bookstore gift certificate that I received for my B-Day. How do you like it?

 

[photomc]

Neal, I think the book is well worth the $. Not a read through from front to back for me, but excellent from a study of VC paper.

 

[lee]

Been reading Steve Anchell's The Variable Contrast Printing Manual and being a little dense have a couple of questions.

1. What is the difference between Multiple-Filter Techniques and Split Printing? Isn't split printing, the same more or less?

2. How often do most of the members here use split printing?

Oh, yeah what is a highlight and/or shadow printer Steve talks about..new term to me.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

1.If I understand your question properly then yes they are the same.

2.I used to do it for every print but lately not so much.

3. highlight printer and shadow printer as I understand the terms are just the times for the highlight and shadows.

Call me and lets work on that print together sometime soon. I am pretty open.

lee\c

 

[kenh]

1) Pretty much the same thing. However to me multiple filter techniques implies that different parts of the image are printed with different contrast grades. That is the extra effort to use different filters is used specifically with burning and dodging to print different parts of the image with more or less contrast. Split printing to me implies that the image may be all one contrast grade. That is you can still use split printing without burning and dodging to obtain an "in-between" contrast grade. Also split printing to me also implies that the lowest and highest grade filters were probably used. But all in all, it is really basically the same.

2) I used split printing all the time, even on contact sheets. I have found it useful in two ways. First it gives me more freedom when I need to burn and dodge a print - for myself I can generally get a "less manipulated" look to the final print. Second, since I use an analyzer at the easel, the computations come out easier for generating split grade times than to generate grade + time.

Ken