Black and white printing

[Harry Briels]

To be honest, so far I have never printed a black & White photograph.
I like to start the advent of doing so, but I would highly appreciate to receive some advise to how to go about doing so.
Can I just take a photograph I like, and use my printers (3880) Black & White setting and print?
It must be far more complicated than that?
Thanks
Harry

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

' Can I just take a photograph I like, and use my printers (3880) Black & White setting and print?
It must be far more complicated than that? '

No, that works like that for a start, try it and check whether you are happy with it.
But let me explain what the challenge is, typically with a color foto you have a possible color range of 256x256x256 colors - o.k. - you cannot differentiate all of them - visually - your vision system needs a particular colour and/or light contrast to recognize a change , and technically - not all those color combinations will print with a different mixture of the inks by the driver. But even so there are many more combinations possible than with a B/W print - basically 256 gray shades max. So you are faced with the same challenge as B/W photographers to make the best out of that situation -e.g. using color filters to enhance the contrast in particular color regions to transform those into brightness differences in the printout. You may see that details get lost in the darker areas of an image, and you need to find a software tool to enhance those, that's where the Photoshop B/W conversion tools and functions come in, or you even use a separate program/plug in for it, you start playing with HDR like local contrast enhancements etc. And when you look to the printout you may find that the black should be darker, you rather would like a cooler or warmer look of your grays, or depending on your paper and ink choice you may observe some colors showing up in refective light, or you see areas more or less glossy. That's the technical part of the printing, side effects you may want to improve depending how you print - glossy - matt .... And not to forget some motives are better suited for B/W print than others.

So going back to your question at the top - start easy and check whether you are happy with it.

 

[The Hat]

To be honest, so far I have never printed a black & White photograph.
I like to start the advent of doing so, but I would highly appreciate to receive some advise to how to go about doing so.
Can I just take a photograph I like, and use my printers (3880) Black & White setting and print?
It must be far more complicated than that?
Thanks
Harry

My simple advice is to convert your print to greyscale in your photo application first and then to print using all of the colour that your printer has in its arsenal and not to print in greyscale at all, your results will be much better..

 

[bobjoek]

To be honest, so far I have never printed a black & White photograph.
I like to start the advent of doing so, but I would highly appreciate to receive some advise to how to go about doing so.
Can I just take a photograph I like, and use my printers (3880) Black & White setting and print?
It must be far more complicated than that?
Thanks
Harry

Your Epson 3880 has several shades of black ink, plus the driver has an excellent B & W printing function (ABW - Advanced Black & White). Start off by converting your photo to B & W using Photoshop, Lightroom, or the post processing software that you have. When setting up for printing, select ABW in your printer driver. This is one case where you do not want your post processing software (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.) controlling the color or selecting a profile. In your post processing software select "printer manages color." Give this a try. You may be pleasantly surprised with the quality B & W prints that your 3880 can produce. The ABW function can also control the tone of the print, making it warmer or cooler.

Bob

 

[jtoolman]

I agree with converting to "B&W" that way you basically have a file that contains RGB channels and info- 255x255x255!
Converting to Gray Scale reduces your file to only 256 steps ( Including 0 ). You could end up with banding on areas of very gradual gradation like a plain sky.
I print all my B&W and believe me, they are neutral and linear by simply printing through a good ICC profile and setting the printer to COLOR. Even if you pixel pee the prints, you will not see any evidence of colored dots.
The point is that by keeping my converted file to RGB I end up with tons more information than converting to Gray Scale. But then that's simply the way I work. It does not mean it is 100% correct. But still, the proof is in the prints.

Joe

 

[3dogs]

Harry,
What programs have you got that can do this conversion for you?
Lightroom
Photoshop
Other?
Nothing?

 

[martin0reg]

...
Can I just take a photograph I like, and use my printers (3880) Black & White setting and print?
...

Yes you can, because the 3800/3880 has some kind of in built b&w converter called "ABW". It is available in the color settings and will open up a special window.
But if you want to control the conversion yourself you should do this with your photo editing software. Because there are many different ways to translate color into gray ... think of b&w filters when shooting on b&w film, red filter will heavily increase the contrast in a cloudy sky ...

...
It must be far more complicated than that?
...

Possibly yes...as the answers are indicating...
just two links out of hundreds with information regarding the "ABW" mode:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/faq.html#color_vs_abw
http://gerryeskinstudio.com/ABW_sept08_paper/index.html

 

[jtoolman]

Harry,
What programs have you got that can do this conversion for you?
Lightroom
Photoshop
Other?
Nothing?

To me there is nothing better that LightRoom to do my Color to B&W conversion.
You can control your rendition infinitesimally using the color control sliders. Where only had several strengths of each color filter ( When shooting with B&W in the old film days ) you now have infinite control on just how GREEN is converted or RED or any other color combination. You could not have even dreamt of doing so in the film days.

SO I convert in LR or PS ( My second choice only if I didn't have LR ) the print any of my printers in COLOR mode but with color management turned off in the driver. The I tell LR to use ,y custom ICC profile for the printer and paper I am using. Assuming my monitor is properly calibrated both for color and luminosity, my results will always match my monitor. As close as their limitations allow.
But the prints will be neutral and linear!
Joe

 

[martin0reg]

Remembering the old film days ... you can even imitate a certain b&w film (like kodak tri-x or others) - including the grain:
http://grubbasoftware.com/

And while I am fan of small and free photo editors, here is my poor man's lightroom:
http://www.jpg-illuminator.de/
Take a look at the "beispielgalerie" to see the possibilities..
(available only in german and only for windows)

 

[Harry Briels]

I do have Lightroom 5 and I am going to follow the advise you gave me and learn printing in B&W.
There is one matter that still confuses me:
I understood from what I read that in B&W mode one can not or shouldn't use ICC profiles.
However Eric Chan did built special ICC profiles for the Advanced B&W photo mode of the Pro 3880.
http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3880/abwprofiles.html
Why did he do so if no profiles are needed in B&W printing?
Harry