printing
Black Point Compensation
21/04/08 19:35 Filed in: digital photography
Having done a considerable amount of reading and research into this, it seems to me that there are basically two schools of thought about the use of Black Point Compensation (BPC). I guess that it shouldn't really come as a surprise, given that there are two possible settings!
BPC is controlled from within the printing dialogue within Adobe Photoshop and is provided to allow you to ensure the range of colours that your printer is asked to create falls within those offered by the printer/ink/paper combination you are using. This means that if, say, your printer profile reckons that the deepest black is 15% black, then setting BPC on makes sure that to tonal range is adjusted to fit in from 15% through to paper white.
If you turn off the BPC then there are three possible consequences
1) Nothing happens
2) The print becomes lighter. This will happen if the black point in the image is higher than the one offered by the printer. This results in a low-contrast, washed out, thin print
3) The print becomes darker. This happens if the black point in the image is lower than that offered by your printer combination. This means that the shadow areas of the image will block up and become solid black.
Clearly the last two results are far from ideal, so why run the risk of encountering them? Just leave BPC on!
BPC is controlled from within the printing dialogue within Adobe Photoshop and is provided to allow you to ensure the range of colours that your printer is asked to create falls within those offered by the printer/ink/paper combination you are using. This means that if, say, your printer profile reckons that the deepest black is 15% black, then setting BPC on makes sure that to tonal range is adjusted to fit in from 15% through to paper white.
If you turn off the BPC then there are three possible consequences
1) Nothing happens
2) The print becomes lighter. This will happen if the black point in the image is higher than the one offered by the printer. This results in a low-contrast, washed out, thin print
3) The print becomes darker. This happens if the black point in the image is lower than that offered by your printer combination. This means that the shadow areas of the image will block up and become solid black.
Clearly the last two results are far from ideal, so why run the risk of encountering them? Just leave BPC on!
Exhibition Prints complete!
30/07/07 20:02 Filed in: Photography Related
At long last! I've completed mounting all of the prints for the exhibition. I now have 48 20x16" prints that just need labelling, cataloguing and fixing to the wall. I also need to design and print the advertising posters. Still, there's still 27 whole days before I need to have everything done. I am sure I'll be ready. Well, pretty sure anyway. 
Exhibition work goes on...
17/07/07 12:14 Filed in: Photography Related
Work is progressing well on producing the images for this year's exhibition - Antarctica. I have now completed approximately half of the required work. This time around I am working with Permajet's excellent Fibre-based gloss paper, which is wonderful paper to print on: it really does give the feeling of a traditional print. All of the photographs have been printed using an Epson Stylus Photo R2400 which has been modified to use Permajet's Eco-flow system. This means that instead of using loads of ink cartridges, the printer has been modified to use larger bottles of ink, which is fed to the print-head via direct injectors.
I was apprehensive of fitting this to my shiny new printer, but it is just so much more cost effective. Previously I had used the Lyson Continual Ink System with my old Canon S9000 printer and found it to be messy and problematic at times. So far, with six months of use, the Permajet system has yet to cause me any problems at all.
For more information about both the Ink-flow system and the Fibre-based gloss paper, please take a look at Permajet's website.
I was apprehensive of fitting this to my shiny new printer, but it is just so much more cost effective. Previously I had used the Lyson Continual Ink System with my old Canon S9000 printer and found it to be messy and problematic at times. So far, with six months of use, the Permajet system has yet to cause me any problems at all.
For more information about both the Ink-flow system and the Fibre-based gloss paper, please take a look at Permajet's website.
