tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1191640687039536182024-03-18T19:48:35.622-07:00Giclée Prepress - The Art of GicléeNews and Views of interest to those who are passionate about pixel-perfect fine-arts printing and publishing.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-52759134002518966052011-01-01T01:46:00.000-08:002011-01-01T02:15:56.537-08:00A Moving Experience<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Giclée Prepress </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Becomes</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > Giclée Bible</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOVcWJgWpql9FbQ3HzhU7GSpPS4UzehqxYNN-ecXI-8v6BwBvv3APF0SauTF5yjCzxD3rKITvXu3aPw6ASHqx5ZutxDY5oRQ_je7SUcNhEhUp2UWz9ThSzNz2DR6fxozuLBsJUH0GHRvk/s1600/MESNEY_Hour_Glass_1.2_11.01.01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOVcWJgWpql9FbQ3HzhU7GSpPS4UzehqxYNN-ecXI-8v6BwBvv3APF0SauTF5yjCzxD3rKITvXu3aPw6ASHqx5ZutxDY5oRQ_je7SUcNhEhUp2UWz9ThSzNz2DR6fxozuLBsJUH0GHRvk/s320/MESNEY_Hour_Glass_1.2_11.01.01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557154216263756434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">© Douglas Mesney 2011</span></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" >T</span>ime has run out for <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span>.<br /><br />My book has been renamed:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Giclée Bible - The Art of Printing</span><br /><br />This blog has the new name too, and has been moved.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />The answer is at gicleebible.blogspot.com or just click here...<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><a href="http://gicleebible.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">gicleebible.blogspot.com</span><br /></a>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-53645337575732087492010-12-25T23:34:00.000-08:002010-12-26T00:47:57.752-08:00'The Little Bird' Goes to Press<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Baby Books<span style="font-style: italic;"> Launched on Christmas</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkK7KyalZ61uh1Lt1MO_sZW83dav3GPCzKbpQF4rAMoKlHhKuCUtcwp5OnFPg1kVgcWsibx711iQSD7gmDZeD8kDle4BGNZb8DolLGz_yof1P7neJlUCGRp-ZVPqTG8C7AusI1TJnfrQw/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C1_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkK7KyalZ61uh1Lt1MO_sZW83dav3GPCzKbpQF4rAMoKlHhKuCUtcwp5OnFPg1kVgcWsibx711iQSD7gmDZeD8kDle4BGNZb8DolLGz_yof1P7neJlUCGRp-ZVPqTG8C7AusI1TJnfrQw/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C1_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554891978042608466" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">© Douglas Mesney 2010</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:180%;" >V</span>ashon Island Imaging announces the launch of a new book, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird Flies Over the Rainbow</span> (ISBN 978-09865751-2-9).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird</span>, by Taylor Douglas, is a spiral bound, 36-page book aimed at children between 3 and 9 years old. It is a large book, 8.5 X 11 inches, richly illustrated throughout with full color pictures. (You can see the entire book at the end of this blog).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYEF3o8LTy8cFQ7mgdkBkrLICnOzGoiEJnWXctq0SfeNbRu-fb5m1UNzU4kdRVH4r1ygZMvxJCe_aF3DrjkoRSqvJWUKLngw7WMrgxtzcKfDZfM4xOfEwGOScsjBmf5jpnbj1Cno_Pac/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_24_25_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYEF3o8LTy8cFQ7mgdkBkrLICnOzGoiEJnWXctq0SfeNbRu-fb5m1UNzU4kdRVH4r1ygZMvxJCe_aF3DrjkoRSqvJWUKLngw7WMrgxtzcKfDZfM4xOfEwGOScsjBmf5jpnbj1Cno_Pac/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_24_25_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554893013316726450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">© Douglas Mesney 2010</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span>The Little Bird'<span style="font-style: italic;">s </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">main theme is color,<br />what it is and where it comes from.<br />The illustration above shows light refracting<br />through a droplet of water in the rainbow.<br />The next illustration (below) reveals color wheels,<br />how colors blend, and the names of the colors.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_6FZWdh-RjxpuO68P5mB6MYFOk9x7VLF0LvCL7rEWThTW7oJcSnDwdjZIcHANUXw_sM0wuChEKgMG5YKhN6z1r6z8SLx6BbW3PIYjObc4VN0Zzz7QX9x4JB2jto1BgwZWv92n48i1O8/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_26_27_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_6FZWdh-RjxpuO68P5mB6MYFOk9x7VLF0LvCL7rEWThTW7oJcSnDwdjZIcHANUXw_sM0wuChEKgMG5YKhN6z1r6z8SLx6BbW3PIYjObc4VN0Zzz7QX9x4JB2jto1BgwZWv92n48i1O8/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_26_27_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554893654725727570" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" > </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">© Douglas Mesney 2010</span></span></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-style: italic;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">he Little Bird</span> is the first in a series of books that are bigger, longer and more complex than most other children's books. Each has a variety of concepts bound into an interesting tale.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird </span>is a concept book. The goal is to present information in a non- linear way, as a child encounters it in actual life. Life isn't divided up into subjects (although it is in many schools).<br /><br />One's stream of consciousness is a winding journey. Learning is non-linear. Discovery of one thing leads to another. Eureka moments and epiphanies occur when diverse concepts are combined. These books therefore present a 'winding' story with interwoven concepts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words</span><br /><br />Each illustration in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird </span>is available as wall art, lifting the books favorite scenes and characters off the pages and onto the walls of children's' rooms and play or learning areas.<br /><br />Most of the illustrations are mastered at 30,000 pixels on the long side so they look as good as 8-foot murals as they do in the books.<br /><br />Children particularly like our glowing pictures, which are printed on high-cotton-fiber paper that is sensitive to UV light. Kids love that effect.<br /><br />At Vashon Island Imaging we have a special line marketed as <span style="font-style: italic;">'Nite Lites</span>' based on the UV paper. The idea is to use a low-wattage UV light as as night light which also makes the picture come alive in the dark. It is particularly realistic for night scenes like <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Gazers </span>(below).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQTJlv1iWkw-vexNbPFvDnXzuiTXhGLNoDsR6QyusfmJ_-LU23MyjhOsB8ucgKR8EzjL9XyY1tObYTzXv8Xm2TB2aMOHF_0a1O8SYAPw3GXxjBy7KIJGdAfkvywtWe_X6cdfbkVX2f8s/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_30_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQTJlv1iWkw-vexNbPFvDnXzuiTXhGLNoDsR6QyusfmJ_-LU23MyjhOsB8ucgKR8EzjL9XyY1tObYTzXv8Xm2TB2aMOHF_0a1O8SYAPw3GXxjBy7KIJGdAfkvywtWe_X6cdfbkVX2f8s/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_30_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554895370462064882" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">When viewed with UV 'blacklight' this large poster of<br /></span><span>Star Gazers</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (above) looks as real as the real deal. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Maybe that's why kids love the glowing effect.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Environmental Learning</span><br /></div></div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span></span>reat educators know a secret... the one that launched the <span style="font-style: italic;">Walt Disney</span>® empire. It's a very simple concept... that kids live in their own world. That is something that is difficult for adults to remember.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sherlock Holmes</span> said that most people look but don't see. That can be interpreted many ways. Most certainly can't see through a child's eyes or think the way a child does. They have lost the imaginary.<br /><br />What made Disney a genius was bringing his characters off the screen and into our lives. A kid can go to <span style="font-style: italic;">Disneyland</span> and shake hands with <span style="font-style: italic;">Mickey Mouse</span>. That makes <span style="font-style: italic;">Mickey</span> and Disney's whole world as real as <span style="font-style: italic;">Santa Claus</span> in the mind of the child.... which wouldn't be the case if <span style="font-style: italic;">Mickey</span> only lived in a cartoon.<br /><br />Taking a page out of <span style="font-style: italic;">Disney</span>'s book<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird, </span>we have posters of all the pictures in the book(s) in a variety of sizes. They are also available as wallpaper and light boxes, made to the customer's measurements.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.babybooks.com</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">V</span></span>ashon Island Imaging will soon launch a new website to market<span style="font-style: italic;"> The Little Bird</span> and other forthcoming book/poster productions: www.babybooks.com. Until the new site is up, advance copies of the new book can be purchased directly from the author (me)... and you know how to get me by now, eh?<br /><br />Following below is a 'bird's eye view' of our first <span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Book.</span> It's pretty hard to actually read these small blog pictures, for which I apologize.<br /><br />The gist of the story is that <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird </span>wakes up to discover winter. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird </span>learns about winter from his friends around the pond. He flies up into a rainbow and discovers where colors come from, and what they are called. On the way home he tells his friends what he learned about color. That night he dreams about colorful fish in a bigger pond. The next morning he meets his girl friend, tells her about the colors in the sky, and is very happy.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkK7KyalZ61uh1Lt1MO_sZW83dav3GPCzKbpQF4rAMoKlHhKuCUtcwp5OnFPg1kVgcWsibx711iQSD7gmDZeD8kDle4BGNZb8DolLGz_yof1P7neJlUCGRp-ZVPqTG8C7AusI1TJnfrQw/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C1_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkK7KyalZ61uh1Lt1MO_sZW83dav3GPCzKbpQF4rAMoKlHhKuCUtcwp5OnFPg1kVgcWsibx711iQSD7gmDZeD8kDle4BGNZb8DolLGz_yof1P7neJlUCGRp-ZVPqTG8C7AusI1TJnfrQw/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C1_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554891978042608466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwzxBEyYg9MiSNQLSO94l7QM9aJ70EinDyz-BkUugLTNeubk369cAKM1d66mY7cUyoUjxA7wR111PcM8CZKFqN1rjoI8o7DbKRQ3uNnS7iwD4tMYpRtIEcrzJMqCFiej15IQ_zvSldac/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C2_01_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwzxBEyYg9MiSNQLSO94l7QM9aJ70EinDyz-BkUugLTNeubk369cAKM1d66mY7cUyoUjxA7wR111PcM8CZKFqN1rjoI8o7DbKRQ3uNnS7iwD4tMYpRtIEcrzJMqCFiej15IQ_zvSldac/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C2_01_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554904547051574642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span><br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EfQHozUx2Zi1CWkPsr10v8tpJkD7mFYb98gFJr4vNSLakpTyC4jIszyCRGrRxkVE46vYvQcIloqBfrOwLTRBuBDmPkyYiFrO4zf_6Ng2jgWYXYSkcb5keOCx7_5ogzLbomRKwXIeb7s/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_02_03_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EfQHozUx2Zi1CWkPsr10v8tpJkD7mFYb98gFJr4vNSLakpTyC4jIszyCRGrRxkVE46vYvQcIloqBfrOwLTRBuBDmPkyYiFrO4zf_6Ng2jgWYXYSkcb5keOCx7_5ogzLbomRKwXIeb7s/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_02_03_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554898024540049618" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnaLRE4sujAze_OaN6ko3c8hUXQfbqPgGB9aDVPZqya4kaNUHCy6eh9xDPtg513_Ot_RZz0BLvHj8HG3oTh01ioPYTNU91CnZDFcZOR0nt3idjr4NXnZnlufmTGT_ZgKwuQE4_SWwDXI/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_04_05_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnaLRE4sujAze_OaN6ko3c8hUXQfbqPgGB9aDVPZqya4kaNUHCy6eh9xDPtg513_Ot_RZz0BLvHj8HG3oTh01ioPYTNU91CnZDFcZOR0nt3idjr4NXnZnlufmTGT_ZgKwuQE4_SWwDXI/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_04_05_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554898742017261778" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotV4eQifV2Ma2Hrt32IjVQejAkyNxJOZPTwbFfZTbKXvhT63xcKIIJGPi2Uhfkp6nnZnsuUAxf610q8CYeQzI92LmftUooQdsbBeEd3S8XO-cWdbIqsUz24KdSGp8VMnjYcmEWtku-78/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_06_07_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotV4eQifV2Ma2Hrt32IjVQejAkyNxJOZPTwbFfZTbKXvhT63xcKIIJGPi2Uhfkp6nnZnsuUAxf610q8CYeQzI92LmftUooQdsbBeEd3S8XO-cWdbIqsUz24KdSGp8VMnjYcmEWtku-78/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_06_07_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554899477288783826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiklpwavoA_gSPrAwYMX-VYOHfV8WVZbNllh7oEN76zluy-rA3FH7F3oC9mRwDJ6Cp2efaysVDox4A0MSmV3hawMtv9PEOnDgSkImxeiiN8I81n-ABz4a10PU0BvQC3ZodmEali2TMrr2s/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_08_09_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiklpwavoA_gSPrAwYMX-VYOHfV8WVZbNllh7oEN76zluy-rA3FH7F3oC9mRwDJ6Cp2efaysVDox4A0MSmV3hawMtv9PEOnDgSkImxeiiN8I81n-ABz4a10PU0BvQC3ZodmEali2TMrr2s/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_08_09_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554899634023706322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHqym_cjmpcmv7sQjbco8onhulJVcSCR_uHW5hXxgXPBhoot5Yqdvfg9xQH9yTBFXLfnTDFNi38G5Jyndjsptez88CD9wdq2FyrN8HTkp9Cs5YxbhyphenhyphenmlxTSxYN-nwWmXkgGh-J2B_Uig/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_10_11_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHqym_cjmpcmv7sQjbco8onhulJVcSCR_uHW5hXxgXPBhoot5Yqdvfg9xQH9yTBFXLfnTDFNi38G5Jyndjsptez88CD9wdq2FyrN8HTkp9Cs5YxbhyphenhyphenmlxTSxYN-nwWmXkgGh-J2B_Uig/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_10_11_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554899798787164498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSJ0eQX0fBnaQ3sVR1Qf19D9gvxeUG1hK-4IBuaBc2JXit2UOp7Hhxs64WUCOgwkCnUBQxpIsXEXroQkJ4pMoWor1ifIg8nxC6m_psETXXYCzTPkzghuTinvGEjo-6pYL9K5sfueXA7s/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_12_13_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSJ0eQX0fBnaQ3sVR1Qf19D9gvxeUG1hK-4IBuaBc2JXit2UOp7Hhxs64WUCOgwkCnUBQxpIsXEXroQkJ4pMoWor1ifIg8nxC6m_psETXXYCzTPkzghuTinvGEjo-6pYL9K5sfueXA7s/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_12_13_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554900004107492802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_MgJy9UdSdymcGIzhDHKjXLCW0RCnJj6q22awJqNbH5zFhPeITI9VwSx79bNn8FolcNK_s_2_lAKE458Mw108Fxo9KgFhhMO8EdPur0he1bRRSOdi2xdb2RUIse3z9A7Q5VZK71EsVo/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_14_15_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_MgJy9UdSdymcGIzhDHKjXLCW0RCnJj6q22awJqNbH5zFhPeITI9VwSx79bNn8FolcNK_s_2_lAKE458Mw108Fxo9KgFhhMO8EdPur0he1bRRSOdi2xdb2RUIse3z9A7Q5VZK71EsVo/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_14_15_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554900188198553794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwXBGiaqyN0kEA46qW72MdTKChiKrMbrqCKbV00fCd6_OM1K_4Y6-H8HkPTpBWfL12CNyHCS-OXqBuWz-mcJcELLDqZnevd_JZCwnAR39l72HuTx3aSmdQI-L9ANucBEGsjTMgglUegc/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_16_17_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwXBGiaqyN0kEA46qW72MdTKChiKrMbrqCKbV00fCd6_OM1K_4Y6-H8HkPTpBWfL12CNyHCS-OXqBuWz-mcJcELLDqZnevd_JZCwnAR39l72HuTx3aSmdQI-L9ANucBEGsjTMgglUegc/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_16_17_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554900458187173906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3hlXVOwRNshCUKaS18_QQvs3mSBSRbTOCwDVRz93rPEiwt9KtK8qNO0KYXTwyjoiCRm8gYjvv7dWIutgoXGEtC422sNo8SsLcv4NAGYGQ1SLIJtYfLbnQkhqCQoiTckjtzXOr2BuAS4/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_18_19_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3hlXVOwRNshCUKaS18_QQvs3mSBSRbTOCwDVRz93rPEiwt9KtK8qNO0KYXTwyjoiCRm8gYjvv7dWIutgoXGEtC422sNo8SsLcv4NAGYGQ1SLIJtYfLbnQkhqCQoiTckjtzXOr2BuAS4/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_18_19_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554900623557412802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOs7oGe1r7Zi5BaihxSzVmyw3-4LWN31oLORx9MUFgP1A69Ws4K4vPfsbsTdUq8Ma0iLe6tZaFK5kErAtBbfj3hGBg8UNytHtsxuYEjgkXnI8jb9AVZJT77DzUsHQZT3JBQ-Xg9iToLCs/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_20_21_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOs7oGe1r7Zi5BaihxSzVmyw3-4LWN31oLORx9MUFgP1A69Ws4K4vPfsbsTdUq8Ma0iLe6tZaFK5kErAtBbfj3hGBg8UNytHtsxuYEjgkXnI8jb9AVZJT77DzUsHQZT3JBQ-Xg9iToLCs/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_20_21_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554900792451162882" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAkkfDmyIbukopuRXLmp2cH8-Ll6fr1Xn_7FL88j5DniZWi7-FrmRGp2ClyQcVJjjEzS7JMcS_N7zPzMZpdJruw5xaLlpm45hxCCDH2UYqjXl95W4RhO6UabmKu7qKJ0h0VYodaUA6ps/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_22_23_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAkkfDmyIbukopuRXLmp2cH8-Ll6fr1Xn_7FL88j5DniZWi7-FrmRGp2ClyQcVJjjEzS7JMcS_N7zPzMZpdJruw5xaLlpm45hxCCDH2UYqjXl95W4RhO6UabmKu7qKJ0h0VYodaUA6ps/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_22_23_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554900942277697394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5snlccilZjbDWF-s4Fu-ZBxe5h68L23GcJPY09Xpd1lGsZf5bTEhHeqRqPyEaAinOqI6mjdLhbuJCtgbkYCu9TbAvh0PHZ-NlmNCQmHS7U46f4UKqe4fHZIZ1zDd0J9o7Dg9UeUyFzo/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_24_25_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5snlccilZjbDWF-s4Fu-ZBxe5h68L23GcJPY09Xpd1lGsZf5bTEhHeqRqPyEaAinOqI6mjdLhbuJCtgbkYCu9TbAvh0PHZ-NlmNCQmHS7U46f4UKqe4fHZIZ1zDd0J9o7Dg9UeUyFzo/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_24_25_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554901116545361170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyOxzy1DJJXHC_Lkyic81EvhKMXlLk8pBj-3s4oHquAmvb_l3JAqfKZgPTRkDjAfx4HdptQK3bgVYUOoUJ-OAofztrkI8HjEMMnRsayWj6_zTVLwYdqfiR1PmybsiwmGbyUT1n4Vg5H4/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_26_27_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyOxzy1DJJXHC_Lkyic81EvhKMXlLk8pBj-3s4oHquAmvb_l3JAqfKZgPTRkDjAfx4HdptQK3bgVYUOoUJ-OAofztrkI8HjEMMnRsayWj6_zTVLwYdqfiR1PmybsiwmGbyUT1n4Vg5H4/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_26_27_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554901243874744098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIljGNW90Kr0gJnhX5NL3kJk_bEkIRFQBHTIPgF0JKlHXyKn0rpeL49FHMCw8ln47v4lLtpujRLx-zIaWP0Mozq2CMvwPzxAyQqA2uFnsoZNC-EYJijneH2J2oDjM4o5KkGsfQZA4d_yc/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_28_29_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIljGNW90Kr0gJnhX5NL3kJk_bEkIRFQBHTIPgF0JKlHXyKn0rpeL49FHMCw8ln47v4lLtpujRLx-zIaWP0Mozq2CMvwPzxAyQqA2uFnsoZNC-EYJijneH2J2oDjM4o5KkGsfQZA4d_yc/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_28_29_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554901458797588274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCY6PyauNgguOJtmui0l4-QXNOVQp7e3wuudzgKT8nysI4xWpos-f4sJl_VM81ovCcKMPMfcq929Ri7a-akZrxk3x2GzAe2H5ohPtdosC9ceMxDru0Vu92eUvZdaqPb9bHSu3CY2pieQ/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_30_31_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCY6PyauNgguOJtmui0l4-QXNOVQp7e3wuudzgKT8nysI4xWpos-f4sJl_VM81ovCcKMPMfcq929Ri7a-akZrxk3x2GzAe2H5ohPtdosC9ceMxDru0Vu92eUvZdaqPb9bHSu3CY2pieQ/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_30_31_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554901700043622594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwdMWhBdu2p8h7Syave2pRTZIG9sVKBZyWXP8IjsGwrTZBoABB2HjylpzRNKTJtLMVTm29uBrAHmwnEdpuwiKLUC8yXobBjCqFv3L7N8eBKaaIs6A0Zfqj-jre2uFkp0qkkanr92Cjtg/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_32_33_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwdMWhBdu2p8h7Syave2pRTZIG9sVKBZyWXP8IjsGwrTZBoABB2HjylpzRNKTJtLMVTm29uBrAHmwnEdpuwiKLUC8yXobBjCqFv3L7N8eBKaaIs6A0Zfqj-jre2uFkp0qkkanr92Cjtg/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_32_33_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554902003412027730" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVVHEV6hRWMzTg_EKY-I5P8CrZtpl7zv5jrLTVwXJpiLNcGunNuG25xBO_gbNnJtcMfjxIErXfifEfJXXTR_1dREzfLH-MOU8JJitJJG3xwEokwAX9HAzcgZSsWsd4StDo9IenjfUQrw/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_34_35_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVVHEV6hRWMzTg_EKY-I5P8CrZtpl7zv5jrLTVwXJpiLNcGunNuG25xBO_gbNnJtcMfjxIErXfifEfJXXTR_1dREzfLH-MOU8JJitJJG3xwEokwAX9HAzcgZSsWsd4StDo9IenjfUQrw/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_34_35_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554902186882607202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRUln7p7H4ezsqeyQ_X8j14SAKDivkga8lLl5xqp0uYZfA1fJhbfYblgjEwgTdw1Zt8mWguEWjCETIO_7PzwHJL8euocmyV5khhyphenhyphenlBBdSN81livQOOZSrKE5r1HUAwboMOjUWZaU_MeY/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_36_C3_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRUln7p7H4ezsqeyQ_X8j14SAKDivkga8lLl5xqp0uYZfA1fJhbfYblgjEwgTdw1Zt8mWguEWjCETIO_7PzwHJL8euocmyV5khhyphenhyphenlBBdSN81livQOOZSrKE5r1HUAwboMOjUWZaU_MeY/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_36_C3_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554902376286197570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6noNVQP4H-PX5nvgpi_lVmcc8KLxc92vi6an0uCcNd6GNW9qpjLFY-osmJ1pTLUMnzCtjoV7IF0ZSW2gTWozU3i_G-zQ8l46l5rpAu4pOSeH440rZPmhsbiwR568FuE2DFh01lsaPFs/s1600/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C4_10.12.25.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6noNVQP4H-PX5nvgpi_lVmcc8KLxc92vi6an0uCcNd6GNW9qpjLFY-osmJ1pTLUMnzCtjoV7IF0ZSW2gTWozU3i_G-zQ8l46l5rpAu4pOSeH440rZPmhsbiwR568FuE2DFh01lsaPFs/s320/LITTLE_BIRD_Pages_0_C4_10.12.25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554905579740329570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span>© Douglas Mesney 2010<br /><br /></span></span></div><br />Fun read, eh? ...And a bargain at $24.95.<br /><br />Be the first on your block to have a copy, etc....<br /><br />Let me know you read about it here and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Bird</span> will sign your copy.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-12573362839267151492010-12-22T21:14:00.000-08:002010-12-22T23:42:18.359-08:00Blast from the Past<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">'Incredible Slidemakers' Posters Available Again<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrF1XFS2JT7Fc_wfgQWz8UfchninB9pS0xIDCzBu6qocmZg4uo9xqpCMikIFlabBqCkN50aEVXeczrD8_mN4WRznkcMImtQJjD04P1jjQotQi0iOEUHjAilyjgy0pSWej-esDeHx4Sb6Q/s1600/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.1_10.12.22.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrF1XFS2JT7Fc_wfgQWz8UfchninB9pS0xIDCzBu6qocmZg4uo9xqpCMikIFlabBqCkN50aEVXeczrD8_mN4WRznkcMImtQJjD04P1jjQotQi0iOEUHjAilyjgy0pSWej-esDeHx4Sb6Q/s320/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.1_10.12.22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553757225706913058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:78%;">© 1976 The Incredible Slidemakers</span><br /></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>here are about 35 people in the world who would probably love to get their hands on a brand new copy of the classic 1976 <span style="font-style: italic;">Incredible Slidemakers </span>poster (shown above). That is now possible because yesterday, while cleaning up the studio, I found 50 pristine copies.<br /><br />In another envelope I found a like number of pristine <span style="font-style: italic;">Mesney's Third Bardo</span> posters (printed on UV-reflective paper) dating from 1973...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPWMGjEX-qR9i6rLhzncETAUqqyL-R13gL9GzTei6joOSBbyOrx_Xvcn-oF_jW94UTytZGH0YvNjf4tQ-bh609JfZ00V4hVpxmWccjDALTBF3zBWiIlobZ9T3z1fjYNalJYmDz4N3lsA/s1600/MESNEY_1973_Third_Bardo_Poster_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPWMGjEX-qR9i6rLhzncETAUqqyL-R13gL9GzTei6joOSBbyOrx_Xvcn-oF_jW94UTytZGH0YvNjf4tQ-bh609JfZ00V4hVpxmWccjDALTBF3zBWiIlobZ9T3z1fjYNalJYmDz4N3lsA/s320/MESNEY_1973_Third_Bardo_Poster_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553757988704401314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >© 1973 The Incredible Slidemakers</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Front and back of the reversible poster designed by</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Ridinger when he and I collaborated and the company's</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">name was changed to </span>Mesney's Third Bardo<span style="font-style: italic;">.</span> '<span style="font-style: italic;">Bardo</span>'<span style="font-style: italic;"> derives from to the </span>Tibetan Book of The Dead <span style="font-style: italic;">in which the third bardo is the twilight state between</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">death and transfiguration.</span>.. <span style="font-style: italic;">which always seemed an</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">appropriate description of an artist's lot in life.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFbPe2cfL0SfO_mDn7FbYL-TYMK3uSYuc1LETtLwk1u50NoGn9UYXAQAZC8QclL4ML1oqAHZn_b9XZ3SgaGeP7NG8A2JC2ZeYxtr7kA3_oFvtkldUp35vOzWWWJoU4Erz9qJi1ZEapuA/s1600/MESNEY_1969_Space_Lady_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFbPe2cfL0SfO_mDn7FbYL-TYMK3uSYuc1LETtLwk1u50NoGn9UYXAQAZC8QclL4ML1oqAHZn_b9XZ3SgaGeP7NG8A2JC2ZeYxtr7kA3_oFvtkldUp35vOzWWWJoU4Erz9qJi1ZEapuA/s320/MESNEY_1969_Space_Lady_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553759563714356818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >© 1969 Douglas Mesney</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The poster featured </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >my first photo illustration, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >'</span><span style="font-size:85%;">Space Lady</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >'.<br />It was done in 1969 by traditional airbrush work on a black-and-white print.<br />The original and the posters were printed on<br />blacklight-sensitive paper that glows under UV light.<br />That makes this picture the precursor to our current 'Nite Lights' style,<br />printing giclées on UV-sensitive art paper.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">U</span></span>p on another shelf I found a neatly bundled roll with about 100 copies of the classic 1972 <span style="font-style: italic;">New York National Boat Show</span> poster, smothered in dust and cobwebs.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDH5RqV9zzaD8HMPCFwG6XVhLpecPCxiO5f5HFTKewv6EC_CPFnGWWS73bBbLWB6U9Hz5lgBqnS_bCoNozghJfy7aKbAzcluOXaEFAV3LjTcaWGEELF6ny5_JQiJqX9Q1mvZjFPkOiJU/s1600/MESNEY_1972_NationalBoatShow_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDH5RqV9zzaD8HMPCFwG6XVhLpecPCxiO5f5HFTKewv6EC_CPFnGWWS73bBbLWB6U9Hz5lgBqnS_bCoNozghJfy7aKbAzcluOXaEFAV3LjTcaWGEELF6ny5_JQiJqX9Q1mvZjFPkOiJU/s320/MESNEY_1972_NationalBoatShow_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553761942850646738" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >© 1972 Mesney's Third Bardo</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he boat show and <span style="font-style: italic;">Bardo </span>posters are two classics that were designed by Tom Ridinger, himself the subject of a recent blog (<span style="font-style: italic;">Inter-Continental Color</span>).<br /><br />The Incredible Slidemakers poster dates from a time near the apex of that enterprise's arc. It was an arc of triumph for those who participated. They were the ones who pioneered 'multi-image' and special effects film work.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8JszfliBka9HPGpOHUqB__lmfJbLhrBQK0pDe1IcWMPM_lA1mMHVEqKn62fMdeat8Z3KkB3_v6MAHalQTMTmM3C0T7L5nH6Gvi6vIDuD0r1NXnU5EYDVPXekW6jjvvmtSZtqow0Htc/s1600/MESNEY_1991_Saab_Motor+Show_Frankfurt_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8JszfliBka9HPGpOHUqB__lmfJbLhrBQK0pDe1IcWMPM_lA1mMHVEqKn62fMdeat8Z3KkB3_v6MAHalQTMTmM3C0T7L5nH6Gvi6vIDuD0r1NXnU5EYDVPXekW6jjvvmtSZtqow0Htc/s320/MESNEY_1991_Saab_Motor+Show_Frankfurt_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553762693237782418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:78%;">© 1991 Douglas Mesney / Incredible Imagers AB</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Multi-image <span style="font-style: italic;">was (is?) a term used to describe slides shows on steroids.</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">For about 10 years the use of multiple projectors became a fad amongst big corporations (who could afford them). It would take almost as long to tell you the story as my career in multi-image lasted. For me it began with a mistake.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">An example is the 60-projector image wall arcing around a Saab at the Frankfurst Auto Show in 1991... my last European show before returning to The States.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span></span>n 1973 we started tinkering with slides at Mesney's Third Bardo. Slide shows and speaker-support slides were an ad-on to the photo and graphics work we were doing for George Rounds at the New York National Boat Show.<br /><br />Slides turned out to be fun. Soon we were selling chart-and-graph slides for all sorts of corporate presentations. There was a big market for fancy ones. The fancier and more expensive we made them, the more people wanted them. (Sighing... 'those were the days, my friends'.)<br /><br />On one occasion our slide-copy camera (a Forox® at the time) overexposed a few titles. They were designed as dark blue and came back from the lab looking like neon.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNcSG86Jnsdqh4kQLwzTZlEGQr-WCOPTYKfEAH3eefZ1x8-LFfT4zr2SekuvuuUzabzeeXf02OuzG-o_M6oc7hn7_f6GDaTCJhTSDSZOLfQ5ujNmZ3Ew-rxGsjwjPTFAaeyXvrtpdHrA/s1600/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.3_Ayerst_Logo_10.12.22.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 121px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNcSG86Jnsdqh4kQLwzTZlEGQr-WCOPTYKfEAH3eefZ1x8-LFfT4zr2SekuvuuUzabzeeXf02OuzG-o_M6oc7hn7_f6GDaTCJhTSDSZOLfQ5ujNmZ3Ew-rxGsjwjPTFAaeyXvrtpdHrA/s320/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.3_Ayerst_Logo_10.12.22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553764126068448850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >© 1974 The Incredible Slidemakers</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Our first reaction to the mistake was, 'yikes!'<br />That quickly turned to 'Ohhhhh Wowwwww',<br />which translates now as 'OMG'.</span></span> </div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Star Is Born</span><br /><br />Instantaneously, we were into the special effects business. I surrendered all my star filters and other fruitcake filters to the Forox® department and we were off to the races.<br /><br />Within a year we had a reputation around New York. Within two years that reputation spread across the USA. Within three years we had a bucket of awards and a stash of cash (for new toys).<br /><br />Whenever people saw our graphics they'd say, 'incredible!'. So we changed the name of the company from <span style="font-style: italic;">Mesney's Third Bardo</span> to <span style="font-style: italic;">The Incredible Slidemakers</span>. The name stuck ...people still call me '<span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Incredible</span>'.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2N8I4Yv3CIxMPBlNzMfzq6nQZ7lguTo-BeZIeVrTyazDn3Su5NkQuOEl1zECmCXBruvsxUaH3kVLRC7Mk-POtgX5V61O4uxDPAJVp_1-Q6Tyw7NAdBOOkPqtpOWsXferyDdF8PgzWF1U/s1600/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.2_Eagle_Eye_10.12.22.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 76px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2N8I4Yv3CIxMPBlNzMfzq6nQZ7lguTo-BeZIeVrTyazDn3Su5NkQuOEl1zECmCXBruvsxUaH3kVLRC7Mk-POtgX5V61O4uxDPAJVp_1-Q6Tyw7NAdBOOkPqtpOWsXferyDdF8PgzWF1U/s320/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.2_Eagle_Eye_10.12.22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553765351068276322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >© 1975 The Incredible Slidemakers</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Close-up of</span> Incredible Slidemakers <span style="font-style: italic;">poster showing</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">a three-slide special effects transition for a multi-image slide show.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQ16-I55Cpi2WtnIIyaY6aUaramrgro-AbAqiMMEvC33DWk8G9ZtvrUXMtmMzP6Hcw7wBq-s7y2hukl_6Ofw0pVEx7XP7CJeVYlTdfi0832lg3vTxbM7jilsaphTfC8occRi-A7a_0xc/s1600/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.4_Burger_King_10.12.22.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 76px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQ16-I55Cpi2WtnIIyaY6aUaramrgro-AbAqiMMEvC33DWk8G9ZtvrUXMtmMzP6Hcw7wBq-s7y2hukl_6Ofw0pVEx7XP7CJeVYlTdfi0832lg3vTxbM7jilsaphTfC8occRi-A7a_0xc/s320/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Poster_1.4_Burger_King_10.12.22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553765499337213698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >© 1975 The Incredible Slidemakers</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >After taming, the original mistake became one of ouor most popular<br />special effects, called an 'Outer Glow', shown above as a three-slide split<br />for a wide-screen, three-projector slide show.<br /></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he poster was the focal point of Incredible's 1976 promotion, revealing 60 of our most complex special effects. Some of them seem gaudy now, as well as nostalgic. All of them are truly 'incredible' considering that they were made before PhotoShop® ...before computers... before well, anything...!<br /><br />A talented crew used an assemblage of modified photo gack hanging off a pair of Forox® slide-animation cameras to shoot the effects you see on the poster. Somewhere I have a copy of an old US Patent that we got for a rotating stage based on a set of electric trains.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZWyD_z6IbvBPpgnzFWWF_m4e_XXDynchUJ6NImM_rgL2MZV87saoSreVuCh03G1cu_MYDr-sosHpNEMXA4KAOmjFwbyiZiB5Oaq9eN6ATrxwNNeKvgOJwXO7y_PO3Bvfes25Lm1DCvY/s1600/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Party_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZWyD_z6IbvBPpgnzFWWF_m4e_XXDynchUJ6NImM_rgL2MZV87saoSreVuCh03G1cu_MYDr-sosHpNEMXA4KAOmjFwbyiZiB5Oaq9eN6ATrxwNNeKvgOJwXO7y_PO3Bvfes25Lm1DCvY/s320/MESNEY_1976_Incredible_Slidemakers_Party_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553766467802524354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The original </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Incredible Slidemakers</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" > at play.<br />Anyone who was there can tell you,<br />I ran </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Incredible </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >like a kindergarten laboratory.<br />Talk about R&D, we reversed the usual ratio,<br />devoting virtually all profits to new toys.<br />Everyone was encouraged to explore<br />his or her versions of the Muse.<br />Guess you could call that a 'Muse & Views' management style.<br />Doesn't work well for the enterprise, but employees love it.<br />Left to right: John Leichmon, Tim Sali, Douglas Mesney, Fred Canizarro<br />and Rocky Graziano. Jim Casey is foreground right and if you know<br />who is forground left, clue me in please.<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >N</span>ow, here's the most 'incredible' part of all... I still use many of those same pieces of equipment and photomechanical techniques right here, right now, at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>.<br /><br />Just yesterday I did a big slide copy job for a Vashon artist. She needed an 'instant portfolio' made from about three dozen slides show her installation pieces.<br /><br />The slides were photo-copied using a Nikon digital camera mounted on a copy stand rigged with the old<span style="font-style: italic;"> Forox</span> light box and the old <span style="font-style: italic;">Chromega</span> color-enlarger light source, both survivors of the Seventies, like me.<br /><br />If you use a scanner, you know how long it would take to do three dozen slides the right way (ie., not automated).<br /><br />Now consider this... I had a working set of digital files in less than an hour.<br /><br />You see, traditional techniques like those have not been improved by the digital revolution, when it comes to fine arts reproductions using the giclée printing process. There are many reasons for that explained in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée </span>as well as in earlier blogs. But I digress...<br /><br />That kind of speed and efficiency allows us to offer artists affordable file-making. Face it, how many artists can afford <span style="font-style: italic;">Tango</span> scans? Without <span style="font-style: italic;">Tango</span> or similar quality digital scanning, photomechanical techniques using a digital camera produce better results.<br /><br />And, how long did you say it would take to produce those<span style="font-style: italic;"> Tango</span> scans? ...Uh huh.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cheaper, Better Faster</span><br /><br />You used to have to choose two of those three attributes when you shopped for digital transformation of slides. Now you get all three... at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> (www.vashonislandimaging.com).<br /><br />Customer perception is the most critical part of any business proposition. In this case the customer is an artist seeking a high-quality printed portfolio for a reasonable cost.<br /><br />I don't need to tell you how important it is to put the squeeze on prices these days. We do that by adding value instead of lowering our rates.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs7LBsQjtRaMf-XZGCumzgAJydOimUM-lKixL7K1mMDyxAm9_WoyMN7aCF_HxXFBUo53DVlUBGGZUQLdEEascwY9AC67_Ezs9bAXPYGt9WzXz6kpttZPRRDT1AB_o8E3wgw6RWpulIR4/s1600/MESNEY_Dollar_Sign_Bolted_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 127px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs7LBsQjtRaMf-XZGCumzgAJydOimUM-lKixL7K1mMDyxAm9_WoyMN7aCF_HxXFBUo53DVlUBGGZUQLdEEascwY9AC67_Ezs9bAXPYGt9WzXz6kpttZPRRDT1AB_o8E3wgw6RWpulIR4/s320/MESNEY_Dollar_Sign_Bolted_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553776678294924450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">puts the squeeze on prices.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">W</span></span>e are able to deliver a $15 package that includes 'scanning', basic prepress, an 8 X 12 print on art paper, and an internet-sized version. That combo adds enough value to make the total perceived value-to-price ratio irresistible for many artists. So it's win-win and we are also finding that families are also using the same offer to have their old photo albums captured and restored before they fade much farther.<br /><br />Again, it's a question of speed and efficiency. Those two are critical for a business. Even if you are 'only' a hobbyist printer, you got stuff to do, right? Time is of the essence.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Limited Edition</span><br /><br />These posters are truly limited editions. They just don't get more limited than this.<br /><br />If you're one of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Incredible Slidemakers</span> and would like a copy of our infamous promotion poster, get in touch. They're free for you guys (except for a $12.95 handling fee). For the rest, copies are available for $39.95... while they last.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">For a more complete back story about <span style="font-style: italic;">Mesney's Third Bardo</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Incredible Slidemakers</span> please refer to the Epilogue of <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span>. (An on-line biographical slide show is available at www.incredibleimages.com/Profile.)<br /></span>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-72908102878901166552010-12-13T15:40:00.000-08:002010-12-13T16:10:40.875-08:00Anomalogical Observation No.1<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Things to Watch for In You Give A Hoot</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAj9wbjyhgzw-gnz_Rs5NwViA677zewxZHTUfNkcmzQuNTU6fhiMa1l3Eyhy6HWKDgb3bpR5g63kQhqVPUP4UTCQ50Oz7vNyN4t__opwWl7m5GNEGvzQrybfr7YCVC_-SoykPHM0JmlQ/s1600/MESNEY_Snowy_Owl_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAj9wbjyhgzw-gnz_Rs5NwViA677zewxZHTUfNkcmzQuNTU6fhiMa1l3Eyhy6HWKDgb3bpR5g63kQhqVPUP4UTCQ50Oz7vNyN4t__opwWl7m5GNEGvzQrybfr7YCVC_-SoykPHM0JmlQ/s320/MESNEY_Snowy_Owl_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550319296241783810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">We give a hoot, that's why we're<br />passing these observations on to y'all.<br /></span></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:180%;" >T</span>his brief piece starts a new <span style="font-style: italic;">'featurette'</span> about things that go bump in the night. Being a night owl, that's when I work and I don't like things that bump then unless they are of a <span style="font-style: italic;">'particular</span> kind' (heh heh).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Anamological Observations</span> will provide some insight into things that might otherwise make a giclée printer feel insecure. It's all part of becoming a wise old night owl.<br /><br />This first piece is about our new Epson<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> giclée printer and let me say before going any further that we are quite happy with this fabulous new 10-color machine. Moreover, I am aware that any new system or device has a 'beta-test' phase, which is a kind of shakeout using real customers to find and fix bugs.<br /><br />Usually, at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> (www.vashonislandimaging.com) we wait before buying anything totally new because we don't like being guinea pigs. For us there's only a fine line between shakeout and <span style="font-style: italic;">shakedown</span>.