Genuine Fractals needed here?

Here's the set up. D2h or D70 files) ISO 200 RAW taken to 12x18 in CS

in small steps. like adding an inch to the long side at a time.

Printing with a 2200 in either BO (black only) or UT7 MIS ink sets.

So I'm printing B&W and if I add a little too much to levels or

contrast to deepen the blacks a bit I get a real rough transition from

skin tone to shadow. Jagged may be the word. And the transition is

too fast to just plain black.

 

I used to think it was the BO printing 'cause that's all I did for

the last year. Then I tried this digital stuff (was scanning TX

negs). So that is why I got the UT7 set figuring more than just black

ink to make the transition. Still does it sort of.

 

 

I don't see this in 6x9 prints or in negs I scan with a 5400

Minolta. So is the problem asking CS to upsize by so much? Would

fractels improve on this or eliminate it? Tough to show you on screen

what I get in a print on paper.<div></div>

I *think* I understand what you mean: you are adding to the BLACK level to make up for the lack of black density of the printer. As you do this, of course the blacks oversaturate and the transition between them and the closest grays is more abrupt.

 

Unfortunately, you cannot really make up for the lack of density of the printer, not really. You can make *minute* adjustments but, anything more will produce the results you see.

 

The depth or density of the printed black is dependent (everything else being correct) on the ink system and paper used and would also have to be reflected in what you see in the monitor. Forgive the question: do you have everything properly calibrated? Or is what you see on the monitor different from what you see in print?

 

I know that the new Epson R2400 should produce deeper blacks.

 

I use a Lyson system on an old Canon S820 which uses 6 gradations of black ink. The prints look excellent with a system such as this. It si available for you printer as well. Look for Lyson QUAD BLACK ink system. It's the best I know for printing B&W like it's meant to look.

"...taken to 12x18 in CS in small steps"

 

That's a pre-CS upsizing procedure. In CS, upsize is a step procedure using "Bicubic Smoother".

 

You can also resize without resampling and let the PPI fall where it may. You may be surprised by the results.

You could try QTRgui (printer driver, very cheap)...it allows you to control both tone (warm-cold) and the amount of ink loading in shadows ...all you have to do is play with sliders. QTR works from TIFF files which should be lossless.

 

How big are you trying to print?

 

Fine portrait.

The black ink I use is Ebony from MIS. I understand what you mean but I do get a good black, it is the transition that is lacking and if it were smoother I'd be OK. I'm after a tonal range I used to get in the wet darkroom. I print mostly on Epson enhanced Matt and Photo Rag for the real keepers.

 

 

The mention of Bicubic smoother, I just checked and I have bicubic checked not bicubic smoother. So I'll try Bicubic smoother. That may be the key if it smooths the transition.

 

I don't understand what you mean by "pre-CS". I'm doing this in CS. I'm missing something, what is it.

 

But back to my question, would Genuine Fractals help here also?

...oops...I see...12X18. You might also want to play with Qimage...it has several interpolation alternatives to Genuine Fractals...don't know if the bicubic in CS2 is an adequate rival to those Qimage alternatives.

Forgot. My monitor is very close for my BO printing but I need to bump contrast and brightness to get the same feel when I use UT7.