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Driver Settings
Photoshop Settings
The Workflow
Convert Color To BW |
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Introduction |
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As I explained in article #8,
"It Doesn't Have To Be Complicated", I have
found a very practical and relatively easy way to make gallery quality Fine
Art prints with the 2400 without requiring special profiles, a densitomer,
complex Color Management procedures and all the rest of what I call the
"high tech" approach. This method was initially developed for my 2200
and I was very happy to find that it transferred easily to the 2400/K3
system. It works beautifully, provides good WYSIWYG, and allows a very
fine degree of control. I am publishing it here for the many dedicated
photographers who love the art and craft of Black and White printing but are not by
nature inclined to go the high tech route. In this article I will outline the entire workflow and settings for this approach, with explanations for each step. Some parts of this are based on things I have already explained in other articles, so in some cases there will be references and links to those. The first section will be setting up the working environment and saving it so it can be easily called up and reused. After that will be the actual workflow to take an image all the way through to the final proof. The last section has detailed steps for making final prints on other papers. Note 1: Everything described here is for printing on matte papers. Most of these principles, with a few changes, can be used with glossy papers. Please see article #9b for a discussion on using this approach with Museo Silver Rag glossy paper. Note 2: The question of the longevity of K3 ink is often asked. It is important to differentiate between color and BW prints, which use much less color ink. Wilhelm Research, at http://www.wilhelm-research.com/epson/R2400.html on Page 3 of 9, rates BW prints using K3/2400 inks as follows, depending on the paper: Framed under normal glass: 110 to >205 years Framed under UV glass: 110 to >300 years In dark album storage: > 200 years Now in early 2008, the newest version of these inks for the large 11880 model are even better - see page three of this Wilhelm report. These inks are not available in desktop models yet. Hopefully they will be soon. |
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Paper & Quality Options |
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The reasons for the following
recommendations are explained in detail in article #4,"Using
Color Settings And Profiles". I recommend reading this article
because a good understanding of how this system works is essential to being
able to use it to our advantage. The Printer Profile - Open the Print With Preview window (an image must be open), check the Show More Options checkbox, choose "Color Management" in the first pick list. Open the Profile pick list and select "Same As Source". Note: In Photoshop version CS2 select "No Color Management" in the "Color Settings" pick list. Click the "Done" button to save. This setting allows us to change the image profile to get the best WYSIWYG, without affecting the print (explained in article #4). This is one of the most important settings as it is key to the function of the entire system. The Image Profile - I recommend using Dot Gain 20% for the image profile as a starting point that will provide generally good WYSIWYG for the prints that result from the above driver settings. The actual setting that works best for you could be different, depending on your monitor and video card. The idea is to find the setting that makes the screen image most closely match the print, and it may vary among different systems. It also may be that one of the canned settings provided with Photoshop is not as good as it could be. It is possible to create a custom profile in the Color Settings window (see next paragraph). On my system, for example, I use a custom Dot Gain 18%, because DG20 is a bit too dark and DG15 is too light. Again, all of this is explained in detail in article #4. The default Color Setting - Once the best image profile is determined, I recommend that it be set as the default in the Color Settings window. This will make the profile be automatically assigned to every new grayscale image. This window also has the ability to create a custom profile (see article #4 for details). |
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Here is the complete
step-by-step workflow, from initial image to final proof: Initial Image File - My images come from three sources, and the goal is always a 16-bit grayscale image: 1) Scanned BW negatives - I always scan directly into grayscale, 16-bit, positive. After much experimenting I never found any advantage to scanning in RGB. 2) Digicam File - from my "serious" camera, captured in RAW mode and converted to a 16-bit Tiff. 3) Digicam File - from my pocket camera, an 8-bit Jpeg. This is immediately converted to 16-bit before anything else is done (and later saved as a tiff). I know it's not the same as a 16-bit captured image, but it does lessen histogram combing when using curves, levels and other manipulations. Convert Digicam Images To BW - Over the past few years I have tried 8 or 10 Color-to-BW conversion methods, from simple to complex, including some commercial software products. Here is the full technique I now use, which has evolved over time. It gives a large amount of control without being too complex. First, change the file directly to Grayscale and save it with a different file name. This will provide a different version to compare with later. Then reopen the original color file and do the following steps: 1) Create a Hue/Sat layer and save it without making any changes. 