Hi Jeff,
That is a good point. However, the problem is that when a 16 bit file is
sent to the printer, it is converted to an 8 bit file. The maximum number of
tones possible, is still 256. This is why it is so important to preserve
those tones. Sometimes you can get a surprise—early on, I tested a color used
for negatives and found that particular color cannot be parsed by Photoshop into
256 seperate tones—even if you have an image with a lot of tones, that color
can only print about 200 of them—it's a math thing.
It is possible that the variable dot sizes on a micro level lead to more
tones by the way the spots spatter around the pixel they are printing—
unfortunately this is just around that one pixel and not capable of rendering more than
256 tones in the broader image in a controllable way. Now, if we could write a
new driver and maybe get 512 tones by utilizing all those different ink
dilutions, such as Cyan, Light Cyan, etc... or perhaps even 1024 tones... that
would be beyond the realm of human perception. Certainly in a 16 bit image in
Photoshop, with over 32,000 tones, the data is there. But, we might be going
for overkill—I am not sure there are eyeballs out there that see a full 256
tone print as missing anything. Especially if you are using the combination of
chemistry and negative to compress those tones even closer together.
Mark Nelson
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In a message dated 7/30/05 5:50:56 AM, jeffrey.d.mathias@att.net writes:
> However, might there be some use for those extra dots?
> If the driver control is available, one may be able to use the 5760 to
> produce more individual tones within a resolution of 1440 resulting in
> more "apparent pixel depth" at 1440 x 1440. Can the driver do this?
>
> Since a paper like Crane's Business Card Stock seems to be able to
> deliver a resolution of 600 lines per inch with pt/pd, a higher
> resolution (smaller dot) printer can put more printed dots in a dot on
> the negative to be printed as a dot in the print. Including dot gain on
> the negative substrate and any optimized pattern for creating the dot on
> the negative, has anyone figured the total number of individual tones
> that are then produced and the distribution of those tones throughout
> the printable density range of the negative?
>
Received on Sat Jul 30 14:06:20 2005
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