Can someone explain this print panel?

[bellimages]

Periodically I go to this "advanced" print panel (for Epson's Ultrasmooth Fine Art paper profile). I'm always baffled by some things on the panel. What does "Maximum Optical Density" control, and, what does "Highlight Shift Point" do?

And just FYI .... that is not my photo on the panel, It's what Epson put there. Strange choice in my opinion[attachment=22050:advanced...nt_panel.png]

[JeffKohn]

Highlight Point Shift makes sure that even for parts of the image that are pure white, a tiny little bit of ink gets laid down. It's supposed to help with gloss differential on media types that have that problem, but would also take a bit of sparkle out of the highlights. Gloss differential isn't an issue for matte papers so I would leave it off.

Wasn't familiar with the other setting, and don't recall it from when I used my R2400. But a little digging found this page, which explains it as a soft-focus filter. I can't imagine why you'd want to do that in the ABW driver, but go figure.

[neile]

Highlight Point Shift makes sure that even for parts of the image that are pure white, a tiny little bit of ink gets laid down.

Brooks Jensen has a nice blog entry up about why one would want to ensure all parts of the image receive ink during a print. He also includes a Lightroom curve preset that lets you set it easily when doing your raw processing.

Neil

[BobFisher]

That description of a 'soft focus' print isn't really accurate and quite misleading.  The Max. Optical Density slider acts as a contrast adjustment.  At 0 there's no change from what you feed through the driver to the printer.  As you drop it down, the density of the ink laid down on the paper is reduced.  Overall contrast is reduced and the print is overall going to be lighter.  The reduction in contrast may give the print the appearance of a softer focus but that's not really what's happening.

And you're right, it would be nice if the ABW panel used the actual image being printed rather than a set image.  At one time I knew who the photographer was, but I forget now.

[digitaldog]

The Max. Optical Density slider acts as a contrast adjustment.

So it would take the max black (or more likely max density) and just lower it a tad? That would make the name logical. But why would one do this?

[digitaldog]

Brooks Jensen has a nice blog entry up about why one would want to ensure all parts of the image receive ink during a print. He also includes a Lightroom curve preset that lets you set it easily when doing your raw processing.

Interesting. And I see why he’d want to do this going to press. But it seems like doing this in the raw stage isn’t a good idea. Your master, which you’ll edit for multiple output needs other than press now has essentially this white (scum) dot. It would be difficult to put that toothpaste back into the tube. Also, I’d probably want to see what really happens with the white area while soft proofing with the CMYK profile. All the other nearby tones will be affected, might as well attempt to target white with that in mind.

[Schewe]

And you're right, it would be nice if the ABW panel used the actual image being printed rather than a set image.  At one time I knew who the photographer was, but I forget now.

Greg Gorman...

[BobFisher]

Thanks, Jeff.  

Andrew, the only thing I can think of is if a proof were printed and there were a bit too much contrast then the Optical Density slider could be used to drop it down a bit.  I guess if it were just a small tweak then rather than go back to the image and make an adjustment on the image via a new layer you could do it in the ABW driver?  There was a video on the web when ABW was first introduced with an Epson rep and, I think, Jeff showing how you could run a colour image through ABW and have it come out in b&w.  Maybe if that converted print had too much contrast you could tone it down with the Max Optical Density slider?  Personally I'm not a big fan of ABW so it's a bit of a mystery to me.  

[bellimages]

Thanks, Jeff.  

Andrew, the only thing I can think of is if a proof were printed and there were a bit too much contrast then the Optical Density slider could be used to drop it down a bit.  I guess if it were just a small tweak then rather than go back to the image and make an adjustment on the image via a new layer you could do it in the ABW driver?  There was a video on the web when ABW was first introduced with an Epson rep and, I think, Jeff showing how you could run a colour image through ABW and have it come out in b&w.  Maybe if that converted print had too much contrast you could tone it down with the Max Optical Density slider?  Personally I'm not a big fan of ABW so it's a bit of a mystery to me.  

So, I'm learning here .... so don't laugh. I use Epson's ABW panel for my printing. What else might I consider (in its place)?

[BobFisher]

Using the normal, colour managed printing workflow is what I do.  Works well.  I make my edits in PS, create a duplicate, soft proof the original against the duplicate, make any necessary adjustments on new adjustment layers, create a group for those printing adjustment layers and name it so I know what it is (i.e., Eps3800 USFAP 1440 RelCol would be Ultrasmooth Fine Art at 1440 dpi using a Relative Colorimetric intent on an Epson 3800), then print it.  Turn off printer colour management, select my paper, quality level in the printer driver, select my profile in the PS print dialogue and fire it off.  