2) Create a Channel Mixer layer, check the Monochrome box, leave the sliders at Red = 100, Green = 0, Blue = 0 and click OK to save. 3) Reopen the ChMx layer and change the sliders to these values: Red = 60, Green = 40, Blue = 0 4) Toggle the "Preview" check box to compare the 60/40 version with the 100/Red version. Select the one you like the best as a starting point, then move the sliders slightly to see if it can be improved. The slider values should always total 100. Then click OK to save the settings. 5) Open the Hue/Sat layer, change the "Edit" list to Reds, and move the Saturation slider to see if the image can be improved. Then do the same for each color. 6) Then change the Edit list to Master and move the Hue slider to see if the image can be improved. Then click OK to save the settings. 7) Flatten all the layers and convert the image to Grayscale mode. 8) Finally, compare this version with the straight grayscale version to see which one you like the best. Sometimes I'm surprised. A slightly abbreviated version of this is to omit step 5. A more abbreviated version is to use only the ChMx layer and do steps 2-4. An even more abbreviated version is to not use layers, and just compare slider settings in a ChMix dialog. The shortest approach, of course, is to just convert to grayscale and take what you get. It can produce surprisingly good results. Crop if necessary - This is where I do the cropping, if needed. I use an 8" cropping "L" set made from mat board, which I hold up to the monitor. It works great. Image Size - all initial work is done on quarter size paper, so at this point I reduce the print size to 4" maximum dimension. Note: I do not resample the image, but am just changing the print size. Save As - At this point I save the file under a new name (and also as a Tiff file if it is not one already, so it can be used with QTR if I wish to). This preserves the original image in case I ever need to go back and start over. Be sure to check the ICC Profile box so that the image profile is embedded (see article #4). Make initial "straight print" before anything else is done - We are almost ready to begin work, but first we must make a "straight print" to make a final check for the best WYSIWYG. The "straight print" concept is from the darkroom days, where an initial unmanipulated (straight) print is made on #2 paper in order to determine what changes need to be made. Here, even though we can see it on screen, it helps to see a print and it allows us to make an image profile adjustment if needed. 1) Open the Print window, select the 2400, click the Properties button. 2) Open the "Custom Settings" pick list and select "CJ-Quarter" (or whatever you have named your quarter sheet setting). This immediately puts all the settings into effect. 3) Make sure the Orientation is correct. 4) Click OK to close the Properties window. 5) Click OK to print About Proof Paper - I do all proofing on Epson Enhanced Matte paper (EEM) because it is inexpensive, readily available both locally and on-line, has excellent dmax (so it's a good paper on which to judge an image), and its density and contrast are right in the middle of the road compared to other matte papers. This means that when you make a final print on other papers, any contrast and/or density adjustments will be minimal (it would be counter-productive to proof on a radically different paper). Change image profile if necessary - Compare the print and the screen image. It will never be a perfect match because there is an inherent difference between a print and an illuminated image. But we can get very close, and with experience our eye gets good at translating the difference. If you are unsure, open the Image/Mode/Assign Profile window and try different profiles. The screen image will change with each selection without having to commit the change. I have found that my default setting works fine most of the time. Only on extremely high or low key images do I sometimes need to change it. Do The work - Now we are ready to go to work. At this point we can proceed with our normal methods, using layers, curves and other tools, making proofs along the way as needed (because the WYSIWYG is good I usually have the image near completion before making the first proof). Towards the end of the work I often make a larger proof on half size paper, and perhaps a full size one at the end for the final proof. Finishing The Image - At some point we become satisfied with the image and the resulting proof print and we can say "Done!". It is important at this point to understand that any further changes we might make to produce a final print on another paper are temporary. That is, they are made with adjustment curve layers that are not permanently merged into the image. So at this point we can flatten all existing layers and change the image to 8-bit and save it (once the workup is done there is no need to keep it a 16-bit image; It just takes up twice as much space). |
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Now it's time to make a final
print on another paper. There are three areas that require some
consideration: Choice of paper, choice of ABW ink tone, and matching the