<br /><br />This time was different for a variety of reasons, which have nothing to do with anything other than our need to be able to switch between gloss and matte black more efficiently than we could with our <span style="font-style: italic;">9880</span> model... which we now can with the <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span>. But I digress...<br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> is doing a great job but two things have happened which I will term anomalies at this point. (Epson®, clue in.)<br /><br />The first has to do with the machine. The other day it just went away. Oh, it was there in all its massiveness... but wouldn't respond to anything. Even the on-off switch did nothing. That was spooky.<br /><br />Being an old dog my first instinct in these situations is to turn everything off and then back on after waiting 10 - 15 seconds. So I unplugged the <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> and then plugged it back in... And it fired right up with nary a touch of any buttons at all.<br /><br />So there's that.<br /><br />The next one has been going on for a few days. It's the ink meter. The one for light black (<span style="font-style: italic;">T5967</span>) reminds me of John Wayne's gun.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTy-gUeqY73uwOY-rz5ccwxUfJRCD_Nl61cakiS9YTQaWujvkroQAR80s4NEdcc3WTrOzjrohNqgBuCPtWKeungKBLsjwTPAMEMBJ-eoerqpv8hhHvBfErQ-es8v5NZGSMiTrw6_VXdXw/s1600/GOOGLE_John_Wayne_1.1.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 99px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTy-gUeqY73uwOY-rz5ccwxUfJRCD_Nl61cakiS9YTQaWujvkroQAR80s4NEdcc3WTrOzjrohNqgBuCPtWKeungKBLsjwTPAMEMBJ-eoerqpv8hhHvBfErQ-es8v5NZGSMiTrw6_VXdXw/s320/GOOGLE_John_Wayne_1.1.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550317900705684562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The </span>Duke<span style="font-style: italic;">'s gun never runs out of ammo. </span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">He can shoot forever without reloading.<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" >A</span>bout a week ago the ink meters threw up a big yellow exclamation point warning that the light black ink cartridge was at 11% (we use the new 350 ml size, although this was -- still is -- the 150 ml cart that the machine came with).<br /><br />Making note of the light-black ink levels decent, I also logged media cosumption. I calculated that it was using the light-black ink at 1% per foot of 44-inch-wide media (with heavy coverage).<br /><br />As it got down to 2% I dutifully fetched a new cart off the shelf and prepared to do my first ink change on the new 10-color printer. My attention got focused at the 1-% mark and I even read the instruction book at that point.<br /><br />I started printing small stuff because I hate changing carts in the middle of a big one. Even though Epson<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span>'s got it down now -- you can change any color in the middle of a print without seeing any flaws in the print -- there is still room for human error ...or even anomalies.<br /><br />With the <span style="font-style: italic;">9880 </span>we had an anomaly one time changing the yellow ink cartridge in the middle of a 44-inch by 12-foot print. The picture became a <span style="font-style: italic;">triptych</span> that day, instead of a continuous panorama, when the yellow ink somehow pumped dry despite the new cart.<br /><br />So there's that, too. Anyway...<br /><br />The<span style="font-style: italic;"> 9900</span> kept printing more and more small stuff. Finally, I had to print a big one. Boy, was I on my toes... but it got printed with no probs, and the ink meter kept reading a solid 1% throughout. Hmmmmph, I said to myself, and did another... and another....<br /><br />As I write this blog the ink meter has been exclaiming 1% while 20-feet of 24-inch-wide media (heavy coverage) has printed perfectly... and the machine is still going strong.<br /><br />Now, a couple of other colors are showing ink-level warnings. Yellow is at 7%, cyan is at 11% and matte black is at 12%... so we'll soon see whether this is a light-black anomaly or a more colorful one.<br /><br />Stay tuned... there may be a <span style="font-style: italic;">Guiness Book of World Record</span>s thing happening here.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-64372243305028559342010-12-13T12:05:00.000-08:002010-12-13T13:16:52.847-08:00Got Milk?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHiruG5AVRH9i8RMYixVLOlr9FHLghw41HKfAY58di4NCtc4ZDr3qeFAy1c55_UkfmUzj5BU360D97EAdVJK2W4PBBntJSnTcopsoqq2ZCYAHfDOnvjEsaltoy3m2qvcaP1tB_2C2qHgM/s1600/MESNEY_Got_Milk_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 388px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHiruG5AVRH9i8RMYixVLOlr9FHLghw41HKfAY58di4NCtc4ZDr3qeFAy1c55_UkfmUzj5BU360D97EAdVJK2W4PBBntJSnTcopsoqq2ZCYAHfDOnvjEsaltoy3m2qvcaP1tB_2C2qHgM/s320/MESNEY_Got_Milk_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550271028240914530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />How to Restore Damage from Rust Stains</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">W</span></span>e get some odd jobs at Vashon Island Imaging, but this one 'tops' them all... restoring an old milk bottle cap.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORlMh4Ej6sTqlw-CczePeFW3vTj6iy0GfGwSQrumDvCV7LAsEnxJcijDl-Icrvo9DHsZNjdWqGfY7574vsaJEQi0zb458X3dG9MqF6QxZFwU_SDuCBsVVbd6HGbO2oHIruQ6vjrsIQAc/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Before_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORlMh4Ej6sTqlw-CczePeFW3vTj6iy0GfGwSQrumDvCV7LAsEnxJcijDl-Icrvo9DHsZNjdWqGfY7574vsaJEQi0zb458X3dG9MqF6QxZFwU_SDuCBsVVbd6HGbO2oHIruQ6vjrsIQAc/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Before_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550265922536755106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">An original </span>Lande® Dairy<span style="font-style: italic;"> bottle cap was discovered in the attic.<br />Years of contact with a rusting staple had badly stained it<br />and the printing ink was flaking off the deteriorating paper<br />due to thermal cycles and humidity in the attic.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">K</span></span>atrina Lande came to us with the newly discovered family treasure because we have a reputation for good restoration work. She explained how her ancestors ran Vashon Island's biggest and best dairy. 'They had electric milking machines,' she proudly explained to me. But that was a long time ago.<br /><br />Since then the bottle cap had lain in the attic slowly disintegrating along with everything else up there. Katrina was rightfully concerned about its preservation, now that it had been found. I recommended two things:<br /><br />1.) First, capture and restore an image of the cap. Then...<br /><br />2.) Preserve the original in a sandwich of acid-free paper in a light-box with low humidity. A darkroom paper box is a perfect container... but don't put it back in the attic. Keep it where you live... turns out that things being preserved like many of the same creature comforts we do.<br /><br />At my studio the most important treasures of my past live in the same rooms I do. It's something I've been doing for the last ten years after I discovered for myself the dangers of storage in less than perfect conditions. Now I consider my past mistakes as some sort of 'natural selection' process for my art. However, the extreme damages to once beautiful pictures were a tough way to learn about archiving.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0rVKWCWRbVwG5EkkCTUfqyPaRy0miTGkKYYDWd42Rn-v9GjscPsJyFCKxh6hR-ErL06JGukpsucL7Sv2HI-EmGCZYY4h4W2E-YkhT7DBSbuegK9Li7xlNQl5Kx-7cDoth72UdwlNRF4/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_After_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0rVKWCWRbVwG5EkkCTUfqyPaRy0miTGkKYYDWd42Rn-v9GjscPsJyFCKxh6hR-ErL06JGukpsucL7Sv2HI-EmGCZYY4h4W2E-YkhT7DBSbuegK9Li7xlNQl5Kx-7cDoth72UdwlNRF4/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_After_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550271762145560578" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Our digitally restored version<br />of the Lande-family's (and Vashon Island's)<br />historical treasure.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Easy As One-Two-Three</span><br /><br />The restoration work on the Lande® bottle cap was straightforward and provides an easy-to-understand model with which to consider more complex restoration jobs. It is a three step process in PhotoShop® using a digital image of the bottle cap (we made ours using a Nikon® <span style="font-style: italic;">D2X</span>) on a copy stand).<br /><br />1.) Isolate key graphic components on separate layers<br />2.) Create a new background (BG)<br />3.) Prepress each element according to its needs<br /><br />Finished yet?<br /><br />OK, there's more to it than that, but not much. Here's the procedure used in this particular case:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBmdd7rWWA6zCPKZajTRto1-as0lTkYGxGhmIEk1BG7WkksbttIU3rR0fxrHxhc47bTv5y308qrhYHSimERlQXXyRtv95ahf48fJLgr54JaZHd73i624fs26FaIVVv26FxvmIGzP9D0sE/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Three_Corrections_1.7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 99px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBmdd7rWWA6zCPKZajTRto1-as0lTkYGxGhmIEk1BG7WkksbttIU3rR0fxrHxhc47bTv5y308qrhYHSimERlQXXyRtv95ahf48fJLgr54JaZHd73i624fs26FaIVVv26FxvmIGzP9D0sE/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Three_Corrections_1.7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550274629777590882" border="0" /></a> Each graphic element to be restored is placed on its own layer. 1.) Red type (<span style="font-style: italic;">Pasteurized</span>) (right) , 2.) Green (Logo triangle graphic), 3.) Paper piece construction (center)<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he starting point is to take the picture apart according to the elements that need to be repaired. Cutting them out of the background and pasting them onto their own layers separates those elements for restoration.<br /><br />The cutting Paths are made using the pen tool working at a zoom of 500% to 800% (on a 22-inch monitor).<br /><br />A completed path is converted into a Selection (Path / Make Selection).<br /><br />The selection is expanded (or contracted) 1 pixel to include a bit more of the item being isolated. Large cutouts require 2 pixel or maybe 3 if they are really big... you just don't want a hard edge or an overly soft one.<br /><br />Feather the selection by 1/2 pixel.<br /><br />Copy and paste the selected part of the picture onto another layer.<br /><br />And so it goes until everything that needs work has been isolated on separate layers. Once the separations have been made, each can be independently repaired.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Remaking the Graphics</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDXqdf1UjOmaTHKS3KgADFFwjshBOUnb_6qr79XFUwBNTAd5nihcIpLI0W-1gYvtm8k16yZJ-oTVkH4tpIYJaVDJ5D9wvBIvmNraRVqbK-afV_mHyPIEAoF2km5VNgiI1HcyPp55vm44/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Red_Type_1.3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDXqdf1UjOmaTHKS3KgADFFwjshBOUnb_6qr79XFUwBNTAd5nihcIpLI0W-1gYvtm8k16yZJ-oTVkH4tpIYJaVDJ5D9wvBIvmNraRVqbK-afV_mHyPIEAoF2km5VNgiI1HcyPp55vm44/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Red_Type_1.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550275394132647586" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">R</span></span>estoration of the graphics began with the Red type. Using the original (saved) selection previously made (above), that selection was filled with red on yet another layer. The red color was determined by sampling the original type in an undamaged area. I actually sampled three areas and averaged them to get a composite shade of red.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxwmKabeZrPWyYXTFX47KzjaRtWF43xMcB_o9JxctbB87bMJ5Gdylefzwflu-X3Sxy3h9i4agkGz4IAPEL9NW5V9oyJCDO2oQmezSXN7U4hYKe3dTMYPr2ouDen6pQs6wg58EJstwEy0/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Green_Triangle_1.4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxwmKabeZrPWyYXTFX47KzjaRtWF43xMcB_o9JxctbB87bMJ5Gdylefzwflu-X3Sxy3h9i4agkGz4IAPEL9NW5V9oyJCDO2oQmezSXN7U4hYKe3dTMYPr2ouDen6pQs6wg58EJstwEy0/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Green_Triangle_1.4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550275654210708370" border="0" /></a><br />Then the same thing was done for the Triangle, filling it with green.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQRG1fQTWmBZTO2FhdNE-ySML_UPm8VEKUyRrpjilDo2JGrZ3Ftt6dH9jbmuNk9V9ukYcXi6TqF5U8YAEneTt_9H-L7bTl1EzG8GGmRfwin55JlAMxQloPig9ZtFKWFsS0yhG9lcB7Dc/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_New_Paper_Piece_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQRG1fQTWmBZTO2FhdNE-ySML_UPm8VEKUyRrpjilDo2JGrZ3Ftt6dH9jbmuNk9V9ukYcXi6TqF5U8YAEneTt_9H-L7bTl1EzG8GGmRfwin55JlAMxQloPig9ZtFKWFsS0yhG9lcB7Dc/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_New_Paper_Piece_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550276008526372914" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Odd shaped piece of new paper<br />assembled from bits and pieces of<br />the original.</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">M</span></span>aking a new paper background was the next step.<br /><br />Between the printing and damage there wasn't much clean BG paper left in the original bottle cap. Carefully cutting out bits and pieces and collating them together into a collage, a useable sized piece of 'new' paper was crafted onto its own layer. That layer was duplicated thrice and those bits flipped and flopped to create four pieces that could be kluged together into another, even bigger chuck. Etcetera.<br /><br />The new paper was used two ways. First, to cover the damaged old paper. Also to provide texture for the type and triangle patches. Those graphics were filled with solid colors when we left off (above). The solid colors don't look realistic because they lack the texture of the paper.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Paper Texture</span><br /><br />To make paper texture copy the new paper layer and use Brightness & Contrast to generate a high-contrast version... it should have black and gray flecks against a mostly white BG.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4OSypubElkypg06lsK1L6xzRGi9LU6quNfMEmgC0MV5lzScxUeHR6GBK38g9IIEzSRX4VNqRpEje6II-B0eHRVE5MIOvauJ4Ym_DV9N-vUSv0Colf5cXKyaVbk2OlYH8MI2Rp0q0yY8/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Paper_Texture_1.6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4OSypubElkypg06lsK1L6xzRGi9LU6quNfMEmgC0MV5lzScxUeHR6GBK38g9IIEzSRX4VNqRpEje6II-B0eHRVE5MIOvauJ4Ym_DV9N-vUSv0Colf5cXKyaVbk2OlYH8MI2Rp0q0yY8/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Paper_Texture_1.6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550276547534994930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">High-Contrast version of new paper piece</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">serves as a paper texture mask.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">S</span></span>et the Blending Options for that layer to Darken. Now, you can put that layer on top of any other and by setting the Blending Options to Darken add a facsimile of paper texture. Thus, texture was added to the red type and green triangle to provide more realism.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Layer Blending for Nuances</span><br /><br />When restoration work involves completely remaking certain elements, blend a bit of the original back in to the extent you can wherever you can. The new paper BG just discussed provides a good example.<br /><br />It's easy to see that the rust-stain damage has darkened the paper of the original bottle cap.<br /><br />Yes, you can replace the whole BG with new paper, but that's not as realistic as blending in the new paper only where the old needs replacement, and only to the extent needed.<br /><br />Do precisely that by first placing the new paper layer over the original damaged version, then setting the new-paper layer's Blending Options to Lighten. Presto, the rust damage is gone.<br /><br />Fine-tune everything with judicious use of the Eraser. By adjusting the opacity, softness and size of the Eraser the blend will be perfected.<br /><br />Lastly, use the Sponge to adjust the saturation of key spots if need be. Remember that the Sponge can also have its opacity and effect dialed for precision adjustments.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezXhtV9E2azAD8seNkxznNX-q21Ngv3_MKnFuAkh2bzNjtQ52O01sZLGYTyB9BtPVrGmef_hi17llPiq7omMbqjsiRdjDchtMkzVv5BzJ0AHAzUhd0F61PpREMAq8yYexZfobUc8hZGk/s1600/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Texture_Blending_1.5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 71px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezXhtV9E2azAD8seNkxznNX-q21Ngv3_MKnFuAkh2bzNjtQ52O01sZLGYTyB9BtPVrGmef_hi17llPiq7omMbqjsiRdjDchtMkzVv5BzJ0AHAzUhd0F61PpREMAq8yYexZfobUc8hZGk/s320/LANDE_Dairy_Milk_Bottle_Cap_Texture_Blending_1.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550277446515832130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The original red type(above) is placed over<br />the solid-red-fill type and the extremely damaged<br />part erased away (lower center).<br /></span></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he same technique was done for the Red type and for the green triangle, except that the Blending Option was set for Darken.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Recompose for Final Prepress</span><br /><br />Gather all the layers together into a Group.<br /><br />Copy the Group and Merge it.<br /><br />Use the Merged layer as a Sub-Master for further work, which will be the normal range of prepress adjustments. What are those?<br /><br />Prepress adjustments are described in full in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art</span> of Giclée, which you can proofread at www.gicleeprepress.com. They are also described, as individual case histories, in this blog ... like this story. (If there's something you'd like to learn about, let me know.)<br /><br />Both my book and blog are about the 'Zen of Giclée'... restorations of your faith as well as your pictures, no matter how old they (or you) are.<br /><br />Having milked that pun for what its worth, I'll leave it at that and cap this blog.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-72628003664244468012010-12-10T17:34:00.000-08:002010-12-10T21:55:56.959-08:00Cross-Country Color Management<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >How to Manage Color </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Conversations</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>om Ridinger is a digital artist whose imaginative works defy their photographic DNA, appearing at first to be watercolors.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnJbJDmFf_ItzOveBmIo9N_EIBajGY1S41LyPi1PI7cy4TcyRWsl5sE0DzoVgJeHyIc4wvjx0U_aaB4n_yW33Qu7x6j6BMcIj2NXdP6jVbzHtIPSxNOiRUkJcIkR1SIHctEQ69ktAR8o/s1600/RIDINGER_Rap+City+in+Rouge_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnJbJDmFf_ItzOveBmIo9N_EIBajGY1S41LyPi1PI7cy4TcyRWsl5sE0DzoVgJeHyIc4wvjx0U_aaB4n_yW33Qu7x6j6BMcIj2NXdP6jVbzHtIPSxNOiRUkJcIkR1SIHctEQ69ktAR8o/s320/RIDINGER_Rap+City+in+Rouge_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549233647115644418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Rap City In Rouge</span> © Tom Ridinger 2010</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Ridinger's illustrations combine gritty city graffiti with<br />metro blossoms that find their bloom in New York neighborhood gardens.<br />The series of 20 images is called </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Rap City In Bloom</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >.<br />The title puns </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Rhapsody In Blue a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >1924 musical suite </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >by George Gershwin</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>om and I go back all the way to before computers. We are both old dogs of media wars spanning nearly five decades. We met in the Sixties when Tom was an art director at <span style="font-style: italic;">Ziff Davis. </span> Working with Gene Butera, Tom and I brought a European sense of design to <span style="font-style: italic;">Car & Driver</span> magazine feature stories. Many of the pieces we did together were our own version of a photo-journalistic style with roots in<span style="font-style: italic;"> Life </span>magazine and the German pictorial <span style="font-style: italic;">Twen</span>. I still have a well worn 1960's copy of that magazine.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZXpMad77IyStACWwpoa6RKXkbusVoxoiTcY2KsKBrFO8WRIqf4XbrfVfi2y4kaef2_bsARR_wXM6_x1xOmM0xjhQrExZsi9iMRKqpxiYbMas8v_EE8pX6kaW04fPMCcmDAax8c3Eh3c/s1600/MESNEY_1972_Masseratti_Bora_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZXpMad77IyStACWwpoa6RKXkbusVoxoiTcY2KsKBrFO8WRIqf4XbrfVfi2y4kaef2_bsARR_wXM6_x1xOmM0xjhQrExZsi9iMRKqpxiYbMas8v_EE8pX6kaW04fPMCcmDAax8c3Eh3c/s320/MESNEY_1972_Masseratti_Bora_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549237950636299186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">'I love my job!' That's what I'd say to myself time and again<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">when working on shots for Tom.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">We were always trying to be </span><span style="font-style: italic;">a step ahead, design wise.<br />Above is a </span>Maserati <span style="font-style: italic;">shot in 1972 for </span>Car & Driver<span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span> </span></div></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">"</span><span style="font-size:100%;">D</span></span>uring the years between 1980 and 1999 I spent many hours under Macbeth® lights in printing plants throughout the country," says Ridinger. "I've witnessed 'prima-donna' art directors invade the pressman's territory suggesting and sometimes demanding color moves that did nothing but confuse the issue and make more problems.<br /><br />"My approach then is the same as now, gain the trust of the printers by letting them do their jobs. What I cared about then was flesh tones and flesh tones only (the exception being corporate brand colors, which were often a fifth color [on a four-color press] so it was never really a big deal).<br /><br />"It is often a meaningless orthodoxy to try to match colors to the chrome [color transparency or slide] on the printing press when there are frequently too many conflicting issues," the artist concludes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60uG3bSun52fw4jAhz9IKw8ti5iBbhkXVmgpa7Omtwz7yqT_WXvnsDTBcet6wYHPpSBD-_Wagy5bh1C-R7fMhuje_t2vDkVoHj_ey1b-7I6dH9cQGNoHePJSmRG89HDHlwSdyZ3yb15k/s1600/MESNEY_1969_EarthRide_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60uG3bSun52fw4jAhz9IKw8ti5iBbhkXVmgpa7Omtwz7yqT_WXvnsDTBcet6wYHPpSBD-_Wagy5bh1C-R7fMhuje_t2vDkVoHj_ey1b-7I6dH9cQGNoHePJSmRG89HDHlwSdyZ3yb15k/s320/MESNEY_1969_EarthRide_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549235435884404498" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A pinnacle point in the collaboration between Tom and I<br />was an award-winning ad campaign for </span><span>Motorcycle Industries Council</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> in 1970.<br />Those were boom years, just before </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">automotive enthusiasm ran out of gas<br />during the 1973 oil crisis.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >I</span>n the early 70's we collaborated again at <span style="font-style: italic;">Mesney's Third Bardo</span>. There, Tom and I put together book covers, magazines, and corporate work. We were a great combo because our graphic design sense was very close if not identical. However, like many great rock bands, we decided to solo. Our voyages took us in different directions, Tom as a picture editor and mine as an audiovisual illustrator.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdz-aXIP7QFMyjLB6Nq2cz_IKIcC4P22jZVwwYVk19nNkwtUX0j3ytSS6BwdHCCNfYZkj0yC7Sipw0ivZtecXiG75y1Bn5QUhSojuLjgjL1L6wBMqnPdqkLcrGgYd-vTdKxvp2hiYRSE/s1600/MESNEY_1972_NationalBoatShow_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdz-aXIP7QFMyjLB6Nq2cz_IKIcC4P22jZVwwYVk19nNkwtUX0j3ytSS6BwdHCCNfYZkj0yC7Sipw0ivZtecXiG75y1Bn5QUhSojuLjgjL1L6wBMqnPdqkLcrGgYd-vTdKxvp2hiYRSE/s320/MESNEY_1972_NationalBoatShow_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549240920264047234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;">1972 </span>National Boat Show<span style="font-style: italic;"> poster,<br />for George Rounds at </span>NAEBM<span style="font-style: italic;">,<br />(</span>National Association of Engine and Boat Manufacturers)<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">was one of the last projects Tom and I collaborated on.</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 51, 255);font-size:180%;" >M</span>y current work as a giclée printer has brought us together again... with roles reversed. Now Tom delivers pictures to me, instead of the other way around. Either way, it's great to be working with Tom again and a priviledge to be able to show you his work as a teaching case history for this blog. I am looking forward to printing giclées that make his work blossom.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7PEfeJWhJUEwin3_aX3djDsOMEpYOmgiKf7suH2KTvOyOaNZPb_YiV_UiZY5xW9mLv_9adnnUfJeCbnex5ZWu7_GE6H45kYQj1jLPqI77zn-eoFeS-tswnLhVMIDtV7RFUJn3-R1Vuw/s1600/RIDINGER_Sixex_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7PEfeJWhJUEwin3_aX3djDsOMEpYOmgiKf7suH2KTvOyOaNZPb_YiV_UiZY5xW9mLv_9adnnUfJeCbnex5ZWu7_GE6H45kYQj1jLPqI77zn-eoFeS-tswnLhVMIDtV7RFUJn3-R1Vuw/s320/RIDINGER_Sixex_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549243671256925346" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Sixex</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">© Tom Ridinger 2010<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Language of Color</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">M</span></span>y enthusiasm to be working with Tom was tempered by my awareness that printing giclées for long distance clients can present challenges. Many of the traditional ways to talk about color have been become virtually irrelevant in the digital printing environment.<br /><br />Among other things Pantone® colors viewed by MacBeth® lighting are being supplanted by digital number codes.<br /><br />Ink-flow that was once controlled by 'taps' on printing traditional printing presses is now controlled with PhotoShop® algorithms like 'Levels, Brightness & Contrast, Hue & Saturation' etc..<br /><br />The objective remains the same, however: <span style="font-style: italic;">true color that is repeatable.</span><br /><br />As it turns out, machines can do better than people when it comes to color control... at least 95% of the time. That leaves only 5% to talk about. That particular 5% is the peak of the giclée pyramid. It is the special '<span style="font-style: italic;">je ne sait qois</span>' that makes one print great compared to others.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRO2lodIZhO9ztoERaiGVeeQ_lBHKjpVQ1YIr6xKR6R_a7hf48WBPkBUbFKuBAK7bSYAcDEJrZBgasacYCpMA4SpkCd0XVyW_ym31vSF7MdbIvI6PDhOGwSsPXqJvhwwijhELu4IEe4u8/s1600/RIDINGER_Nice+Behind_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRO2lodIZhO9ztoERaiGVeeQ_lBHKjpVQ1YIr6xKR6R_a7hf48WBPkBUbFKuBAK7bSYAcDEJrZBgasacYCpMA4SpkCd0XVyW_ym31vSF7MdbIvI6PDhOGwSsPXqJvhwwijhELu4IEe4u8/s320/RIDINGER_Nice+Behind_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549245122615917042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Nice Behind</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">© Tom Ridinger 2010</span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Peak Performance</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he other day I was driving back from our Vancouver BC studio and listening to <span style="font-style: italic;">NPR</span>'s reportage about a particular violin that was to be auctioned for $18 million... hardly going for a 'song', eh? Anyway...<br /><br />After chuckling to myself about listening to a 'Strad' (<span style="font-style: italic;">Stradivarius</span>) on an old car radio, I pondered about the instrument and those who its owner (a London collector) might allow to use it.<br /><br />They played some magnificent bits by maestros playing the violing. That almost got me into the mood for some classical music, but not quite.<br /><br />I thought about <span style="font-style: italic;">Ferraris</span> (I do that a lot in my trusty little Honda<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Civic</span> up and down Interstate 5 between Seattle and Vancouver).<br /><br />Whatever it is, it's its good as its owner/operator, I thought to myself. For example, me fiddling around with a Strad would be like those million monkeys they talk about. Ibid, the car.<br /><br />You could have the best giclée machine in the world and still get insufficient results. It's easy... just following the directions.<br /><br />If you let the machines color manage everything you will get results that are satisfactory for 95% of the people 95% of the time.<br /><br />But what if that isn't good enough?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zLhW9Q-idWcVwlKBACyR_52rZeinPckMZJWa1ne5GuDt3sfUr9VJC-hEusDHJCPmf2ZXv-fibvx12tmaTOO3c4ORiB9ogzhuDlKRCt2ViaohY12vasCEYqQHvaTsG6DAuAcg9bZRJ8w/s1600/RIDINGER_M%25C3%25A9nage+a+Trois_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zLhW9Q-idWcVwlKBACyR_52rZeinPckMZJWa1ne5GuDt3sfUr9VJC-hEusDHJCPmf2ZXv-fibvx12tmaTOO3c4ORiB9ogzhuDlKRCt2ViaohY12vasCEYqQHvaTsG6DAuAcg9bZRJ8w/s320/RIDINGER_M%25C3%25A9nage+a+Trois_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549246414517422194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Menage á Trois</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">© Tom Ridinger 2010</span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Learning to Drive</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Y</span></span>ou can do better if you understand and control what the printer is doing. That, and everything else about giclée, can be discovered in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée </span>as well as in previous (and future) blogs. Meanwhile...<br /><br />Like violin playing and race-car driving, giclée printing (any printing) is all about <span style="font-style: italic;">nuances</span>. The dynamic tone range of the print can be used to measure the excellence of one print over another.<br /><br />Traditional photography provides a good comparison. The photo is as good as the print delivered. The print is as good as the darkroom artistry applied during its development. Now of course it's all digital but the same principles apply.<br /><br />You can read the PhotoShop® manual and your printer's instruction book until the proverbial cows come home but they won't teach you anything about printing. Just as your car manual won't teach you how to drive.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Stradivarius for Dummies</span> hasn't been written yet. Until it is you can trust my book to provide everything you need to know about printing giclées at least. But I digress...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY8M3ZAB6faZFXWhZyLoPAhdQHqb9z3mU6e7OovQEUt7dC-5Zy5dRGeZk2a5_CSTOVlrFdVhkslMI8dauBezuUOBgP-7VIQ-sPMxBfj-jQNaK3dJQZ2X6iTHONsOjOoo50AhsxWlx9xA/s1600/RIDINGER_Girl+Group+and+Fans_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY8M3ZAB6faZFXWhZyLoPAhdQHqb9z3mU6e7OovQEUt7dC-5Zy5dRGeZk2a5_CSTOVlrFdVhkslMI8dauBezuUOBgP-7VIQ-sPMxBfj-jQNaK3dJQZ2X6iTHONsOjOoo50AhsxWlx9xA/s320/RIDINGER_Girl+Group+and+Fans_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549247355669202482" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Girl Group and Fans</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">© Tom Ridinger 2010</span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Music of Color</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">P</span></span>eople talk about the language of color, but can they hear its music?<br /><br />Instrumentally, how you play your printer will determine whether your prints look flat or sharp. It's all about tuning the picture to the printer. The goal is achieving a dynamic tone range with enough 'rare tones' to provide detail in dark and light tones. It is those areas that are normally deficient. That is, their deficiency has its roots in '<span style="font-style: italic;">normalization</span>'.<br /><br />Normalization is my term for the plethora of algorithms that process imagery by <span style="font-style: italic;">averaging</span>.<br /><br />Averaging is weighted towards<span style="font-style: italic;"> mid tones</span>. Tones at the extremes of the histogram are generally sacrificed and must be restored if the giclée is to 'sing'. That restoration is part of the fine-tuning procedures called <span style="font-style: italic;">giclée prepress</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's All in The Nuances</span><br /><br />Great giclée results from a special collaboration between the printer and artist. Their collaboration results in the printer's ability to interpret the artist's intentions. It's all about nuances.<br /><br />You wouldn't want to accentuate something the artist is sensitive about, would you? Or suppress a key feature? Yikes! Should be -- and can be -- the other way around. As the song goes, ...'<span style="font-style: italic;">you've got to accentuate the positive... eliminate the negative'</span>.<br /><br />But where to start?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do You See What I See?</span><br /><br />For long distance communications to be effective, it's important that both the artist and printer are looking at the same thing. In the old days viewing the originals and printed proofs under a MacBeth® light system did that, together with PMS® color numbers. People still do that but it's faster and easier to use 50% gray as the common ground.<br /><br />As you are aware, photographers include an 18% gray card in shots so that users of the pictures can get their colors and tone ranges correct in subsequent reproductions. But what if one of those is missing?<br /><br />When a good neutral (gray) reference point is not available in the picture, make your own. Case in point, Tom Ridinger's pictures.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lmtqtJ8Ec2jN7RN4_-EB12qracoYILfWSFE-4AW2HSbIXHEOUaxI74IXSY3CqbG8Oi4bUQ1JB5UyNJeI-tkthHwXaVQJ5HbXAamALfBxdl_w-Jlri8LWox-W_2Ey-NU2LEqb1iEh08A/s1600/RIDINGER_Flowers_Gray_Sample_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lmtqtJ8Ec2jN7RN4_-EB12qracoYILfWSFE-4AW2HSbIXHEOUaxI74IXSY3CqbG8Oi4bUQ1JB5UyNJeI-tkthHwXaVQJ5HbXAamALfBxdl_w-Jlri8LWox-W_2Ey-NU2LEqb1iEh08A/s320/RIDINGER_Flowers_Gray_Sample_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549248926720521586" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The artwork should be 'floated' over a layer filled with 50% gray.<br />Use samples of the most potentially problematic parts<br />and/or areas of importance.<br /></span></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>t <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> (www.vashonislandimaging.com) we ask our long-distance clients to surround their pictures with a 1/4 to 1/2 inch ( cm) of 50% gray.<br /><br />By using the neutral eyedropper tool in PhotoShop®<span style="font-style: italic;"> Curves</span>, and clicking on the 50% gray border, the pictures colors will snap to a correct color tone range.<br /><br />Using that simple procedure, Tom and I can look at our monitors and talk effectively about what we see... because we are looking at nearly the same thing. Then when I ask him which parts he's sensitive about (if any) he cane tell me and I can prepress accordingly.<br /><br />From then on its all about making prepress adjustments and test prints that match my monitor (which is a Sun Microsystems® CRT).<br /><br />There you have it... a short cut for cross-country color management.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-76420597717698932552010-12-04T20:47:00.000-08:002010-12-04T22:41:20.896-08:00Tip Sheet #7 - Eco Print Shield Solutions<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">How to Avoid Clotting When Storing </span><span>Eco Print Shield</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >H</span>ow soon we forget, eh?<br /><br />I was reminded of that this evening when I prepared to coat a 40 X 20 inch (101.6 X 50.8 cm) giclée printed on Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Enhanced Matte</span> fine arts paper with Premier Art<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Eco Print Shield</span> (gloss) liquid laminate.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNsymq44cvA0_73GLTuNIJ0l_45UL6JNct9dksgcGzt92P_qpsx-EVvqFFTsE-7v249TzXtnfugji8S2nHdYtUQWomb-PX-pq5wxIJ5QaBvRaM1JV_cWRpCi5FLvJhACfIEK9N-dX3qk/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNsymq44cvA0_73GLTuNIJ0l_45UL6JNct9dksgcGzt92P_qpsx-EVvqFFTsE-7v249TzXtnfugji8S2nHdYtUQWomb-PX-pq5wxIJ5QaBvRaM1JV_cWRpCi5FLvJhACfIEK9N-dX3qk/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547059569024645074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The coating area should be well lit and well ventilated.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">If the application is by roller, masks needn't be worn. </span> </span></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>s I poured the <span style="font-style: italic;">Print Shield</span> solution into the roller tray a flash of white caught my eye, then another and another... it was as if there were little soft white jelly fish in the mixture. Aha... <span style="font-style: italic;">clotting</span>!<br /><br />Clotting is something that occurs with plastic coatings that cure instead of dry. The curing process is sometimes called '<span style="font-style: italic;">setting u</span>p'.<br /><br />Set-up is a chemical reaction not a change of 'phase'.<br /><br />Water can change phase from solid to liquid to vapor to gas, as you know. That is what drying is, a phase change for water (or solvents).<br /><br />Evaporation is stopped with 'stoppers' ...like bottle caps and paint can lids. If you leave too much air in the container, you might see a 'skim' form on the top, but under it the mixture is fine if just a bit thicker. So I was able to store diluted blends of Golden<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Polymer Varnish</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">With UVLS</span> in glass bottle for long periods of time without any problems.<br /><br />Chemical reactions are different. That is when two (or more) chemicals combine with the oxygen in the air to form another substance altogether. in the case of <span style="font-style: italic;">Eco </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Print Shield</span> a milky looking liquid becomes a clear plastic.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGkqWXI2OOBK52o-Wgfu2oYhyphenhyphencQ515NUcHY2gLgy_zyx5jjD6hLXZDGQmqw2horykFeYJnNN8X8y2IrH3OIYCxF7Hm2ukszPMk0z2BuVqf-7jFPMW5lXP68itcIaVtWQmBK-2uGL0hrw/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Funnel_Filter_Clots_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGkqWXI2OOBK52o-Wgfu2oYhyphenhyphencQ515NUcHY2gLgy_zyx5jjD6hLXZDGQmqw2horykFeYJnNN8X8y2IrH3OIYCxF7Hm2ukszPMk0z2BuVqf-7jFPMW5lXP68itcIaVtWQmBK-2uGL0hrw/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Funnel_Filter_Clots_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547063545944607106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Stainless steel pot-scrubber catches 'clots' of</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Premier Art® </span>Eco Print Shield<span style="font-style: italic;"> before they can mar the finish of a giclée.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:180%;" >I</span>nstead of forming a skin, these modern plastic coatings, called <span style="font-style: italic;">'liquid laminates</span>', start to set-up in the presence of air. The extent of the reaction depends on the amount of air in the jar. When the oxygen is depleted the reaction stops, usually in some amorphous mid-stage that resembles jellyfish. If they get onto the surface of the giclée they are hard to get off and harden into little (or big) lumps of various sizes... quite annoying.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />If you read this blog you know that at the beginning of the summer we switched from <span style="font-style: italic;">Clear Shield</span> to Golden<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Polymer Varnish with UVLS</span>. That had more to do with product availability than with the product itself.<br /><br />We also tested Premier Art<span style="font-size:85%;">® <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Eco </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Print Shield</span>, and found it good but there were availability problems with that as well (more on that later).<br /><br />We've switched back now. Not to <span style="font-style: italic;">Clear Shield</span>, but to <span style="font-style: italic;">Eco Print Shield</span>. The problem is that Golden<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Polymer Varnish</span> cracks to much.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0daB0dgsEJZqcKbqPU-g4MIEoMBHXwAQptJg63hDHutWdOhGeJz2_elvHb6BK35AQjQIWu_6EgGkzuVg557ck6L2jXWY2-mLli6SbUpmywEJVlV36OVvkdSk6ok0mcfTWP20dNZlZIg/s1600/MESNEY_Retouching_Varnish_Cracks_1.1_10.08.20.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0daB0dgsEJZqcKbqPU-g4MIEoMBHXwAQptJg63hDHutWdOhGeJz2_elvHb6BK35AQjQIWu_6EgGkzuVg557ck6L2jXWY2-mLli6SbUpmywEJVlV36OVvkdSk6ok0mcfTWP20dNZlZIg/s320/MESNEY_Retouching_Varnish_Cracks_1.1_10.08.20.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547076660942430594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Retouching cracked varnish is something we hope to forget about<br />at </span>Vashon Island Imaging<span style="font-style: italic;">.<br /></span></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" >C</span>racks occur at the edges when stretching a canvas giclée coated with <span style="font-style: italic;">Polymer Varnish</span>. The cracks can be retouched, and that is discussed in a previous blog. However, that just got to be too much.<br /><br />Attending JVH Tech's big digital printing event last month turned out to be the proverbial 'straw that broke the camel's back'. At the exhibition I met Mark Perez of <span style="font-style: italic;">Premier Imaging Products</span>. He had a stand just down the aisle from my own, where I was selling my book<span style="font-style: italic;"> Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> (www.gicleeprepress.com). Three things happened in quick succession.