Eric Chan has created several paper profiles to be used with ABW for both Epson and non-Epson papers.  Epson's claim when they first announced ABW was that we no longer needed to use profiles to get neutral, good quality b&w prints.  Might work for Epson papers (might).  But doesn't work so well with non-Epson papers.  If you've got to go through the process of using profiles anyway, I don't really see a benefit to ABW mode.  I get neutral b&w prints using the normal workflow.  I know Eric indicates he gets a deeper black using ABW.  I haven't measured mine (don't have a densitometer), but to my eye, I don't see a difference.  There's the other issue.  In order to get the most out of ABW, since we can't soft proof, you need to make or have made a custom adjustment curve for each paper.  A lot of folks don't have the hardware tools necessary to do this.  That means it's trial and error - print, adjust, print, adjust, print, adjust and so on.  If I want to tone a b&w print, I've got more control doing it using the regular workflow than trying to do it in ABW.  Particulary since you can't see the effect of toning (or any ABW adjustment) on your own image but only the Gorman image.  Another claim Epson made when ABW came out was that you could send a colour image through ABW and presto-changeo-magico you'd get a beautiful b&w print.  In my own testing (for what that's worth), it appears to me that what the ABW driver is doing is something akin to a standard 'Desaturate' which, as we know, doesn't often produce a terrific b&w image.  I think when ABW was introduced, folks who'd been frustrated with b&w printing in previous Epson printers were hoping it would be a viable alternative to, for example, QuadTone RIP.  QTR is still better (in my view) and the process of creating b&w prints through the normal workflow has improved so ABW just doesn't seem as useful as it might otherwise be.

[uaiomex]

Is there a QTR written for Epson 7880 with Leopard?
Tia
Eduardo

Using the normal, colour managed printing workflow is what I do.  Works well.  I make my edits in PS, create a duplicate, soft proof the original against the duplicate, make any necessary adjustments on new adjustment layers, create a group for those printing adjustment layers and name it so I know what it is (i.e., Eps3800 USFAP 1440 RelCol would be Ultrasmooth Fine Art at 1440 dpi using a Relative Colorimetric intent on an Epson 3800), then print it.  Turn off printer colour management, select my paper, quality level in the printer driver, select my profile in the PS print dialogue and fire it off.  

Eric Chan has created several paper profiles to be used with ABW for both Epson and non-Epson papers.  Epson's claim when they first announced ABW was that we no longer needed to use profiles to get neutral, good quality b&w prints.  Might work for Epson papers (might).  But doesn't work so well with non-Epson papers.  If you've got to go through the process of using profiles anyway, I don't really see a benefit to ABW mode.  I get neutral b&w prints using the normal workflow.  I know Eric indicates he gets a deeper black using ABW.  I haven't measured mine (don't have a densitometer), but to my eye, I don't see a difference.  There's the other issue.  In order to get the most out of ABW, since we can't soft proof, you need to make or have made a custom adjustment curve for each paper.  A lot of folks don't have the hardware tools necessary to do this.  That means it's trial and error - print, adjust, print, adjust, print, adjust and so on.  If I want to tone a b&w print, I've got more control doing it using the regular workflow than trying to do it in ABW.  Particulary since you can't see the effect of toning (or any ABW adjustment) on your own image but only the Gorman image.  Another claim Epson made when ABW came out was that you could send a colour image through ABW and presto-changeo-magico you'd get a beautiful b&w print.  In my own testing (for what that's worth), it appears to me that what the ABW driver is doing is something akin to a standard 'Desaturate' which, as we know, doesn't often produce a terrific b&w image.  I think when ABW was introduced, folks who'd been frustrated with b&w printing in previous Epson printers were hoping it would be a viable alternative to, for example, QuadTone RIP.  QTR is still better (in my view) and the process of creating b&w prints through the normal workflow has improved so ABW just doesn't seem as useful as it might otherwise be.

[JeffKohn]

If you've got to go through the process of using profiles anyway, I don't really see a benefit to ABW mode. I get neutral b&w prints using the normal workflow.

How about better linearity, DMax, and print longevity? If you can get the toning you want from the monochrome print mode (not just ABW on Epson, but the similar modes on Canon and HP), then IMHO it's the best way to go for monochrome prints unless you're a high-volume printer and feel you need to standardize on a single print workflow. The toning controls are pretty primitive, though; so I can see how some people might not be able to get what they want. Quadtone RIP is another great alternative for Epson printers, giving you the benefits of the ABW mode but with far more control. It doesn't support Canon/HP though, and from what I've heard doesn't support the new x900's either.

[digitaldog]

How about better linearity, DMax, and print longevity?

And less ink usage.

[BobFisher]

Understood, Jeff.  And I did comment on the DMax point.  I'm not saying a very fine print can't be achieved with ABW.  It can.  Absolutely it can.  And I have.  The essence of what I was getting at though was that it's not exactly all Epson cracked it up to be.  It's not the silver bullet that people were hoping for.  At least not without a fair bit of additional work (a lot less work thanks to Eric).  

And you're right, QTR is only available for Epson but that's what the OP is using so that's why I mentioned it.  It is only available up to the x880 printers right now.  Send Roy an email and ask if he's going to update it for the x900 printers.  Or maybe take a spin through the QTR Yahoo Group.

WRT linearity, I think sometimes we get too caught up in the technical minutiae.  Not saying linearity isn't a good thing but I agree with Graham Preston who said on the Northlight Images website ".... the important thing is that we're happy with our output, not that we're producing a perfect linearization."

[uaiomex]

I just learned there is indeed. But under CS4 is broken. Bad luck.

Is there a QTR written for Epson 7880 with Leopard?
Tia
Eduardo