[alt-photo] Re: gutenprint drivers for digital negatives

[Dan Burkholder]

One thing to keep in mind with the 3800: depending on which method you're using to generate your digital negs, a plugged magenta (or cyan) can be no problem at all. I use Photoshop's Advanced Black and White mode to impart a slight color to the neg. The Epson driver uses neither magenta nor cyan in that mode (though it does use the light magenta and light cyan). My old 3800 had the magenta nozzles plugged tighter than than a bull's ass pulling a cart up a hill. But it still made great negs. In fact, I sold the 3800 to a photographer who wanted it only to make b/w prints and it's doing just fine. Of course, he could never make a decent color print owing to the clogged magenta.

The 3880 has slightly reformulated magenta inks and clog resistant heads. I bet the change in magenta (to "vivid magenta" and "vivid light magenta" has as much to do with reducing clogging as it does for gamut expansion.

Just my $0.02.

Dan


info at DanBurkholder.com
www.DanBurkholder.com

On Jun 23, 2011, at 12:27 PM, Diana Bloomfield wrote:

> Absolutely; no problem. Of course, what I consider an acceptable digital negative may differ from what other printers here perceive as ideal-- though I get no complaints about my resulting prints (that I'm aware of).  But, yes-- I'll give it my best shot, and provide some (hopefully useful) feedback.  
> 
> Thanks, Gord.
> 
> Diana
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Jun 23, 2011, at 11:35 AM, Gordon Holtslander <gjh at shaw.ca> wrote:
> 
>> "Print with Gutenprint" will still use the Gutenprint driver.  If you are willing to provide feedback on what works well and what doesn't when using this for digital negatives it would be helpful and valuable.
>> 
>> Gord
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: dhbloomfield <dhbloomfield at bellsouth.net>
>> Date: Thursday, June 23, 2011 9:20 am
>> Subject: [alt-photo] Re: gutenprint drivers for digital negatives
>> To: The alternative photographic processes mailing list <alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
>> 
>>> Hey Gord,
>>> 
>>> I used Gutenprint (at that time Gimpprint) with a series of 
>>> Epson printers, up 
>>> to a 2200, attached to a Linux box.  When I moved up to a 
>>> 3800, Gutenprint had 
>>> no driver for it, so I hooked it up to a Mac and used the Epson 
>>> driver.  I 
>>> didn't switch to Gutenprint when it added support for the 3800, 
>>> to avoid 
>>> disrupting my workflow-- plus, I was having no problem with the 
>>> Epson driver. 
>>> But I'd be very interested in using a Gutenprint driver 
>>> with my new 3880, if 
>>> that's what it takes to make a decent digital negative.
>>> 
>>> I've used the Gimp all along, first on the Linux box and now on 
>>> Macs, so I'd 
>>> probably use the 'Print with Gutenprint' option to print 
>>> straight from the Gimp, 
>>> unless profile issues make that problematic (?).
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Thanks.
>>> 
>>> Diana
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: Gordon Holtslander <gjh at shaw.ca>
>>> To: "alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org" 
>>> <alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
>>> Sent: Wed, June 22, 2011 1:25:14 PM
>>> Subject: [alt-photo] gutenprint drivers for digital negatives
>>> 
>>> Hi all:
>>> 
>>> With the recent discussions of the issue with the epson 3880 
>>> printer and its 
>>> suitability for producing digital negatives I started looking at 
>>> possible 
>>> solutions.
>>> 
>>> The Gutenprint drivers appear to offer features not available 
>>> with the 
>>> traditional manufacturer or OS based drivers.  Gutenprint 
>>> offers the ability to 
>>> change the ink density.  I think this is essential for 
>>> producing digital 
>>> negatives.
>>> 
>>> I contacted a Gutenprint developer who is willing to develop 
>>> additional features 
>>> to cater to producing digital negatives if a consensus of what 
>>> is needed can be 
>>> established.  Is anyone interested in this?
>>> 
>>> Does anyone have experience using the Gutenprint drivers?  
>>> My ancient 
>>> second-hand epson 1200 has finally failed and I'm not in a 
>>> position to get a new 
>>> printer soon so I can't explore this on my own.
>>> 
>>> The Gutenprint drivers are print drivers available to Mac and 
>>> Unix/linux 
>>> systems:
>>> http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/
>>> 
>>> For windows users there is a Gutenprint plugin available 
>>> (http://registry.gimp.org/node/14567) for the Gimp image editor 
>>> (http://www.gimp.org/windows/)
>>> 
>>> and a photoshop plugin:
>>> http://rapidshare.com/files/323878978/photogp_update_21-12-2009.zip
>>> and instructions:
>>> http://www.webblog.ru/Dickobraz/58513/Install_Gutenprint_for_Adobe_Photoshop.html
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Anyone interested in trying these?
>>> 
>>> Gord
>>> 
>>> 
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