<br /><br />1.) Aha... so <span style="font-style: italic;">Eco Print Shield</span> is available the States now (I found it in Vancouver, BC, at <span style="font-style: italic;">Tricera Imaging</span> originally).<br /><br />2.) Oh look, they have a range of papers too... and films. Could these people be the 'Premier' in Epson's <span style="font-style: italic;">'Premier</span>' product range?<br /><br />3.) OMG... a <span style="font-style: italic;">40-page</span> catalog...and I never heard of these people?<br /><br />4.) I must be more of a recluse than I thought.<br /><br />It's true, I rarely leave Vashon Island Imaging either really or virtually, but that is another story. Anyway... it was goodbye <span style="font-style: italic;">Golden</span> then and there.<br /><br />Despite the clotting (I should have known better) I am so happy that we are back on a flexible coating material like <span style="font-style: italic;">Premier's</span>. The small amount more that it costs per square foot to use (not that small actually) is more than made up for in time save fixing cracks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_oK_fWo5dpbGIiNZp8tsQ6wRnCe6gnR1q1JGSS4IvKsFu6Lx_2RXtefaY9cp-FFfg8Ta5dJrTylyWogN5dYlYcflRgg_b_XrsUA_4CaJVH12ofkEwfpShmH75T7O3t3K814I1iOBomQ/s1600/MESNEY_Coatings_Clear_Shield_Flexibility_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_oK_fWo5dpbGIiNZp8tsQ6wRnCe6gnR1q1JGSS4IvKsFu6Lx_2RXtefaY9cp-FFfg8Ta5dJrTylyWogN5dYlYcflRgg_b_XrsUA_4CaJVH12ofkEwfpShmH75T7O3t3K814I1iOBomQ/s320/MESNEY_Coatings_Clear_Shield_Flexibility_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547073234347319010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Clear Shield <span style="font-style: italic;">is the most flexible coating. </span>(Premier Print Shield <span style="font-style: italic;">is a close second.) </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The flexibility is what prevents cracking.</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Being squeezed is a very thick sample of cured coating...</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >much thicker than you'd normally apply... and still, no cracking.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Oh, that the good folks at </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Clear Star Corp</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" > (makers of </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Clear Shield</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >would solve their marketing problem by assigning the job to</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >John Harrington at JVH Tech. Clue in </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Clear Star.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he solution for the jellyfish annoyance has two parts:<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />1.) Store any liquid laminate (diluted or not) in a contain sized to avoid a lot of air. (You'll still get 'em in some form, maybe strings instead of clots.)<br /><br />2.) Just before capping, hold your breath and then exhale into the bottle. Cap it quickly enough to trap most of your breath inside. Your spent breath is full of CO2 which is a heavier gas than oxygan. The CO2 settles like a layer of fog across the surface of the liquid laminate, retarding oxidation. (Hint, you can do the same with wine... unless you ate garlic or like garlic wine.)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkP_cSBqw-I7wDqmeXPtcbv_2360wTFLClKbXes2zUEyliOhglUDi4h3KSzowu3T4bZrCh4GRW4oKpbtsuYg2AYteOJC1enzuaXDfHH1zvY8UVnN-kozEAS9aAzYdlmflGidRvFTxKl0g/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_Plastic_Bag_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkP_cSBqw-I7wDqmeXPtcbv_2360wTFLClKbXes2zUEyliOhglUDi4h3KSzowu3T4bZrCh4GRW4oKpbtsuYg2AYteOJC1enzuaXDfHH1zvY8UVnN-kozEAS9aAzYdlmflGidRvFTxKl0g/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_Plastic_Bag_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547079850417016994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Wrapping them tightly in plastic bags will keep your rollers ready to, well... roll.<br /></span></span></div><br /><br /></div> </div><br /></div></div>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-49953253139526453832010-12-03T18:06:00.000-08:002010-12-03T19:22:06.489-08:00Tip Sheet #6 -- No Charge for Dust<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Dust Off Epson</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>'s New Hot-Pressed Fine Arts Papers</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIduW40XiybZgfDkNVqR0DkRZK4xROJgkwrms1KhfDW_XZIsfwz1b5s-sz0_ml58khGyWhEtuxv8J_81wSTgc9B4FQpelYgRm8_o6yW3BADLMkum7UV5tsHPLl9d6PYsryI6t8OnCPE3k/s1600/MESNEY_1986_Button_No_Charge_for_Dust_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIduW40XiybZgfDkNVqR0DkRZK4xROJgkwrms1KhfDW_XZIsfwz1b5s-sz0_ml58khGyWhEtuxv8J_81wSTgc9B4FQpelYgRm8_o6yW3BADLMkum7UV5tsHPLl9d6PYsryI6t8OnCPE3k/s320/MESNEY_1986_Button_No_Charge_for_Dust_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546654043372549522" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">1986 promotional button for</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> Incredible Images AB</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> (Stockholm).<br />We were in the slide show business then, making extravaganzas<br />for Saab and other European companies. In that business<br />dusty slides are as bad as a dirty giclée is in our work.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;">J</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">ust</span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span>when I thought I could put my old 'No Charge for Dust' button away, I suddenly found myself needing it after printing on some of <span style="font-size:100%;">Epson</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>'s new</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" > Hot-Pressed Fine Arts Paper.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">The new paper</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> was used at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> to print the <span style="font-style: italic;">Shotridge Serigraphs Collection</span> that were the subject of a recent blog (<span style="font-style: italic;">Spot-On Colors</span>). A few of them printed with a tiny white spot impossible to fix with spotting colors. The spots weren't in the same places.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">We ran about 60 feet of 24-inch-wide roll stock through our Epson</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >® 9900 </span><span style="font-size:100%;">(half '<span style="font-style: italic;">Natural' White</span> and the other half '<span style="font-style: italic;">Bright' Whit</span>e)</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">when the problem emerged.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">At the time, I chalked it up to 'new printer' and figured maybe a little break in was needed. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">The problem required a 20% over-run to get enough good copies... an extra cost I didn't appreciate.<br /><br />When I swapped out media I discovered the problem... paper dust. This has never been a problem with Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> papers before, so I was surprised to see it. There wasn't a lot, but it only takes one little one to ruin a giclée, eh?<br /><br />Be careful when you clean this stuff out. A dry-damp lint-free cloth is a better solution then compressed air. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">If you blow it the stuff could settle down in the head and/or its tracks and mechanisms. However, it's impossible to clean in crevices with a cloth so some combination of the two is needed.</span><br /><br />Tell our friends at Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> that if this problem persists we're going to blow off the papers instead of the dust.<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></div>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-32048755774475489792010-11-29T17:28:00.000-08:002010-11-29T21:10:59.459-08:00Spot-On Color<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >How to Pin-Point Corrections for Spot Colors</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;">I</span></span><span>srael Shotridge</span> (www.shotridgestudios.com) is one of Alaska's finest Tlingit carvers. His carvings and serigraphs are well known in and beyond the Native Art world.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtaKayHzYwPLs-D4jedj6GjjYABarq6JaAwEqywOYI1RVxJMsDaQh5Ny-nRYKqIQL4HvV3jSA2fcIG5JXAacEimZd-LQf1pZ6HB32q2ZuVE_rBTd3L-qWJq1wjpCrL6xCf1fde41JWn8/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_israelregalia_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtaKayHzYwPLs-D4jedj6GjjYABarq6JaAwEqywOYI1RVxJMsDaQh5Ny-nRYKqIQL4HvV3jSA2fcIG5JXAacEimZd-LQf1pZ6HB32q2ZuVE_rBTd3L-qWJq1wjpCrL6xCf1fde41JWn8/s320/SHOTRIDGE_israelregalia_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545151247229702402" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Israel Shotridge in full </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Tlingit </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >regalia<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINJZG72WdZC7TWObtcFDPsSzW0MfxTHS_j4UEpDVKUUAg_mNyNymnCqhgf-AdDj_JZuIKFOMD9wY3uAhRbW1ZOk72yOfOeF6C_-_4OFG0Vfh488IjHMfg4IhDuBizH0e-VQL1ocTsz1E/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_kictotem_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 89px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINJZG72WdZC7TWObtcFDPsSzW0MfxTHS_j4UEpDVKUUAg_mNyNymnCqhgf-AdDj_JZuIKFOMD9wY3uAhRbW1ZOk72yOfOeF6C_-_4OFG0Vfh488IjHMfg4IhDuBizH0e-VQL1ocTsz1E/s320/SHOTRIDGE_kictotem_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545153132392434050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Totem © Shotridge Studios</span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >S</span><span style="font-size:100%;">hotridge's career started with totem poles and</span> <span style="font-size:100%;">branched out into many other forms including <span style="font-style: italic;">serigraphs</span>.</span><br /></div></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Serigraphs</span> are the product of a unique and pain-staking printing process. Images are made on paper by forcing special inks through a fine mesh screen. Where no ink is wanted, a stencil mounted onto the screen blocks it. Functionally the process works the same way as silk-screen printing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt9g-arrHkjPZ30L7Sda5V5f3UHKzaAbt8hyphenhyphenKTYX1BUGxXY5_kXkdVzWyz7gIIvLlBBw9akCoDRP41cxIYaM0Rb4avdDFpoOVfdTzgLUBahJwWnaZwVNI3G14B0Wk4o_b8g_p-I2LuU0/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_Serigraph_Collection_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt9g-arrHkjPZ30L7Sda5V5f3UHKzaAbt8hyphenhyphenKTYX1BUGxXY5_kXkdVzWyz7gIIvLlBBw9akCoDRP41cxIYaM0Rb4avdDFpoOVfdTzgLUBahJwWnaZwVNI3G14B0Wk4o_b8g_p-I2LuU0/s320/SHOTRIDGE_Serigraph_Collection_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545157156408995954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Serigraphs Collection © Shotridge Studios</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Left to right:</span> Potlatch, Heron, Wolf , Orcas <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> Thunderbird</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 153, 153);font-size:180%;" >S</span>creen printing started in China about 3,000 years ago and is still done the same way today...using machines instead of people when done on a commercial scale.<br /><br />Traditional serigraphy involves the cutting of stencils with knives. Today they can be and often are made digitally, of course.<br /><br />One stencil is made for each color.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISt9TxbzM4iZqE1LC-iQtHw32o8OyZs9P3nGVOwbGMwJKJPLQDgY11WO0IB1rpmpCVv1GOg5cHLrGGgoYkdxTe0CJxwl88z98ZNcPya0XFGsup3XgbVLNFEgQo6jvT47PytgAZ-Wv0VQ/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_Potlatch_Color_Separations_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISt9TxbzM4iZqE1LC-iQtHw32o8OyZs9P3nGVOwbGMwJKJPLQDgY11WO0IB1rpmpCVv1GOg5cHLrGGgoYkdxTe0CJxwl88z98ZNcPya0XFGsup3XgbVLNFEgQo6jvT47PytgAZ-Wv0VQ/s320/SHOTRIDGE_Potlatch_Color_Separations_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545160187019931170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Color separations for Shotridge's </span>Potlatch </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">© Shotridge Studios</span></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How Colors Are Made</span><br /><br />Colors are either primary, secondary or mixtures of them. Primary colors are irreducible. Orange is reducible to red and yellow. Yellow is reducible to green and red. But green and red are irreducible, making them primary colors (of light). There is a lot more about this subject in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclee Prepress - The Art of Giclee</span> (which you can test drive at available at www.gicleeprepress.com) and in previous blogs.<br /><br />Most colors are mixtures of other colors, just like shopping for house paints. A dab of this, a splash of that... each combination is totally unique. No other color will ever exactly match it. You learned that when you went back and got that extra quart you needed to finish painting the house. It didn't match exactly, eh?<br /><br />In the serigraph and silk screen printing processes, colored inks are squeegee'd through stencils onto paper (tee shirts, or whatever) one color at a time. After each color is applied to the substrate the stencil is removed, a new one put on for the next ink color, and so on.<br /><br />Registration between colors is the hard part. If one stencil moves even a little bit, it can ruin a fine piece of artwork or printing. However the process requires some degree of physical force to squeeze the ink through the stencils onto the substrate, and that stress can deform the stencils if not carefully controlled.<br /><br />The difficulty of maintaining registration also limits the total number of colors that can be used.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New Technology = New Marketing Idea = New Product</span><br /><br />Until now, Shotridge Studios released their serigraphs only as silk-screened prints on art paper. The prints have been popular for over a decade. Ordinarily you'd think that's great... but 'mature' markets are a challenge for sales aficionados like Sue Shotridge, Israel's wife who runs Shotridge Studios allowing Israel to do his thing (lucky him).<br /><br />Sue Shotridge is one of those rare people who see the big picture.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmcKeiNrp70Z545utBBo1F5enykFEWmue7P8o5nxlomLUg5LYXqz4oDztlKNPbr0B85BwxSgThh3FACsji-ldOCT9V3Xk6XKmuKw0aZ6-KZciJ65k2_ZiN0vn43JXZXR6bTwv4SdaWTM/s1600/MESNEY_Sue_Shotridge_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmcKeiNrp70Z545utBBo1F5enykFEWmue7P8o5nxlomLUg5LYXqz4oDztlKNPbr0B85BwxSgThh3FACsji-ldOCT9V3Xk6XKmuKw0aZ6-KZciJ65k2_ZiN0vn43JXZXR6bTwv4SdaWTM/s320/MESNEY_Sue_Shotridge_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545172601295636402" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sue Shotridge checks giclée color tests.<br /></span></span></div><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>oday's big picture is about delivering more for less. That much has been clear for some time and is the likely vision of our future together, but that's another story. For now, it's enough to think about how to add value to your printed art. What makes Sue especially clever (at least in our estimation) is that she totally clued in the possibilities that giclée offered to develop new limited editions of the serigraphs. After all, if Hollywood and the music industry re-sell 'digitally remastered' art, by golly, so can Native Artists, eh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Giclée Adds More 'PDV'</span><br /><br />Readers of this blog know how giclée has fundamentally altered the art world. Until giclée, art patrons had a choice of originals or prints. Art prints used to be – and still are in many cases – hand-made by lithographic or rotogravure printing.<br /><br />As the industrial revolution produced faster and cheaper printing machines, the market migrated towards the lower priced prints... and still does. But I digress...<br /><br />For the customer there used to be only two choices... an expensive original or a $50.00 poster. But not anymore...<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span></span>iclée changed all that by printing images of finer quality than any other printing process. That introduced a <span style="font-style: italic;">third level of quality</span>, a middle range positioned between a traditional print and an original. Sue recognized that and decided to create a new product line... the <span style="font-style: italic;">Shotridge Giclée Collection</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehQkUSz06MV6LYlBhpzfXGXrwbRhajatq2fcG12ILsVXjj9jHZ45KMDu2AMevyLlbSC08LSjjD-7MKkULUFsBkSuhC9iEIEoOKGp97NKBUl_fAxsFrY9t5En54z9tvsWznCfdTthJ-zs/s1600/MESNEY_Shotridge_Studios_Fuller_Building_showroom_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehQkUSz06MV6LYlBhpzfXGXrwbRhajatq2fcG12ILsVXjj9jHZ45KMDu2AMevyLlbSC08LSjjD-7MKkULUFsBkSuhC9iEIEoOKGp97NKBUl_fAxsFrY9t5En54z9tvsWznCfdTthJ-zs/s320/MESNEY_Shotridge_Studios_Fuller_Building_showroom_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545183678879506146" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span>Shotridge Studio</span><span style="font-style: italic;">'s new showroom is housed in<br />Vashon Island's historic </span><span>Fuller House</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> at the crossroads of<br />Vashon Highway and Cemetery Road, catty-corner to the </span><br />Vashon Allied Arts Blue Heron Gallery <span style="font-style: italic;">hiding behind the<br />bush pointed out by arrow.</span></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">N</span></span>ow, when customers come to their new studio showroom on Vashon Island they will have a choice of three price/quality levels. That bodes well for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Collection </span>because customers usually go right down the middle when it comes to art and wine.<br /><br />While the expanded range should make customers more happy, the Shotridges are happy too because with giclée they can print on demand, which eliminates their need for inventorying large quantities of large prints.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQW6Bx1Z4LF26ZVm-8SvUj3h-7xg3KROtm0VVgX50uf1LH9U8rYezrljJUhJPYXWlc-aRiXec3esT6WgxLq33vENUn-_L2PyxcnQudyyOAiVc9IejENotTnf9xc_ghZENIkiyymzN5NTI/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_Potlatch_Eye_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQW6Bx1Z4LF26ZVm-8SvUj3h-7xg3KROtm0VVgX50uf1LH9U8rYezrljJUhJPYXWlc-aRiXec3esT6WgxLq33vENUn-_L2PyxcnQudyyOAiVc9IejENotTnf9xc_ghZENIkiyymzN5NTI/s320/SHOTRIDGE_Potlatch_Eye_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545185524478005954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Detail of </span>Potlatch<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">© Shotridge Studios</span></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sharp Eye for Detail</span><br /><br />The smallest details are part of any big picture and Sue Shotridge catches them all. The differences between a serigraph and a digital reproduction of one made on our new 10-color Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> are like the differences between a diamond and a <span style="font-style: italic;">Zirconium</span>®... you need a loupe to see the difference.<br /><br />The main difference is the sharpness of the lines of a serigraph or silk-screen print. Serigraph stencils are cut with blades. They are like the lines of a vector illustration.<br /><br />Vector art has to be rasterized for giclée printing. Rasterization breaks down images into the pixels we have all come to know and love. That is done to make full color printing possible.<br /><br />Without dots, a separate printing plate is needed for every color. Want to print a rainbow? That's a lot of printing plates.<br /><br />Although rasterizing breaks-up otherwise sharp solid lines into a matrix of dots (which can result in 'jaggies' without sufficient resolution density), by using dots 'full color' can be made from as few as four ink colors -- cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All Colors Are Not Created Equal</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-9bGkJUtuYCNPWPWNgi7NDw-MFMkBUQ6khVf0vCMTv1-FRxnruBXbskFMa91S5tZcgBmw2_otXjUrDknqSNCcYyt2LE-MZ8JDnzCiGo9rOsei-qlX6I-hfpUWG0rDGRfEbOE5MpOfqc/s1600/MESNEY_Color_Swatch_Book_Pantone_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-9bGkJUtuYCNPWPWNgi7NDw-MFMkBUQ6khVf0vCMTv1-FRxnruBXbskFMa91S5tZcgBmw2_otXjUrDknqSNCcYyt2LE-MZ8JDnzCiGo9rOsei-qlX6I-hfpUWG0rDGRfEbOE5MpOfqc/s320/MESNEY_Color_Swatch_Book_Pantone_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545187322937644210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The four-color printing process cannot produce all colors. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">For color-critical material like logos, spot colors are used. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The logo graphic is put on a fifth printing plate (or a sixth, etc)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> for a precise ink color, usually selected from a standard </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">color reference like the </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span>Pantone</span><span style="font-style: italic;">® swatch book shown above.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>he fact that the four 'process colors' (CMYK) are <span style="font-style: italic;">simulating</span> other colors is an important distinction. It means that process colors cannot exactly match the kind of spot colors used in serigraphy or any other screen printing process. That is why there are spot colors in the first place... because the four-color process can't do the job... it is physically impossible.<br /><br />The question is...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How Close Can You Get?</span><br /><br />Being in the fine arts printing business, the reputation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging </span>(www.vashonislandimaging.com)<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>rises and falls with our color accuracy. Our slogan is 'best color in town'. That's why we just installed Epson®'s new 10-color printing technology. It prints more colors than any other printing process. That's a tall claim, eh? (Makes it good for tall orders.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Want Proof?</span><br /><br />Proof of giclée's claim to best color is found by virtue of the implementation of Epson® 10-color technology as a proofing system for nearly all other printing machines in the world.<br /><br />The 'Proofing' version of the Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">9900 </span>has a sophisticated (expensive) Fiery® RIP that can mimic most other printers. Here's how it works:<br /><br />Say you want to print a million copies of something. You need a big printing press. There probably isn't one of those near your studio, and you may not speak any foreign languages. How can you be sure the color will be right?<br /><br />A million of anything is a lot, but if it is unusable the same amount can seem like more. You can prepress to your heart's content but at some point you've got to see something, otherwise you are flying blind.<br /><br />Hold that thought...<br /><br />...Meanwhile, lets say that in the whole wide world there are 1000 colors and the picture you are printing is a rainbow that contains 999 of them. Anything less than 999 cannot be a faithful representation of the colors in the original rainbow, eh?<br /><br />Here's the rub: no printing machine can do that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">More Colors = More Better</span><br /><br />Continuing in 1000-color mode...<br /><br />Printer A can print 700<br />Printer B can print 800<br />Printer C can print 900.<br /><br />Printer C can be used to simulate the colors output by printer A or B, but not vice versa. Ergo, since the color gamut of Epson® 10-color technology is wider than any other printing process, it can be used to mimic any of them.<br /><br />Translated, it also means the gammas of all the world's primary printing processes are smaller than the gamut of Epson® 10-color printing machines.<br /><br />So the capability is there, the question is, do you have the prepress skills to control the machine and output pixel-perfect printing?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Ferrari® cars offer a comparison. The car can do anything but how it performs is limited by the skills of its driver. So it goes with giclée printing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Go With the Flow</span><br /><br />In the end there are only three things that will affect the colors in the giclées you print:<br /><br />- Ink<br />- Media<br />- Light<br /><br />The colors of ink, media and display light are fixed points like the points of a triangle. You can rearrange them, but whatever you select is fixed. Fixed within them are the white point, neutral point, black point and any 'tint' that will affect all other colors.<br /><br />The ink flow rate is not fixed, however. Thus everything you do in your prepress work is done to control the flow of ink(s) to create pixels of specific colors, with digital accuracy.<br /><br />PhotoShop® provides enough controls to give you the accuracy you need but there are so many that it can be as confusing as the cockpit of an airplane.<br /><br />So what do you do in a color match situation like the Shotridge serigraph collection?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Overcoming Optical Illusions</span><br /><br />Begin by reducing the variables. Look at and compare single colors at a time. Test them that way, too. Soon you will discover that simply moving one way or another is making things worse. As one color gets better the other gets worse, or at least different. Even if one of the colors remains the same, it will appear different as the other changes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0YVgWl6SgKBPe_b0UlvqQnBOtZG3nfjJUp2oAenjsH2mruRC4k24NiRRpiUfG2GIRoGsAXkeLlbU6mQDa8AxF9hs37nVhLzY0XVyshInUFmMk3XlMgpE9YlvbW1QQaoJLGuEpnikn73E/s1600/MESNEY_Gray_Box_Illusion_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0YVgWl6SgKBPe_b0UlvqQnBOtZG3nfjJUp2oAenjsH2mruRC4k24NiRRpiUfG2GIRoGsAXkeLlbU6mQDa8AxF9hs37nVhLzY0XVyshInUFmMk3XlMgpE9YlvbW1QQaoJLGuEpnikn73E/s320/MESNEY_Gray_Box_Illusion_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545189913223944146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The gray box illusion demonstrates the interrelationship of tones.</span></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Although the gray is the same, it doesn't look that way.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:180%;" >C</span>o-dependence is tangible in the case of color. Changing one color in a group has an effect on how all others are perceived. It may not be a physical fact, but the optical illusion is real enough. The effect of co-dependency is heightened as colors approach opposition. Colors that oppose each other are also called complementary colors.<br /><br />Complementary colors cancel each other out. Add them together in equal parts and you get a neutral shade of gray. (Noise-canceling audio headphones work the same way with sound waves.)<br /><br />It is difficult to look at the borderline between areas of complementary (or primary) colors. The rods and cones in our eyes cannot cope with extreme differentiation because the cells are vibrating on a microscopic level. The cells along the border rapidly shift between the colors on both sides. The more divergent the colors, the more the borders will 'vibrate'. It is also what makes colors fight with one another.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAOKzoqZhoWtJuU9zcdGfGSC6O1syYovRlIAP4KY7VTu6fn8fx8An_dWsLvsb_uWy1Q0C752TzpoBRVLdDrb4Ym7cWsnWmGsm3Gagkgnt0j8Mb0scm9W0CcPzso-zVAv1tUcCln3OtrI/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_Potlatch_Serigraph_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAOKzoqZhoWtJuU9zcdGfGSC6O1syYovRlIAP4KY7VTu6fn8fx8An_dWsLvsb_uWy1Q0C752TzpoBRVLdDrb4Ym7cWsnWmGsm3Gagkgnt0j8Mb0scm9W0CcPzso-zVAv1tUcCln3OtrI/s320/SHOTRIDGE_Potlatch_Serigraph_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545190845029442946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span>Potlatch</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">© Shotridge Studios</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The three colors in Shotridge serigraphs are Teal, Red and Black.</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> These particular colors are part of the Native 'brand' and are thus 'holy'.<br />Teal is a shade of cyan. Red and cyan are opposites... they complement one another.<br />Did our ancestors know that?</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">S</span></span>o you can see that trying to match colors is problematic at best. If changing one color affects all others, the permutation of possibility gets astronomical fast as you add more and more colors.<br /><br />Two other factors make matters worse. Colors appear differently according to the light they are perceived in and different people have different degrees of color 'blindness'.<br /><br />Each of us sees some colors better than others and has favorites. These physical and psychological factors preclude the possibility of our every knowing whether any two people see exactly the same colors as someone else. That's why we compare things to certain standards of measurement, like Pantone® color system.<br /><br />In digital imaging, every one of several million colors has an identifying number by which other digital devices can recreate them faithfully if proper color management has been followed throughout the chain of communication.<br /><br />Using those standards, and a few other tools, we can control colors with the incredible accuracy needed for color-match work.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reduce the Variables</span><br /><br />Unlike you who print giclées, your client is usually clueless about most of these issues and challenges. Worse, clients mostly think that with PhotoShop® you can do anything. Well, in this case it turns out that they are right... You can achieve pixel perfect printing. (Hint: read my book.)<br /><br />Here's how I approach color match at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Process of Elimination</span><br /><br />The key is to eliminate variables as fast as you can so that you can deal with one color at a time. Before you can do that you must get a sense of what your client thinks is right. It doesn't matter what you think of the colors... it matters what the client thinks about them. That is where the problems start.<br /><br />One of the biggest challenges is communications -- talking about color. In the printing business we talk color day and night. We know how to talk about color. Most others don't know how because they lack the vocabulary. Did you ever try to describe a flavor? ...That's what I mean.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Speaking of Color</span><br /><br />Begin with a client consultation. To solve the communications problem and get past the need for color-language skills, provide some test prints to form the basis of your discussion. Ask the client to tell you what is right and wrong with each color.<br /><br />Use the client's opinions to make your first set of color corrections. Provide an odd number of new tests, each of the same image but with different combinations of (changed) colors. Again, ask the client what is right and wrong with each color.<br /><br />Look at a picture in PhotoShop® and to see an example of what I mean use <span style="font-style: italic;">Image / Adjustments / Variations</span>. You'll see a variety of looks with hue differences. When you select one, you see more variations of just that... tints, contrasts, etc. That process of selection is what we are emulating in our printing tests.<br /><br />Whatever direction your color correction takes for one change, take another in the opposite direction. For example if one change involves magenta, the other should involve green. Work in pairs. The same applies to brightness and contrast. Working in opposites helps everyone narrow things down because sometimes it is easier to see what something shouldn't be rather than what it should be.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Solitary Confinement</span><br /><br />The goal is to get the colors right one at a time... so deal with them one at a time. As soon as Sue agreed on a shade of red, only the teal would change in the next tests.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtd9xSjL7YhUPZ0mynI-S2G0gMhndqq_v_FXAf_7OpFQae1cEAmah2kFeoPZh9KD40Svs70j3ppZnNw86cR4MnsOvGYV3yL9rvP9Z897CBvOeCKWIINWRlsvv4j3-7BUBgUUn30U9g2aU/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_Color_Test_Teal_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtd9xSjL7YhUPZ0mynI-S2G0gMhndqq_v_FXAf_7OpFQae1cEAmah2kFeoPZh9KD40Svs70j3ppZnNw86cR4MnsOvGYV3yL9rvP9Z897CBvOeCKWIINWRlsvv4j3-7BUBgUUn30U9g2aU/s320/SHOTRIDGE_Color_Test_Teal_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545191637545350546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">12-step test for teal.</span><br /></span></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">B</span></span>y confining the choices to one solitary color, the effect of color co-dependence spoken of earlier becomes instantly apparent. In the above grouping the red is the same throughout although it appears to be as different as the 12 hues of teal are.<br /><br />The only way to get a semblance of control over the optical illusion of color co-dependence is to change only one color at a time. Then apply only one kind of color change at a time.<br /><br />In the case 'Shotridge teal', Sue thought it wasn't blue enough and that it lacked 'ooomph'. Being an ex-New Yorker, I understand what 'ooomph' implies. Translated into giclée terms it means more Saturation and Contrast (another inter-related pair of variables).<br /><br />The next test (shown above) has 12 changes of blue. The top row has 22 points of blue added to the Mid tones. The middle row has 22 points of blue added to the Highlights. In the bottom row the blue was added to the dark tones ('Shadows'). Then, to the right of each row there are 11 and 22 point variations of Brightness.<br /><br />The purpose of this test is to determine if blue is the needed change and if so how much. In a perfect world you will find the final combo in a grid of 3, 6, 9 or at the most 12 choices. More choices than that becomes overwhelming and the brain will shut down.<br /><br />Don't be surprised if you have to go back to the previously approved color and change that again. It is usually a result of color co-dependence revealing as much about the unchanged color as the changed one.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65grPQhG9ng0nI1Xj9_ZNdae3paFB9cKqU0bwVzDsOZRfXReSdHXc0qUIfAMmcBUiNjVcgJJDkO_iWWzdK1p0MBPl0n4OOBnW6nPjvLHr9nQpVW2u-7nGk8K9hrP7CR60LPfvljhPbtY/s1600/SHOTRIDGE_Color_Test_Red_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 67px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65grPQhG9ng0nI1Xj9_ZNdae3paFB9cKqU0bwVzDsOZRfXReSdHXc0qUIfAMmcBUiNjVcgJJDkO_iWWzdK1p0MBPl0n4OOBnW6nPjvLHr9nQpVW2u-7nGk8K9hrP7CR60LPfvljhPbtY/s320/SHOTRIDGE_Color_Test_Red_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545192429122328690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> Potlatch</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" > color test series for Shotridge Studios included<br />a final round using the selected Teal with 5 different shades of Red.<br /></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>ll tests were done on two types of heavy-weight fine arts paper, both made by Epson®.<br /><br />- <span style="font-style: italic;">Hot Press Bright White</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />- Hot Press Natural White</span><br /><br />Both of these are fabulous papers for giclée, offering a good black. They have the dmax of Enhanced Matte with the look and feel of nice art papers like <span style="font-style: italic;">Hahnemuhle</span>® and <span style="font-style: italic;">Arches</span>®. It's the best of both worlds... with none of the 'curl' problems you encounter with some Hahnemuhle papers.<br /><br />We try to stay with Epson® papers because they are made to work with their inks. That keeps the gamut as wide as it can be... and as noted earlier, more colors is ‘more’ better.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sequence for Testing</span><br /><br />To summarize, the testing sequence for each color is as follows.<br /><br />1.) Hue<br />2.) Color<br />3.) Brightness<br />4.) Levels<br />5.) Saturation (seldom used as it shifts color)<br /><br />Each of those variables should be tested in pairs of opposites aiming towards control of a solitary color.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Impossible Dream</span><br /><br />To keep yourself sane and your client happy it is important for everyone concerned to remember two things:<br /><br />- True color match is virtually impossible<br />- True color match is very expensive.<br /><br />Using the testing sequence just described will get you through color match to the 99th percentile in the fastest way, using the least testing materials.<br /><br />Another way of looking at it is this: If you had to struggle so hard to tweak the color, will your viewers see the difference? Don't scoff. That is a legitimate question. There are a couple of answers:<br /><br />While the 12-part test shown above was drying, a few other artists came to the studio. Each asked what it was and when I explained it was a color test each did a double take, looked harder and said... 'oh yeah, now I see it'.<br /><br />The flip side of that is 'Madison Avenue' research that proves without question that slight variations in a color will have an impact on sales.<br /><br />Sales... that's Sue's territory and she'll be the first to say that their red and teal colors have an impact on Shotridge sales. That's why I listen carefully to what she says. I know that her sales equal my sales... and that's the kind of color co-dependence I like... The kind involving the color of money. <span style="font-style: italic;">That's </span>what I call 'spot-on color'.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuo2XUs2gAcKTSwqfi35y16tVgNTG72fRDQqry6PBDEMNLb6oGPSG05QNcu5lrSbz7SDFHasS9I_8Nx5dPegDcypK-FvYqzrki0mx_5GFJsBhMXsrR9hsCcbcqo1b6zLAsu04FlV4Omss/s1600/MESNEY_Color_Dots_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 59px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuo2XUs2gAcKTSwqfi35y16tVgNTG72fRDQqry6PBDEMNLb6oGPSG05QNcu5lrSbz7SDFHasS9I_8Nx5dPegDcypK-FvYqzrki0mx_5GFJsBhMXsrR9hsCcbcqo1b6zLAsu04FlV4Omss/s320/MESNEY_Color_Dots_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545198547522155602" border="0" /></a>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-50932689617735007882010-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:002010-11-22T15:12:42.002-08:00Back to the Future<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQAETbVmzAb2pe4YAtuuGC584sobRaagZPYc2Ry5yPzZfV1bFLP2WWHecTrPIp3rVEHIHtaNGcpDJS6YcyINBdga7YXYQIlSJ9BnWfX9BekltC3UEVccM8dF8abuXq2Gd38DqmCm7Fv4/s1600/MESNEY_Vashon_Studio_Lounge_1.1_10.11.22.jpg"><br /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Techniques & Tools Whose Time Has Returned</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PWIKDiCbl4fU7lfaNOP3vze9ndh1CB8V0KYXKV8tQchGaUPU9_XWP5Ngm4Xd9caE-NMnK5CNJxlrd_HpKGdIbv9ARIRA9EvoBK0dr95T1aFMnutGU2ItYhC-hfhn5-5HVvRQhwulofQ/s1600/MESNEY_Vashon_Studio_Lounge_by_Pam_Swanson_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 96px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PWIKDiCbl4fU7lfaNOP3vze9ndh1CB8V0KYXKV8tQchGaUPU9_XWP5Ngm4Xd9caE-NMnK5CNJxlrd_HpKGdIbv9ARIRA9EvoBK0dr95T1aFMnutGU2ItYhC-hfhn5-5HVvRQhwulofQ/s320/MESNEY_Vashon_Studio_Lounge_by_Pam_Swanson_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542172935024280562" border="0" /></a><span><span style="font-size:85%;">Vashon Island Imaging lounge © Pam Swanson 2007</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The studio on Vashon Island is itself is example of 'back to the future'.<br />Compare this 2007 view of our lounge with the 2010 picture I just made (below).<br />The lounge has morphed into a teaching workshop.</span><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQAETbVmzAb2pe4YAtuuGC584sobRaagZPYc2Ry5yPzZfV1bFLP2WWHecTrPIp3rVEHIHtaNGcpDJS6YcyINBdga7YXYQIlSJ9BnWfX9BekltC3UEVccM8dF8abuXq2Gd38DqmCm7Fv4/s1600/MESNEY_Vashon_Studio_Lounge_1.1_10.11.22.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQAETbVmzAb2pe4YAtuuGC584sobRaagZPYc2Ry5yPzZfV1bFLP2WWHecTrPIp3rVEHIHtaNGcpDJS6YcyINBdga7YXYQIlSJ9BnWfX9BekltC3UEVccM8dF8abuXq2Gd38DqmCm7Fv4/s320/MESNEY_Vashon_Studio_Lounge_1.1_10.11.22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542514356190077570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Vashon Island Imaging lounge in 2010.<br />Eventually I outgrow everywhere I live, one way or another.<br />As the hallways get narrower, I know that migration time is near.<br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">P</span></span>eople who visit my studio sometimes comment that they feel like they are in a museum. They <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> ...and in this museum all the machines are working (although some gather more dust than others).<br /><br />Sometimes even I wonder why I keep some of the stuff. The old Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">2200</span>'s we have at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> (www.vashonislandimaging.com) are a good case in point. They were workhorses for years but not recently as times (and inks) change... to say nothing of the cost of ink in those small 12 ml cartridges compared to the large 350 and 700 ml cartridges on today's big Epson® giclee printing machines.<br /><br />My left brain said dump those old<span style="font-style: italic;"> 2200</span>'s, they are just taking up space and cost too much to run. But my right brain didn't make the same connection. That's probably because nearly every time I have dumped anything major that decision has come back to bite me. Here's just one example...