Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: spacegoose on July 05, 2011, 04:09:17 pm
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I was looking for an Epson Exhibition Fiber profile for the 4900 but couldn't find it. Would the 7900/9900 profile be suitable?
Additionally, for B&W, in the reviews here (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/7900-9900.shtml) of the 7900, the reviewer mentions due to the 7900's advanced screening algorithms and ABW, a RIP isn't necessary (4900/7900/9900 owners, do you agree?), I wonder then why designer editions (which include a RIP) are offered by Epson?
I'm also wondering what the conventional wisdom is for B&W printing from negative scans ... Is ABW the way to go; or let Photoshop manage color and use ICC profile?
How about printing from a color managed RGB image vs. grayscale?
I was told by one printer it's best to scan B&W as monochrome, but in 16-bit or higher RGB, and then to assign the ProPhotoRGB profile in Photoshop ...
Thanks,
sg
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The EFP (Exhibition Fiber Paper) profile is built into the 4900 driver.
The Designer Editions have a bundled software RIP. This software is used by Graphic Designers and those in Pre-Press who work with Postscript, spot colors etc.
The software does provide productivity benefits for photographers, but if your goal is to produce small run fine-art black and white prints, then the software RIP is not needed.
Be it analog or digital, Black and White continues to be a lively topic with many opinions. And with BW there often is no one correct answer.
You can get excellent B&W results with the 4900 using an icc workflow and letting Photoshop Manage Colors.
In my own tests (I'm the Epson guy so I'm somewhat biased) I get the best D-Max and tonal scale printing through ABW (Advanced Black and White Photo Mode) from files that were previously converted to BW.
Two Tips on ABW
-The default density is "Darker" For some "Dark" is the better setting to use.
-Use the Relative Rendering Intent for the best results.
Dan (Dano) Steinhardt
Marketing Manager, Professional Imaging
Epson America, Inc.