final print to the proof: Paper Choice - There are five things to consider: 1) Paper Type - 100% cotton, Alpha-Cellulose, or a mixture. Article #5, "The Great Paper Chase", contains a detailed review of many good papers, including the type and other attributes, plus a brief discussion about alpha-cellulose papers. 2) OBAs - Yes or No? Article #5 contains a short discussion on the OBA issue (Optical Brightening Agents) and which papers have them. 3) Paper Color - Matte papers range in color from pure white to cream colored. Article #5 lists the color of each of the reviewed papers. 4) Carbon Ink Color - The coatings on the various papers render carbon inks in different tones, from almost neutral black to very warm brown. In BO printing this is an essential element in choosing a paper because it is the only way to get a variety of tones, from warm to cold. However, even though the 2400 uses a variable tone ink system, the coating still plays an important role. K3 BW prints are predominantly three carbon inks, with small amounts of colors added as toners, so these inks will definitely be influenced by the coating. As a general rule a paper should be chosen to match the desired print tone. However this is not carved in stone and can be an area for some creative choices (what happens when you put warm ink on a cold tone paper, or vice versa?). Note: There is a general association between a paper's color and its carbon ink color (i.e. warm paper = warm ink color), but there are exceptions. There are a few "crossover" papers which break this rule. Article #5 lists the paper and ink colors for each paper reviewed. 5) Density, Contrast and Dmax - These three characteristics can vary widely, and independently, among the different papers. For example, some papers have nearly identical contrast to EEM but print darker. Other papers have similar over all density but with greater or lesser contrast. One paper has a similar over all contrast to EEM, but has a longer straight line portion of the curve, with the result that midtones have a distinct look (read about Peregrine Smooth in article #5). ABW Color Setting - One of the big challenges with this system is finding color settings that look photographically convincing, that don't look colorized (obvious visible hues that look more like some sort of paint job than a photograph). I know this is very subjective and we will each have our own opinions. Having printed with Eboni BO for several years, which, being a single ink, produces very beautiful and pure tones, I am particularly sensitive to it. I am happy to report that I have found quite a few settings so far that do a convincing job. Here are some that I like: Paper Horz Vert Condor BW -2 0 Kayenta 4 -6 Peregrine smooth 6 -6 PhotoRag 1 2 Aurora Art 5 -6 Velvet Fine Art 2 8 Important - There can be differences among production batches of ink. In the midst of making several prints of an image I had to replace three inks: MK, LK and LM. The next print had a slight magenta tinge that wasn't there before, so the new LM must have been stronger. I was using 6h/-6v on Aurora paper. Changing it to 5h/-6v brought it close to the previous color. So these settings may have to be revised from time to time. Please don't treat these as law. They are just suggestions to help get started. Note: Logic might suggest that with a variable tone system like K3 that one would only need one, or at most, two papers - for cold or warm prints. However, because BO printing requires a variety of papers to get multiple tones, I discovered that there is a lot more than just the tone that strengthens or weakens an image. Texture, dmax, paper color, contrast - all contribute to it. I realized that having a wide variety to choose from adds an important creative dimension. One of my favorite parts of the process, after the final proof, is to make several small prints on at least three or four papers to see which one suits the image the best. I have found that the same still applies with the 2400. Rather than eliminating this creative dimension, having variable tone capability has merely added another. I highly recommend keeping a good selection of papers on hand. Back To Top Matching the Final Print to the Proof - In most cases, when we print the final image on another paper it will not look like the proof we just worked so hard to perfect. The solution to this is to add a curve adjustment layer which adjusts the contrast and density to match the proof. In most cases these are simple curves requiring a few minutes work, with one or two test prints and tweaks to finalize it. Once completed, it is saved with the image and reused. Here are a couple of examples: |
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I always name the layer with the name of the paper. Not only does it immediately identify it as a paper curve, but I often will print an image on more than one paper, which requires a separate curve for each one. Both curves are saved with the image, but only one is activated, depending on which paper is being used. Here is a layers palette showing an image with paper curves for Condor BW and Merlin Smooth, with only the Merlin curve active: |
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I have come to respect and
appreciate very much the 2400 and K3 ink system. It is a superbly
designed machine and it is reassuring to know that Epson is committed to
fine BW printing. The Eboni BO technique, with its single
carbon ink, incredible luminance and gorgeous pure tones still occupies
a high place in my creative pecking order. Nevertheless I am extremely
pleased with
the 2400 because the K3 prints, while having slightly less punch than a BO print, are
still very beautiful and with it I finally have a full ink system that
has allowed me to make high quality smooth prints, with full tone control,
with the same ease and directness as the BO workflow. |