<br /><br />In 1980 my picture library contained well over a million slides. When I closed the New York studio and moved to Hawaii they were all put in storage. Ten years later I brought them all to Sweden realizing that I was going to be in Stockholm for a while and that the slides were rotting in the hot and humid Hawaiian atmosphere.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKtGQex11gT3ulg9LZI39qLO-dW026snkmsNEGncczi2xmQc69jEhcPMF3rvPg3tn00PhvQHkH22AJ-p54SxTEI5VL9kDMteJ5xMuA2mL4ISHXdsPKxy34sEnUtgTYdsPyoffTLhDs8A/s1600/MESNEY_1981_Hawaii_Container_Arrival_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKtGQex11gT3ulg9LZI39qLO-dW026snkmsNEGncczi2xmQc69jEhcPMF3rvPg3tn00PhvQHkH22AJ-p54SxTEI5VL9kDMteJ5xMuA2mL4ISHXdsPKxy34sEnUtgTYdsPyoffTLhDs8A/s320/MESNEY_1981_Hawaii_Container_Arrival_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542144299658823282" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >1981 arrival of picture archive in Honolulu.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1</span></span>,000,000 anything takes up some space. In this case, the slide library filled the better part of a 20-foot cargo container. Not having that much space available for an archive in Stockholm the library was ruthlessly edited to 25% of its former size. 75% was tossed.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISvNwKcTrxIUDJF0rlzBEUMHC0ic8HKU_Oq0e_L4c1viCXQaGESf2tmUSsn8sfP8P_7MbgGgGoUWZiDj0dPFvF6L56bOARJyGA_w9NV8lV6WnAaWFyFg5j8yrM1CHw2nL6Rz_6HrPiHA/s1600/MESNEY_1988_Picture_Archive_01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISvNwKcTrxIUDJF0rlzBEUMHC0ic8HKU_Oq0e_L4c1viCXQaGESf2tmUSsn8sfP8P_7MbgGgGoUWZiDj0dPFvF6L56bOARJyGA_w9NV8lV6WnAaWFyFg5j8yrM1CHw2nL6Rz_6HrPiHA/s320/MESNEY_1988_Picture_Archive_01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542144695115409410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Edited picture archive contains about 500,000 images.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >A</span>s I said, a million of anything is a lot. Going through that many slides was a daunting task. However it was less painful than you might imagine because the library was about 50% stuff we had shot for Burger King® and Clairol® shows.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNpsWG2Arqg9ZJGjwtTm3zJQG8SCTJS3xQ0pT9nT6_qMJK7jP-RljqVr6xrJT-xNazfjn2RUR280IDyrkZt7tUxbkFNM44_LFeYg9jLJf1WlXbUhaDWUytJQmcwIg8TbYdWsKCaDlWhQ/s1600/MESNEY_1974_Burger_King_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNpsWG2Arqg9ZJGjwtTm3zJQG8SCTJS3xQ0pT9nT6_qMJK7jP-RljqVr6xrJT-xNazfjn2RUR280IDyrkZt7tUxbkFNM44_LFeYg9jLJf1WlXbUhaDWUytJQmcwIg8TbYdWsKCaDlWhQ/s320/MESNEY_1974_Burger_King_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542145181221665042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yours truly changing slide trays at a Burger King</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >®</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> rally.</span> </span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">B</span></span>urger King</span><span style="font-size:100%;">® extravaganzas whipped teen-age burger flippers into a frenzy at pep-show rallies around the </span><span style="font-size:100%;">USA</span><span style="font-size:100%;">. My company was called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >The Incredible Slidemaker</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >s</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>back then. The crew and I would troop a 15-projector rig that we would run using an </span><span style="font-size:100%;">AVL® <span style="font-style: italic;">Show Pro V</span> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">slide controller to project onto a giant screen. Our projections were the 'backdrop' at events for 1000 or more screaming teeny-bopper </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Burger King®</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> workers</span><span style="font-size:100%;">.</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1y9L7E9_oJXct7x9r0XbzqIsHLUxZnftHdimHInWchaOb59pdC7Xt7YZ-QtG1_1vhif85Styjph6_VcKFE2FcDPr_IuqcKJILSBp_DnWIBlBe4mXwGKzuQW0ZKgaEMnyyAl8UXrQ3lCI/s1600/MESNEY_1975_Projection_Grid_01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1y9L7E9_oJXct7x9r0XbzqIsHLUxZnftHdimHInWchaOb59pdC7Xt7YZ-QtG1_1vhif85Styjph6_VcKFE2FcDPr_IuqcKJILSBp_DnWIBlBe4mXwGKzuQW0ZKgaEMnyyAl8UXrQ3lCI/s320/MESNEY_1975_Projection_Grid_01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542145761533386850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yours truly with programming rig for an 18-projector </span>Clairol</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >®</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> show.</span></span> </div><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">C</span></span>lairol® extravaganzas were attention grabbers at hair and beauty shows. The shows were fast paced and used multiple screens. We called them 'mindblowers'. The content was sprinkled with candid shots of audience members shot earlier or gathered from archives.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vanity Fair</span><br /><br />People watch shows more carefully if there's a chance of seeing themselves or friends. It's a great way to boost audience motivation as well as interest. Anyway...<br /><br />The picture library became over stuffed with thousands and thousands of pictures of pimple faced kids either flipping burgers or posing as models at local beauty shows. Although some of those pictures once propelled their subjects and colleagues out of their seats with yelps and cheers they were totally useless anymore. Thus in one fell swoop I lightened the load 50% by committing those slides to the custody of the Stockholm town dump.<br /><br />One snowy night a year later the phone rang in my Stockholm studio and when I lifted the receiver it was Ken Perry calling from Singapore. Ken was Marketing Director for Clairol® when we produced some of the aforementioned shows. But that was nearly a decade ago.<br /><br />Ken told me how hard it had been to track me down. I admitted that I was amazed that he actually had been able to because I had lived in Hawaii, Australia, California, Vancouver and Stockholm since last seeing Ken in New York City.<br /><br />He told me he was working on a giant anniversary spectacular for Clairol® and that he would pay 'anything' to get his hands on those old slide-show shots... the ones trashed a few months earlier.<br /><br />Ever since then I have been loath to get rid of anything that might have even an iota of a chance of being useful. So the old Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">2200</span>s were still in place and thank goodness for that because they saved the day on our most recent job.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Old Technology Saves the Day</span><br /><br />When the phone rings at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> I never know what awaits me on the other end of the line. As word spreads about the wide range of services we provide, more 'unusual' jobs land on my desk. The challenge of some of these generates the excitement that makes life worth living for a giclée printer.<br /><br />The challenge for any professional giclée printer is to balance reality with expectation. That is, what the client wants versus what can be delivered. The gap between the two generally widens in an inverse proportion to the client's understanding of digital imaging and PhotoShop®.<br /><br />Many totally sane artists have been led to believe that they will be able to get great results all by themselves using 'prosumer' gear. Actually, they can if by 'great' you mean better than 10 years ago. But the results you get with an investment of a few hundred dollars and a few hours of PhotoShop® training isn't good enough for accurate color reproduction. That fact saddens many artists and photographers and leads some of them to our doorstep at Vashon Island Imaging.<br /><br />Here we take on all sorts of projects from product shots and art copy work to prepress ...all the way through finished art and production. We can do that because I didn't throw out those old machines.<br /><br />I still have and use many traditional photomechanical machines and procedures to produce the finest quality giclée prints. Those who follow this blog or who have read my book (available at www.gicleeprepress.com) are familiar with many of these 'old fashioned' ways and why they produce superior results to purely digital alternatives... at least from the aesthetic side. In the end, it's not what it says on the dial, it's what you see in the print.<br /><br />Our latest project has been printing an installation-art piece called <span style="font-style: italic;">Severed Head </span>for artist Monica Gripman. It turned out to be an appropriately named job because it took a 'disconnect' to get the look the artist wanted. (Installation art refers to large-sized pieces that are installed professionally rather than carried home from the gallery.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXk1WndJSsQX61lG5KRDj-HZSVag0R_hmj-NvcZjn1B8-loNNshizIEoIcVubzwpoVlfq2s0UrXudMyblYME2W-88rPQeA4AbfvjTdGnGwZPqydgNHC82OccBQWL_u4VcN8Myoe1wtlOU/s1600/MESNEY_Monica_Gripman_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXk1WndJSsQX61lG5KRDj-HZSVag0R_hmj-NvcZjn1B8-loNNshizIEoIcVubzwpoVlfq2s0UrXudMyblYME2W-88rPQeA4AbfvjTdGnGwZPqydgNHC82OccBQWL_u4VcN8Myoe1wtlOU/s320/MESNEY_Monica_Gripman_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542149009646843010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Monica Gripman assembles</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> Severed Head<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> on a large Plexiglas® sheet at </span>Vashon Island Imaging<span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span></span>ripman's work is a collage like none I have seen before. At first clance the collage appears to be a disorganized stack of pictures. Then you realize that together they form another image, usually a sensual one.<br /><br />Monica Gripman's style is '<span style="font-style: italic;">Retro</span>' and reminiscent of David Hockey's work with Polaroid® pictures. However she takes it to a new level utilizing more contemporary machines that are on on the leading edge of Retro. Her 'camera' is an old copy machine. Captures are output onto photo paper using an ancient old HP® printer.<br /><br />Although she makes it look easy, many 'shots' are captured to get the pieces for her picture puzzles. 'I burn through a lot of material before I get the pictures right,' she explains. '<span style="font-style: italic;">Severed Head</span> uses 14 out of about 150 pictures.'<br /><br />In the background I hear her partner Greg correct her noting the number was closer to 300. 'Whatever,' she continues, it costs us quite a bit to put one of these together even using the most economical materials.'<br /><br />'Aha', I thought, 'the old 'bottom line''.<br /><br />The bottom line is more important now than ever before, especially for artists who must invest their time and money with greater risk than most people can imagine.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Severed Head</span> is no exception being a collage of 14 giclée prints mounted on a large sheet of Plexiglas® measuring 72 X 30 inches. It costs money to make a piece of work like that to say nothing of shipping it. This piece is destined for display in New York City and to ship it safely across the country a special container is being built. But I digress...<br /><br />What drove Monica to our doorstep was the frustration of trying to make a set of copy prints with an Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">R1900</span>. Whoever sold her the printer should have his or her ink cut off because anyone who meets Monica knows at a glance that this gal is a<span style="font-style: italic;"> Ludite.</span><br /><br />Or is it just me?<br /><br />I am considered a Ludite by some and a wizard to others. It's all relative, eh?<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, Monica is one sharp cookie. She got all the gear they told her to, followed all the instructions, pushed all the right buttons, and got results. Unfortunately, those results indicated that she would have to learn more about printing... a lot more.<br /><br />Anyone else might have been very satisfied with what the R1900 printed. However, Monica was trying to match the look of the ancient HP® printer and 'plain' photo paper.<br /><br />The disconnect was that it was easier (and more accurate) to use <span style="font-style: italic;">old technology</span> than to dumb down a modern machine in some kind of simulation. Sure, you can build a bunch of custom profiles, blah blah blah.... and while you are doing that I will print the job on my old machine and go out to lunch. So...<br /><br />Being a sharp cookie, Monica decided that learning to be a master printer was not the best use of her time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Catering to the Artist Mentality</span><br /><br />Artists are demanding clients when it comes to printing. For some reason they expect that the colors in the reproduction will be like the ones in the original. Silly artists... What do they know about color management?<br /><br />Monica explained the problem as she laid out the original prints made on the old HP and the copies of them made from scans and printed with the R1900. There was a world of difference between them, even though Monica had followed all the instructions.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUEbc5kqrbSSZNwbznGcvMC5Ji62nPvIabV6aDx389Zj5x46z3YOxA4zomqgia0e-rogj6R7jeS9ha5Rc2UcCAGh3vKnYg4y_0Gi_4liZK7I_Ver67d15O0gH7eQ-AI9Cmi5KpU0aJOU/s1600/MESNEY_Media_Differences_HP_Epson_R1900_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUEbc5kqrbSSZNwbznGcvMC5Ji62nPvIabV6aDx389Zj5x46z3YOxA4zomqgia0e-rogj6R7jeS9ha5Rc2UcCAGh3vKnYg4y_0Gi_4liZK7I_Ver67d15O0gH7eQ-AI9Cmi5KpU0aJOU/s320/MESNEY_Media_Differences_HP_Epson_R1900_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542150836826600626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Comparison of prints made by Monica's old HP machine (right)<br />and her Epson® </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">R1900</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> (left) shows visible differences easy to see<br />even in this tiny blog picture of them.<br /></span></span></div><br />The HP® prints had been scanned to high quality TIFF files and those sent to the R1900 for output onto Epson® Premium Luster Paper. Most folks would have probably OK'd the copy prints and many might even have preferred them. The rich blacks produced by the R1900's pigment inks make those printed with the HP's older dye inks pale in comparison.<br /><br />However, Monica went on to explain that she had already showed the originals to the gallery so the new prints had to match the old ones exactly. And why not use the originals? ...Because they had become marred by over-handling without adequate protection.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4NXP9E_-RdUHdSrYuxNGyfiZ7UwxGe9fP4f5KDRrcaY3L5EPsv1jBLNy8LLEsfcD7Gp9gGHdw9ZOwWeFNQPvr8UOcmlDYC9zJdBKnUJMNf-5Za4XsEev4QpJN2x6Ce3M-HRMeQuf1G4/s1600/MESNEY_Media_White_Point_Comparison_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4NXP9E_-RdUHdSrYuxNGyfiZ7UwxGe9fP4f5KDRrcaY3L5EPsv1jBLNy8LLEsfcD7Gp9gGHdw9ZOwWeFNQPvr8UOcmlDYC9zJdBKnUJMNf-5Za4XsEev4QpJN2x6Ce3M-HRMeQuf1G4/s320/MESNEY_Media_White_Point_Comparison_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542440152470468898" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Matching the look of Monica's original prints was complicated by<br />differences in the white points of Costco's photo paper (left)<br />and </span>Epson® Premium Luster <span style="font-style: italic;">(right) which is warmer.<br />Both have about the same brightness and reflectance, thankfully.<br /></span></span></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span></span> explained to Monica why the copies could never exactly duplicate the originals unless they were printed by the same printer on the same paper. It didn't really help to know that, in her point of view. All she wanted was a solution... and that's where the old Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">2200</span>s came in.<br /><br />The HP® machine used to make the originals is much closer in age to an Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">2200 </span>and both use old dye-based ink technology. The look produced by each is similar and different than the look produced by modern printing machines. So the <span style="font-style: italic;">2200</span> was chosen for output of this series of prints.<br /><br />The next challenge was to get the colors as close as possible to the originals. That is not as easy as it seems with an Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">2200 </span>because the level of control with a $500 machine cannot be compared with a $5000 one.<br /><br />Complicating things, the pictures in Severed Head have large areas requiring good dmax. However, the highlight details of the hair were marginally captured by the scanner and are even hard to see even in the originals. With any over-inking those 'highlights' would be obliterated. Needed was independent control over the dmax of the background and restoration of the hair highlights.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Restoration of Highlights</span><br /><br />Restoration of the highlights is possible but requires a lot of work. It was therefore decided to concentrate on the highlights around the central point of interest, the face. Those were brought out of the shadows using the following procedure:<br /><br />1.) The hair was 'Lasso'd' and copied onto a separate layer placed above first layer, in PhotoShop®.<br /><br />2.) Levels were squeezes to create super-high-contrast rendition with the highlights clearly visible.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJCRMPaSlFT96Ja65nsdsEnkdry8lqSKbbmlGYuDCSbya8evYPHtQhyphenhyphenMH0_dx88gpK3xdn1bCHoJeHzpx9fLsWmcZ_Mcg8UWYMqI6LXx5J0Se-VgVTjCtzKQt3eiUgRhgME8iNvDejTI/s1600/GRIPMAN_Severed_Head_2.1_High_Con.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJCRMPaSlFT96Ja65nsdsEnkdry8lqSKbbmlGYuDCSbya8evYPHtQhyphenhyphenMH0_dx88gpK3xdn1bCHoJeHzpx9fLsWmcZ_Mcg8UWYMqI6LXx5J0Se-VgVTjCtzKQt3eiUgRhgME8iNvDejTI/s320/GRIPMAN_Severed_Head_2.1_High_Con.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542152169408474146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Squeezing the Levels produced a high-contrast version<br />revealing hair details as well as abrasion marks on the print surface<br />(indicated by red arrows).</span><br /></span></div><br />3.) The layer was de-saturated to reduce the color build-up that occurs as contrast is increased (and with it saturation).<br /><br />4.) The separation of highlights from dark tones was intensified using Brightness and Contrast.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjgv1oVTFiN2Z0BG_qWDNNmJwwovMb0BI0gL-qzrELl94iT3NbqOyL67zXJgzUw7SI4LtqGqZc2nKgys2c6ZOjwn0UDDiwRy8RDOr5d3hHrKZOP5nwKRf0ge1MCQfDLsPuY71mRbOyOM/s1600/GRIPMAN_Severed_Head_3.1_High_Con.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjgv1oVTFiN2Z0BG_qWDNNmJwwovMb0BI0gL-qzrELl94iT3NbqOyL67zXJgzUw7SI4LtqGqZc2nKgys2c6ZOjwn0UDDiwRy8RDOr5d3hHrKZOP5nwKRf0ge1MCQfDLsPuY71mRbOyOM/s320/GRIPMAN_Severed_Head_3.1_High_Con.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542154327444836258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Look close and you can just see the hair highlights<br />made by the steps above as well as a whole lot of spotting and<br />cleaning to get rid of the dust, scratches and noise you always find<br />in any scanned image's dark tones.<br /></span></span></div><br />5.) The highlight layer was placed on top and it's <span style="font-style: italic;">Blending Option</span> was set for 'lighten'.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQhUNLV_TL7Z0FdZ1d_5YgwXB9KSRYmCXAUI23z3SHkt76cvKz3fXRU3wQXSo8aFedatD68OCf4mkBFIBiaDLep01ruINH8BM3h9dMP9h9PdaS3-ZQyQsKSqtxfh8BiV4tigMkS2jyWk/s1600/GRIPMAN_Severed_Head_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQhUNLV_TL7Z0FdZ1d_5YgwXB9KSRYmCXAUI23z3SHkt76cvKz3fXRU3wQXSo8aFedatD68OCf4mkBFIBiaDLep01ruINH8BM3h9dMP9h9PdaS3-ZQyQsKSqtxfh8BiV4tigMkS2jyWk/s320/GRIPMAN_Severed_Head_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542156361393998354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">[Detail of] <span style="font-style: italic;">Severed Head</span> © Monica Gripman 2010<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">The highlights layer fills the shadows of the picture layer beneath it.</span><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Although the background of the highlight layer is black (see Step 4),<br />by setting the layer's </span>Blending Options<span style="font-style: italic;"> to 'Lighten' only the highlights are visible.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>6.) The layer's Opacity was lowered until the blend was perfect.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF56YSb6in7Z12hUr2CLHlWF-aq5D54XeEKARKIYYPkTQcFWS-hkGLOd3MicWtAlARwx2adRLQqgFKF-Hz4-Z3ebVs8dwbcZsQRS6OCFiGhdK7gCca4h5bGX-2cWAPBehWTjGyil4IeIk/s1600/MESNEY_Media_Differences_HP_Epson_2200.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF56YSb6in7Z12hUr2CLHlWF-aq5D54XeEKARKIYYPkTQcFWS-hkGLOd3MicWtAlARwx2adRLQqgFKF-Hz4-Z3ebVs8dwbcZsQRS6OCFiGhdK7gCca4h5bGX-2cWAPBehWTjGyil4IeIk/s320/MESNEY_Media_Differences_HP_Epson_2200.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542166774094439810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The finished print from the Epson® </span><span style="font-size:85%;">2200</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" > (left)<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >looks very close to the original (right) printed on an old HP machine.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">W</span></span>hat's perfect? Only a test print can tell you that. You can't see a faithful representation of these kinds of shadow details on a monitor. However, being able to control the intensity of the highlights with a simple adjustment of Opacity gives total control to this important visual element while printing.<br /><br />Having the highlights (and shadows) on separate layers allows precise manipulation of the image to precisely control the amount of ink flowing to each pixel.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Photography Beats Scanning</span><br /><br />The mark of a good print is being able to see into the shadows and highlights. The more details the higher the quality.<br /><br />I explained to Monica that in the future her work would print better if the originals were photographed rather than scanned.<br /><br />Traditional photomechanical methods are the only way to get consistency from one capture to the next. Consistency is coin of the land in the realm of collage... at least for giclée printers. A collage is like a side-by-side comparison on steroids. Without consistency, you'll never make any money. Imagine all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle having different looks!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who's Flying the Plane?</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrG7C7SIJZF-cVzxgfEPPj9GISRU6N8ih1EkSUeJN5EfLYZTPANdBGoT2DRfnTYcm_iQBRs-FlyrwDfQbk_Me_Qn7mKpOYUBtRPUgFjRNBSpOT1ZjbHsWNp_R2lhh0PUY7i_EUPdU8iK4/s1600/MESNEY_EJA_Annual_Report_Cover_01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrG7C7SIJZF-cVzxgfEPPj9GISRU6N8ih1EkSUeJN5EfLYZTPANdBGoT2DRfnTYcm_iQBRs-FlyrwDfQbk_Me_Qn7mKpOYUBtRPUgFjRNBSpOT1ZjbHsWNp_R2lhh0PUY7i_EUPdU8iK4/s320/MESNEY_EJA_Annual_Report_Cover_01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542162543986552242" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Executive Jet Aviation Inc. annual report cover © Douglas Mesney 1973</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Do you think these jets are flying on autopilot?</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">S</span></span>canners use algorithms that analyze images and calculate the 'right' levels, curves and colors. It will do its best to capture the entire dynamic tone range of any picture put in front of it. But it can't, for two reasons:<br /><br />1.) The dynamic tone range of the picture being scanned probably exceeds the exposure limits of the capture device's sensors<br /><br />2.) Digital capture devices are set for mid-range 'average' tones. They are easily thrown off by too much of any color, but especially lights and darks. For example, small patches of tone on large black or white fields are tough for auto anything.<br /><br />Although scanners have image control settings, that is not the problem. You can dial away until you get the first one just right. Then comes the real problem.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Consistently Inconsistent</span><br /><br />Consistency from one scan to the next is the problem. There isn't any.<br /><br />Trying to make all of Monica's 14 scans look alike with the kind of precision she likes would be a daunting task with or without auto pilot. Think about the total number of adjustments that were made by the scanner, then make a permutation of that number. The result is the number of possible combinations you might have to go through for each and every one of the 14 scans.<br /><br />Well, no thank you. While your doing it the digital way I'll photograph all 14 originals and go work out... or maybe I'll go fishing... I'll bring my cell phone... you can call.<br /><br />Fortunately <span style="font-style: italic;">Severed Head</span> is supposed to have (ever-so-slightly) inconsistent color from print to print, so that was a 'break' for us.<br /><br />The 'heads up' of this story is don't be too quick to sever the connections with old machines. What better way to recreate the Retro look than with retro tools and techniques? And how many times a year do folks come into your studio asking for the Retro look? Do the math and it'll be back to the future for you too.<br /><br />To speed you on your way, learn more about photomechanical production techniques for giclée printing in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span>. Pixel-perfect printing in thirteen steps. Read a sample at www.gicleeprepress.com.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Coming Attractions</span><br /><br />See more of Monica Gripman's work soon right here. We can't show you the finished piece, <span style="font-style: italic;">Severed Head</span>, until green-lighted by her gallery ... so re-connect with us soon to see it!<br /><br />Next blog features the capture and printing of Monica's most recent encaustic artwork made as a preview for an installation piece entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">Mexican Indian</span>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqDkUTs5gtL0dPbIgT5spmCm4JvP3GuVjClHvcc-LseaWnk96-0b6k0LDcEEYCokUyY17K09JpEOwE77vVb-S-V1DW-76zSImvTXCiYJZkb_nqZA3sJdyaLyJxrgd0I8WLCaiFjLpeC8/s1600/GRIPMAN_Mexican_Indian_1.1_Title.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqDkUTs5gtL0dPbIgT5spmCm4JvP3GuVjClHvcc-LseaWnk96-0b6k0LDcEEYCokUyY17K09JpEOwE77vVb-S-V1DW-76zSImvTXCiYJZkb_nqZA3sJdyaLyJxrgd0I8WLCaiFjLpeC8/s320/GRIPMAN_Mexican_Indian_1.1_Title.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542169256388647586" border="0" /></a>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-30898435200188806912010-11-19T10:01:00.000-08:002010-11-19T20:27:32.679-08:00How Wide Is Your Rainbow?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFnh00IhAgHttyauYKKw4mnfDh4JzeOGMfb90Ps7n2XwLtgTBTxegYzr_N335NDPXO4IlP6rKoMFMQOpyYD6TrniQZ8pGbLlrEbALuPuvpUDPHHH29BEorqd7dZGsjD9su3sIiawg1xU/s1600/MESNEY_Vashon_To_and_Fro_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFnh00IhAgHttyauYKKw4mnfDh4JzeOGMfb90Ps7n2XwLtgTBTxegYzr_N335NDPXO4IlP6rKoMFMQOpyYD6TrniQZ8pGbLlrEbALuPuvpUDPHHH29BEorqd7dZGsjD9su3sIiawg1xU/s320/MESNEY_Vashon_To_and_Fro_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541324124244127378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">T0 and Fro </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">© Douglas Mesney 2004 - 2010</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" >T</span>hey say there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Although I've never found one, that could be my fault, not the rainbow's. After all, where is the end of the rainbow? ...or anything?<br /><br />They also say that art mimics life. It certainly does when it comes to rainbows and giclées. That is, how wide a rainbow can you <span style="font-style: italic;">print</span>? ...Not how long or wide, rather how many colors? ...Huh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Gamut Gauntlet</span><br /><br />Is there a person alive who hasn't painted or drawn a rainbow? It's something everyone has done. So let me ask you, how many colors do you need for a rainbow?<br /><br />Kids finger-paint rainbows all the time using just red, yellow and blue. However the color spectrum we call a rainbow needs six, at least:<br /><br />● Purple<br />● Blue<br />● Green<br />● Yellow<br />● Orange<br />● Red<br /><br />I guess you have to add black and white to the list for technical accuracy, although these colors can't be found in a rainbow.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Primary Colors Create Secondary Colors</span><br /><br />Without light there are no colors. Colors are thus made of light. The primary colors of light at red, green, and blue (RGB). Equal parts of all three create white light. The absence of any is black. All other colors are made by adding together combinations of red, green and blue light... thus RGB are called <span style="font-style: italic;">'additive colors</span>'.<br /><br />As light falls on the world around us it is reflected off the objects around us back into our eyes. When white light falls upon a green leaf, the leaf absorbs blue and red light and reflects back only the green portion of the visible light spectrum. Thus, reflected light produces colors by subtracting parts of the spectrum, and are thus called '<span style="font-style: italic;">subtractive colors</span>'.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihs7NIo1KR9K7sMlYH_qvQD-wpZEd-sFp1DX4nzpmo7-Ovu4hJDVbG-6V9ksdqkNj40r0GgicQYmMy6XKvJV30u6Aah3pSmraCh_O78V7WylQyORW5-DMtnq3EXXcNsUrv0ERgAmKukxM/s1600/MESNEY_Light_Bulb_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihs7NIo1KR9K7sMlYH_qvQD-wpZEd-sFp1DX4nzpmo7-Ovu4hJDVbG-6V9ksdqkNj40r0GgicQYmMy6XKvJV30u6Aah3pSmraCh_O78V7WylQyORW5-DMtnq3EXXcNsUrv0ERgAmKukxM/s320/MESNEY_Light_Bulb_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541339844082581986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Looking at a light source you see </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">additive <span style="font-style: italic;">colors.</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Looking at a picture of a light bulb you see </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">subtractive <span style="font-style: italic;">colors</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">P</span></span>hotographic processes create rainbow colors by combining red, green and blue... the primary colors of light. When combined, the primary colors of light produce the secondary colors that artists use... cyan, magenta, and yellow. (This subject is covered in depth in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> and in previous blogs).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebR1XdjNasNjqjCLeZzIJ8CW9Hrrjs0fM3YsOORwDBCTkEVpfMQtf7P1R85Ie7SS5jXEHCsZD240XjRCk9NzqNWh8D7FmhS9koBRG0wjiyQ1gVxgEypLfPWhB8eZVDfjeeWzHcyXp-xM/s1600/MESNEY_Color_Wheel_3.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebR1XdjNasNjqjCLeZzIJ8CW9Hrrjs0fM3YsOORwDBCTkEVpfMQtf7P1R85Ie7SS5jXEHCsZD240XjRCk9NzqNWh8D7FmhS9koBRG0wjiyQ1gVxgEypLfPWhB8eZVDfjeeWzHcyXp-xM/s320/MESNEY_Color_Wheel_3.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541326333100905986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >On the left, Cyan Magenta and Yellow (primary printing colors) combine to form Red, Green and Blue. On the right, the Red, Green and Blue (primary light colors) combine to form Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Notice the differences when all colors are added together. Inks produce black. Light produces white. That is why RGB colors are called '</span><span style="font-size:85%;">additive</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >' and ink colors are called '</span><span style="font-size:85%;">subtractive</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >'.</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >A</span>s you well know, mixing pigment colors together produces other colors. Eventually you get muddy brown gray yuk if you mix them all.<br /><br />(Theoretically, mixing all subtractive colors produces<span style="font-style: italic;"> black</span>. However this is not a perfect world, so printers use black ink to add what their less-than-perfect colors can't produce by themselves.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dynamic Tone Range</span><br /><br />The number of colors you can make from the number of colors you have is called a <span style="font-style: italic;">gamut</span>. It is the dynamic tone range of the picture... the sum total of all colors.<br /><br />Gamuts are like a rainbow, which is also called a <span style="font-style: italic;">'spectrum'</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglY0LF787TVWaqKIbgx6Lql3QKSyUdm-7lTgu27K1WiGNZSZKwWHqo9OgXVlpILJwsuZfCt4hQcgq8MEur4q0561JVTOjgezej8drIKfdRQpQO5p44JcxcPmggLIfMz8QKz8spOj4rx60/s1600/MESNEY_Color_Spectrum_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 43px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglY0LF787TVWaqKIbgx6Lql3QKSyUdm-7lTgu27K1WiGNZSZKwWHqo9OgXVlpILJwsuZfCt4hQcgq8MEur4q0561JVTOjgezej8drIKfdRQpQO5p44JcxcPmggLIfMz8QKz8spOj4rx60/s320/MESNEY_Color_Spectrum_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541329796064421042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The colors we can see -- called the</span> Visible Spectrum<span style="font-style: italic;"> -- are only part of an infinitely wide 'energy rainbow'. The ends of the visible rainbow extend out beyond blue-purple to into TV, radio and x-rays. Beyond red is Infrared, etceteras.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >E</span>ven the visible spectrum is infinite. There is no way to reproduce all the colors that exist in the visible spectrum or any real rainbow. So what is a poor printer to do?<br /><br />Historically, printers have recreated rainbow colors using only four colors:<br /><br />● Magenta<br />● Cyan<br />● Yellow<br />● Black<br /><br />(The fifth color,<span style="font-style: italic;"> white</span>, comes from the paper. Whatever the paper's color, that's 'white' for the picture printed upon it.)<br /><br />Those four inks are the fewest needed to get a faithful representation of the colors in the world around us that is acceptable to most people... until digital imaging turned the world of fine arts printing upside down. The rainbow hasn't looked the same since.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RWPWM68bpWv_Q3saQNO5PZjTkj52Ly6WGLkp_n-IpWe0Rhjxe_i2iU3HLik4dcfWWrJoI5VGb9Gn1-_hoP7S6yEXh3dAAn0y66a9NbJapquTz3SSn05YmhzgTJOAKRVZgIQeOtStrkE/s1600/MESNEY_Twist_of_Fate_No.1_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RWPWM68bpWv_Q3saQNO5PZjTkj52Ly6WGLkp_n-IpWe0Rhjxe_i2iU3HLik4dcfWWrJoI5VGb9Gn1-_hoP7S6yEXh3dAAn0y66a9NbJapquTz3SSn05YmhzgTJOAKRVZgIQeOtStrkE/s320/MESNEY_Twist_of_Fate_No.1_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541483624738506978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Twist of Fate </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">© Douglas Mesney 2004 - 2010</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Y</span></span>ou might ask, why use the fewest colors? Cost is the main part of the answer. More anything costs more. Mechanics also played a big role in the case of printing. You've seen those old-fashioned printing presses, right? Big monster machines. More colors would make them even bigger.<br /><br />There are traditional printing presses that will handle seven, eight, or even nine colors and or varnishes (varnishes are considered 'colors'). They produce fabulous results, but hang onto your wallet. And what if you don't need 1,000 copies?<br /><br />Even at the peak of perfection, traditional printing can only produce a finite number of colors... its gamut is thus limited to those colors. The gauntlet of gamut is never ending for artists, photographers and (especially) printers, all of whom seek the best color.<br /><br />People build pictures by working on computer monitor using PhotoShop. The monitor produces an entirely different <span style="font-style: italic;">kind</span> of colors than does any printing press. To be able to recreate the kinds of colors people see on monitors as closely as possible requires a very wide dynamic tone range, or gamut. Most printing processes are challenged by the gamut gauntlet producing disappointing results compared to what is possible with giclée.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Giclée Throws Down the Gamut Gauntlet</span><br /><br />The limitations of traditional printing have to do with how they apply ink, which is by contact. At some point the paper and ink-carrying plate are pressed together. The better the squeeze, the better the printing, generally speaking.<br /><br />The physical forces involved in contact and squeezing put physical limitations on how small you can print dots. At a certain 'point' the dot is so small that it either breaks or becomes like a needle. It's like paint brushes... at a certain point you can't get finer.<br /><br />Spray painters don't have that problem. The guy that invented giclée probably knew that. Who was he? Nobody can say. Nobody can even tell you what the word 'giclée' means, actually. More importantly is what it has come to mean.<br /><br />As I explain in my book, 'giclée' means 'spray' in French. That loose translation explains the ink-jet technology used for giclée printing. Ink-jet printers spray the ink onto paper and other substrates. That is a fascinating story in and of itself, but not for now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Secret Is In The Dots</span><br /><br />Spraying ink requires no contact or squeeze... so there is almost no limitation on 'dot' size. In fact, one traditional printing dot is replaced with up to 2880 'micro dots' by the giclée process. Smaller dots mean greater detail.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCmoyCwQ9_cJUEhoVQJPmTUDh4gxzSjTsv93GiWTGnKd5lYRUGWVhkCu27wyGcfSySvGxF3su6XONvKLN4chXNePLiFZ-Eeso6S6MU-po4_-yRkKNDEtYw5LgN3HiDvhD1735GZjsht4/s1600/MESNEY_Dots_Hard_Soft.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCmoyCwQ9_cJUEhoVQJPmTUDh4gxzSjTsv93GiWTGnKd5lYRUGWVhkCu27wyGcfSySvGxF3su6XONvKLN4chXNePLiFZ-Eeso6S6MU-po4_-yRkKNDEtYw5LgN3HiDvhD1735GZjsht4/s320/MESNEY_Dots_Hard_Soft.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541331007555545698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Traditional printing dots are shown in the top row. Notice the white space around the sharp-edged dots. White space dilutes the color saturation, placing a limit on perceived color depth. The second row shows sprayed dots. Notice there is no white space. Also notice the additional colors produced where the sprayed colors overlap</span>.</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >S</span>prayed colors generate additional tones (I call them 'rare tones') where the sprays overlap. Furthermore, by overlapping the spray patterns there need be no white space between dots (pixels). The result is more colors and more saturation (less white space).<br /><br />Who can forget those first Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> ink-jet printers back in the 1990's? Their intense color saturation and gamut was eye opening and caught the attention of artists and photographers. Suddenly there was desktop fine-arts printing... Giclée had thrown down the gauntlet on gamut.<br /><br />Looking at some of those early prints now one can see how much better today's giclée printers have become. Their appearance, compared to modern prints, is like the difference between the <span style="font-style: italic;">sRGB</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Adobe 1998</span> color gamuts; the former is more saturated and contrasty looking than the latter.<br /><br />The migration of digital imaging technology is relentless. Every new generation of digital imaging devices and giclée printers widens the gamut. Widening the gamut is the same as making the rainbow wider. Who wouldn't be happy about that?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi738tLZArKAhzLWhVU5ATC44Poavp89LAriu5j8QTbU9n-h1zKKyad7vfzbGVH0_inVlbN7Zdl3Ps5I4SpZSqGkqg94vZwmGRrEAWwc8k1Km0G16BTPHrreuI3X9UkGl4Yvdvt_AAjWNM/s1600/MESNEY_Color_Spectrum_5.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi738tLZArKAhzLWhVU5ATC44Poavp89LAriu5j8QTbU9n-h1zKKyad7vfzbGVH0_inVlbN7Zdl3Ps5I4SpZSqGkqg94vZwmGRrEAWwc8k1Km0G16BTPHrreuI3X9UkGl4Yvdvt_AAjWNM/s320/MESNEY_Color_Spectrum_5.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541338362108089298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">As more colors as added, the rainbow expands and gets smoother.</span></span><br /><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">More Colors is More Better</span><br /><br />Everything has its limits... even ink-jet. Despite the much improved gamut and near photographic detail of the early giclée printers, the prints definitely had their own look, one which lack subtlety compared to what we can do today. It all has to do with the number of colors.<br /><br />You can draw a picture of a rainbow with three colors, but seven is better as we noted earlier. More colors in the mix produces more rare tones as a result.<br /><br />At a certain point a light went off in somebody's head and they realized that the only way to significantly expand a printing gamut is by adding more ink colors. The early Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> printers for example used seven colors, adding light magenta, light cyan, and light black to the normal CMYK mix. These significantly increased both the printing gamut and Epson's sales curve. But that was in the last century.<br /><br />Since then nobody has looked back. More and more colors are being added, making it possible to print a wider and wider spectrum. But what does that really mean?<br /><br />If you do prepress for fine arts printing, as we do here at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging </span>(www.vashonislandimaging.com), then you know how hard it is to reproduce the look of certain paints and pigments used by artists. You can get ever so close, but there's always something that differentiates the original from the copy. That makes sense because the giclée printer is not using the same <span style="font-style: italic;">kinds </span>of pigments as the original artwork. Any good forger knows <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span>.