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Author Topic: Z3200PS and B&W Printing  (Read 2279 times)

kuau

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Z3200PS and B&W Printing
« on: June 13, 2010, 06:31:41 pm »

Well after printing color work for years now, I really want to get into "hi end" B&W printing with my Z3200PS.
My first question is what are some of the top paper choices from B&W and the Z3200?
next...
Workflow and Profiling

I guess first would be profiling my Z3200PS with the included APS software, is there anything special I should be doing or just create a regular profile?
What about using a custom target any merit in doing this and where could I obtain one?

In regards to workflow this is where I get confused.
Starting with a RAW image then converting to 16bit RGB then convert to B&W using photoshop or one of the many 3rd party plugins ie. Nik Software?

Then the proper way to send the B&W image to the Z3200PS.
As far as I can recall the only way to print a 16bit tiff to the Z3200PS is downloading the image direct to the printer using HP web utility so it retains 16bit information as opposed to printing the 16 bit tiff direct from Photoshop using HP's latest printer driver which correct me if I am wrong converts 16bits down to 8bits in the driver. Not sure.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
I really want to master B&W now after spending so many years dealing with color which in a lot of ways is actually easier then digital B&W

Thanks
Steven  Kornreich
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dandeliondigital

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Z3200PS and B&W Printing
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2010, 07:25:53 am »



Hi Steven,

I noticed you have the postscript version of the Z. I have the 3100PS, and I have been to the same place you now stand.

You may need to remember that you have two choices for driving the printer, the PS driver and the HP PCL driver.

I think the choice you make as to which to use depends a lot more on how you process and post-produce your images. I usually print with the postscript driver.

I am aware thattThe HP driver has a lot of controls that are specific to printing B&W. I'd like to hear more comments by people who use these features, and I'm sure you might also.

So long for now, TOM

 
Quote from: kuau
I really want to get into "hi end" B&W printing with my Z3200PS.
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Ernst Dinkla

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Z3200PS and B&W Printing
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2010, 10:41:18 am »

Quote from: kuau
Well after printing color work for years now, I really want to get into "hi end" B&W printing with my Z3200PS.
My first question is what are some of the top paper choices from B&W and the Z3200?
next...
Workflow and Profiling

I guess first would be profiling my Z3200PS with the included APS software, is there anything special I should be doing or just create a regular profile?
What about using a custom target any merit in doing this and where could I obtain one?

In regards to workflow this is where I get confused.
Starting with a RAW image then converting to 16bit RGB then convert to B&W using photoshop or one of the many 3rd party plugins ie. Nik Software?

Then the proper way to send the B&W image to the Z3200PS.
As far as I can recall the only way to print a 16bit tiff to the Z3200PS is downloading the image direct to the printer using HP web utility so it retains 16bit information as opposed to printing the 16 bit tiff direct from Photoshop using HP's latest printer driver which correct me if I am wrong converts 16bits down to 8bits in the driver. Not sure.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
I really want to master B&W now after spending so many years dealing with color which in a lot of ways is actually easier then digital B&W

Thanks
Steven  Kornreich

For the plain Z3100 and the Z3200-PS I use the PCL3 driver mainly, hardly ever the PS3 driver for the last. For B&W then the  HP PCL3 driver B&W mode with the HP recommended driver setting on printer driver color control which relies on LUTs. Application color management off in that case. After calibration the Z3100 shows a perfect linear tone range for almost all papers I use for B&W. My Z3200-PS isn't as linear in that case. So I print B&W with the Z3100 and use QTR made B&W printer profiles for the conversion of Gamma 2.2 files to the print tone range. For the Z3200-PS I think it will be better to correct the non-linearity + the conversion with a curve as possible with the on-the-fly print filters of Qimage but I have not given much attention to that so far. In color mode the B&W linearity is better but clips Dmax more.
See my review of the Z3200-PS: http://www.pigment-print.com/review/Z3200FirstPage_2.htm


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

spectral plots of +100 inkjet papers:
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
« Last Edit: June 14, 2010, 10:51:39 am by Ernst Dinkla »
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William Morse

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Z3200PS and B&W Printing
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2010, 01:05:37 pm »

Hi Steven-
Quote from: kuau
My first question is what are some of the top paper choices from B&W and the Z3200?
I print mostly with Ilford GFS (when gloss wanted), HP SFA or Hahn. Bamboo for smooth matte, and HP TFA or Hahn. William Turner for smooth textured (fantastic for images from scanned film especially!)
Quote
I guess first would be profiling my Z3200PS with the included APS software, is there anything special I should be doing or just create a regular profile?
I always profile with the largest target; I can then use the profile for either color or B&W.
Quote
In regards to workflow this is where I get confused.
Starting with a RAW image then converting to 16bit RGB then convert to B&W using photoshop or one of the many 3rd party plugins ie. Nik Software?
This is a matter of taste and patience. I have found that I get much better results treating the orig. RGB image as three B&W images, optimize each channel separately, then combine with Channel Mixer. I get much more control this way (especially look for the channel with the least contrast and optimize it (thanks to Dan Margulis for this approach)). This is more time consuming, but yields (depending on the image) great results. Finally converting to GS (QTRLAB) for the detailed work.
Quote
Then the proper way to send the B&W image to the Z3200PS.
I have recently switched to converting my GS images to sRgb, applying any toning, then printing through Qimage with Qimage doing the conversion to the z3200 profile. I find that the shadows get much better separation this way; if I convert in PS, the shadows get very blocked up; I have also seen severe shadow posterizaion with some files.

Hope this helps.

Bill
« Last Edit: July 19, 2010, 01:06:04 pm by William Morse »
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