NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Processing & Publication => Topic started by: ArthurDent on August 21, 2017, 17:12:41
-
I have a couple of B&Ws I would like to print. My reading indicates that just changing to a dot/inch setting of 300 won't result in a very good print. The author I read states that most printers don't handle B&W well because they only have a black cartridge and there are 256 possible shades from pure white to pure black to print. One possible solution was stated to be to convert the image to a duotone. I have no experience printing my images, let alone printing them in B&W. I have no experience with duotones. I would appreciate any guidance you might care to offer. Thanks in advance. As an alternative, can you suggest a printer that does a good job on black and white images? It would be a simple thing to send the file to them to print and not have to worry about the rest, at least for the moment.
AD
-
I have a couple of B&Ws I would like to print. My reading indicates that just changing to a dot/inch setting of 300 won't result in a very good print. The author I read states that most printers don't handle B&W well because they only have a black cartridge and there are 256 possible shades from pure white to pure black to print. One possible solution was stated to be to convert the image to a duotone. I have no experience printing my images, let alone printing them in B&W. I have no experience with duotones. I would appreciate any guidance you might care to offer. Thanks in advance. As an alternative, can you suggest a printer that does a good job on black and white images? It would be a simple thing to send the file to them to print and not have to worry about the rest, at least for the moment.
AD
I have no experience printing, but the book you're reading must be of (quite some) age. There are a number of printers that sport various blacks and grays to accommodate B&W printing. Google is your friend. Others will chime in. More disclaimers :D :D :D
-
Ny Canon Pro-100 does fine B/W print. The B/W was made from a digital colour file converted to B/W, I don't know if makes any difference to a real B/W file.
-
Many dedicated photo printers have one or more grey inks in addition to black. I have an Epson P-800, it has a black ink and two shades of grey. Or as Epson calls it - black, light black and light light black. It prints stunning BW prints with amazing tonal range.
-
I'm sorry, I should have said general purpose printers. I know there are dedicated photo printers that can handle b&w, but I don't own one, and don't want to buy one to make just a few prints. So my question really had to do with a general purpose printer,which I have, and not a photo printer, which I don't have.
-
I'm sorry, I should have said general purpose printers. I know there are dedicated photo printers that can handle b&w, but I don't own one, and don't want to buy one to make just a few prints. So my question really had to do with a general purpose printer,which I have, and not a photo printer, which I don't have.
Oh, yes, that does make a difference. Even though, couldn't hurt to just try once and see. I bet it does better than you'd expect.
But, if you're going for "professional" results, it may pay off to find a good print house and have it done there.
-
B&W files printed on a inexpensive desktop inkjet printer will look their best on so-called "photo"paper, usually glossy,luster or matte are available. Expect a slight color cast: bluish is common.
Also, many desktop inksets are relatively impermanent, often fading in just a few years if displayed.