<br /><br />It stands to reason therefore that the more colors that you have the better rainbow you can paint... or print.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Visible Differences</span><br /><br />A good example of what I am talking about is the visible difference between ink generations and printing machines.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDEwb8YsEGrF8_IO_cW2k61DEzB5Ax6oCAAC9U-9iiEp3hm2BCxGut7UI1z9SIj2JBzh-A3QR50hravn4_6M84l7DrrloQ9jFARMi5mDaNHZvcM2hByI_c7vJ09g12t-32jk_VsWVM74/s1600/MESNEY_4800_9880_9900_Comparison_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDEwb8YsEGrF8_IO_cW2k61DEzB5Ax6oCAAC9U-9iiEp3hm2BCxGut7UI1z9SIj2JBzh-A3QR50hravn4_6M84l7DrrloQ9jFARMi5mDaNHZvcM2hByI_c7vJ09g12t-32jk_VsWVM74/s320/MESNEY_4800_9880_9900_Comparison_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541447483539122498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Fanned out tests of Jacquelyn Lown's </span>Between the Worlds<span style="font-style: italic;"> clearly show visible differences between inks and machine generations. From the bottom up: the new </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Epson<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> 9900, then the older 9880, then two prints made with an Epson<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> 4800. The lower is before a firmware update and the uppermost a print made by the same machine with firmware update</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (ironically, it is not as good as the print made before the update, in my opinion).</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >E</span>ven at the tiny scale in this blog it is easy to see the differences between these prints made by Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:78%;"></span></span></span> printers only 1/2 a generation apart. Shocking, isn't it? Which is better? That is for you to decide. But what if you didn't have to decide? ...Huh?<br /><br />A new printer can closely simulate the look of an old machine, but not vice versa. That is because the newer the machine the wider its gamut. If you have more colors you can choose to use less. But if you have fewer colors you cannot choose to use more, eh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">'Best Color In Town'</span><br /><br />That's our motto at Vashon Island Imaging... <span style="font-style: italic;">'Best color in town'.</span><br />Having a motto like that you have to deliver, or the jig is up.<br /><br />What we deliver is a full range of services for fine arts reproduction and the 'art of business printing'. Some compare us with so called 'service bureaus' but we go far beyond that at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>. Our service range is total... from nothing to finished product... like a rabbit out of a hat.<br /><br />But there's no 'magic' to it, actually. In the end it's a simple matter of colors. The more you have the more you can make.<br /><br />Most of our customers are artists and photographers who will migrate to the best color wherever it is. Our goal is to be their destination. You've heard of a 'destination restaurant'? How about a destination print shop?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3jtYF8grqK624J289wcK2U75LUwkhyphenhyphenO4du0x6pEC-PFb7UhmkC0qEZBthy1lS4KjfgmzQKQysBLEbHjP_lRAIEmCJjIl41xbgzVv2ZILrXS6Zr83K_iF1YNP5C0S-JRY_Sf8ndAUJQE/s1600/MESNEY_Rainbow_Rider_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3jtYF8grqK624J289wcK2U75LUwkhyphenhyphenO4du0x6pEC-PFb7UhmkC0qEZBthy1lS4KjfgmzQKQysBLEbHjP_lRAIEmCJjIl41xbgzVv2ZILrXS6Zr83K_iF1YNP5C0S-JRY_Sf8ndAUJQE/s320/MESNEY_Rainbow_Rider_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541446123455244450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Rainbow Rider</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> © Douglas Mesney 2004 - 2010</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Somewhere Over the Rainbow</span><br /><br />Just as their car can make or break a limousine driver's reputation, having the latest gear will help drive sales for a giclée printer.<br /><br />Using contemporary gear is also an insurance policy, in several ways. Being under warranty is one kind of insurance. Customer confidence is the other. Who likes stepping into an old airplane?<br /><br />Ok, so it's only a giclée, not an airplane. Nobody is going to die. But it gives customers a warm and fuzzy feeling to see anything new. It also gives them confidence to know that they are getting the finest quality available. These days that kind of extra confidence is sometimes needed to keep your shop their destination.<br /><br />So put it together and what have you got ...a customer POV (point of view) that boils down to <span style="font-style: italic;">'who’s got the best color, eh?'<br /><br /></span>That means the widest rainbow wins. Now about that pot of gold...<br /><br />For a giclée printer, <span>the pot of gold is the giclée printer</span>. That's the fundamental truth of the matter... The machine produces the gold for you.<br /><br />Fundamental truths are irreducible and now we have the first two of four irreducible fundamentals important to fine arts printers and publishers:<br /><br />1.) Printing machines produce gold<br />2.) Bigger rainbows are better<br /><br />Can you see where I am going with this by now? If not, let me clarify. Besides 'just' information I like each blog to have some socially redeeming value.<br /><br />The socially redeeming value of this particular blog is to provide a glimpse of our reality at the crossroads of simultaneous technological and economic migration. To stay in business you have to be relevant. Being relevant requires participation in the migration, going with the herd. Oh... It's all so <span style="font-style: italic;">existential</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Existential Questions</span><br /><br />Technology has changed buying and shopping habits. If you are a printer, like I am, you can never forget that today's customers have a new <span style="font-style: italic;">modus operandi. </span>They know that they will be able to get what they want at the price they want from somebody somewhere... and that the web will make it easy and fast. That's why there isn't a retailer alive who isn't scared to death by Amazon.com.<br /><br />Two more new fundamentals truths are applicable to the new <span style="font-style: italic;">MO</span>:<br /><br />3.) Instant anything available now for less<br />4.) Loyalty has no monetary value<br /><br />That shift in the shopping paradigm poses existential questions for every business, particularly those having to do with the Arts in any way. Giclée printers are particularly venerable because their art is digitally made thus a captive to technological change. The art of giclée is a work in progress. If you don't migrate with the technology, your customers may migrate from you.<br /><br />Add all four fundamentals together and they clearly spell: <span style="font-style: italic;">upgrade or die. </span>Given the choice, I prefer being a giclée printer. Thus and so, Vashon Island Imaging has upgraded to the new 10-color Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> 9900.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New Epson</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >®</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 9900</span><br /><br />It takes a lot to make me invest in anything these days, but my heart is with the product and this machine's gamut is so much wider than the older Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">® </span>9880 that I simply could not resist.<br /><br />Besides the rationale presented above, there's the creative, which is hallowed ground for me. If for creative reasons alone, the bigger rainbow always wins. Well, nearly always.<br /><br />As far as I am concerned there is no such thing as too many colors.<br /><br />The new Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">® </span>9900 uses 10 colors, two more than the 9880. The new colors that have been added are a green and an orange. That widens the gamut for all tones in those families. Extra gamut will be very useful in controlling those hues.<br /><br />Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> long ago got blues and magentas under control. By that I mean colors with life and depth... vibrancy and vitality... <span style="font-style: italic;">luminosity</span>. Its a subtle difference nearly impossible to see or even duplicate on a monitor.<br /><br />Compared to blues and magentas, greens and reds suffered more. By 'suffered' I mean the results lacked the same 'life' and 'airiness' as did the blues and magentas. So improvement of those tone green and red portions of the dynamic tone range has been a sought-after change that's welcome.<br /><br />Here's what Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> has to say about the new inks:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“The Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Stylus Pro 9900 (44-inch) printer incorporates our latest achievements in photographic ink jet technology. By combining the precision of our MicroPiezo TFP™ print head with the extraordinary performance of Epson UltraChrome® HDR ink, our newest generation of Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Stylus Pro printers continues to represent a level of technology unprecedented in Epson's history.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> UltraChrome HDR represents our latest generation of pigment ink technology. Now utilizing ten colors - including an all-new Orange and Green - Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> UltraChrome HDR ink produces the widest color gamut ever from an Epson Stylus Pro printer. Even more remarkable, combining Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> UltraChrome HDR ink with our new Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> AccuPhoto™ HDR screening technology dramatically raises the level of print quality and once again sets a new benchmark standard for photographic reproduction.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>The new Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">® </span><span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> assures our customers that at Vashon Island Imaging we live up to our motto --<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> 'Best Color In Town'</span>.<br /><br />Come and see the new Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> at Vashon Island Imaging during the upcoming <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Art Studio Tour</span> in December.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-51086245228688421992010-11-13T21:56:00.001-08:002010-11-20T10:45:38.984-08:00Hats Off to JVH Technical<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-tZoiovPeXOHtHmlaIewVDqF50WqYd0Z2FtEgwrBQ01xdiA5G5KN1l85_k3lz-Ga8dL5bprTMOHejLBpNNh0J1o-1ttmBjatcRUzXkSsf3et3VtUD7BWVOs9O69_EzqY7rWYuHyk-D0/s1600/MESNEY_Hat_Off_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-tZoiovPeXOHtHmlaIewVDqF50WqYd0Z2FtEgwrBQ01xdiA5G5KN1l85_k3lz-Ga8dL5bprTMOHejLBpNNh0J1o-1ttmBjatcRUzXkSsf3et3VtUD7BWVOs9O69_EzqY7rWYuHyk-D0/s320/MESNEY_Hat_Off_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539280439453953170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" >M</span>y hat's off to <span style="font-style: italic;">JVH Technical</span> (www.jvhtech.com). Their recent <span style="font-style: italic;">Digital Festival</span> was a not-to-be missed event that I damn nearly missed.<br /><br />JVH Technical is one of the giclée world's best-kept secrets, if you ask me. Maybe you have heard of John Harrington, but I hadn't until last week when I discovered he and JVH while sourcing an Epson 9890.<br /><br />During our conversation John invited me to attend the <span style="font-style: italic;">JVH Digital Festival</span> ...and to bring my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span>. How could I refuse an offer like that? So I attended and boy was I happy that did. This event was totally focused on people like us... <span style="font-style: italic;">giclée printers</span>.<br /><br />JVH Technical specializes in wide format printing and they have everything for that specialty. You know how it is in this business, usually you source one thing here and other there. Not so with JVH.<br /><br />Harrington carries everything you need from canvas to coatings, and everything in between. Not only that, they actually know what their products do and dare to recommend things.<br /><br />Manufacturers attending the Digital Festival included:<br /><br />● Epson®<br />● Canon®<br />● Premier Imaging®<br />● Chromix®<br />● Hasselblad®<br />● Colorbyte®<br />● Onyx<br />● Seal/Neschen®<br />● Microsoft®<br />● Avery®<br />● MOAB®<br /><br />On the educational and informational side of the equation attendees included:<br /><br />● Mark Fitzgerald / <span style="font-style: italic;">Digital Darkroom</span> (instructor and author)<br />● Ron Martinsen / <span style="font-style: italic;">ronmartblog.com</span> (relevant photo news & discounts)<br />● Randy Hufford / master printer and educator<br />● Douglas Mesney / author <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span><br /><br />The two-day annual JVH Technical event isn't just a bunch of the same ol' guys selling the same ol' stuff. There's a fully packed two-day seminar program with people who really know what they are talking about... talking to an audience that understands what they are talking about. That's a confluence that's all too rare anymore. But wait, there's more...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prized Event</span><br /><br />A highlight of the event is a picture contest...judged by the audience, made up of about 200 loyal Harrington customers (more like fans), all picture professionals.<br /><br />You couldn't imagine the variety of pictures. There were about 150 entries, from a 5 X 7 printed on an old Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">2200</span> to giant murals printed on the very latest <span style="font-style: italic;">9900</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">11900</span> machines. The prints displayed every conceivable level of technical prowess. Some prints were amateurish... those people need my book! However, there's no accounting for people's tastes and possibly what I see, as printing failures, are others' great successes.<br /><br />The contest prizes were awesome. Folks won <span style="font-style: italic;">iPad</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;">s</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dell</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Network Computers, LG</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> monitors, and so on. There were many smiles as the winners were announced. (Door prizes were of equally high quality.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stretching Things</span><br /><br />Good trade shows and seminars always stretch one's imagination and this event was no exception. From artwork and advice to technical innovations, the <span style="font-style: italic;">JVH Digital Festival</span> is targeted precisely for printers. Harrington's marketing background serves him well in this enterprise. He has assembled everything a giclée printer needs, and more.<br /><br />The most interesting new device at the show was, for me, an affordable (about $3K) canvas-stretching machine... the <span style="font-style: italic;">'Tensador II'</span> invented by John A. Morse, who was there demonstrating it. The compact machine has a very small footprint and handles canvases up to 48-inches wide (another model goes to 60-inches).<br /><br />If you follow my blog or have read my book you have heard my warnings about what can happen to your thumbs and fingers if you do a lot of stretching. I will be saving my shekels for one of these little sweeties (hmmm, Christmas is coming...).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All In the Family</span><br /><br />JVH Technical is a family affair. For example, Ryan Harrington, John's son, does all the install work (which is complimentary) and Kathy Harrington, his wife, was manning the welcome desk (and I suspect a whole lot more).<br /><br />Although I was in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Embassy Suites</span> hotel, I felt more like I was coming into the Harrington's home and that everyone there was John Harrington's extended family. Even though I didn't know 99% of the folks there, when I walked in I felt like I had joined a circle of friends. Certainly, John Harrington is their guru and they treat him with star-like qualities.<br /><br />The giclée printing 'industry' needs more people like John Harrington and more events like the <span style="font-style: italic;">JVH Digital Seminar.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Take-Aways</span><br /><br />If you're like me, events like the Harrington's <span style="font-style: italic;">Digital Festival</span> always touch your life in some meaningful way... helping you to make key decisions. This was one of those.<br /><br />What I took away from the event was a clearer picture of the people I write for... people like you. I started writing because of the repetitive nature of the prepress work I do at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>, my printing company. There I continue to notice people making the same mistakes over and over again.<br /><br />Most of my customers never heard of prepress before discovering <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>. Most of them just hear that we do good repro work and bring their stuff to us. Fair enough. They are artists for the most part, not printers. Their naiveté is therefore excusable.<br /><br />However, what astounded me was that most of the professional image-makers at the <span style="font-style: italic;">JVH Digital Festival </span>didn't know what prepress is either. Huh? These were people who spent thousands of dollars on giclée printing machines. They didn't understand the fundamental concept(s) of prepress -- even though they just came out of an all-day seminar about digital printing!<br /><br />That is like finishing cooking school without knowing why bread rises.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Big Disconnect</span><br /><br />The 'disconnect' between people and their printers stems from the fact that nobody teaches how to <span style="font-style: italic;">print</span>. They teach about printers... not about printing.<br /><br />90% of the high-profile giclée printing presenters are talking about 'buttons' 90% of the time. If this happens, push this. If that happens, push that.<br /><br />You might ask... '<span style="font-style: italic;">Why</span>?'... or, '<span style="font-style: italic;">How does that happen</span>?' In that case they will explain in great detail how the result is from the device or algorithm. Well, it is, but....<br /><br />Never do they explain <span style="font-style: italic;">why you needed to push the button in the first place</span> or what actually happens when you do.<br /><br />For example, with all those experts present I thought it the perfect time to ask if anybody knew why a 44-inch Epson® printer stops at 84 inches, requiring the purchase of an expensive RIP software package to make prints longer than that.<br /><br />What defines the limit? Is it a pixel count, RAM, the OS or what? If you Google<span style="font-size:85%;">® </span>that question you will quickly see that not many people out there know the answer. But I figured this crowd would.<br /><br />Predictably, 90% of the answers had to do with button pushing. However, John Harrington remembered a formula that had to do with the Windows<span style="font-size:85%;">® </span>operating system itself. He called on Brad Gibson (brad@gibsonphotographic.com) who works at Microscoft<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>. Brad confirmed that in some instances (not all) the length limit stems from the OS. What about a Mac? I wanted to ask ...but before I could they moved on to other subjects.<br /><br />PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> uses a 16-bit drawing space in which the image to be output is bitmapped and then spooled to the printer. The size of that 16-bit space limits the size of the bitmap. Our <span style="font-style: italic;">9880</span> can't print past 84 inches at 240 dpi without the use of a RIP (we use Colorburst<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>).<br /><br />Using RIP software solves the problem because the way a RIP processes the image, it is delivered to the printer 'line by line'... not as a giant bitmapped image.<br /><br />There are a couple of non-RIP alternatives:<br /><br />1.) Print from Acrobat<br />2.) Lower the printing res<br />3.) Select the 'Coarse Rendering' in Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> software.<br /><br />Note that 'Print Preview' does NOT show the spooled file. Instead it shows a representation of it based on your printer setting adjustments, like margins, page size, etc…<br /><br />OK, that was a pretty specific question. Still, 90% of that audience of professional image-makers didn't know the answer. Need I say more about the subject of prepress?<br /><br />Adobe<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>, Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>, Canon<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>, Nikon<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> and the rest of them have done such an amazing job automating everything that 90% of the people are completely satisfied 90% of the time. It is only the lunatic fringe who want more than what they deliver so why bother? ...they probably mutter words like that behind our backs... either that or I am paranoid.<br /><br />It seems that anyone who knows what prepress is must be older than 60, or so it seems... before automatic anything. Back then the only thing automatic was manual. I guess you could say, prepress is manual labor... something most people don't like it.<br /><br />Prepress is to printing what cooking is to eating. If you don't know how to cook, your limited to what TV Dinners has to offer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hunger for Knowledge</span><br /><br />Everyone hungers for knowledge. They flock to events like Harrington's to get new solutions for old problems, to find the latest and greatest.<br /><br />There, they are sold new machines and taught how to use them. But they never learn how to actually<span style="font-style: italic;"> print</span>.<br /><br />That is like a pilot learning about an airplane and how it works, but never learning about flight and how to fly. Or a chef learning about a stove instead of how to bake. 'What's the difference as long as we make bread?', you might ask. Quality would be the answer.<br /><br />Most people buy packaged bread. Some make their own from scratch. The latter have control and can make choices that the former cannot.<br /><br />Those that want control of their printing have to learn more than button pushing. As I explain in my book and classes, one file cannot serve all masters. People think that when they have nailed the picture they can go home and have dinner. Quaint concept.<br /><br />How could only one picture file possibly look good in all media? The simple answer is that it can't. Any printing professional or prepress artist can tell you that. <span style="font-style: italic;">Every </span>type of media and output device will make your picture look a little different. If that is OK then you need read no farther.<br /><br />Prepress, at very least, is adapting the picture to look the same on any media you select. However, prepress can be much more than that.<br /><br />Prepress is what makes some prints look luminous compared to others. Good prepress tweaks pictures to take advantage of a particular media-combination's strengths and avoid its weaknesses.<br /><br />Automatic anything will only take you so far. Do you think precision flight teams like the <span style="font-style: italic;">Blue Angels</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Thunderbirds</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> are on autopilot?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Control Freak</span><br /><br />Call me what you will, I want control. Ever since I was a kid I've pushed to find the limits, then stepped slightly over to see what happens. My need to control extends well into picture making and every aspect of it. Knowing the limits gives you control, and control brings with it the freedom of choice.<br /><br />Dissatisfied with button pushing, I started diving deeper into digital when I came out of the darkroom back in the 1990's. 2003 was when I went wide. That was the year I dropped commercial audiovisual art in favor of printed fine art. A lot of other stuff was dropped too, but that's another story.<br /><br />Attending an <span style="font-style: italic;">Epson</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >® </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Academy </span>in Vancouver, I got sold on the idea of big beautiful prints. I bought a second hand Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> 7600</span> from Phil Borges (and in the process visited his fabulous studio on Mercer Island near Seattle). The printer was installed in Vancouver, making prints for sale at the <span style="font-style: italic;">Michael Goddard</span> gallery there. My stuff complemented his and sold well enough to stay on the walls.<br /><br />I had become a pretty good printer by the time the economy went bust and the gallery drowned in debt. With the market for my own work temporarily washed up, I turned my attention to other people's printing needs and opened <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>.<br /><br />Printing a wide range of work for an even wider range of clients, I began to notice common frequent errors made by just about everyone, and started teaching seminars to get to the root of the problems. Then during the seminars I realized that most lacked any knowledge of the fundamental principles of photography, to say nothing of printing photography. There are two sets of 'rules' involved... two different color systems... two different ways of looking at and seeing the world. No wonder folks get confused.<br /><br />Like PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>, prepress is a world unto itself. The sophisticated prepress artist understands and takes into consideration things like the spectral behavior of media and coating surfaces... anything and everything that affects the total 'look' of a giclée.<br /><br />That's when the idea of the book came to mind. Put everything that a giclée printer needs to know into a single book... a giclée bible. That's what I did. It took about a year and we published it last May. Then I immediately started this blog in order to keep the book current between bi-annual major updates and re-publishing.<br /><br />For the sake of being complete, the book starts from a picture's creation, then explains in detail the processes of execution including capture, prepress, printing, finishing, display, and archiving. It’s an all-in-one kind of book. As I say, it's the 'Bible of Giclée'.<br /><br />That is why the more I learn about John Harrington and JVH the more I am reminded of myself, <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>, the book and this blog.<br /><br />John Harrington and I both aspire to be <span style="font-style: italic;">'synergists</span>' ...that is, suppliers whose combined services provide a range that has a synergistic effect for customers.<br /><br />If customers were to get the same services individually from different suppliers, the net effect would not be the same. Why? Because a full-range life involves the kind of <span style="font-style: italic;">gestalt </span>that produces <span style="font-style: italic;">zeitgeist</span>.<br /><br />If you understand every aspect print creation, production, display, and archiving, then each aspect plays an intertwined role in every decision at every stage in the giclée printing process.<br /><br />For example, how a print is displayed affects its black point. Is it under glass? ...What kind of lighting? Black point shift affects the overall contrast range of the picture, as perceived by viewers. Knowing those things you can adjust the print to look its best, <span style="font-style: italic;">as it will be seen.</span><br /><br />It's like cooking and eating. Grandma's apple pie really did taste better... because she made it totally from scratch and controlled every step of production.<br /><br />Understanding prepress, you'll turn off auto anything and take control of your printing, making it pixel perfect.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVGGmXFkIAX6n1y542Bv6rMkgiAzS1jZ4wrzUOtWgYMdxBH_6uRYR9-ccH8ICUhrjpOHJXYll2177k3uH3ST0pKAJ58FoFUK9_vzGnIVvlEdG3Tr1_5k157-fr3su18ev25HFsCVqYEs/s1600/MESNEY_Hat_Off_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVGGmXFkIAX6n1y542Bv6rMkgiAzS1jZ4wrzUOtWgYMdxBH_6uRYR9-ccH8ICUhrjpOHJXYll2177k3uH3ST0pKAJ58FoFUK9_vzGnIVvlEdG3Tr1_5k157-fr3su18ev25HFsCVqYEs/s320/MESNEY_Hat_Off_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539280598698189906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" >O</span>r, I'll eat my hat... (after I take it off for the Harringtons).Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-87771458036959583882010-11-10T20:58:00.001-08:002010-11-10T22:25:35.433-08:00Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6z2GU1EonEWYT4GBtfyZ8xEGLbWIISWFuvpep5V-Za1dhLg1EprNacM1aWLhD-mDELsxprC1zdKXyTxU9NzSR8PlRs8NC93aVifbYXI3kkJ6OfV6JEs2dgygkE1kGwshs_yj6cYc0hvw/s1600/MESNEY_Bubble_Memory_No.3_Broken_Circle_1.3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6z2GU1EonEWYT4GBtfyZ8xEGLbWIISWFuvpep5V-Za1dhLg1EprNacM1aWLhD-mDELsxprC1zdKXyTxU9NzSR8PlRs8NC93aVifbYXI3kkJ6OfV6JEs2dgygkE1kGwshs_yj6cYc0hvw/s320/MESNEY_Bubble_Memory_No.3_Broken_Circle_1.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538152891063561298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Broken Circle / Bubble Memory No. 3</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:180%;" >W</span>ho hasn't had bubble problems when mounting pictures?<br /><br />That old gremlin paid us a visit again this afternoon at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>. A beautiful waterfall panorama by Kirk Beeler (see second picture below) was ruined by bubbles during dry mounting onto a prefab frame. More than disappointed, I was flabbergasted when I took it out of the dry mounting press and saw the problem (shown below).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-69BFttRCF5I4qyMot66lSszGussmimAmu6c2K3AAPD9yz4oY5CZSbCT7Is6MqhtR4Z0AJ7dAAogqej3EeFwj0ORZOOT2tuZMJZ57Eiwrh6u7AGje8izxxsBkFFRqUgiHkm5Ci81yng/s1600/MESNEY_Mounting_Bubbles_2.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-69BFttRCF5I4qyMot66lSszGussmimAmu6c2K3AAPD9yz4oY5CZSbCT7Is6MqhtR4Z0AJ7dAAogqej3EeFwj0ORZOOT2tuZMJZ57Eiwrh6u7AGje8izxxsBkFFRqUgiHkm5Ci81yng/s320/MESNEY_Mounting_Bubbles_2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538158357825217650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Not a pretty picture... trapped bubbles of gas have prevented lamination of the giclée with the surface if the mounting board. Ironic that a waterfall picture's demise should be the water cycle itself, eh? Life's little practical jokes.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Flabbergasted</span> is a ten-dollar word that you don't get a chance to use that often. This time the word was more expensive than that.<br /><br />We dry mount all the time on all kinds of materials. Our trusty mechanical Seal<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> presses have served well. One has been in my service more than 40 years... now that's quality. So it's not like I never did dry mounting before.<br /><br />Today's problem recalled a similar incident last summer when one of our clients bumped into the same issue mounting onto <span style="font-style: italic;">MDF</span> (Medium Density Fiberboard). She was not her normal 'bubbly' self after that. It's no fun when a 72-inch giclée gets trashed, for any reason.<br /><br />Bubbles are made of trapped gas. The question is... where did the gas come from? In our case today, the frame board became the most likely suspect immediately. We had previous experience with all the other materials involved in the mounting. Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">® </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Premium Luster Paper</span> and Bienfang® <span style="font-style: italic;">Color Mount® Dry Mounting Adhesive</span>. That dry-mount tissue's melt point is 190° F (88° C).<br /><br />Every new material brings with it problems... er, challenges. They are another reason why the phrase 'cost of doing business' was coined. Dare I admit that part of the challenge can be operator error? I should have had my headlights on when I saw the new kind of frame.<br /><br />Actually, it wasn't a frame at all. It was an <span style="font-style: italic;">American Easel Wood Painting Panel</span> . Our client brought it to us after sourcing from www.dickblick.com. It's a beautiful and affordable product made of 1/8-inch birch... so called '<span style="font-style: italic;">Baltic Birch</span>'. That's the light colored wood associated with Swedish architecture and furniture... beautiful stuff.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baltic Birch </span>is the same material we use to make our <span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendars </span>(www.spinningcalendars.com). For that project I had done enough research to know that this material comes primarily from Eastern European sources and has no consistent quality. There is a rating system of sorts but how can you know?<br /><br />At issue are visible and invisible faults in Baltic Birch products. The visible ones are knots and other normal wood defects. What you can't see is what is in the middle of this thin, three-layer plywood, used frequently as veneer. What was used to glue the nice wood together? See where this is going?<br /><br />Even though I know that, I didn't follow the basic rules of dry mounting. Pilots have checklists for this sort of thing. Here's my try at one for giclée people. (Now if I can just remember to use it religiously....)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Checklist for Dry Mounting</span><br /><br />1.) Warm up press to operating temperature recommended<br />2.) Pre-dry materials in the press to reduce moisture<br />3.) Use release paper<br />4.) Apply enough pressure<br />5.) Cook long enough for all materials reach temperature<br />6.) Cool under weight (avoids separation and curling)<br />7.) Avoid flexing until totally cool<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Press Warm Up</span><br /><br />Vacuum presses are usually set 10 degrees lower. Is the thermostat and temperature gauge working properly? Does the vacuum suck?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pre-Dry Materials</span><br /><br />You've been to the tropics, right? So you know what happens to a nicely pressed suit. It becomes a victim of the water cycle.<br /><br />Everything that isn't oil or resin based is part of the water cycle. Water passes through many of the materials used to mount and frame giclées. Wood and paper products absorb water from the air, or release the water they contain back into the air (drying) depending on factors like temperature, humidity and altitude. You've heard of the 'dew point'? This is like that.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKQjQEGAS7c598FwmQGK8OdrO-p9_J6r52Fujq-6UrlJ8m2L8cVPyKtfneSAO7Mpdoa7x799C7BByoDEh-eW8pcv0ILvGCQcG7z4xSNeahiT0H0Wmq8R-cdndGuJr1weNd4QLI_8MToY/s1600/BEELER_Waterfall_1.2_713X1024_10.11.05.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKQjQEGAS7c598FwmQGK8OdrO-p9_J6r52Fujq-6UrlJ8m2L8cVPyKtfneSAO7Mpdoa7x799C7BByoDEh-eW8pcv0ILvGCQcG7z4xSNeahiT0H0Wmq8R-cdndGuJr1weNd4QLI_8MToY/s320/BEELER_Waterfall_1.2_713X1024_10.11.05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538160047802804738" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Waterfall <span style="font-style: italic;">by Kirk Beeler</span><br /></span></div><br />There are many ways to get water out of materials. The primary ones are vacuum, heat, pressure, and air circulation (breathing). The hard part is, knowing if you succeeded. Bubbles are a sure sign that you didn't.<br /><br />My rule of thumb is that if the materials in the press are as hot as the press that is enough. That said, it might take some time for complete escapement of water from thick materials.<br /><br />Curiously, and possibly coincidentally, the problems with <span style="font-style: italic;">MDF </span>referred to above occurred when using 5/8-inch (16 mm) thick boards ...and the bubbles in our print were over the frame, which is more than an inch (25mm) thick. Furthermore, our client had painted that part, effectively sealing out any water escapement through the back of the piece.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkL89qtsiGeA-Lxi9JAd1z7Cx6u2mL9NNdoXeO0qV1SmOG3kKfNzkjArE0Hs8ZDdu_l3pbiXxRnsvLwBAn280g3iZ3WqBWb4ArvGUWOftVclKri347OQf4IfBJI9gOk0SFItYMsHUY4U/s1600/MESNEY_Mounting_Bubbles_1.1_10.11.10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 313px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkL89qtsiGeA-Lxi9JAd1z7Cx6u2mL9NNdoXeO0qV1SmOG3kKfNzkjArE0Hs8ZDdu_l3pbiXxRnsvLwBAn280g3iZ3WqBWb4ArvGUWOftVclKri347OQf4IfBJI9gOk0SFItYMsHUY4U/s320/MESNEY_Mounting_Bubbles_1.1_10.11.10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538163378784798546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Notice that the bubbles occur right over the thicker frame parts beneath the 1/8-inch surface plywood.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br /><br />There is every possibility that I didn't cook the frame long enough... but it will take another try for that theory to be tested. My suspicion is that it takes a good long time for the water to escape from thick materials like MDF and 1X2 anything.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuRcEhXFUWvyLWtIfYlNvssjAe9nP2H2FrJjMBoXWinHpq4aQ0MxHjIdRMCy7iOkwR8PhPLIT7OCrQsBt66rRtgvIRvEXGc9UA5mtek4dkboOIP0MWyX1s9iOVHiH1KkaiuUXim2ow6o/s1600/MESNEY_Mounting_Bubbles_3.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuRcEhXFUWvyLWtIfYlNvssjAe9nP2H2FrJjMBoXWinHpq4aQ0MxHjIdRMCy7iOkwR8PhPLIT7OCrQsBt66rRtgvIRvEXGc9UA5mtek4dkboOIP0MWyX1s9iOVHiH1KkaiuUXim2ow6o/s320/MESNEY_Mounting_Bubbles_3.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538164434161615090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The reverse side shows the black-painted frame that supports a 1/8-inch (3mm) thick surface of Baltic Birch plywood. Notice how a support made of gray mounting board and two strips of 1X2 cedar have been inserted to keep the thin plywood surface from bellying under the pressure of the dry press. That is exactly what happened on the first try. Grrrrrr.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Release Paper</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kraft</span> paper has always been my most used release paper... <span style="font-style: italic;">normal</span> Kraft paper, not the exotic colored kinds sold under that name. We're talking about plain paper with no additives... like brown-paper bags. That kind of paper has the right qualities for a release paper. It is heavy enough, breaths, and is cheap to replace when you eventually screw up.<br /><br />Paper towels are another favorite, especially when working with Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Premium Luster Paper</span>. The surface of that paper is less durable and more sensitive than you think, being particularly subject to abrasion and 'micro' abrasion. That's because this paper has a harder surface than matte papers, so the ink sits on top instead of absorbing into the paper.<br /><br />Even after a week of drying <span style="font-style: italic;">Luster</span> prints are still -- and will always be -- sensitive to scuffs, finger printing and general marring... unless coated or covered.<br /><br />Giclée prints need several days (minimum) to dry. We originally started using paper towels when stacking Luster paper giclées for drying. Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> recommends 'plain' paper ...but what is that? Anyway, you wouldn't use copy paper to mop-up spilled coffee, eh? So when it comes to absorbing things I leave it to '<span style="font-style: italic;">The Quicker Picker-Upper</span>'’.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evaporation and Percolation</span><br /><br />Water in the inks evaporates while the glycerin content percolates into the ground on the substrate. It's the percolation that takes time. To be technically correct, the evaporating water carries off a certain amount of the glycerin. I have heard this referred to as 'expungation' but that isn't an actual word.<br /><br />If you frame a giclée in glass or Plexiglas<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> before the percolation and evaporation are complete, the expunged glycerin is electrostatically drawn to the cover glass or plex and makes the picture look dusty...from the inside. You have to take the whole thing apart to clean the glass.<br /><br />To avoid those problems we make it a practice to dry Luster prints before mounting or framing or anything. But did I do that this time? No, because it was a rush job. Hence the expression, 'haste makes waste'.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Take A Breather</span><br /><br />'Breathing' is important for release material. Remember the gas? Papers that breathe readily absorb and release water... it's the 'water exchange cycle'. Artificial materials are watertight, however. They can trap gas because water vapor can't pass through.<br /><br />Artificial materials like silicon and Teflon<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> are another matter altogether. Various sorts of release paper and release board made of these materials are available, although pricey. These are necessary if the print you are mounting melts under the dry press heat. Laser printing toners come to mind. If you use Kraft paper the laser print toners will melt into it creating a permanent bond between them that is as good or better than the dry mount tissue. Not exactly what you want in a release paper.<br /><br />The absolute best release paper I have ever encountered is that shiny brown paper that comes in packs of Epson® <span style="font-style: italic;">Premium Luster Paper</span>. Epson should sell rolls of that stuff because nothing will stick to it, not even laser printer toner. I would order a roll here and now if I could. (If you have any you aren't using, send them to me!).