Digital BW, The Print

Tyler Boley wrote:

> I'm mostly interested in just your impression of the the prints, not
> necessarily the product. I've suspect that our entire obsession with
> dmax is not well founded. I have many prints here, silver too, and all
> together the inkjets hang well with the silvers.
> So I'm just wondering if the matte 2.2+ dmax prints you have there are
> really suddenly visual heaven, compared to your piezo and MIS pigment
> prints on matte paper. Dmax is a worthy goal and one of the critical
> qualifications, but it's not everything.
> Tyler

My impression is good. Very good. Vibrant color beyond what I've gotten 
from the UltraChromes (and I pushed them hard before I gave up), 
excellent shadow detail, excellent highlight detail, nice smooth 
transitions, excellent detail (acuity). The B&W I've seen was like the 
PiezoTones on steroids - smoother, more detailed, more neutral, 
excellent highlights and lots of shadow detail. In both color and B&W, 
the surface is very scuff and scratch resistant. One sample on fabric 
you can flex all around without any flaking, cracking, or any indication 
that you are abusing it.

But I don't have an apples-to-apples comparison. Substrates are 
different. Inks are of course different. Even a different RIP. So it's 
hard to say exactly. But it's enough to make me talk to people and urge 
them forward.

Which brings us back to Dmax. I think the obsession with Dmax probably 
is well founded. I think the obsession with replicating the darkroom 
look is not at all well founded.

What a good solid black does for us is to give us a longer tonal range 
to work with. A good dark black is like a good solid bass in music. It's 
a solid foundation for the image to rest on. It doesn't take much at all 
to work magic - just the shadows from the cracks in the rock showing a 
solid black in an otherwise high-key print. Darker shadows can make the 
print sing. They can let you show shadow detail a little farther into 
the shadow, which for some images can be the difference between a yawn 
and a second look. That whole "highlights grab the eyes but shadows tell 
the story" thing.

But the PiezoTones are really pretty good. They do an awfully lot that's 
right. Enough so that I'm not waiting for the next new ink to show up - 
I've got work to do and I'm moving forward with what I can buy today.
--
Bruce Watson