Re: Beginner Density Questions & Digital Negs

Beginner Density Questions & Digital NegsGu,

In this context the value of 1.9 is referring to the "reflective" density. In practical terms a densitometer in reflective mode would measure the darkest part of your print.

The actual negative density could go as high or higher than 2.7 for pt/pd, or 19< steps on a T2115 wedge. What the film is capable of recording is a much larger range than what the print can reflect. The goal is to "fit" the tonal range of the negative onto the paper to retain as much of the image details in the original scene. Think of it this way: you have a piece of music written for 88 key grand piano (the negative) and you need to rescore it to be played on a 44 key organ keyboard (the print). They are two different instruments but it doesn't necessarily mean that the organ won't sound great once you're done.

The densest part of your negative is where your highlights will print on paper. This is where the least amount of reaction between emulsion and UV light occurs and hence the emulsion is washed off the paper during rinsing creating a lighter area.

When creating a negative it is helpful to know what the tonal capabilities of your emulsion and paper combination are, this is why a stepwedge is often used prior to creating a negative. If you can tailor the negative (in camera or digital) to "fit" the paper emulsion then you avoid making a picture that is either too flat or too contrasty. You can however always add contrast agents to some emulsions to alter the range to fit the negative.

Coloured inkjet negatives, historically, are said to have a smoother contrast than black only inks. This is not as much true today as it was yesterday when dot sized were 8-10 picoliters. Inkjet printers now are at the 1 picoliter plateau which means grain is not very apparent in newer printers. Some speculate that half picoliter printers will soon hit the market allowing near perfect black only negatives.

Interesting article on comparing the 2200 and the R200
http://www.cjcom.net/articles/digiprn3b.htm

~m
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: G Guhan Gunaratnam
  To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
  Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 12:54 PM
  Subject: Beginner Density Questions & Digital Negs

  Hey everyone,

  I just wanted to introduce myself as I've been lurking on this list for some time. 29yr old, living in Toronto, new to printing. This list is great and I want to say thanks to everyone for exposing me to a lot I would have otherwise not known.

  I've got some beginner density questions, largely stemming from the phrase "correct density". I'm trying to do digital negatives for pt/pd on an R2400, MIS inks, Pictorico OHP. I've read Dan's book and all the articles I can find on the net, in more than one of them a proper density range is written (ex 1.9 for Palladium). So what is this? Is this the measurment one wants in the blackest black on a negative/digi step wedge when using a densitometer? And does this correct density, then translate into the highest density "black" one can get in a pure palladium print?

  If one were to do Pt/Pd prints, would you then want to shift the 1.9 density more towards 1.6 in your negative?

  Since we are creating a negative, why does the densest step of the negative (this would be the step with the most ink...right?) then affect the blacks on the print (or does it - I thought it would affect the highlights).

  On the digital negative side, for my first digital negative I used Dan's template and used the layer for Pt on the 2200 (even though I'm on a 2400). In other writings coloured negatives seem to be more prevalent. Do these techniques stem from the concept that some colour inks are better at blocking UV than the matte black ink? Why?

  I'm a little confused today. Any help is appreciated, thanks a lot.

  Gu
Received on 05/15/06-09:23:23 AM Z