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pressure Cooker</span><br /><br />Using a mechanical press, a certain degree of force is needed to create sufficient pressure for good bonding. The force of steam is incredible. Steam used to drive locomotives for goodness sake. If any steam is present, it takes a lot of pressure to it from lifting the giclée away from the mounting substrate.<br /><br />If you have a new press it may have enough ooomph. After time that dissipates, <span style="font-size:100%;">requiring an assist, or an assistant. We use a 25-pound (</span><span style="font-size:100%;">11.3 kg)</span><b><b> </b></b>sandbag and hang it from the press handle with a hook and some rope. Pretty basic, but it works and provides consistent pressure every time. It's easy to swap weights, too, if more or less is needed.<br /><br />Raising the base under the mounting 'sandwich' is another way to increase pressure, especially when you reach the limit of the handle's travel arc, as happens in older presses. We have some pre-cut pieces of 1/4 inch (6mm) Masonite<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> that we use as shims when extra pressure is needed. Together, the sandbag and shims do the trick and really put some squeeze into things.<br /><br />If you are using a vacuum press about all you can do is make sure the sucker is working right.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cook It Long Enough</span><br /><br />Use the same rule of thumb as above... when the materials in the 'sandwich' you are cooking come up to the same temperature as the press, that is enough. Err on the longer side. Following are the guidelines provide by Bienfang<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>.for mounting a 16 X 20...<br /><br />● 1/4-inch (6mm) Foam Board 2 minutes<br />● 50-80 Pt. Card Board 3 minutes<br />● 1/8-1/4 inch (3-6mm) Masonite<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> 4 minutes<br /><br />You can see from those guidelines that a substrate's <span style="font-style: italic;">density </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">thickness</span> both play roles in the timing. Denser and thicker substrates need more time.<br /><br />Now, remember the MDF problem? That stuff weighs a lot, an indication of its extreme density. I wouldn't be surprised if <span style="font-style: italic;">20 minutes </span>or more weren't needed for that to set properly. A piece that is 1-inch (25mm) thick might require a <span style="font-style: italic;">half hour</span> to come up to press temperature.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cool Under Pressure</span><br /><br />No, don't put a weight in the middle and call it done. The weight needs to be distributed evenly over the entire surface of the mounted giclée. That is the job of a <span style="font-style: italic;">cover sheet</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cover Sheets</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cover sheets</span> should be rigid, have some weight, and transmit heat to cool the hot-mounted giclée efficiently while keeping it flat. The perfect cover sheet would be 1/4-inch (6mm) plate steel or aluminum. A much less expensive solution is pegboard... Masonite with holes in it. That and a couple of sandbags is all you need.<br /><br />If I am only mounting one piece, I just switch off the dry press and let the giclée stay in there while the press cools. That's the safest way of all because you avoid the risk of delamination, resulting from flexing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Flexing Isn't 'Cool'</span><br /><br />The temperature activated adhesive in dry mount tissue isn't set until it has cooled. After it has set, that is that. There's no re-melt option because dry mount tissue only works once. That explains why no amount of putting it back in the press will solve certain adhesion problems, especially those caused by bubbles or 'layers' of trapped gas.<br /><br />Flexing isn't ever very cool though, even if the print is. Mounted giclées should never be flexed because any flexing starts the process of delaminating. Huh?<br /><br />To understand what happens try this simple experiment. Get three like sized sheets of paper, copy paper for example. Arrange them neatly into a stack and staple them together at one end. Now, roll them up. On the other end they seem to have become three different lengths although they are actually equal. That is because the innermost layer is arcing tighter and smaller diameter than the other two, and the outermost larger.<br /><br />If the layers are glued together to keep them from shifting, they resist bending (hence, plywood). If forced to bend by flexing the layers must by the laws of nature either de-laminate or disintegrate.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Underlays Prevent Flexing</span><br /><br />To avoid these problems simple place everything on an underlay sheet sufficiently rigid to provide support during handling... like a flat baking sheet or just a piece of cardboard. Note that varying the thickness of this support can have an effect on the total squeeze pressure exerted when the press is closed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why Stick With Dry Mount?</span><br /><br />You might ask, 'if dry mounting is so finicky, why not just use glue?'<br /><br />That is a fair question requiring answers too long and detailed for a blog, even an epic-length one like this... which is why my book <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> is available at www.gicleeprepress.com. That said...<br /><br />We are experimenting at this very time with alternative ways of synthetic 'paper' like Epson<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>'s <span style="font-style: italic;">Premium Luster</span>. As noted in earlier blogs and my book, 3M<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Repositionable Mounting Tissue</span> works well but is too expensive, at $1.50 per square foot (0.093 m2). Spray is easy to use but produces enormous amounts of sticky 'dust' that gets everywhere. Do it outside? Are you kidding? Anyway, the jury is out on long-term adhesion of spray mount products.<br /><br />Keep your eyes 'glued' to this blog for more news on this 'sticky' issue.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-41406643456501934482010-11-07T09:39:00.000-08:002010-11-07T13:05:54.511-08:00Art Copy Work Flow<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj13An8u2zdWXVb3jn40W4ikj63ZtSe8jQqFlVWP0cRGPlq-nEJaa26jpgVfDhD-ZaJNW64hNE5u0nrXxHi12wMkegFWGbqR7T7_lrCf6pXocsv5DkfHH2uPxdL80V_MtFfPbPOnMhVMks/s1600/LOWN_Between_the_Worlds_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj13An8u2zdWXVb3jn40W4ikj63ZtSe8jQqFlVWP0cRGPlq-nEJaa26jpgVfDhD-ZaJNW64hNE5u0nrXxHi12wMkegFWGbqR7T7_lrCf6pXocsv5DkfHH2uPxdL80V_MtFfPbPOnMhVMks/s320/LOWN_Between_the_Worlds_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536913612490738930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Between the Worlds</span> by Jacquelyn Lown</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span></span>oward the end of each month there's a wave of activity at Vashon Island Imaging as artists prepare for the '<span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Art Cruise</span>' otherwise known as <span style="font-style: italic;">'First Frida</span>y'. That's the day that galleries present new work while they and related shops stay open late. The monthly art event draws a good crowd, especially as the Holidays draw closer.<br /><br />It came as no surprise therefore when Jacquelyn Lown (jacqui.lown@gmail.com) arrived at our doorstep with a dozen and a half new pieces for copying and giclée printing. You remember that cartoon of the laughing guy asking 'You want it when...?!' That could have been me when Jacquelyn said she needed them in done in two days. It would be a tall order even if we charged rush (which we normally don't -- who can afford that anymore?).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6K3j03qCdsOlYeubwZdxXywI8MkKS0xvSD-Jli0MDVtfmtcq7F2y8T_jm9wZTyom3BolYhXu_nyTbysmWiPFdWwtz4VKJNTetzA-o2yUFfmRFfNq6OrDmvIeuLk3F6rE0frWnkyrgA4/s1600/LOWN_Facing_the_Light_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6K3j03qCdsOlYeubwZdxXywI8MkKS0xvSD-Jli0MDVtfmtcq7F2y8T_jm9wZTyom3BolYhXu_nyTbysmWiPFdWwtz4VKJNTetzA-o2yUFfmRFfNq6OrDmvIeuLk3F6rE0frWnkyrgA4/s320/LOWN_Facing_the_Light_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536871559600939090" border="0" /></a>Facing The Light<span style="font-style: italic;"> by Jacquelyn Lown</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">This picture is special for me as it depicts how I feel when I am in my studio making pictures and printing giclées. </span><br /><br />After changing into my "Mister Efficiency' outfit I got the originals organized into size places and got the studio ready to shoot them. Twelve pieces were oils and watercolors that were shot on the outdoor stage. The other six were transparencies that were shot indoors using a copy stand equipped with a light source from an old <span style="font-style: italic;">Super-Chromega<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span></span> enlarger.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Copying Dimensional Artwork</span><br /><br />We do most of our art copy shooting in our outdoor studio. Nothing beats natural light, but you have to control it just as you do artificial lights. The stage should be evenly lit by light that is between 5200° and 5600° degrees Kelvin... called 'Daylight' on many cameras.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPKwF_INeolEoQw5_w3wIuz6PytRzQPcL8MOtlodC2LRYlhGe7erIt8_REEoFVev11yIdDgetdrT5amEzG_RbwjMwZ8rMA5HOvEbRX-tkRtCdiCQOPqP0tfOMlcnFRNc-MDxD8XfJb4o/s1600/MESNEY_Outdoor_Studio_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPKwF_INeolEoQw5_w3wIuz6PytRzQPcL8MOtlodC2LRYlhGe7erIt8_REEoFVev11yIdDgetdrT5amEzG_RbwjMwZ8rMA5HOvEbRX-tkRtCdiCQOPqP0tfOMlcnFRNc-MDxD8XfJb4o/s320/MESNEY_Outdoor_Studio_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536866614079322290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The outdoor studio at </span><span>Vashon Island Imaging</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> features a transparent ceiling and walls made of rigid plastic. Diffusion material and/or 'flags' (shadow boards) can be stapled to the wood framework wherever needed.</span><br /><br />Artwork is shot against a white background and a photographic gray card is included in each shot. I usually tuck the card behind the piece being shot, letting it stick out on one side like a tag. Later, this little patch of gray will be sampled to manage the colors, keeping them 'correct', using<span style="font-style: italic;"> Curves</span> in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD6rBPeVNgM0XNGGb-PLkcQK6TNZ9yOBjSXVpphTWz8O0Ny9jmrDqlV87Wob09qRdghzJMP3H1jkOwMf1ysXnO1aPYey7imeGL0hoZdFfYzaLTB3a_jJqwYU37pruz51hbURpnKJswYU/s1600/LOWN_3.1_Gray_Scale_Color_Bars.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD6rBPeVNgM0XNGGb-PLkcQK6TNZ9yOBjSXVpphTWz8O0Ny9jmrDqlV87Wob09qRdghzJMP3H1jkOwMf1ysXnO1aPYey7imeGL0hoZdFfYzaLTB3a_jJqwYU37pruz51hbURpnKJswYU/s320/LOWN_3.1_Gray_Scale_Color_Bars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536873195265127378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This art-copy transparency of Jacquelyn Lown's</span> Between the Worlds <span style="font-style: italic;">has a gray scale and color bars included in the frame to aid in color management during reproduction.</span><br /><br />If we are preparing files that will be reproduced by others, a gray scale and color bars are also included along one edge of each shot. These facilitate the use of '<span style="font-style: italic;">Auto Levels</span>' in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> to establish precise colors that are closer to those in the original than you usually get with that 'tool'.<br /><br />Any automated function will work better if you include a gray scale and color bars in the frame so that those algorithms 'see' and recognize things they look for in every picture. Among those things are black, white, 'neutral' gray as well as a range of colors. If the original lacks those, Auto Levels will create them.<br /><br />When the black and white points in a picture shift the entire tone range is dynamically altered. The result is usually a noticeable contrast kick and stronger color.<br /><br />Many pictures lack black or white or both. A picture taken on a foggy day comes to mind, like the one below. Such a picture has only mid tones. Stretching that flat tone range to include black and white completely alters the look of the picture, However, that is what <span style="font-style: italic;">Auto Levels</span> does when it can't find black and white points in the shot. Therefore, if you include black and white to begin with, they will act as 'goal posts' throughout the reproduction and printing cycles.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1XP6Rk6vauV0AvoBCtVK0qKZpI66lyXJp1dQEV4IYP3t7TSxrtomTNIIDCbDlQEOOe2c6m20IMuX0-aMCoxlskSe3lQs0fkxT7BPm4tRJSaADhZIIAMrtEB24AkKg2CDDx1Hn4WLM88/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1XP6Rk6vauV0AvoBCtVK0qKZpI66lyXJp1dQEV4IYP3t7TSxrtomTNIIDCbDlQEOOe2c6m20IMuX0-aMCoxlskSe3lQs0fkxT7BPm4tRJSaADhZIIAMrtEB24AkKg2CDDx1Hn4WLM88/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536874478375559122" border="0" /></a>Ghost Ship Albatross <span style="font-style: italic;">was shot in 1965 from the top of the mast of a 56-foot English cutter skippered by the late Van Waring. Wiley Crockett hoisted me up there to shoot pictures of he and the crew from on high. Suddenly the 'ghost ship' appeared out of the fog like an apparition. I shot this picture and then the camera jammed. When the film was developed this was the only shot that came out.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WXH7kPdgpHSDnhI_NOfUNJeShk4nMm4HoWEFe7ZHQXqp2ve7IiONYVKVyhxsygwOQX0hGDnnP2V0TN-Q2kTnGrN9edhPj7vyIMl-b2vbr4cg_RWvsofIA3tjrtPBmOaINfcO5RC-x5c/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_Auto_Levels.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WXH7kPdgpHSDnhI_NOfUNJeShk4nMm4HoWEFe7ZHQXqp2ve7IiONYVKVyhxsygwOQX0hGDnnP2V0TN-Q2kTnGrN9edhPj7vyIMl-b2vbr4cg_RWvsofIA3tjrtPBmOaINfcO5RC-x5c/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_Auto_Levels.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536901622233783138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">When </span>Auto Levels<span style="font-style: italic;"> is applied to the picture</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">the entire dynamic tone range is altered. The original black point was 73 and the white point 235 (in </span>Levels<span style="font-style: italic;">). Auto Levels pulls the black point back to zero and the white point to 255. That impacts the mid tones as well as can be seen clearly.</span><br /><br />You might ask, 'If it is such a hassle using Auto Levels, why bother?' Speed and efficiency is the answer. If you set things up so that you can get the Auto Levels tool working for you, instead of against you, you'll be 'in like Flynn' to quote my late progenitor.<br /><br />But, back to capture...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Great Capture Looks Awful</span><br /><br />Set the camera for the color of the shooting light(s). Simple cameras have settings like 'Daylight' or 'Flash' or 'Indoor'. Sophisticated cameras let you dial in the exact Kelvin temperature, or close to it. There will never be an exact match but get as close as you can.<br /><br />Find the right exposure by changing it until the white background is white and then underexpose by 1/2 f/stop. That is, if the correct exposure for the white BG is f/11, the correct exposure for the capture is midway between f/11 and f/16, or minus 1/2 stop.<br /><br />Most cameras allow for half-stop and third-stop 'bracketing'. Bracketing is shooting more than one exposure of a picture. In the old days you bracketed to make sure you got a good one. Now you do it for<span style="font-style: italic;"> HDR</span> -- 'High Dynamic Range' -- combining the best parts of exposures made for Highlights, Mid Tones, and Shadows.<br /><br />Shoot three exposures. One should be the correct white exposure. Then shoot one that is 1/3 or 1/2-stop darker, and a third that is a full f-stop darker. Later, parts of each of these can be isolated and recombined in PhotoShop. The shadow details of the lightest exposure can be combined with the highlights of the center or darkest exposure.<br /><br />However effective, that is a lot of work ...which can be avoided if you can get friendly with <span style="font-style: italic;">Auto Levels</span>. Being a friend of Auto Levels means giving it what it wants to see.<br /><br />Begin by getting the basic tone range under control by combining the best parts of the bracketed exposures. The result will still look lousy. Why? Because a good capture should look like your laundry... dirty whites and faded blacks.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmjIPmUL-vCWUzE7lNVt5qyalesRA2UDjfTncvTkOggMorj2BGwvcq7pA8tl9g44lTfjSHCNa_8ooqjwasdvEB8ZWZL2IdINUyldMudxuuwu7wPGuWYxJlqr9273nKSE0GIIhakzQAH4/s1600/LOWN_11.1_Blessed_Day_Capture.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmjIPmUL-vCWUzE7lNVt5qyalesRA2UDjfTncvTkOggMorj2BGwvcq7pA8tl9g44lTfjSHCNa_8ooqjwasdvEB8ZWZL2IdINUyldMudxuuwu7wPGuWYxJlqr9273nKSE0GIIhakzQAH4/s320/LOWN_11.1_Blessed_Day_Capture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536906440831207682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">RAW file capture of Jacquelyn Lown's</span> Blessed Day. <span style="font-style: italic;">Notice gray card at bottom of frame. Note also that the white background isn't white... it's light gray due to 1/3 f/stop underexpsoure. However, both the white BG and gray patch are both </span>neutral<span style="font-style: italic;"> gray indicating that the color temperature setting was correct (5600° Kelvin).</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67uUxhTzZU9W42gSf6FLdbFjM-1jb56YIX2BUTvkkAkl264M5pH0EDccmTF9oho1v_2A7HMNSYlDiLVBEQU7FoGai_aPBecd2y2Hsf_pMZPvGXK00aFo_WhcMv7o2u54vDtLYDgrd4dI/s1600/LOWN_10.1_Blessed_Day_Auto_Levels.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67uUxhTzZU9W42gSf6FLdbFjM-1jb56YIX2BUTvkkAkl264M5pH0EDccmTF9oho1v_2A7HMNSYlDiLVBEQU7FoGai_aPBecd2y2Hsf_pMZPvGXK00aFo_WhcMv7o2u54vDtLYDgrd4dI/s320/LOWN_10.1_Blessed_Day_Auto_Levels.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536907660155044994" border="0" /></a>Auto Levels<span style="font-style: italic;"> brings this picture 90% of the way, and reducing the </span>Brightness<span style="font-style: italic;"> by 11 points (below) finishes the basic adjustment work. </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H3si4osqqUJOJCOiy2y2rfSF2B03nJNt6vZJfE_l-CMHcZhwEq3YFO4x_muT2tRpOsCINDtRFuW0gYteL1aXizJS5NDlrChyphenhyphenqFKVole0CuOtm0V22X2ImtDVGQ07K3jWyRnKjYku4v4/s1600/LOWN_12.1_Blessed_Day_Brightness.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H3si4osqqUJOJCOiy2y2rfSF2B03nJNt6vZJfE_l-CMHcZhwEq3YFO4x_muT2tRpOsCINDtRFuW0gYteL1aXizJS5NDlrChyphenhyphenqFKVole0CuOtm0V22X2ImtDVGQ07K3jWyRnKjYku4v4/s320/LOWN_12.1_Blessed_Day_Brightness.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536908551396095170" border="0" /></a><br />A good capture will have no white and no black. The contrast and colors will look flat and lifeless as a result. The black and white points will be re-created later using Auto Levels, Levels, and/or Brightness and Contrast settings in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®.</span><br /><br />Black and white are <span style="font-style: italic;">verboten</span> in the capture because neither of those tones has any 'data'. Neither can be adjusted in any way. However, adjustment is needed throughout the reproduction process at every stage of the game. You need to be able to control the flow of black ink (in particular) to maintain the shadow and highlight detail that differentiates a high-quality giclée from an ordinary one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PhotoShop</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >®</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span>Prepress Sequence</span><br /><br />Combine the best parts of the bracketed exposures in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®.</span> Details about this procedure can be found in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée </span>(www.gicleeprepress.com), and in previous blogs. The gist of it is to put each of the three exposures on its own layer and make a '<span style="font-style: italic;">Group'</span> of those layers. Isolate and recombine the best parts of each exposure. When you are done , duplicate the group and merge it. Now you have a good capture for further prepress work.<br /><br />Maybe you are lucky and got everything you need in one shot. It happens, but how can you tell? That is what a Histogram is for, to reveal the pictures tone range. Histograms are the only way to know what you really have... like weighing and measuring the fish once it's in the boat to avoid any misleading 'fish stories'.<br /><br />If the 'mountains' in the histogram continue beyond the outside limits on the left and right (zero and 255) the total tone range has been clipped. That may not matter, but it is something to pay attention to because the perfect picture's entire 'mountain range' is contained within the zero to 255 histogram scale.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTslf6i0gUzFHAP8r8C6n3qfKn4XnuadS-vXQtXA7fHQp1oFf7Rwg1W0bRLy79r8ypqlSxrHisvXbGHGJbeF0iPc0lcxM4Gi4sKAAB0m4d_jjlOj5ycAL7vk2-YAIgt99oL0WoT4d1tNo/s1600/MESNEY_Histogram_CU_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTslf6i0gUzFHAP8r8C6n3qfKn4XnuadS-vXQtXA7fHQp1oFf7Rwg1W0bRLy79r8ypqlSxrHisvXbGHGJbeF0iPc0lcxM4Gi4sKAAB0m4d_jjlOj5ycAL7vk2-YAIgt99oL0WoT4d1tNo/s320/MESNEY_Histogram_CU_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536879358856665490" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Histogram of a near perfect exposure shows almost the entire 'mountain range' within the limits of zero and 255 (black and white). </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEtQWEO0PKo4CGaDcqkwTK4WFfzv_1-ewFNx43GVzDAI4PDY_A8-qGlKOQLZao8_mezNtrx5oPLkWhED2O_ewvFb8KdoKmYwnYiFbw1hyho_vrSxlQVn4jdppq_S5tGbjqsFrkq9SWi0/s1600/MESNEY_Histograms_Brightness_Contrast_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEtQWEO0PKo4CGaDcqkwTK4WFfzv_1-ewFNx43GVzDAI4PDY_A8-qGlKOQLZao8_mezNtrx5oPLkWhED2O_ewvFb8KdoKmYwnYiFbw1hyho_vrSxlQVn4jdppq_S5tGbjqsFrkq9SWi0/s320/MESNEY_Histograms_Brightness_Contrast_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536909430108455122" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">On the left the 'mountain range' stretches beyond the histogram's left edge. On the right, it has moved beyond the histogram's right border.</span><br /><br />Checking histograms as you shoot will help you zero in on the perfect exposure or bracketing combination. Capture and contain the entire mountain range by shooting as many exposures are needed, or by adjusting the lighting so that the range from black to white fits within the sensitivity range of your capture device. Making the tone range fit is why Hollywood trucks around lighting crews, to provide fill-in light so that detail in the shadows can be captured together with pristine highlights that aren't blown out by overexposure.<br /><br />But that extra quality may not be what's wanted. European filmmakers use less artificial lighting, relying more on available light. The look is totally different from Hollywood or Bollywood productions. The shadows are deep and the highlights usually blown out, like good reportage photography in the traditional style of <span style="font-style: italic;">Life</span> magazine.<br /><br />All pictures are not created equal. Each has a unique look all its own. Remember the fog picture? It is therefore impossible for one set of instructions to work for all pictures. That said, the following basic procedures will establish a starting point for advanced prepress in the worst cases and may well be all that is needed for the rest of your art-copy captures.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GPNz16UwqSoreDra8w8pvFPCf8iC-p4LmKm4ydAEGcvvvpulRw9w4sC6xXATbuWP3JTz0X15re3mIWC4G_d6rAqQoWqDD0GXKk0U4pVq1jQYpkiQE4Teaca68JPFebkoRiQMiKBmXuY/s1600/LOWN_Within_the_Garden_Wall_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GPNz16UwqSoreDra8w8pvFPCf8iC-p4LmKm4ydAEGcvvvpulRw9w4sC6xXATbuWP3JTz0X15re3mIWC4G_d6rAqQoWqDD0GXKk0U4pVq1jQYpkiQE4Teaca68JPFebkoRiQMiKBmXuY/s320/LOWN_Within_the_Garden_Wall_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536910489111993074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Beyond the Garden Walls</span> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">by Jacquelyn Lown<br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Prepress Procedure for Art Copy Captures</span><br /><br />1.) Geometry<br />2.) Cleanliness<br />3.) Levels (Auto Levels)<br />4.) Brightness & Contrast<br />5.) Color Balance<br />6.) Hue & Saturation<br />7.) Sharpen<br /><br />The very first thing to do is make sure that the picture's geometry is correct and that the image is spotlessly clean. There is no sense copying faulty layers to work on, eh?<br /><br />Most geometry corrections can be made using <span style="font-style: italic;">Skew</span> and/or <span style="font-style: italic;">Perspective</span> controls in <span style="font-style: italic;">Edit / Transform</span>. When using the Skew tool make only one adjustment at a time. If you get one corner right and try to do another it may fight you.<br /><br />Use the<span style="font-style: italic;"> Rubber Stamp</span> tool to clean up dust and scratches. Your digitally shot captures of originals may not be so bad, but film copies will likely need a lot of cleaning, so allow enough time and budget for that tedious opportunity to enjoy the 'Zen' of giclée.<br /><br />One way to minimize the dust and scratches problem is to use a diffused light source when shooting, like a light box made from 'milk glass' or other diffusion material. (Scanners intensify dust and scratches because of their direct frontal lighting of the subject requiring special algorithms for basic cleaning.)<br /><br />Label the cleaned and straightened picture as the 'Master'. Duplicate this layer for the next step. Subsequently, after each of the following steps duplicate the layer for the next operation. In the end you should have a nice stack of layers. To avoid confusion, I usually label each layer with the specifics of what was done, for example, <span style="font-style: italic;">Picture_ Name_Brightness+22_Contrast-11</span>. Good labeling enables you to understand what you did even years later.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Levels (Auto Levels) Adjust Tone Range Histogram</span><br /><br />Auto Levels should be your next step. You may not agree with its result, but even if you don't you will get a sense of what you might be able to do better using manual controls (<span style="font-style: italic;">Levels</span> and/or <span style="font-style: italic;">Brightness & Contrast</span>).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Auto Levels</span> is a mysterious algorithm. Like so many other unexplainable things, sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't. When it works, Auto Levels will bring a smile to your face as you see the result of the several changes it makes to the picture.<br /><br />The lightest tone in the picture is stretched all the way to 255, and the darkest tone pushed to zero. That increases contrast and color saturation. But there's more... Auto Levels also removes tints and generally brightens things up... a bit too much in fact, but both of these 'problems' are easily corrected.<br /><br />After applying Auto Levels sample any white point in the picture using the <span style="font-style: italic;">Eye Dropper</span>. Note the ink numbers for that white area which can be found in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Info</span> panel. You will likely see that RGB is 255 and CMYK is near 100. That is not good. Remember the part about adjustments? The lightest tones should still contain some ink, very little but at least some. That is the mark of a great print.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Info</span> is your friend and if you keep your eye on that panel you can easily keep all your tones under total control. No combined total ink load should ever be at zero or 100%. The most you want to see is 97% on the darkest darks and 3% to 5% on the lightest tones. Your job is to play the field between those two 'goal posts'.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reduce <span style="font-style: italic;">Brightness</span> 11 Points</span><br /><br />If you have used Auto Levels the next thing to do is move the white point from 255 to about 275. Huh? There's no 275 on a histogram, you say? There is, but it is off the chart. That is why whites cannot be dirtied using Levels. White and black points are fixed in Levels. To move the white and black points off the chart use <span style="font-style: italic;">Brightness & Contrast</span> adjustments.<br /><br />As noted earlier, the Info panel should reveal 3% to 5% ink (CMYK) in the whites. Reducing the Brightness by 11 points will accomplish that when the original whites are at 255 RGB and possibly blown out.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gray Card Provides Accurate Colors</span><br /><br />While working on the above the picture's color has changed and must be brought back to where you like it.<br /><br />Sample the gray-card patch in the capture with the 'Neutral' Eyedropper in Curves (you can crop out the gray patch after this step). Notice how the colors snap to a more 'correct' look.<br /><br />If you included a gray scale, click on the black point with the 'Black Point' Eyedropper and then the white patch with the 'White Point' Eyedropper. Be prepared to step backwards and possibly only use the neutral eyedropper if the other two adjustments seem too severe. Or just do them on a separate copy of the layer, if only for comparative purposes as you futz around manually.<br /><br />While you are using the neutral eyedropper notice that as you sample different gray areas you will get subtly different results, one of which is bound to please or provide a firm foundation for further work using <span style="font-style: italic;">Image / Adjust / Color Balance</span>. Remove or add tints using the same adjustment tools.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Color Balance</span> adjustments are dramatically different depending on whether you apply them to light tones (<span style="font-style: italic;">Highlights</span>) mid tones (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mid Tones</span>) or dark ones (<span style="font-style: italic;">Shadows</span>).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJK532G1NNQiCTUryugPdYnRY9WegPJqvQQzPLHikx-dpog4CFDklWgsorceThG8Xip4zrzQvxzRQR3vVmWwHrsz5-pzZLUVDZERrQlJ6MIgUZe2G5JV5AhrJTURuQfbpOZrL_HN7VXk/s1600/MESNEY_Jamaica_Banana+Trees_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJK532G1NNQiCTUryugPdYnRY9WegPJqvQQzPLHikx-dpog4CFDklWgsorceThG8Xip4zrzQvxzRQR3vVmWwHrsz5-pzZLUVDZERrQlJ6MIgUZe2G5JV5AhrJTURuQfbpOZrL_HN7VXk/s320/MESNEY_Jamaica_Banana+Trees_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536882918716822338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This picture uses a 'cross' in which one color is added to the shadows and its complement to the highlights. In this scene, yellow was to the shadows and blue to the highlights.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvSl7ddAj5i4b1hvNWzZqsAf5IALGDYdiK99M0QZ7uS4B9zVUcs05eMZDgkj1kvQjaFJ5ajTs944uklwlhr0ygUtXWvN-GnLuFamvVCXxnU23DMvC-y9kU-HgNCw1TJXv9wFVan8cM0E/s1600/MESNEY_Indian_Bride_1.3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvSl7ddAj5i4b1hvNWzZqsAf5IALGDYdiK99M0QZ7uS4B9zVUcs05eMZDgkj1kvQjaFJ5ajTs944uklwlhr0ygUtXWvN-GnLuFamvVCXxnU23DMvC-y9kU-HgNCw1TJXv9wFVan8cM0E/s320/MESNEY_Indian_Bride_1.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536884005706653554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">People benefit by beefing up the shadows with red and some yellow. Then, adjust the highlights according to their color in the original. Often that is blue because the light that reflects off things is from the blue sky, not the yellow sun.</span><br /><br />Mid-tone adjustments are done last to fine tune the balance you created between the highlights and shadows.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hue and Saturation</span> are last on the list only because one has to be last so the others aren't. In practice its not quite as sequential as the list, being more of a back and forth thing between the various types of adjustments... they enhance each other's effects in a symbiotic way... especially saturation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Many Layers Makes Life Easier</span><br /><br />There are so many adjustments. As you go through them you will find combos that you'd like to keep. I do that by making more and more layers. The files get enormous but, so what? Memory is cheap.<br /><br />More layers = more easy. Separate the parts you like from each and recombine them into new groups. Merge those and add more parts as you move on. It's an evolving process as you identify and deal with each major region of the picture.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Build the Soul of the Picture</span><br /><br />Just like every picture tells a story, each has a soul. The soul of the picture is its 'look'. Pictures have looks. Artists' styles have looks. People have looks. Everything has a look. Looks are part of something's identity.<br /><br />The soul of a picture rests in the dark tones. Adding extra color to the dark tones using <span style="font-style: italic;">Color Balance</span> tools can reveal the soul of the picture. But what's dark? In the case of the fog picture you get a more visible result altering the mid tones, although dark tone adjustment will still add extra color depth. Whatever the result, you will know it when you see it... that's the nice thing about pictures.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Art Captures from Slides and Negatives</span></span><br /><br />Capturing images from slides and negatives involves the same rules of the road as shooting originals. However, you'll have an easier time of it because the dynamic tone range has already been flattened by the photo-mechanical reproduction process. All you have to do is find the correct base exposure. After that, almost any slide or negative you shoot will have a perfect or near perfect exposure.<br /><br />That's great if you are satisfied with what was in the original slide or neg. However, 90% of the time that 'look' can be substantially improved... and that very subject is what my book and this blog are all about.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlnviWEZY2aZUZBjlJ40Q2tzklqloCH88-LWRVZBirSWWpgZnm2xBsVDc9Rs5n8W5wLuAMHuTPE5BPWUUp6bf2_aD9RypX5VZg-M2kminHoW2AlFur4yOH_kX4pCIRQ51P5bUvyGl3wI/s1600/MESNEY_Printing_Exposure_Scale_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlnviWEZY2aZUZBjlJ40Q2tzklqloCH88-LWRVZBirSWWpgZnm2xBsVDc9Rs5n8W5wLuAMHuTPE5BPWUUp6bf2_aD9RypX5VZg-M2kminHoW2AlFur4yOH_kX4pCIRQ51P5bUvyGl3wI/s320/MESNEY_Printing_Exposure_Scale_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536890489373103330" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;">At </span>Vashon Island Imaging<span style="font-style: italic;"> we use a basic black-and-white darkroom printing exposure wedge tool. Simply place that on the shooting stage and adjust the exposure (and color balance) until it looks right.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6OEoExEXo5mVgh_XjUvBCQxeXUSOjO8v_2ed-QPID0SDeEQALU1rYG-8wCNRsqnQIwMpYgohfGAMGBiutRb-IKF3J8g9WlKwGZoI3foduF_fNGmVD0z4R0NmLKmSdA1-NUglEKWtWUg/s1600/MESNEY_Chromega_Light_Box_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6OEoExEXo5mVgh_XjUvBCQxeXUSOjO8v_2ed-QPID0SDeEQALU1rYG-8wCNRsqnQIwMpYgohfGAMGBiutRb-IKF3J8g9WlKwGZoI3foduF_fNGmVD0z4R0NmLKmSdA1-NUglEKWtWUg/s320/MESNEY_Chromega_Light_Box_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536891199024060754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> We use a</span> Chromega<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">dichroic light source from an old enlarger. That allows precise control of the light color. Once upon a time those were the only kinds of color controls. Today, alteration is possible in </span>PhotoShop<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> so the color of the shooting lights is less important.</span><br /><br />One easy way to improve the look of your art-copy captures is to bracket the exposure. Make one exposure to open the shadows and another to trim in the highlights, as outlined earlier in this article. Then segregate the best parts of each exposure and recombine them as a sort of collage. Be sure to include a gray card in your frame, color bars and a gray scale are even better.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWyp-frwuvkSdZJs-Ay05U9rzMQs76BAzwRwoWL5KvR-R06x2uXPT_16qiV_Gls9tLjPLIWp20ZXzcLIPdVV48PBdwhNoPEGxtGRpozMgx9wUPqcFPwxuSgL6eD6baPVxxf_jQmszk_w/s1600/LOWN_2.1_Color_Bars.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 94px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWyp-frwuvkSdZJs-Ay05U9rzMQs76BAzwRwoWL5KvR-R06x2uXPT_16qiV_Gls9tLjPLIWp20ZXzcLIPdVV48PBdwhNoPEGxtGRpozMgx9wUPqcFPwxuSgL6eD6baPVxxf_jQmszk_w/s320/LOWN_2.1_Color_Bars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536892266674107186" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3lZLT58pLv7S23h_CrnnXBy3MX8dpCEUXptgbBWMk5Z18IFMM2OGsshJOoxljjFYbb9a3nTYYgObMSKC5_mHWRNJA7DIDW2LWs36h_DAVrt6gfl_VRqRPq64JjhSPat0iG7bs0DwUPo/s1600/LOWN_1.1_Gray_Scale.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3lZLT58pLv7S23h_CrnnXBy3MX8dpCEUXptgbBWMk5Z18IFMM2OGsshJOoxljjFYbb9a3nTYYgObMSKC5_mHWRNJA7DIDW2LWs36h_DAVrt6gfl_VRqRPq64JjhSPat0iG7bs0DwUPo/s320/LOWN_1.1_Gray_Scale.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536891989867850242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Pictured above are the reference scales from the art-copy transparency of Jacquelyn Lown's </span>Between the Worlds. <span style="font-style: italic;">Notice the loss of detail in dark tones on the right hand side of the gray scale. Clogged shadows and heavy dark tones are a typical problem with artwork copied onto film. Today's digital imaging equipment has a wider exposure latitude that captures more of the dynamic tone range.</span><br /><br />Beyond that, all the post processing and prepress work is the same as any other image, following the procedures outlined above.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Environmental Lighting Is Important</span><br /><br />During the prepress work, compare your work with the original. Be careful to observe the original art or film with the same color light as your monitor or as close as possible... that means daylight on the cool side (5000° - 6000° Kelvin). Window light is great, but not direct sunlight or 'mottled' light. The closer you stay to a single color light throughout the reproduction process, the better. (You'll never see a cloudy day quite the same way again.)<br /><br />Similarly, the brightness of the light you use to illuminate the original should be approximately the same as the monitor. Your eyes shouldn't have to adjust for differences in brightness as you glance back and forth between the monitor and the original.<br /><br />The same applies to the examination of the giclées that eventually emerge from printer. They must be compared to the original artwork and usually some adjustments need to be made to get the colors right. That is because every digital-imaging device has some colors that it reproduces well and others that can be problematic.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blues 'Blues'</span><br /><br />Blue colors are always a problem. Actually, any 'pure' colors present challenges, but especially blue. To get blues right in prints they look way too light on your monitor. That fact makes it almost impossible to get a client to sign off on monitor color... and why you should mentally calculate for an extra test print any time you see a lot of blue.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG7bBy2HnfVf-1FNUV4gfyWK7tB6a0whqoWeuna0IdptXMDpQL1mSersRbRg42QRN335IRCnpr6_pjXtbGpzUVWx19sfiKr-UJygs0GpNKZrU0Prpz97hXSh7ddxfDzfdGQhRIRE4wt0/s1600/MESNEY_Light_Curves_RGB_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG7bBy2HnfVf-1FNUV4gfyWK7tB6a0whqoWeuna0IdptXMDpQL1mSersRbRg42QRN335IRCnpr6_pjXtbGpzUVWx19sfiKr-UJygs0GpNKZrU0Prpz97hXSh7ddxfDzfdGQhRIRE4wt0/s320/MESNEY_Light_Curves_RGB_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536895313236488034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Blue light has a huge amount of energy which throws off image capture and processing devices (as does any primary color). </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZkeNAOFx_i1Zqquhy2jrYAeUdHLJfEab9stZSJmucTfqetk8ewmGOH4cybcoNwanKFVhVlxfnOJcLrhCcpoEKVWd0B4tWQBeb4S4Sn-SgTXEopgEKNe88EcVCi5kVCihLq2QcnMAXaA/s1600/LOWN_4.1_Dark_Tones.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZkeNAOFx_i1Zqquhy2jrYAeUdHLJfEab9stZSJmucTfqetk8ewmGOH4cybcoNwanKFVhVlxfnOJcLrhCcpoEKVWd0B4tWQBeb4S4Sn-SgTXEopgEKNe88EcVCi5kVCihLq2QcnMAXaA/s320/LOWN_4.1_Dark_Tones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536897378760081378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The blues in Jacqui's</span> Between the Worlds <span style="font-style: italic;">are dark and intense. To keep them from clogging up on press, blue tones were isolated on their own layer (below) so they could be individually controlled. Usually, blues need considerable lightening and brightening to appear 'correct' and sometimes need an additional boost with</span> Color Balance <span style="font-style: italic;">and/or </span>Saturation.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSX7dZFtrzafIq_FLExBWo3joZI0rrQsKw_Q0KKSHrLQVDaUyArMz1he9RG4KbKU8aDNIDhaL8JBrMxsGtkql-94-5VLmeMdz4MqqzxZ1t-VXk8vO0BDFg-dcpfgr_ODbyUhTWZ7naiqY/s1600/LOWN_7.1_Dark_Tones.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSX7dZFtrzafIq_FLExBWo3joZI0rrQsKw_Q0KKSHrLQVDaUyArMz1he9RG4KbKU8aDNIDhaL8JBrMxsGtkql-94-5VLmeMdz4MqqzxZ1t-VXk8vO0BDFg-dcpfgr_ODbyUhTWZ7naiqY/s320/LOWN_7.1_Dark_Tones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536897203037402514" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking Sharp</span><br /><br />Everyone always warns you to do the sharpening last. So it's appropriate to end the blog with this subject, eh?<br /><br />There are so many ways to use the sharpening tool called <span style="font-style: italic;">Unsharp Mask</span>. There are two major types which I term 'technical' and 'creative' to make their functions obvious.