Do your best BW inkjets matched or surpass your best BW wet prints?

[invisibleflash]

And if your not much of a printer...have you seen BW inkjets that match or best the best wet prints?

If you are able to make your inkjets interchangeable with wet prints. Please give the components that help you achieve this...special inks, printers, profiles etc.

My own inkjets are about 90% as good as some of the best gallery BW I've seen. But I was not able to ascertain if the gallery had wet or inkjet prints.

The other component of my own printing is that while I am a very good printer, I am not the best printer. My expertise is in the shooting foremost, printing secondary.

The area of my inkjet that was a smidgen of was in the blacks. It seems prints made with a 3880 can only get 'so black.' Maybe other printers, inks and profiles can improve on this. If my blacks were 10% richer they would match the best I've ever seen.

Thanks

[Delfi_r]

Try http://www.piezography.com/

But there is no substitute for fotosensitive silver or other process

[AuditorOne]

They are different, but I like each for different reasons.

I gave up trying to make digital look like film quite a while ago.

[Lenny Eiger]

There has been a lot said about this. Too much, in fact. The truth is that the two mediums are different. The surfaces have very different shine characteristics. Personally I don't like any gloss at all, and, of course, some people love it. The tones arrange themselves a bit differently, altho' very slightly. These are personal preferences.

That said, inkjet prints have a wider tonal range, more akin to alternative process prints. Photoshop is far more controllable when making corrections to specific areas. With masking its capabilities, one can accurately control areas where burning and dodging in the darkroom would be difficult.

It comes down to whether or not you like the surface you are printing on, and whether or not you like the process of working. Neither of them is "more photographic", they are both just techniques.

I have made inkjet prints that are literally indistinguishable from platinum prints. I use Cone inks, that I mix up to my own specifications, and a RIP that allows me to control the densities of each channel. Everything is smooth, I have more black than I need and the prints are exquisite.

Lenny

[Jim Noel]

There has been a lot said about this. Too much, in fact. The truth is that the two mediums are different. The surfaces have very different shine characteristics. Personally I don't like any gloss at all, and, of course, some people love it. The tones arrange themselves a bit differently, altho' very slightly. These are personal preferences.

That said, inkjet prints have a wider tonal range, more akin to alternative process prints. Photoshop is far more controllable when making corrections to specific areas. With masking its capabilities, one can accurately control areas where burning and dodging in the darkroom would be difficult.

It comes down to whether or not you like the surface you are printing on, and whether or not you like the process of working. Neither of them is "more photographic", they are both just techniques.

I have made inkjet prints that are literally indistinguishable from platinum prints. I use Cone inks, that I mix up to my own specifications, and a RIP that allows me to control the densities of each channel. Everything is smooth, I have more black than I need and the prints are exquisite.

Lenny

Inkjet prints do not have a wider tonal range. In fact, most people print them with more narrow range. Masking is another simple darkroom process which was incorporated into the digital imaging process. I have been doing it for 60+ years.

I have seen quite a few prints made by people who claim they can match a platinum print.They shut up when their print is laid beside a good Pt/Pd print.
This question was brought up at a workshop a few years ago where Stephen Johnson and I were both making presentations. He told the group he couldn't match my prints and if they wanted to make a print like mine they would have to learn the processes I use. His expertise is enough for me and I certainly appreciated his remarks. If he can't match my prints on a computer, I doubt seriously that anyone can.

[invisibleflash]

I am not too concerned with platinum. Just with standard silver prints. Are platinum prints denser with the blacks than silver prints?


Yes, I know the topic can cover a lot of areas. Do you think the standard pigments inks can match the black density in the best silver print? Or does one have to use special / custom inks?

Now, I am not that unhappy with my standard inkjet prints. Here is a comparison with a vintage silver print from 40 years ago...(Toyo view and 65mm or 75mm Super Angulon + 3880 printer.)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..._Teoli_Jr..jpg

It is just that recently I had seen some BW prints that are a shade better with denser blacks. So I am looking to increase the black inkjet quality a little more.

But, as things are the print IQ from the 3880 is satisfactory for my uses. I don't even know if the excellent prints I saw were silver or inkjet. They may have been inkjet with some of the custom inks you describe. The surface looked like satin/ semi gloss on RC paper.

[invisibleflash]

Inkjet prints do not have a wider tonal range. In fact, most people print them with more narrow range. Masking is another simple darkroom process which was incorporated into the digital imaging process. I have been doing it for 60+ years.

I have seen quite a few prints made by people who claim they can match a platinum print.They shut up when their print is laid beside a good Pt/Pd print.
This question was brought up at a workshop a few years ago where Stephen Johnson and I were both making presentations. He told the group he couldn't match my prints and if they wanted to make a print like mine they would have to learn the processes I use. His expertise is enough for me and I certainly appreciated his remarks. If he can't match my prints on a computer, I doubt seriously that anyone can.

One thing about my inkjet I don't like is that the grays tend to be kinda blah. Don't know how to describe it. But some prints with a lot of gray look bland. The silver prints seemed to have more gray separation. But nothing concrete on this, just a feeling.

[koh303]

no.

[Jim Jones]

My best analog [prints certainly beat any of my digital prints, but digital editing and the convenience of accurate reprinting certainly make up for the difference.

[Tyler Boley]

few people have seen what inkjet can really do, so these discussions tend to be uninformed and based on opinion. Furthermore,what criteria is used for "best"? That will also be subjective and generally just an opinion.