Digital BW, The Print

Welcome to Digital B&W, The Print.

This forum was started after much thought and discussion.  There is a 
strong desire by many people to make high quality digital B&W prints 
and a need for a central place to post and find information. To 
facilitate the free flow of this information we established a forum 
that has no association with any commercial enterprise.

Photographers moving from traditional methods into the new world of 
digital photography are well served by the giants of the industry 
when it comes to color printing. There is a wealth of materials, 
technology and information available. For those working in 
traditional B&W media such as silver gelatin, platinum and the 
numerous other monochrome alternatives, there are fewer resources and 
a harder task. While in traditional photography, B&W is considered to 
be technically simpler and easier to manufacture than color, the 
reverse tends to be true for digital B&W, which has been sadly 
neglected by the large corporations.

The hope is that this forum will become a place where all of the 
current and future techniques for making digital B&W prints will be 
discussed, evaluated, disseminated, compared, critiqued, reviewed, 
debated and refined in a dynamic exchange of ideas and information.
As time goes by the forum will become an archive of invaluable 
information on what has been tried, what works, what does not work, 
what problems were faced, and, most importantly, how those problems 
were overcome and how success was achieved.

There is a wealth of knowledge out there. There are many people 
making stunningly beautiful B&W prints using their computers. You are 
invited to participate and share your knowledge. There are many out 
there who want to know how to make digital B&W prints. Please ask. 
That's a primary reason the forum is here.

Some guidelines on using this forum:
This is an unmoderated forum and no one is checking messages before 
they are posted. It is expected that the members of the forum 
moderate the forum and themselves. The topic is outlined above. It 
does not have rigid borders but it is requested that the members 
monitor themselves for the appropriateness of their posts to the 
forum.

If you have not done so already, please read the Yahoo! Groups Terms 
of Service These cover key issues regarding posting on this forum and 
other Yahoo locations.

Moderation of the forum by the users includes an expectation of basic 
manners and good taste. While digital B&W printing would seem like a 
very mild topic to most, those of us with experience know that people 
can become very impassioned over their art, ideas, and choice of 
materials. If they were not passionate about their art, they would 
not be engaged in this often-difficult enterprise. Open and candid 
discussion is encouraged. However, courtesy must prevail and it is 
expected that exchanges should not deteriorate into personal insults, 
harassment, etc. If they should, intervention will be taken as 
necessary.

No SPAM please. Spamming will be grounds for being barred from the 
forum.

Postings by commercial ventures or their representatives to promote 
their products for digital B&W printing are welcome and encouraged 
provided they follow the guidelines below.

1. Only post announcements of products relating to making B&W prints 
using a digital device. 
     
2.      If you want to use this forum as a place to announce or 
promote your product, it is expected that you reciprocate and promote 
the forum by placing a link to this forum on your website. This 
should be an obvious win-win situation.

3.      If you promote your products here, you are expected to be a 
regular participant on the forum and respond to questions regarding 
the products and/or services by other forum users.

4.      Please limit purely promotional posts to roughly once a 
month. The forum should not become a string of advertisements.