<br /><br />Creative sharpening is great fun but not part of this particular blog. You can use it to enhance anything crystalline, like ice and snow. It can be used for fab effects, too. The subject is explained in detail in my book and is outlined in some earlier blogs.<br /><br />Technical sharpening is what you have to do to any digitally captured image to overcome the dithering and anti-aliasing built into the digital imaging process. For reasons too complex to explain here and now some cameras (especially expensive ones) shoot images with edges that appear soft and blurry. They look like you shot them through a <span style="font-style: italic;">Coke</span>®-bottle lens. However, there is a tremendous amount of detail in that blur.<br /><br />Pictures of distant planets come to mind. Everything we infer comes from what we see, which is so little compared to what actually is. Rather like the shadowy reality described by Plato.<br /><br />Just as there is more detail in the blurry-looking planet picture than we can see, the blurry edges of digitally captured images can be dissected and their sharpness revealed. That is done with the Unsharp Mask tool.<br /><br />The amount of sharpening normally applied to my own work is about 10 points per inch of output. Huh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Unsharp Mask Tool</span><br /><br />Three controls comprise the Unsharp Mask tool:<br /><br />● Amount<br />● Radius<br />● Threshold<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Amount</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Radius</span> are the two principle controls. <span style="font-style: italic;">Threshold</span> has never done anything useful for me, and I therefore pretend that it isn't there.<br /><br />If you haven't already done so, play with these and watch them closely. Zoom in deep to see the changes at the pixel level. If you do you will see the tool generate lines of contrast between different tones. The more different the neighboring tones, the greater the effect. Eventually, white and black borders separate some tones. Although this can be used as a creative tool, the effect of over-sharpening is to be avoided for most clients' work.<br /><br />Practically speaking, we apply more sharpening to business graphics and technical drawings than we do to baby pictures. If anything I usually go for a very crisp look for my own illustrations. For client's work I match the amount of sharpening to the look of the original. You know how some pictures are 'crisper' than others? That is what the Unsharp Mask does, it makes things crisper.<br /><br />Only you know how much is enough, but don't be afraid to step on it. For my own work I always make a final, uppermost layer that is the duplicated and merged sum total of all layers, sharpened individually for each size print. It is the last step before printing. Any earlier sharpening was for the 'creative'. This final sharpening is for the print. The settings I use follow these guidelines:<br /><br />12 inches: 1.1 / 111<br />24 inches: 2.2 / 222<br />36 inches: 3.3 / 333<br />48 inches: 4.4 / 444<br /><br />These are 'rules of thumb' and there are many exceptions, especially with large sizes. I haven't gone beyond 48 inches because there are no rules after that. Everything then depends on the viewer distance from the print. You can have a giant print but if people can walk right up to it that severely limits the amount of sharpening you can do. Conversely, I routinely over-sharpen pictures for the Web.<br /><br />Speaking of the Web, it's time to post this blog. Keep a 'sharp' eye for the next one ;-)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBU7LK1qjGi8HbtftCB0SdEqgxfz5D9wOBZJq5-w7PevvXWNt2mMWVR1LxKgYMNRiOjD2VjQLI2_gptl8c2RrVrSEPO9z_qyke_jXJ2AdkumYwZWmvdlt-3PwXkupn1Xj4rSa22j0r9Gw/s1600/LOWN_Renewal_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBU7LK1qjGi8HbtftCB0SdEqgxfz5D9wOBZJq5-w7PevvXWNt2mMWVR1LxKgYMNRiOjD2VjQLI2_gptl8c2RrVrSEPO9z_qyke_jXJ2AdkumYwZWmvdlt-3PwXkupn1Xj4rSa22j0r9Gw/s320/LOWN_Renewal_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536912610993575186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Renewal</span> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">by Jacquelyn Lown<br /></span></div>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-86443567098065981872010-11-07T09:16:00.000-08:002010-11-07T09:37:49.545-08:00Rose by Another Name?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DkpEMXmR-7wkRoAOBewo8sENdBjWMW8ebMCRLM6gfC7d0Ftjc0FKM6OIccII3C9jKKT0lViIyBAbNB8QpCFnfqVCtxgq2OwY0Caz4b9ZvAKFonfbMgtEPBhVQ49DNkvnpD6hA9_ABPo/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_ASTRO_Pink_Rose.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DkpEMXmR-7wkRoAOBewo8sENdBjWMW8ebMCRLM6gfC7d0Ftjc0FKM6OIccII3C9jKKT0lViIyBAbNB8QpCFnfqVCtxgq2OwY0Caz4b9ZvAKFonfbMgtEPBhVQ49DNkvnpD6hA9_ABPo/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_ASTRO_Pink_Rose.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536859690576899554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">T</span>hey say that a rose by any other name is still a rose. In that case, what makes a blog a blog?<br /><br />I ask because if you follow this blog regularly you have no doubt noticed the diminished frequency of new blog posts.<br /><br />Lowering frequency can be slow death in the blog world... like the withering of a flower. 'The bloom is off the rose', is another popular saying.<br /><br />Immediacy and relevance are the two most important features and functions of blogs. Some blogs are daily affairs, somewhat like newspaper columns. Other blogs are like encyclopedias or catalogues, where you can look up instant answers about relevant issues.<br /><br />Instant answers are all they want now, eh? There's no more reading for the sheer pleasure of luxuriating in new thoughts and enjoyable language. Who's got time anymore? The wolf is at the door, or so they would have you believe. But in my ranting I digress...<br /><br />I watch Pam Swanson teach herself enormously complex software programs without ever touching a book. The complete and total change of the learning paradigm amazes me. If she ever has a question, the answer is on-line at the touch of a button, often in the form of a video.<br /><br />This blog (and my book) are never going to be for instant answers. That much has become clear to me. In the beginning I tried. However, when things get busy around here I find myself in the same conundrum faced by Saab® automobile back in the late 1970's.<br /><br />As explained to me by Lars Einar, their former Marketing Director,<br />the original mission of Saab automobile was to be a car for the people, like the German Volkswagen®.or, 'People's Wagon'. But they couldn't make enough cars in their small factory to make enough money.<br /><br />It was Lars Einar who figured out that the only way to get more was to give more. That was when the Saab concept changed from the VW paradigm to the luxury car model, competing with the likes of Mercedes, Audi and BMW.<br /><br />That's exactly where things are at here on Vashon Island. We have a little factory and like the Trolls can only produce so much. That is why it is so important that every piece be printed perfectly, and fairly priced. We check the Internet and try to beat those low prices even though our jobs are produced 'fully loaded' ...options at other printing shops are standard at Vashon Island Imaging. Heck, I print my own stuff there ...(!)<br /><br />Curiously, Saab never lost money again after that until General Motors took over. Then Lars and a whole bunch of other good people left or were fired... including yours truly.<br /><br />I learned a lot of important lessons from Lars Einar and following his example I am retooling this blog and upgrading it to a luxury model. Frequency may decrease but quality will certainly increase. Coverage will be more detailed and complete. The new orientation will be a problem-solution approach in case history format. Kind of like a 'day-in-the-life' of a giclée guy.<br /><br />That change has already happened, if you hadn't already noticed. Things will continue to improve too.<br /><br />With the talented help of Pamela Swanson (www.poetpam.com) this blog and the Websites belonging to Douglas Mesney Art are being remodeled. Please bear with us during this process and let us know of any problems (thanks!).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pixel Perfect Printing</span><br /><br />The purpose of this blog (or whatever you call it) remains the same, pixel perfect printing. However, neither the blog nor my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée </span>(www.gicleeprepress.com), should be considered textbooks or encyclopedias.<br /><br />My writing are intended to be more like the sharing of tales and tips at a scuttlebutt between mates. The kind of things people talk about or read on long train rides. Like the train itself, the stories may ramble in odd directions at times but there's always a moral to each story at the end of the line, and hopefully getting to it is an enjoyable read.<br /><br />If there are two things I have learned in my many years it is these:<br /><br />1.) The path to a solution is seldom a straight line.<br />2.) The sum is greater than the whole of its parts<br /><br />OK, so maybe this isn't a blog. However, a rose by any other name is still a rose.<br /><br />Is there something <span style="font-style: italic;">you'd</span> like to know more about? Let me know (douglas@gicleeprepress.com) Subjects for the blog are selected from the requests of readers and our clients at Vashon Island Imaging (www.vashonislandimaging.com).<br /><br />Thanks for following <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée.</span>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-64349196717461128812010-10-15T20:13:00.000-07:002010-10-16T09:30:48.717-07:00Calendar Time<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQRYhfxmrcgi-5mhft-kIdlRNXrYgygc-y7sPixTtJAEqLFoNqKQadmm-xiBB9aySJfLgyOwAMBCfBp_Ym49CMMI7sqceNPhThl1adrmLOMFayOhDYE6pNy0FxFRl7r_d4TZIaDUSPtA/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Blue_Moon_No.1_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQRYhfxmrcgi-5mhft-kIdlRNXrYgygc-y7sPixTtJAEqLFoNqKQadmm-xiBB9aySJfLgyOwAMBCfBp_Ym49CMMI7sqceNPhThl1adrmLOMFayOhDYE6pNy0FxFRl7r_d4TZIaDUSPtA/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Blue_Moon_No.1_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528478078150288914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendar / Blue Moon</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">W</span></span>hen the nights get long it’s time for calendars again. Autumn's chill reminds people that they'll soon need next year's model. Savvy marketers already have their stocks of 2011 calendars in outlets everywhere.<br /><br />Here at Vashon Island Imaging we're scurrying to get our 2011 calendars ready in time for the semi-annual <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Art Studio Tour</span> which is coming up in a few weeks. (That's why it's been quiet on this blog for the last week or so.)<br /><br />Calendars are something I've made many times before. Some notable examples are a decade calendar made for <span style="font-style: italic;">DHL</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> in 1989 and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Scania</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> millennium calendar produced in 1999 (both below).<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTieFeGdu-ZRhOH0v7ReO0OmBQmhL1TcukDhVNjRCIMT5Z04IZb4cresfo4xe16_WGT_n0fVig6cLKDBG9Lni3g80ScDkwxcYHw8MlQC2JfhmtnT333yLu6wSm3fyfNp6-5Msh-OpbNoY/s1600/MESNEY_Calendar_DHL_1990_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTieFeGdu-ZRhOH0v7ReO0OmBQmhL1TcukDhVNjRCIMT5Z04IZb4cresfo4xe16_WGT_n0fVig6cLKDBG9Lni3g80ScDkwxcYHw8MlQC2JfhmtnT333yLu6wSm3fyfNp6-5Msh-OpbNoY/s320/MESNEY_Calendar_DHL_1990_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528478776962894834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">1990 </span><span>DHL</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> calendar design featured big bold pictures. Text was used as a design element and followed no strict style. The shots were made in a marathon two-week around-the-world shoot for the calendar as well as a 30-projector show we were producing for the launch of </span><span>DHL</span><span style="font-style: italic;">'s Brussels hub. Top row shows front and back covers. Second row shows three of my favorite shots... all done before </span><span>PhotoShop</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidanUNRtii401uJBtzPX5cXTsGjl7g2QnBYfmec7Bj47nSxvuv0qV8941cD0rEjih304-Hdgb_VzeIT46Ji3TjDf3SMJ03-1q6_5i-sIegecYlC91qENlzaGrrQtxYOZNjBTwrMJnzDX8/s1600/MESNEY_Calendar_Scania_2000_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidanUNRtii401uJBtzPX5cXTsGjl7g2QnBYfmec7Bj47nSxvuv0qV8941cD0rEjih304-Hdgb_VzeIT46Ji3TjDf3SMJ03-1q6_5i-sIegecYlC91qENlzaGrrQtxYOZNjBTwrMJnzDX8/s320/MESNEY_Calendar_Scania_2000_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528481531184641906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The 2000 calendar produced for </span>Scania<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(Sweden) followed a strict traditional format used by the company for many years. The template presents important information in multiple languages as the calendar is distributed around the world. The illustrations were put together from shots taken on a 2-month shoot of </span>Scania<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">products and people in 22 European countries. Each illustration presents four pictures that present a 'day in the life' story about a </span>Scania<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> coach. </span><br /><br />Back at the turn of the century digital imaging was still new. People never heard of 'giclée' because the term didn't exist. The first good <span style="font-style: italic;">Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> printers were just then coming onto the market, known simply as 'ink jet' machines. They opened the door to desktop photo printing.<br /><br />By the time the <span style="font-style: italic;">Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> 2200 came onto the market image quality was plenty good for the average photographer. Thus began the flood of '<span style="font-style: italic;">Epson prints</span>' that has yet to end.<br /><br />Like so many others I saw the potentials for making sensational customized portfolios and stunning direct mail pieces. I made 50 copies of a panoramic calendar in 2003 as a special gift portfolio of current illustrations (below):<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPWOMxH6W2xn-IA4qosw9kAgxoVNTyGD3s7MMAZh441OfMJEFtvMAqcwfBQOtyn8jz_vjq0fOObmlZHyBjYCfSgXMVclVRr9P6WsF4XESbcRewEPtSAw6X4SGp9mIrw8hxNK9E68UA9o/s1600/MESNEY_Calendar_2003_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPWOMxH6W2xn-IA4qosw9kAgxoVNTyGD3s7MMAZh441OfMJEFtvMAqcwfBQOtyn8jz_vjq0fOObmlZHyBjYCfSgXMVclVRr9P6WsF4XESbcRewEPtSAw6X4SGp9mIrw8hxNK9E68UA9o/s320/MESNEY_Calendar_2003_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528516836811842610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Inside cover (top) and two months of the </span>Incredible Images<span style="font-style: italic;"> 2003 commemorative calendar. </span>Incredible Images LLC<span style="font-style: italic;"> is my audiovisual art production company (learn more at www.incredibleimages.com). The calendar was produced to celebrate 30 years of audiovisual content creation.</span><br /><br />Producing the 2003 <span style="font-style: italic;">Incredible Images</span> calendar was so labor intensive that I backed off calendars totally... until now. What changed? ...The nature of life, among other things, especially in the US of A.<br /><br />Recall that 2003 was four years before the bubble burst. Commerce in the USA, Canada and the rest of the world was on a roll. Why make calendars if you can sell giant giclée murals?<br /><br />Times change. Now I hear that some companies are pulling their call centers back to the USA from India and China... because they can get a better price here now. That is something I can understand, being an artist and the owner of business providing artists' services.<br /><br />Artists are bellwethers of the economy, as I have written about before. They are the cores of our giclée customer base. Earlier this year I wrote how an up tick in our business seemed to belie what the pundits were saying. That was before I listened to Ed Griffin and learned how the whole thing works (see my blog on that and his book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Creature from Jekyll Island</span>)... that the pundits are worth listening to because they are indeed harbingers of the future... 'Spokespeople' for the powers that be.<br /><br />People are scared again, their fear whipped up by the added uncertainties presented by an upcoming election. So I guess we shouldn't take it personally but we have plenty of 'capacity' here at Vashon Island Imaging. That's never been a problem because I am my own best customer. Whenever we aren't printing for others, I have the whole place to make my own projects... <span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendars</span>, in this case. But how these fun new calendars came to be is a story in itself.<br /><br />A couple of months ago someone came to me with an idea for a calendar about their favorite subject, Mary Jane. The conversation happened while I was taking their picture for a momento giclée featuring them holding a tray full of their bountiful harvest.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLEU4KwjS6dMcN6VNkl1l4lbMRgxfkFVbjwX2AOALk3Dv_CgmmYR2xD7aoodCpCSrAl5M6dmSoT4Wvd0m9uaTvy8_ONL-Upz9F86vw0vHViD-gEm7Z7ILUg48u6bqPwD-NxRJrhVeqUc/s1600/MESNEY_Harvest_Tray_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLEU4KwjS6dMcN6VNkl1l4lbMRgxfkFVbjwX2AOALk3Dv_CgmmYR2xD7aoodCpCSrAl5M6dmSoT4Wvd0m9uaTvy8_ONL-Upz9F86vw0vHViD-gEm7Z7ILUg48u6bqPwD-NxRJrhVeqUc/s320/MESNEY_Harvest_Tray_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528496252204570018" border="0" /></a><br />During the shoot, something clicked in my head, not just the camera. Then, while the giclée was drying another client came into the studio, saw it, and exclaimed, 'Dude, that picture would sell a million copies. College kids would love it.' Needless to say I took note of that, especially since the person saying it is a principle in a large marketing company with kids in college.<br /><br />What was said confirmed my suspicion that contraband subjects appeal to people in the same way that 'gansta' stuff does. It's why people wear the Mary Jane emblem on everything from flags to T-shirts. Those folks would love an MJ calendar, eh? So the project got green-lighted.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjta6tye-a5z2CMsWVtT1h3HwaWqEDyNHGeK7-WApbiD_cvb9XfhgxQZRrljPEaYcgylhDy6nnTtp0Lqt-wiIcPtofKWQxLj9fTKh6JeVosFIASeJrQsPDZ8dd8u_1Fz88KmjBuJj-UhOE/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Bountiful_Harvest_1.1.jpg"><br /></a>While I was working on a new picture featuring just the tray of bounty, I got into the 'Zen' of giclée (it took some time to get right because it was shot in sections to get enough resolution for a giant sized poster). Staring at the emerging picture I suddenly saw the calendar wrapped around the circular tray, not sitting under it in the traditional calendar style. Cool, I thought, and set to work on a circular calendar.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJfrqa9_1Mt1f5aV2-cZprmI0sRWFiY5zu5E1__UdQSV30n0_ekPGo0Nrf4-8wABbAmuQrFLwtOwUSKlzqq0EwxBJDKkSrM-UQpytfbD8Jp4_fQBi1LMvNDilCqcbWAs2iYQGoIRyJak/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Bountiful_Harvest_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJfrqa9_1Mt1f5aV2-cZprmI0sRWFiY5zu5E1__UdQSV30n0_ekPGo0Nrf4-8wABbAmuQrFLwtOwUSKlzqq0EwxBJDKkSrM-UQpytfbD8Jp4_fQBi1LMvNDilCqcbWAs2iYQGoIRyJak/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Bountiful_Harvest_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528497069990701298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendar / Bountiful Harvest</span><br /></div><br />The first thing was spending 8 hours making an elaborate basic calendar in <span style="font-style: italic;">PhotoShop</span>®, with every day on it's own layer. The idea was to make a huge 'ribbon' 12-months wide, then wrap that around the circular tray. Executing the plan is when I discovered that there is no way to wrap a rasterized image into a circle. Boo hoo.<br /><br />Undaunted, I turned to Pamela Swanson (should have done that first). Of course, she had a solution... 'Just remake it' ...in<span style="font-style: italic;"> Illustrator</span>®. So she put in another 12 hours (longer? she won't tell). <span style="font-style: italic;">Voila</span>, a perfect circular calendar materialized. Thank you Pam (www.poetpam.com).<br /><br />After the calendar ring and tray picture were brought together in <span style="font-style: italic;">PhotoShop</span>®, the coloration for the calendar ring was worked out to harmonize with the coloration of the bountiful harvest picture. The result looked so good that it produced another epiphany, or as John Stewart calls it on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Daily Report</span>, a 'Moment of Zen'... Produce a collection of the circular calendars. After all, some people like red and others like blue. Right?<br /><br />Coloration for the calendar ring was revisited with other pictures in mind. It was adjusted so that it easily changes hue to fit harmoniously with pictures in any color range. That is, after positioning the calendar around any picture, simply adjust Hue & Saturation in <span style="font-style: italic;">PhotoShop</span>® until you find the one you like. Then tweak it with Levels and Color Balance. The whole thing takes just a few moments and the results can be seen in miniature below and very soon in larger sizes at www.spinningcalendars.com. Huh...? <span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning</span> calendars...?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5ZJUl6hrTHvoIIe7w8kgRJ0geooOramr8YbZc9YLW0RVTFQsJne0nq_eyw5PaMLmL-Up8ZQjzc9clnr0yubussHHaz8J3yWhJgPY9aklBOL5YVLdWmNWfuBTxqucv31uZr8zJAYftF4/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendars_Body_Geometry_No.1_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5ZJUl6hrTHvoIIe7w8kgRJ0geooOramr8YbZc9YLW0RVTFQsJne0nq_eyw5PaMLmL-Up8ZQjzc9clnr0yubussHHaz8J3yWhJgPY9aklBOL5YVLdWmNWfuBTxqucv31uZr8zJAYftF4/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendars_Body_Geometry_No.1_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528498185171115154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendar / Body Geometry No. 1</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Making Heads Spin</span><br /><br />You'd think that just the circular format of the new calendars would be sufficient, eh? However throughout the process I was plagued with the problem of 'practicality'.<br /><br />Practicality is a big deal with calendars as it turns out because that is why people buy them in the first place... they need to look up dates. Making their heads spin with unique design only goes so far if the calendar is hard for people to use. Being nearly illegible at extreme angles or upside down counts as being hard to use.<br /><br />Being practical is even more important today because now people need to justify expenditures. Anything deemed unnecessary is either off most people's lists or near the bottom. People 'need' art only some of the time but they need calendars almost every day of the week.<br /><br />Combine attractiveness and practicality and you have a good thing going, as any good calendar publisher will tell you. Combining good design with usefulness presents an extraordinary marketing opportunity every time.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0y-lfv6KjWgjAwPjMyBgz7Z3flsXBdOX-RfJA93DXNDEtPtIPZSXd4Whq34histqKXfofFMK3ADa0YdCETtb-mP9SxAgx4Rk0reBHDIQOZbfG86utJof4G895C6D1wxwmTMP978XyyE/s1600/JUDET_Pascale_Clock_4.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0y-lfv6KjWgjAwPjMyBgz7Z3flsXBdOX-RfJA93DXNDEtPtIPZSXd4Whq34histqKXfofFMK3ADa0YdCETtb-mP9SxAgx4Rk0reBHDIQOZbfG86utJof4G895C6D1wxwmTMP978XyyE/s320/JUDET_Pascale_Clock_4.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528489240516526562" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Is it art or is it a clock? </span>Pascal Judet<span style="font-style: italic;">'s extraordinary miniatures are a big example. She is an accomplished artist whose little decorated clocks outsell prints at the </span>Heron's Nest<span style="font-style: italic;"> arts and crafts boutique on Vashon Island. Why? Practicality and price. The purchase of a useful clock is 'justified' in the client's mind more than a work of art.</span><br /><br />Once that bell went off in my head the idea of<span style="font-style: italic;"> Spinning Calendars</span> was manifested. The solution for the circular calendar's legibility problem was rotation.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAceCAmBwcoYcUoHi4Q4FuoXlqgQ_6AwhOOgvg8SnPCljoeEfj8YYBQHrBWWVCURGGbenS9uy4OuN5dsXjxUEh2zyfbxOD8kxo7MOmrngDDZezXsfYVE-LQ5vjviwCK5G_U4040T68Xgs/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Spins_Two_Ways_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 176px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAceCAmBwcoYcUoHi4Q4FuoXlqgQ_6AwhOOgvg8SnPCljoeEfj8YYBQHrBWWVCURGGbenS9uy4OuN5dsXjxUEh2zyfbxOD8kxo7MOmrngDDZezXsfYVE-LQ5vjviwCK5G_U4040T68Xgs/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Spins_Two_Ways_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528492889792874002" border="0" /></a><br />Rotation allows the user to place emphasis on whatever month or time of year they prefer. Neat! So I went to work on finding a rotating mechanism. Circling in on a solution lead to consideration of the selling situation, a place where my head spends a lot of time.<br /><br />I always try to put myself in the customer's shoes. It’s hard to put your ego aside, but you have to. What you think is good isn't necessarily another's opinion. Besides, the world is crammed with calendars... what the world doesn't need is another one. But here we come anyway with a whole new kind because in the end it is all marketing.<br /><br />Marketing is an ingredient that when combined with good design and practicality create a powerfully symbiotic effect on sales. The boost comes from catch phrases and other things that make certain products and ideas easier to remember than others. They stay in your mind and that is important because you are what you think. Anyway, that's how <span style="font-style: italic;">www.spinningcalendars.com</span> happened.<br /><br />You might say that spinning is gimmicky. I would say that you are absolutely right. Sometimes a little gimmick is a good thing, eh? Give's a product a different 'spin' (sorry, couldn't resist that pun).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MaFnBvTBG7XnwoM87bKKeV6Wuf7KqDUbSlPwJDBcrG2d170mrmmAhFLgJiDxO-Q5ML3qUdsW1E0S1TK3uX0emeoTZ5cpnKBElIrlzIWyQuRC09FK-IOYiFUWDb0D1Qb24ZL4TNt359k/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendars_Twist_of_Fate_No.1_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MaFnBvTBG7XnwoM87bKKeV6Wuf7KqDUbSlPwJDBcrG2d170mrmmAhFLgJiDxO-Q5ML3qUdsW1E0S1TK3uX0emeoTZ5cpnKBElIrlzIWyQuRC09FK-IOYiFUWDb0D1Qb24ZL4TNt359k/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendars_Twist_of_Fate_No.1_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528499528181154210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendar / Twist of Fate</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Controlling the Spin</span><br /><br />Why am I telling you this? If you read this blog you probably do this stuff yourself. If you want to duplicate our efforts and have the time to make your own circular calendar, be our guest and, if you do, my book<span style="font-style: italic;"> Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> will be helpful.<br /><br />Here's a better idea... let us make your picture(s) into <span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendars</span>. What a concept, eh? Why reinvent the wheel... use ours. The trick is to come up with pictures that look good from any angle. It will amaze you how many don't. Like watching theatre in the round, not all folks look great from behind. So it goes with pictures.<br /><br />Beyond rotation all the usual 'rules' apply in terms of subject popularity and size (things I have written about in previous blogs). The top selling pictures at <span style="font-style: italic;">IKEA</span><span style="font-size:85%;">® </span>are 30X50 cm (about 12 X 20 inches) and 50X70 cm (about 20 X 28 inches).<br /><br />Based on those <span style="font-style: italic;">IKEA</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> sales figures we've come up with two calendar sizes: 15-inches in diameter (38 cm) and 20 inches (50 cm). Depending on demand, we may offer additional sizes especially larger ones. There is a limit on the lower end sizes unless the user isn't concerned about reading the calendar. In my own mind the limit is a 12-inch diameter calendar (however, I wear glasses).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDa9dukuQnrfGTFeYQmvZsqo2dlxa9oaTqpFfdCpGkFeH20a1i4GFtuBaCw7kOeFOWR9yXickUEGepH6LQ3urMJA6i9ve0_W5TL6Df4etva1EaLjvWOGFYQumDS6u-WBst-QvQqZ_6lg/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Orange_Hibiscus_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDa9dukuQnrfGTFeYQmvZsqo2dlxa9oaTqpFfdCpGkFeH20a1i4GFtuBaCw7kOeFOWR9yXickUEGepH6LQ3urMJA6i9ve0_W5TL6Df4etva1EaLjvWOGFYQumDS6u-WBst-QvQqZ_6lg/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_Orange_Hibiscus_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528500539858759938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendar / Orange Hibiscus</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendars</span> are limited edition giclées of illustrations by yours truly and soon others (possibly you?). We print them on <span style="font-style: italic;">Epson</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Enhanced Matte</span> art paper, mount them on 8-point art board, varnish them with <span style="font-style: italic;">Golden</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Polymer Varnish</span>, and assemble them on spinners that hang easily from a single hook.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendars</span> will enter the market as individually signed artworks. But you know as well as I do how things can spin out of control. Maybe the new <span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendars</span> will go 'viral' and circulate through the Web via www.spinningcalendars.com... Fingers crossed but whatever they turn into it’s been fun giving this idea a spin.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AR9DdZ1wiiwLKtVh5PvGbM2s1DQzGPqVgvAFj7rdNmFjvCEeUkVC8eAgZsqgnEXlKo0z_GtAoWUI_2-w_BrYWpAaPNpp2TMDnIrj_Ib7ZH3Zi1xgB1QGqqQ2JyCTvAfH1DYIWnG4fW4/s1600/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_lluminated_Dancer_No.1_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AR9DdZ1wiiwLKtVh5PvGbM2s1DQzGPqVgvAFj7rdNmFjvCEeUkVC8eAgZsqgnEXlKo0z_GtAoWUI_2-w_BrYWpAaPNpp2TMDnIrj_Ib7ZH3Zi1xgB1QGqqQ2JyCTvAfH1DYIWnG4fW4/s320/MESNEY_Spinning_Calendar_lluminated_Dancer_No.1_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528491374648909378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spinning Calendar / Illuminated Dancer No. 1</span><br /><br />'The End'<br /></div>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-91687732851965250652010-10-06T10:07:00.001-07:002010-10-06T22:46:24.605-07:00Manipulating Depth Perception<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >A</span>utumn is the time for spiders on Vashon Island. Before the field was mowed last week it was a 'worldwide web'. One hefty spider built a huge web in just the right place to get great shots, which I couldn't resist with Halloween just around the corner.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5MrRtVQgrt8FuVXOf_JCNQmniEXMFCLmsXbzQC7unopxD8yB0zYpQfZrNhT7GJtVMJPrwKc8RFc02wp9S3AFVGL0erS_rPTc8Ul63qn1xdJjh7t9OPRZxd_42w0wxxOBasDltpzG0kk0/s1600/MESNEY_Within_Reach_1.11_320X390_10.06.15.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5MrRtVQgrt8FuVXOf_JCNQmniEXMFCLmsXbzQC7unopxD8yB0zYpQfZrNhT7GJtVMJPrwKc8RFc02wp9S3AFVGL0erS_rPTc8Ul63qn1xdJjh7t9OPRZxd_42w0wxxOBasDltpzG0kk0/s320/MESNEY_Within_Reach_1.11_320X390_10.06.15.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524983330822948530" border="0" /></a>Within Reach <span style="font-style: italic;">features a spider and was the subject of an earlier blog.</span><br /><br />Spiders have been around for 140-million years and are remarkable creatures for so many reasons. The one that interests me most is their primal symbolism, which evokes an emotional response in just about everyone. That makes them good subjects for pictures.<br /><br />Another is the mastery with which they build their webs, often in places that provoke a sense of wonder. For example, I once saw a huge orb web suspended between two trees 50 feet apart... how did the little bugger do that?<br /><br />Like fishermen spiders repair and rebuild build their webs over and over again as wind and airborne flotsam take their toll on the fragile filigree. Which brings me to the inspiration for my latest pair of illustrations called '<span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End</span>'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_18fFN7EcVd5rXKdTxiu3bzhGvrOmMTJ84FDbRPi_8PAdVjAHlyZ9wHCDjKb0VOmz95ePgoMig4-QP3b7vYjnLHTvvsDB0hxIUYfSCsWSMNgML59vl8QICJ2CXRNShsiysW0zjHRXxYU/s1600/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_18fFN7EcVd5rXKdTxiu3bzhGvrOmMTJ84FDbRPi_8PAdVjAHlyZ9wHCDjKb0VOmz95ePgoMig4-QP3b7vYjnLHTvvsDB0hxIUYfSCsWSMNgML59vl8QICJ2CXRNShsiysW0zjHRXxYU/s320/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524994164940272914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End No. 1</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUuYPKhlA9dxEDAXPsD0EJ_lg-HSiDZFiZPMG0ZEZXvjBIEDLt-NDGddt0dtY9lAzFAa3SHAx2-DGBLMFDHBAdf5IkESeQB72zmOjQwIyTAVvUni2xMcawhVfSAtDbRFSAogtiJAY5v4/s1600/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_No.2_1.8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUuYPKhlA9dxEDAXPsD0EJ_lg-HSiDZFiZPMG0ZEZXvjBIEDLt-NDGddt0dtY9lAzFAa3SHAx2-DGBLMFDHBAdf5IkESeQB72zmOjQwIyTAVvUni2xMcawhVfSAtDbRFSAogtiJAY5v4/s320/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_No.2_1.8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524994942606483330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End No. 2</span><br /><br />As the field was being mowed, huge clouds of ground up dried goldenrod and field grass fouled the extraordinary web recently shot. So back it was to the camera to record this calamitous moment in the spider’s life, when the world around was mowed to the ground.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQu_GF4gPvxCN-jauY5xRmEn85wy3c7XFQKs5LvcKofBruN1ck3VnmQ_P7k0msjrm0oLmekavVMqjzdcc3Bdn44WPaJbKealjEpWMsYvTx295XhEYGz4Nn7i-T8tg4x7VjPD4hEd8cBM/s1600/MESNEY_Field_Mower_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQu_GF4gPvxCN-jauY5xRmEn85wy3c7XFQKs5LvcKofBruN1ck3VnmQ_P7k0msjrm0oLmekavVMqjzdcc3Bdn44WPaJbKealjEpWMsYvTx295XhEYGz4Nn7i-T8tg4x7VjPD4hEd8cBM/s320/MESNEY_Field_Mower_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524999967570514706" border="0" /></a>As I was shooting super close-ups of the goldenrod seeds caught in the web, I recalled a scene made of thistles at sunset a month earlier (shown below). That led to the 'aha' moment when '<span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End</span>' began.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjp1X9qAJeL1B0MzdEVl-NXuazgdPNpZ9R1VgXX8F-17k5xpvU2VdlP6FjfcEIGLl3qJag32RqQmqkVkMcHK5uxRVCz7WvSnvg44d0BRKnASAOLii4cpuAtDp7GaOHIXhtfEOrabdA7fQ/s1600/MESNEY_Field_Shooting_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 90px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjp1X9qAJeL1B0MzdEVl-NXuazgdPNpZ9R1VgXX8F-17k5xpvU2VdlP6FjfcEIGLl3qJag32RqQmqkVkMcHK5uxRVCz7WvSnvg44d0BRKnASAOLii4cpuAtDp7GaOHIXhtfEOrabdA7fQ/s320/MESNEY_Field_Shooting_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525106002065442018" border="0" /></a>Few things go as planned and so it was with this illustration. When I joined up the new picture of the fouled web with illustration of thistles at sunset my heart sank as I realized that the web was fouled with the wrong kind of seeds. But that wasn't the end, it was just the beginning... especially of the 'karmic' part of this picture and story. This picture it seems was 'meant to be'.<br /><br />They say that if you can think of something you can make it happen. I believe it and also believe that everything you need is right around you at any given time, but not always obvious. You have to tune your awareness in an allowing mode instead of a resistant one. It’s part of 'going with the flow' instead of paddling upstream. Anyway...<br /><br />I was 'cleaning up' to get ready for another project when I discovered a jar full of thistle seeds collected a few years earlier. A shiver goes down my spine again as I recount the episode.<br /><br />Getting back to work on Beginning of The End, I had plenty of time to think about that serendipity because 18 individual picture elements had to be pre-assembled from 70 frames to make all the pieces of the illustration... a job requiring several days. The challenge was to manipulate the depth of focus required for each individual piece as well as the illustration as a whole.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Effect of Lenses on Depth of Focus</span><br /><br />Different lenses produce different kinds of depth perception, as you well know. My tastes are for the look produced by extremely wide-angle lenses. Back in the day my normal lens for 35mm work was a 21mm Nikkor, for example.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWw3XmMdh64_SfPuGK04-Vs5dUne-I7URAPJhRqhsXiDz4lad4JdvLcnUUcN5utD-VpXYXliPuxNUlVUKm8FuB8xsB8HIsf_X_GHFGAxgz__lKft0XXXcVBFpza4r4sM2iSQQM-PHi5M/s1600/MESNEY_1964_CarolDouglas_2.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWw3XmMdh64_SfPuGK04-Vs5dUne-I7URAPJhRqhsXiDz4lad4JdvLcnUUcN5utD-VpXYXliPuxNUlVUKm8FuB8xsB8HIsf_X_GHFGAxgz__lKft0XXXcVBFpza4r4sM2iSQQM-PHi5M/s320/MESNEY_1964_CarolDouglas_2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525111188256137138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Super-wide-angle lenses with dark red filters produced my trademark look beginning in 1960 when this picture was made of model Carol Douglas on the Fire Island dunes.</span><br /><br />Wide-angle lenses expand depth perception, whereas telephoto lenses compress it. Compared to one another, a telephoto picture has a flatter look. Wide angle lenses have unlimited depth of field but with telephoto lenses the depth of field is shallow (narrow).<br /><br />Depth of field is also known as 'depth of focus'..As a rule of thumb, the longer the lens, the less depth of focus. Extreme wide-angle lenses have the deepest depth of field. In a wide-angle shot just about everything is in focus but in a telephoto picture the focus is selective.<br /><br />Selective focus is what they call pictures that go in and out of focus. You see these pictures all the time... the subject is in focus and the background is out of focus.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDapT3BeMDQGcqqiAPDxy8ifcpVgng6VfdnNjmTmtNjM9QVLzeYRIWcw8EezvVuOWzLVX316shktNMPvJLVUHEm2Ep9gA299vHxxvO0ECiXDDp1lCvznwE_oUYagLlLApMrbUs81RDwM/s1600/MESNEY_Race_Car_Watkins_Glen_1.1_1964.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDapT3BeMDQGcqqiAPDxy8ifcpVgng6VfdnNjmTmtNjM9QVLzeYRIWcw8EezvVuOWzLVX316shktNMPvJLVUHEm2Ep9gA299vHxxvO0ECiXDDp1lCvznwE_oUYagLlLApMrbUs81RDwM/s320/MESNEY_Race_Car_Watkins_Glen_1.1_1964.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525115889887935378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Extreme telephoto shot taken at Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1964 made with a Russian 500mm MTO lens. A rare lens, the MTO uses 'folded optics' to give powerful magnification in a short lens. Many photographs like mirror-reflex lenses because the render out-of-focus highlights as 'donuts'... as seen in the following blow-up of a piece of the background of this picture.</span><br /><br />Some photographers achieve a special form of selective focus by manipulating the 'swing and tilt' of the lens, which alters the plane of focus.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbbu4Z6p4tIhKG0YIC3liEnSG_OX0Od2JxSKiwRgimRJbTqIS3gxue8LWLdDCJep0zfiAUAsPtD8SqUTC6VyZXH3IS4wBFsM6B9SOMel7uxoRP1JC1sry-i6QremiPr9QdTwd2sYDRIo/s1600/MESNEY_Spider_Web_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbbu4Z6p4tIhKG0YIC3liEnSG_OX0Od2JxSKiwRgimRJbTqIS3gxue8LWLdDCJep0zfiAUAsPtD8SqUTC6VyZXH3IS4wBFsM6B9SOMel7uxoRP1JC1sry-i6QremiPr9QdTwd2sYDRIo/s320/MESNEY_Spider_Web_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525137829907442594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Plane of focus is clearly seen even in this thumbnail-sized picture.</span><br /><br />The plane of focus is the part of the picture that is in focus. As you focus the lens, the plane of focus moves toward or away from you. Whatever is in the plane of focus looks sharp. As things leave the plane of focus they get less and less sharp. This effect provides opportunities and challenges, especially if you make photo illustrations, which are essentially collages.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Collages Require Consistent Ingredients</span><br /><br />Collages come in many forms ranging from abstract to decorative to photo-realism, which is my style. All my illustrations are collages of other pictures, and this new work is no exception being a collage of 50+ photos. Here are its ingredients:<br /><br />1.) Thistle sunset background - 3 frames merged (for pixel density)<br />2.) 10 individual seeds - each 3 frames merged (for focus depth)<br />3.) Spider web - 5 frames merged<br />4.) Spider - 8 frames merged<br />5.) Birds - from archive<br /><br />Photo-realism is a demanding form of collage because all the pieces have to come together as a recreation of reality that looks, well... real.<br /><br />If you make these kinds of pictures you know that consistency is all important. Three key considerations for each picture element are:<br /><br />1.) Focus<br />2.) Perspective<br />3.) Lighting<br /><br />There are many other factors for which are fully described in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée.</span> Here we will focus on, well... focus. To be more precise, <span style="font-style: italic;">depth</span> of focus.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mastering Depth of Focus</span><br /><br />The way you master depth of focus is the same way you master any other collage... in sections. In this case, subjects that don't 'fit' into the field of focus are shot in 'layers' of focus. The thistle seeds in this picture were shot in three focus layers, for example (seen below).