steptablet & paper grade

[payral]

If I contact print a 21 steps steptablet on a paper, how many different steps should I see for each different paper grade (0, 1, 2 3) ?

 

[Lee L]

If I contact print a 21 steps steptablet on a paper, how many different steps should I see for each different paper grade (0, 1, 2 3) ?

Are the steps in 1/2 stops (0.15 density steps) covering a 10 stop range?

Lee

 

[payral]

Yes they are. It's a Stouffer 21 steps, going from 0.04 to 3.01. Increments of 0.15

 

[j-fr]

"The Variable Contrast Printing Manual"

If you are interested in this subject I can recommend:

Steve Anchell:
The Variable Contrast Printing Manual

- probably the best book on the subject.

Available from amazon.com:

www.amazon.co.uk/Variable-Contrast-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233333665&sr=1-2

j-fr

www.j-fr.dk

 

[Lee L]

Papers and development vary, but here are approximate standards.

Grade___# 1/2 stop steps
0__________11
1___________9
2___________8
3__________6-7
4___________5

Same recommendation on the book if you're using VC papers. It's where I got my numbers, and explains how to test for yourself using the Stouffer step wedges.

Lee

 

[payral]

Thanks for your answer.

 

[Lee L]

pas du tout

Lee

 

[Photo Engineer]

The best I have seen is Ctein's "Post Exposure". As a bonus he includes both color and B&W.

PE

 

[Lee L]

The best I have seen is Ctein's "Post Exposure". As a bonus he includes both color and B&W.

PE

Ctein also gives well-deserved attention to tonal distribution throughout the range of the papers, not just the total range. He'll need to re-do those illustrations for the next edition, since 3 of the 4 tested papers are no longer available. But the illustrations make clear the need for testing/awareness of the differences in the curve shapes of the papers, and of different VC filters.

Lee

 

[j-fr]

The best I have seen is Ctein's "Post Exposure". As a bonus he includes both color and B&W.

PE

Interesting. I did not know it, but I bought it at once on amazon.

j-fr

 

[Photo Engineer]

The article by Dick Dickerson is also revealing. It appeared in Photo Techniques several years ago and is mentioned several times elsewhere on APUG.

PE