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwndsMF1xdicaIUzqbX-bTBsKAAr7fpY2kmMRJTPFFj8JkIE509tTtQmp-fsrsCmnbYiaqL1eMS7GxKdtUaiOIqtNcqWX_wwMIkn39eJXR9NTjdZ10vuYGYxNNj1CFHOf3RDfRlo-Fzc/s1600/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_Shooting_ECU_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwndsMF1xdicaIUzqbX-bTBsKAAr7fpY2kmMRJTPFFj8JkIE509tTtQmp-fsrsCmnbYiaqL1eMS7GxKdtUaiOIqtNcqWX_wwMIkn39eJXR9NTjdZ10vuYGYxNNj1CFHOf3RDfRlo-Fzc/s320/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_Shooting_ECU_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525139084306480642" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Using a </span>Medical-Nikkor<span style="font-style: italic;"> 105mm lens at f/22 (for maximum depth of field), each seed was shot for near focus (1), middle focus (2) and far focus (3).</span><br /><br />You might ask, why didn't you use a wide-angle lens that has enough depth of field to get the whole thing in one shot? Because a wide-angle lens can't get close enough to make the thistle seed big enough in the picture. Some things need microscopes, after all.<br /><br />Shooting the seeds was an exercise in 'macro' photography, which is what they call super close-up work just shy of 'photo-microscopy' (when you shoot through a microscope). In both cases you have extremely limited depth of focus. That may be a good thing for some pictures but not for what was needed in <span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMU9p6pJgPj5POirl6BpzNnqM0NrstzYrF2GU77xnKZ6LX8Zh-8pvx9QHu8pIk5z9rjELpU5Xcx0qGhQ20JWVLzQE55j6szPx3rUWNertCKzY4G7spMG7UUiWTAibYKyBEBx5fUejLDI/s1600/MESNEY_Thistle_Sunset_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMU9p6pJgPj5POirl6BpzNnqM0NrstzYrF2GU77xnKZ6LX8Zh-8pvx9QHu8pIk5z9rjELpU5Xcx0qGhQ20JWVLzQE55j6szPx3rUWNertCKzY4G7spMG7UUiWTAibYKyBEBx5fUejLDI/s320/MESNEY_Thistle_Sunset_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525140479559976130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Thistle Sunset</span><br /><br />The look of Beginning of the End had to be based on the background picture, <span style="font-style: italic;">Thistle Sunset</span>. That scene was shot with the <span style="font-style: italic;">Nikkor </span>70-210 mm lens, at the long end of its range. The result is a selective focus look with a few points of sharp focus surrounded by a lot of out-of-focus elements.<br /><br />The design objective for the new illustration was to create an 'artificial' plane of focus running vertically through the foreground of <span style="font-style: italic;">Thistle Sunset</span> from top to bottom. Into that plane of focus the new subjects of the picture -- thistle seeds and spider/web -- would be arranged.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Close Point Defines Focal Plane</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdbaMsqrNSr-kEocH7-BPzLEE5x-_V5jBaKSUnjtgIn4sl-NRP7EoXdtLTAX7ly0o-Z1FjQZPteVRco1HR4LhERaQBcWKYXOZsEpa_fIkmSx5mio9KFAy2Q4l1hdII7XLUAWv0CPn7Pg/s1600/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.2_Close_Point.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdbaMsqrNSr-kEocH7-BPzLEE5x-_V5jBaKSUnjtgIn4sl-NRP7EoXdtLTAX7ly0o-Z1FjQZPteVRco1HR4LhERaQBcWKYXOZsEpa_fIkmSx5mio9KFAy2Q4l1hdII7XLUAWv0CPn7Pg/s320/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.2_Close_Point.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525142710040903218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">New close point made from copying other out-of-focus flowers, then processing them to get them bigger and softer which is how they would look if originally shot closer to the lens. </span><br /><br />To create an artificial plane of focus new 'close points' have to be established. This was done using out-of-focus plants and flowers. Those were placed on the uppermost layers and given soft edge blends into the sharp elements under them.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdXNecEsdc5-U18x3WL9192RZJud4km-AgBCMAby9LI2Une1lPMHoHwVhYbz8KSKTxRn646ug3K-73nyq4AS92ZyR46-6zo2aoKebB4NbtNCy7E8ny58CRzyTGoq-G9z9Zzn3A_PZ5K0/s1600/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.3_Layer_Stack.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 94px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdXNecEsdc5-U18x3WL9192RZJud4km-AgBCMAby9LI2Une1lPMHoHwVhYbz8KSKTxRn646ug3K-73nyq4AS92ZyR46-6zo2aoKebB4NbtNCy7E8ny58CRzyTGoq-G9z9Zzn3A_PZ5K0/s320/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.3_Layer_Stack.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525146080385974866" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Sandwiched between the new close points and the background scene, the seeds, spider and web were stacked to overlap each other front to back, as they would in reality.</span><br /><br />The elements appearing within the picture's new plane of focus needed to be totally sharp. No parts of the seeds or spider web could be out of focus because that wouldn't look real. Focus fluctuations within the logical' plane of focus disturb the eye unless they are very intentional and obvious.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Match Lighting</span><br /><br />For a good collage, consistent lighting is as important as focus. Nothing gives away an assembly more than shadows that go the wrong direction, or highlights on some elements and not others.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thistle Sunset</span> is a back-lit scene. The thistles are silhouetted against a bright yellow sky. The sun peeks through providing dapples of light within the plane of focus - additional elements needed to match the look of that lighting.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixv3BSn-VmFlC1OnpLVnExiTdazedS6ybwtSpVPzOjcIXU-8kWSWQVsq5JSotw2fXsG_4f1gwEHZ6nfzG_SPxkh9wVLb1AIHVfw_hagwjfWYOJhhVgTxDB2bjHEK6NKFqq7DP3NEEj7m8/s1600/MESNEY_Orb_Spider_Web_2.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixv3BSn-VmFlC1OnpLVnExiTdazedS6ybwtSpVPzOjcIXU-8kWSWQVsq5JSotw2fXsG_4f1gwEHZ6nfzG_SPxkh9wVLb1AIHVfw_hagwjfWYOJhhVgTxDB2bjHEK6NKFqq7DP3NEEj7m8/s320/MESNEY_Orb_Spider_Web_2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525148043789497186" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Spider webs are made of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from a spider's 'spinnerets' as a continuous gossamer-thin filament. The silken thread is nearly invisible unless lit from behind... which is why so many webs end up in my face and hair. Back light makes spider webs stand out but another problem remains... the background.</span><br /><br />Spider webs are so thin that any background texture showing through them will make their isolation from that background much more difficult. For example, a hand-made path was used to make the selection to isolate the web in the illustration <span style="font-style: italic;">Within Reach</span> (top of page) and that took an entire day.<br /><br />It is much easier to use an automated tool like the <span style="font-style: italic;">Magic Wand</span> or Select/Color Range. However to use those tools you need a fairly 'solid' background. To obtain that requires the use of a telephoto lens long enough to selectively blur the background as much as possible. The webs for this illustration were shot with a 210mm lens, which is a 'medium' length telephoto lens.<br /><br />An even better way to shoot spider webs is to use an extreme telephoto lens, like a 500mm or longer. For pristine webs I normally use a 1200mm. When you use such a long lens the entire web is within the plane of focus of the lens. However, then your pixel resolution is limited to a single frame. That's OK if your camera shoots enough pixels for you to work with. But if you want to make a giant giclée of spider web you'll need way more pixels than your camera can shoot. To get sufficient pixel density you need to shoot the web in sections and reassemble it in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4Bm7AjH0rMF_P42S27iyccGynciX3UprHet9ulQuqArZFs6mt8TLfg7_Ehd9xlrQMkoxysGnJkfpTNKpDShzsXOVHqDBT0H_SDIQv61jZA0Ts4JMjT8iM5B3qQ7J_MdRFQvguvFqJlI/s1600/MESNEY_Orb_Spider_Web_2.2_Shoot.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4Bm7AjH0rMF_P42S27iyccGynciX3UprHet9ulQuqArZFs6mt8TLfg7_Ehd9xlrQMkoxysGnJkfpTNKpDShzsXOVHqDBT0H_SDIQv61jZA0Ts4JMjT8iM5B3qQ7J_MdRFQvguvFqJlI/s320/MESNEY_Orb_Spider_Web_2.2_Shoot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525153304761746450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">To create a totally sharp web with enough pixels it was shot as five frames, each focused on a different 1-inch 'slice' of the total 8-inch web depth. </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEX2VmvrEt7w5GCqbvDTfV5dwskQH86IRhA0UPGIBssAduBcm9VGIqNhXW_LS6VF1pEv8IESH8NBawoqchuMkzxN9nK2GYmriT-uYHV0YI3Tr_7wWE-HlkNZWXlYK3ojhipygVigo_pUs/s1600/MESNEY_Orb_Spider_Web_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEX2VmvrEt7w5GCqbvDTfV5dwskQH86IRhA0UPGIBssAduBcm9VGIqNhXW_LS6VF1pEv8IESH8NBawoqchuMkzxN9nK2GYmriT-uYHV0YI3Tr_7wWE-HlkNZWXlYK3ojhipygVigo_pUs/s320/MESNEY_Orb_Spider_Web_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525148443943125698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The five parts of the web picture have been pulled apart to show the layer slices. The pieces were assembled in PhotoShop</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >®</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> to make a totally sharp web... well, almost totally. For realism the farthest and closest parts of the web were allowed to go a little soft.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />The same shooting technique was applied to the thistle seeds. Each was shot as five slices then reassembled in PhotoShop®. The lens used was a <span style="font-style: italic;">Medical-Nikkor</span> 105mm with an extension tube that allowed a thistle seed to fill the entire frame from a distance that provided enough room for all the flagging required (see below).<br /><br />Recall that macro lenses shoot like telephoto lenses. Both have shallow depth of field. Shooting super close-ups, your depth of field may be a quarter of an inch or less. While a short lens would give more depth of focus, it would also distort the shape of the seeds, making them look weird.<br /><br />But back to lighting...<br /><br />Two lighting set-ups were used to photograph the thistle seeds. One simulating the look of objects in the path of the sun's rays, the other for objects in the dappled shadows and their rim-lit edges.<br /><br />You might ask, why didn't you just shoot them outside under real match-light conditions? The answer is rain. We get a lot of it here and I was too impatient to wait. Besides, the studio environment provided much greater control of the thistle seeds, which fly away on a breeze as gentle as a sleeping baby's breath.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVG25p9uCwPSjJvUhrMvq5-2Y6IEBVU9d1uWIEFoJs4y9-ZHAL-3B9R8pkrRI263USUrq4h5vJwsahYV4bYJm3jxDJpO-vDgmpsdT9bDlg_NIU7l8PNTmoXkTbuotteVrxpTP3ptQ548/s1600/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_Shoot_1.1.jpg"><br /></a>The t<span>histle seeds were placed on a sheet of moistened glass in front of black velvet. A single </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Tensor</span><span>® lamp was used to simulates sunlight. A </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Tensor</span><span>® lamp's Kelvin temperature is only 3000°. By exposing for Kelvin 7300° the color of the light becomes a golden yellow, like the sunlight in<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Thistle Sunset</span> (shown below).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0nI1LHrqOycwDBXzOtxRTefHSagLRdat-nkLqFzvdqxvnWqgHCuS2Sc7wquOQ_RwLSfpctBZl_71Wb3FYqeeOyPYeCOiYTFQPBBX9Lcpx2CN5uqxStLv2ZMBn60cHNc8Pr-0AVMPDeI/s1600/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_2.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0nI1LHrqOycwDBXzOtxRTefHSagLRdat-nkLqFzvdqxvnWqgHCuS2Sc7wquOQ_RwLSfpctBZl_71Wb3FYqeeOyPYeCOiYTFQPBBX9Lcpx2CN5uqxStLv2ZMBn60cHNc8Pr-0AVMPDeI/s320/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525163085068664802" border="0" /></a><br />Match lighting required shooting almost directly into the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tensor</span>® lamp, so it and the lens had to be heavily 'flagged'. A 'flag' blocks light from hitting the lens, the subject, or other part of the picture.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDAY1SU6VkOAhwwJKBgn_gDsqdQvNW-ETwJrNQWqxIlAz8jfr8GbPz3I2m63iwB4Xay8LR-7tUB4xmU1K5RKDh6yA49hXsUCLIzIAIOwJX-JuCe2ss73wRhyphenhyphenI8T6avaiKnfkeFfyiLu8/s1600/MESNEY_Flag_Lens_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDAY1SU6VkOAhwwJKBgn_gDsqdQvNW-ETwJrNQWqxIlAz8jfr8GbPz3I2m63iwB4Xay8LR-7tUB4xmU1K5RKDh6yA49hXsUCLIzIAIOwJX-JuCe2ss73wRhyphenhyphenI8T6avaiKnfkeFfyiLu8/s320/MESNEY_Flag_Lens_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525163326533193970" border="0" /></a><br /><span>The best flag for a lens is a piece of black paper with a square, rectangle or circle cut out of it (above). Place it between the lens and the subject and move it forward or backward until it precisely crops the subject (below). </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVG25p9uCwPSjJvUhrMvq5-2Y6IEBVU9d1uWIEFoJs4y9-ZHAL-3B9R8pkrRI263USUrq4h5vJwsahYV4bYJm3jxDJpO-vDgmpsdT9bDlg_NIU7l8PNTmoXkTbuotteVrxpTP3ptQ548/s1600/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_Shoot_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVG25p9uCwPSjJvUhrMvq5-2Y6IEBVU9d1uWIEFoJs4y9-ZHAL-3B9R8pkrRI263USUrq4h5vJwsahYV4bYJm3jxDJpO-vDgmpsdT9bDlg_NIU7l8PNTmoXkTbuotteVrxpTP3ptQ548/s320/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_Shoot_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525161608431736290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span>Offset the light position and use additional flags to get the effect you want, moving it closer to (or away from) dead center behind the subject. The result is a sparkling look for the gossamer threads of the thistle seeds.</span><br /><br />Black velvet is the best background material for shooting back-lit objects for isolation in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:85%;">®.</span> It is the blackest black you 'see' and doesn't show shadows. Even the faintest amount of back light will separate the subject from such a dark black BG. Place the velvet as far back as you can to keep it out of focus. That makes isolation even easier.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvZw14ZQCYWQXEGVR_29x7p1BXqx28X7592PggtWHX4pbfMC15Z1s74XHUUlfQEykCXJdKGd7RtMVIfbLyKTfvQqEbuy0zCMPUM8-Nbbblok9FDrxTk18PEv777xSQpfvhDuLAQrnk4s/s1600/MESNEY_Chromega_Light_Box_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvZw14ZQCYWQXEGVR_29x7p1BXqx28X7592PggtWHX4pbfMC15Z1s74XHUUlfQEykCXJdKGd7RtMVIfbLyKTfvQqEbuy0zCMPUM8-Nbbblok9FDrxTk18PEv777xSQpfvhDuLAQrnk4s/s320/MESNEY_Chromega_Light_Box_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525172497310118466" border="0" /></a><br />To recreate the silhouetted look of back-lit thistle seeds against the open sky they were shot on a light box. In this case I used old <span style="font-style: italic;">Chromega</span>® enlarger light source (shown above). Like the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tensor</span>® lamps, the enlarger light source is tungsten with a low Kelvin temperature. Shooting with the camera set for a high Kelvin temperature therefore warms up the color so that it closely matches the golden sky in <span style="font-style: italic;">Thistle Sunset</span> (shown below).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYOj0a5DI96R2zqkr0GKb10_ZsuwZYGvf2OYE_iFaxKjaJnK4EM6vtPLmM5y2eMsOWkxtc5Qo6vrJS7v7hMj4eKS08E17-fCQ41AI9HkuL4Ba8a9Rmv-TTWkN5j2hzfIO_teYRcX9rZI/s1600/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_3.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYOj0a5DI96R2zqkr0GKb10_ZsuwZYGvf2OYE_iFaxKjaJnK4EM6vtPLmM5y2eMsOWkxtc5Qo6vrJS7v7hMj4eKS08E17-fCQ41AI9HkuL4Ba8a9Rmv-TTWkN5j2hzfIO_teYRcX9rZI/s320/MESNEY_Thistle_Seed_ECU_3.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525172736686312722" border="0" /></a><br />Using f/22 with low-powered light sources requires very long exposures. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Tensor</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> light exposure was about 4 seconds. To avoid shutter blur the camera was secured to a sandbagged tripod. A long shutter-release cord triggered the exposure so the camera didn't need to be touched.<br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">Chromega</span><span style="font-size:85%;">® </span>light box exposure was a quarter of a second for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tensor</span><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span>-lit shots. The copy stand set-up provided for shake-less shooting without the need for sand bags, but the long shutter release cord was again used.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Arrangement of Objects in Composition</span><br /><br />With the 50+ frames assembled into the 18 objects appearing in the new illustration, it was time to put them into the picture. The challenge was to construct a pleasing composition that recreated the look of life in the field.<br /><br />Composition has been the peripheral subject in a number of my blogs but I'll touch on it again here. The strongest compositions are based on triangular layouts of the principle objects. This is fairly clear to see in the original version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End No.1.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlCscJpFP9ti35Y_a7Q3rc4EnHwb7_9pU6j6sVRkZMI0dw86hze6C0qQM5SxBt6IKux_C65FZiQBJ0wb4nUoRF1W3gT0uxcumTQ3yvZKkZTFFZvcNEqf6qoqHKcWxAmCE34c4FXsTGSM/s1600/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.1_Triangles.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlCscJpFP9ti35Y_a7Q3rc4EnHwb7_9pU6j6sVRkZMI0dw86hze6C0qQM5SxBt6IKux_C65FZiQBJ0wb4nUoRF1W3gT0uxcumTQ3yvZKkZTFFZvcNEqf6qoqHKcWxAmCE34c4FXsTGSM/s320/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_1.1_Triangles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525166888038910306" border="0" /></a><br />In the first version there are two triangles.<br /><br />1.) Lower triangle (composed of thistle seeds and spider)<br />2.) Upper triangle (involving the large dark thistle 'pom pom')<br /><br />Those two triangles are rounded out into an oval by the two birds.<br /><br />The objective of a good composition is to keep the eye moving around within the borders of the picture and never provide an 'escape route'. Three layout arrangements provide the maximum effect:<br /><br />1.) Triangle<br />2.) Circle<br />3.) Oval<br /><br />It takes a deft artist to keep control of the layout when many elements are involved in the composition. Nor are all compositions intended to be crystal clear. Many are abstract or seemingly random looking yet keep your eye's attention. The best have 'pathways' in and around the picture... the triangles, circles and ovals in the layout create those pathways.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPA0jfhvnCxDsHewEtLgpfKgasuAd6Tpoa1FBvDEHSRnVJ7FyORRcMhjBrTiHZOZnzIzLheBKkcYaj_Moypc87OQJFO-yCX56_eAGGYLGis2Y9uFDpLwRUMl0HY7HZuPaVeZqxmTR1gA/s1600/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_No.2_1.8_Oval.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPA0jfhvnCxDsHewEtLgpfKgasuAd6Tpoa1FBvDEHSRnVJ7FyORRcMhjBrTiHZOZnzIzLheBKkcYaj_Moypc87OQJFO-yCX56_eAGGYLGis2Y9uFDpLwRUMl0HY7HZuPaVeZqxmTR1gA/s320/MESNEY_Beginning_of_The_End_No.2_1.8_Oval.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525168483064201074" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning of the End No. 2</span> shows a classic oval arrangement, this one with a pushed in side giving it a kidney-bean shape. To be honest, it took a while to find this arrangement and a prior No. 2 will not be published.<br /><br />Well, we've reached the beginning of the end of this blog. If you like the yarns I spin about the art of giclée, check out my book. It will deepen your perception of pixel perfect printing.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-2503650518294843112010-09-23T12:44:00.000-07:002010-09-23T13:47:07.588-07:00Imposition Intuition<span style="font-size:180%;">A</span> recent episode at Vashon Island Imaging prompts this blog about how to imposition gang-ups for efficient cutting and trimming.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyn1coZZafGZPtNw9rhyphenhyphenhth7WCT0rupbLwmNQoc0qqhLEW71SqaH5NEigiP9bK0QapykPIschTycCZXU_tVfqF3rUi6UczICMKAreT4K7aKMZgZjye-ibegOb3lXt_m1qBQvbSHjMscE/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.12_Docton_Postcard.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyn1coZZafGZPtNw9rhyphenhyphenhth7WCT0rupbLwmNQoc0qqhLEW71SqaH5NEigiP9bK0QapykPIschTycCZXU_tVfqF3rUi6UczICMKAreT4K7aKMZgZjye-ibegOb3lXt_m1qBQvbSHjMscE/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.12_Docton_Postcard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520197662033951138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Pam Swanson printed a rack-card job from a file supplied by the client (above). Rack cards are 4 X 9 inches (10.16 X 22.86 cm).<br /><br />Normally you gang-up two on an 8.5 X 11 inch (21.59 X 27.9 cm), and that is what the client had done. There was nothing 'wrong' with the imposition supplied, so Pam printed it. Later she discovered that the way the cards were positioned required 6 cuts to separate and trim them. Multiply that by 1,000 cards and that's a lot of cuts.<br /><br />You might ask, why didn't we just use a guillotine? ...For two reasons quite different but equally important:<br /><br />- We don't have a large one (but soon we will)<br />- We probably wouldn't have used it even if we did have one<br /><br />Let me explain:<br /><br />We don't normally get requests for such large quantities, so our trusty Boston® paper trimmer usually serves our needs. But that doesn't matter considering that I wouldn't have trusted a guillotine to make the thin trims required for this job.<br /><br />It takes a really fine guillotine to trim 1/16th of an inch. When you make very thin slices with a guillotine the blade will make an uneven diagonal cut through the pile, or even 'shred' some edges, if it isn't razor sharp. Even using a paper trimmer you have to be careful making thin slices, as I am sure you are well aware.<br /><br />Pam was thus stuck with an 6,000-cut project. The plus side of that is that she will never make that mistake again. In the future she will triple check impositions before printing anything ganged-up.<br /><br />Another plus is that she managed to find moments of Zen during the ordeal resulting in a poem dedicated to paper trimmers everywhere (and reprinted at the end of this blog with her permission).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Counterintuitive Impositions</span><br /><br />Imposition is important to keep the front and back in registration during duplex printing. You don't have to be a genius to know that, eh? Still, even knowing that most people inadvertently imposition in a way that creates more labor than necessary down the line. They do so because imposition is counter-intuitive. How so?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzjxoz_RseEcQFDYNdL9aFUnB-CeVavuD86no_8bG0rdRjLIaAcHF6SViVD5s8hbP-8CjL3Pf_JTD4N1D-3s6AjM0kt8pB65xQpuMjKIWM6qdV1mbCd3ofXZT_QLcY0SmdGBTZWdDy5o/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.13_Docton_Front.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzjxoz_RseEcQFDYNdL9aFUnB-CeVavuD86no_8bG0rdRjLIaAcHF6SViVD5s8hbP-8CjL3Pf_JTD4N1D-3s6AjM0kt8pB65xQpuMjKIWM6qdV1mbCd3ofXZT_QLcY0SmdGBTZWdDy5o/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.13_Docton_Front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520197461230106322" border="0" /></a>Most people place the gang-up in the center of the sheet, stacked. That makes visual sense... it looks balanced. Anyway, that's most people's placement choice. They also leave some space between the two cards ...they are separate cards, right?<br /><br />There's nothing 'wrong' with such a layout, except that it requires the most number of cuts -- six -- to separate and trim the two cards.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20i2MBq_zIktZeWDwRcC6I7dYWuADdTo_woi_YqMGimHwWOOawgqbK4LeGwkwa9DNf9uSoqfJhR_UIQutCDqcatiGQ4uAYqkqrQTYB2_q7nT6hlIdmxzz19AismQQ3AfwMAmA7mUAZzg/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.1_6_Cut.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20i2MBq_zIktZeWDwRcC6I7dYWuADdTo_woi_YqMGimHwWOOawgqbK4LeGwkwa9DNf9uSoqfJhR_UIQutCDqcatiGQ4uAYqkqrQTYB2_q7nT6hlIdmxzz19AismQQ3AfwMAmA7mUAZzg/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.1_6_Cut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520198650221317858" border="0" /></a><br />Eliminating the space between the two cards may save you one cut but only if the bordering areas are the same color. Then you have five cuts for this imposition layout:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8Ic5312moIM-K1suqPyrKecI2aqbr-GGdgFl2IaXRqL490J0Ce2lhFNwx0_sGpAvlvQc_KDT9yWM8iDBq9G1Y1lqBxo6aZ8BHgvsAFzpk0YqG-nslcJB4zFUOYvk_i9uVu1IeMO8mZg/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.2_5_Cut.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8Ic5312moIM-K1suqPyrKecI2aqbr-GGdgFl2IaXRqL490J0Ce2lhFNwx0_sGpAvlvQc_KDT9yWM8iDBq9G1Y1lqBxo6aZ8BHgvsAFzpk0YqG-nslcJB4zFUOYvk_i9uVu1IeMO8mZg/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.2_5_Cut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520198918985660450" border="0" /></a><br />The card Pam printed could have been reduced to 5 cuts if the two cards were impositioned back-to-back or belly-to-belly, as below.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwqt1s4f87y97BsCw8cYNcxmhvGtazay_dyZweAhCvoFAdO61MeDmlSlw-BCCrGD3NSHvtcpCl9e8Z3X0xD6GTTb5o5B0FSzAxr0efwmM7Qd8lJty5UfZyMospRc0jqfgWu8MnuTpwds/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.10_Docton_Front.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwqt1s4f87y97BsCw8cYNcxmhvGtazay_dyZweAhCvoFAdO61MeDmlSlw-BCCrGD3NSHvtcpCl9e8Z3X0xD6GTTb5o5B0FSzAxr0efwmM7Qd8lJty5UfZyMospRc0jqfgWu8MnuTpwds/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.10_Docton_Front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520199210104607442" border="0" /></a><br />The least number of cuts possible is three, as below.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISH5qJ7zUqsaa1POqGWah9rSj9fQR_HnYqTv_Lx-39CDB9T6ZdBNchILgANi41h9QmFWy_kELpMEHRuAi6LmM58M1GBgulJtUvwEFoOXEwfcvd-ZUDt8Rf67nSdmCy0cTg_DVM5LcbBA/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.3_3_Cut.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISH5qJ7zUqsaa1POqGWah9rSj9fQR_HnYqTv_Lx-39CDB9T6ZdBNchILgANi41h9QmFWy_kELpMEHRuAi6LmM58M1GBgulJtUvwEFoOXEwfcvd-ZUDt8Rf67nSdmCy0cTg_DVM5LcbBA/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.3_3_Cut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520199397979551058" border="0" /></a><br />This efficient imposition only works for non-bleed art. That is, the postcard picture requires a white border that is at least as wide as the non-print area around the edges of the sheet, 1/4 inch... just right for borders.<br /><br />If the picture has to bleed then you are back to 5 cuts (as below) because the printer may not print 'bleed' or doesn't do a very good job of it. Either way it's inviting trouble... that is why bleed printing always costs more. It has nothing to do with the ink and everything to do with the trimming.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J89KCmk3O9oxswdqYRNRNhNbWrlgMkIEv_LSur9Cw2omjWg100R8Jn1m7tIvMdOJGpg4nDptG1i2f_IKizNXNbEZxM0525lwib7sf2JLw3NfGWNK6xGUlEhGZbUm_GuNPNEUydIVLZY/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.4_5_Cut.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J89KCmk3O9oxswdqYRNRNhNbWrlgMkIEv_LSur9Cw2omjWg100R8Jn1m7tIvMdOJGpg4nDptG1i2f_IKizNXNbEZxM0525lwib7sf2JLw3NfGWNK6xGUlEhGZbUm_GuNPNEUydIVLZY/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.4_5_Cut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520199696781250786" border="0" /></a><br />Getting the imposition correct for the backside is just as counterintuitive. In fact, it has made me crazy for my entire life. I usually end up doing it in what seems to be every possible combination before getting it right. That's because I was too lazy to make a 'dummy'.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuYbusotaN3bPwuj4ONEOMdCfJZVU3RRbhdrAw-eJEDgAz4JoOcqg_k0d_KJ6M1Nq8jNTmA2F_VtWGImegK4KClttQHXD8qt9L_fpfQWOXsHDYHafKy1OPoI5EB-jSzYFEfJKQB_8-rw/s1600/MESNEY_1965_Basford_Office_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuYbusotaN3bPwuj4ONEOMdCfJZVU3RRbhdrAw-eJEDgAz4JoOcqg_k0d_KJ6M1Nq8jNTmA2F_VtWGImegK4KClttQHXD8qt9L_fpfQWOXsHDYHafKy1OPoI5EB-jSzYFEfJKQB_8-rw/s320/MESNEY_1965_Basford_Office_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520212074018874226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I've been making dummies for more than 40 years. Burt Holmes showed me how when I was his assistant at Basford Incorporated, an industrial advertising agency in New York, in 1966.</span><br /><br />Dummies are paper miniatures of your project. They are especially useful to figure out pagination. For cards, if you sketch out the front layout on a sheet of thin 'see-thru' paper, like tracing paper, you can place it over the layout for the back and easily get the imposition right every time. Every time I am too lazy to do that I end up confused as usual.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ2m1GVp2D6nubuGjTMzH_Fez-OQ5C7lkP1i3fpZIhoNn8BSOLA9PqU_YFzbkJfNb2qHwykJs4TK1fu1WYanx5qWQ3jIApor0ldNIWVPoTpPAbf1pA_CdvtPwW_efdYqcnhrGT4plxCms/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.5_3_Cut_Front.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ2m1GVp2D6nubuGjTMzH_Fez-OQ5C7lkP1i3fpZIhoNn8BSOLA9PqU_YFzbkJfNb2qHwykJs4TK1fu1WYanx5qWQ3jIApor0ldNIWVPoTpPAbf1pA_CdvtPwW_efdYqcnhrGT4plxCms/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.5_3_Cut_Front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520199901232842370" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lrIHbu27H6Vdzq6Sj_fjdbxL8ckp9W4J3oYvZMNRgv7n2sTASMoW-cgcbu5syBlw2OPEsUExHnAZnmrAf4sbd5GcoA1uoS1LVq23HRK1sHeDdUAInTqsawOysJxzmluwiSOpwc7M_z8/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.6_3_Cut_Back.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lrIHbu27H6Vdzq6Sj_fjdbxL8ckp9W4J3oYvZMNRgv7n2sTASMoW-cgcbu5syBlw2OPEsUExHnAZnmrAf4sbd5GcoA1uoS1LVq23HRK1sHeDdUAInTqsawOysJxzmluwiSOpwc7M_z8/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.6_3_Cut_Back.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520201522981342610" border="0" /></a><br />In relation to one another, one is 'upside down and positioned on the other side of the sheet, as shown above, for duplex printing.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNWtmJDNoIisLmW3HTeZ-Z2InJZ-KE3HtK4r_JoimFNQDlF4kkeDMzKVyVmdJ6rMKNo_ESMsLsdWtMF1oD80RN2AKHc6VvznDyljGMSFG3p4hZqjUZDLpzslPqAdiBYQVk1i_fGpTTpE/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.6.1_3_Cut_Back.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNWtmJDNoIisLmW3HTeZ-Z2InJZ-KE3HtK4r_JoimFNQDlF4kkeDMzKVyVmdJ6rMKNo_ESMsLsdWtMF1oD80RN2AKHc6VvznDyljGMSFG3p4hZqjUZDLpzslPqAdiBYQVk1i_fGpTTpE/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.6.1_3_Cut_Back.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520201777432992242" border="0" /></a><br />If you use a manual feed tray the artwork doesn't need to be turned upside down but it does need to be on the other side.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Use Trim for Mini-Cards</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrgorHN6EyizG-GklsJY16tjL1Jo2z7rY1fg4WlLhh217ZH9ZQZfa_uPH89I0AUJPFBfaqvTq3o1-h7Uccs4f2ICdVVt2Ja1az9yaeDNUJZozEEaNiNSx_kWCsx6Yk2X9F_glp5zxlas/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.8_Peaks_Front.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrgorHN6EyizG-GklsJY16tjL1Jo2z7rY1fg4WlLhh217ZH9ZQZfa_uPH89I0AUJPFBfaqvTq3o1-h7Uccs4f2ICdVVt2Ja1az9yaeDNUJZozEEaNiNSx_kWCsx6Yk2X9F_glp5zxlas/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.8_Peaks_Front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520202122588116482" border="0" /></a><br />As it turns out, the 4:9 ratio image proportionately reduces to exactly the right size to fit in the trim zone. Those can be used for mini-cards. Of course, type will need to be edited and resized but, hey ...added value for your customers. The one shown is a combo we put together for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Peaks Lodge </span>in Revelstoke, BC (if you are a snowmobiler, clue in to Revelstoke).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOEADkB2tfdrx8mR9Y6kNfACVeXHpUNP0Wcq6tw3IvWXC2oAAKbJta5vyHxP15WYcauvCk6PqsToBhNR7a7jbgQuoC-0EZ7kKGqwESIEV0MNUhzi66zGFxlQRKIoWcBiKXpEuVY4sgWk/s1600/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.7_Peaks_Back.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOEADkB2tfdrx8mR9Y6kNfACVeXHpUNP0Wcq6tw3IvWXC2oAAKbJta5vyHxP15WYcauvCk6PqsToBhNR7a7jbgQuoC-0EZ7kKGqwESIEV0MNUhzi66zGFxlQRKIoWcBiKXpEuVY4sgWk/s320/MESNEY_Imposition_Layout_1.7_Peaks_Back.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520202906821508322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />The mini-cards are used for Peaks Lodge contact info and are handy for guests to pop into their pockets.</span><br /><br />A combo of rack and mini cards will be the October special at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>. We'll be selling packages of 100 for $44 and 500 for $111. There will be some restrictions, like non-bleed art for example. Still, great prices and good value for money.<br /><br />Time is money and taking a little up front to figure out a good imposition layout can ultimately save you an enormous amount of time.<br /><br />Follow these two rules:<br /><br />1.) Don't be a dummy, make one<br />2.) Make 'upside down other side' a mantra<br /><br />After a while, imposition will be an intuition.<br /><br />Speaking of intuition, here is Pam's poem:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBrQI0Puwb_FY2XpRcwlvKP45eh8Q3zyMHW8NBLJbs8FTv-J2HSLLt41HIfGOmknE0ngo2yY215wwbqxRjOkdx9lSPEqGMC61kpE8rqJJ-TttBbYwq-XFeoXL4h1Ui_bVLzvtdnfbItE/s1600/SWANSON_Pam_postcard_poem_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBrQI0Puwb_FY2XpRcwlvKP45eh8Q3zyMHW8NBLJbs8FTv-J2HSLLt41HIfGOmknE0ngo2yY215wwbqxRjOkdx9lSPEqGMC61kpE8rqJJ-TttBbYwq-XFeoXL4h1Ui_bVLzvtdnfbItE/s320/SWANSON_Pam_postcard_poem_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520204445377834386" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MMHROFj8-7phK_Qxqr8TlYijpwczGW6eikCxFlQrhk55pz8wh1vs3_AmmvSVY5ts4Dbv0awvuiAC-brVjfPaCzySo-PCzLXHrobHzRFkV-W8UxK4XNC4cxn6glYgDsJCtioTUJZChNc/s1600/SWANSON_Pam_postcard_poem_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MMHROFj8-7phK_Qxqr8TlYijpwczGW6eikCxFlQrhk55pz8wh1vs3_AmmvSVY5ts4Dbv0awvuiAC-brVjfPaCzySo-PCzLXHrobHzRFkV-W8UxK4XNC4cxn6glYgDsJCtioTUJZChNc/s320/SWANSON_Pam_postcard_poem_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520205101870289618" border="0" /></a><br />There's plenty more at www.poetpam.com.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-26677167548064518472010-09-21T21:09:00.000-07:002010-09-22T00:33:44.017-07:00Re-Creating Photo Grain Accurately<span style="font-size:180%;">T</span>he gritty look of grainy film is a style thing for some photographers. To get that look they often use high-speed film, the kind used for low-light photography. Then they boost the film's sensitivity by 'pushing' the film during development, which produces larger sized clusters of silver-halide grains.<br /><br />Back in the day I developed a way of enlarging grain even more by dipping the wet film alternately into very hot and cold water. That technique is called 'reticulation'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHghUhq-psE-qjhcrq9kNkcMHqFVzjKHv1URckQOGMnm7yacxVwABnpM-ZjI8ibAn7tEI9reIRzTYKbFbImDfbguTGjyMV5Yw4DY8d1nnpAURRn4HnTvpdnlgskGXQW_1IVWuued-I7x4/s1600/MESNEY_1969_EarthRide_05_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHghUhq-psE-qjhcrq9kNkcMHqFVzjKHv1URckQOGMnm7yacxVwABnpM-ZjI8ibAn7tEI9reIRzTYKbFbImDfbguTGjyMV5Yw4DY8d1nnpAURRn4HnTvpdnlgskGXQW_1IVWuued-I7x4/s320/MESNEY_1969_EarthRide_05_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519586367800942738" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Monster-sized grains became the featured look of this 1969 public-service advertisement for the </span><span>Motorcycle Industries Council</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. The 6-ad campaign presented ecologically oriented messages and was cited by the lauded publication </span><span>Communications Arts<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">. It was a collaboration between </span><span>Car & Driver</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:78%;">® </span>magazine art director Tom Ridinger, </span><span>Cycle<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> magazine</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> copy writer Art Guerero, and yours truly. </span><br /><br />If you are a man you can well understand how reticulation works. What happens if you relax in a sauna and then jump into ice water? Certain parts shrivel up, eh? That's what the grain does too. Reticulation forces smaller grains of silver to clump together into larger grains.<br /><br />To make monster-sized film grain I used Kodak<span style="font-size:78%;">® </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Tri-X</span> film and shot it at ISO 3200, which is 3 stops faster than the film's normal ISO 400 speed. To boost the film speed like that you over-develop, that is you develop it longer or use a higher temperature or both. Pushing one stop requires a 25% boost in development time; pushing two stops needs a 50% boost and 3-stops needs 100% more time if the temperature is 68° F (19° C) . Instead of standing there in the dark for a half-hour I'd boost the temperature way up. Then right at the end I'd dip the film into ice water. Zap!<br /><br />The first time I used the grainy look was for <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghost Ship Albatross. </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V8m2KqsMZc8Yj2HaungF9ztpe1cgLBzcaNdgT3DKQq2dlCpg4gDh7FobyoLaSntnBfugNo9ADFXOEFtukQo2-fLobSGkC5TbvdT5fsEnBEUJUv24RTfFqF8Nc4WyYqOWrGgklqkZuRw/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V8m2KqsMZc8Yj2HaungF9ztpe1cgLBzcaNdgT3DKQq2dlCpg4gDh7FobyoLaSntnBfugNo9ADFXOEFtukQo2-fLobSGkC5TbvdT5fsEnBEUJUv24RTfFqF8Nc4WyYqOWrGgklqkZuRw/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519594643006334162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There is a story behind this picture. It was taken from the top of the mast of a 56-foot English cutter sailing in the </span><span>Block Island Race Week</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> regatta. I was hoisted to the top of the mast in the bosons chair (a canvas sling) while the ship was under full sail. At the top of the mast the rolling of the ship is intensified. Hanging on for dear life and trying to shoot was bad enough. Then I fumbled while changing rolls and all my film fell into the sea... except the roll that was still in the camera, which had this shot. So it's special for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ghost Ship Albatross</span> made its first appearance on the cover of a brochure for the <span style="font-style: italic;">National Association of Engine and Boat Manufacturers</span>, sponsors of the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Boat Show<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span></span>. But that was in 1972 and since then a lot of water has passed under my hull.<br /><br />Recently I rescued a 60 X 40-inch (152.4 X 101.6 cm) print of the picture that had been in storage and was suffering for it. The print was made by a New York custom lab called<span style="font-style: italic;"> Modernage </span>back in 1972 and adorned one of the rooms in my studio at 23 East 73rd Street. As I hung it in the Vashon Island studio I thought to myself, what a voyage this print has made.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YbQcKdLYCjiZSIxTxHjlxS2uAu0qAa82-2MewVf615ALTUEEsztWLVL31ePCY4pkEELbYfZYPqr_etNHzOTLnli50IHMyEzIjQmc-dKIdZtMUlbf7SH3gCZZkBeP2OM5j7Y9DRJ0TfM/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YbQcKdLYCjiZSIxTxHjlxS2uAu0qAa82-2MewVf615ALTUEEsztWLVL31ePCY4pkEELbYfZYPqr_etNHzOTLnli50IHMyEzIjQmc-dKIdZtMUlbf7SH3gCZZkBeP2OM5j7Y9DRJ0TfM/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519610480797012162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Red arrow points to </span>Ghost Ship Albatross <span style="font-style: italic;">on studio wall at my New York studio in 1973</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> and to yours truly (in blue checked shirt) photographing the late great hair stylist </span>Arnold Miller <span style="font-style: italic;">at work on a model. Arnie was the founder and brains behind </span>Matrix Essentials<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:78%;">®</span>, which was sold to </span>Clairol<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> by his wife Sydell when Arnie died in the early 1990's.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">It always blew me away that the CEO of a giant company would do his own styling work... then again, he was a superstar on the international </span>haute coiffure<span style="font-style: italic;"> scene.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI13fKqdX5pCH5u6e1osA05jf7nVaBlpCMLWEPmSZX1U5BNmL0wyNkPrMq_rPN5WmGJeyJAWXVrmqwd4icnSwZH8JuYkjiYnF6ycIm83FcQ7MiDb-vhzLqBocCKPswXUTuQpJtlwg3o8g/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI13fKqdX5pCH5u6e1osA05jf7nVaBlpCMLWEPmSZX1U5BNmL0wyNkPrMq_rPN5WmGJeyJAWXVrmqwd4icnSwZH8JuYkjiYnF6ycIm83FcQ7MiDb-vhzLqBocCKPswXUTuQpJtlwg3o8g/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519620262936309762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Today the very same print of </span><span>Ghost Ship Albatross</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> has found safe harbor in the</span> Vashon Island Imaging <span style="font-style: italic;">printing studio</span>.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcbUo8sc2IOwBv5nvwj7p4HgHeGt3IMCE7GupdkMVWui_BF5WRaEuBd8chKlwL6txPeDso-2oNQ09Da5ZcFs2k76TLOymPZo0j25oox1HyVzzdlvWoHnXXQK5f9yCzGStzJqivEKn8iA/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcbUo8sc2IOwBv5nvwj7p4HgHeGt3IMCE7GupdkMVWui_BF5WRaEuBd8chKlwL6txPeDso-2oNQ09Da5ZcFs2k76TLOymPZo0j25oox1HyVzzdlvWoHnXXQK5f9yCzGStzJqivEKn8iA/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519624718359555970" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This 7-inch (17.5 cm) lower left corner section was particularly damaged by time and travel. First it went from New York to Hawaii where it lay in storage from 1981 to 1991 before being shipped to Vashon Island where it remained in storage until a couple of months ago when I started feeling sorry for it. </span><br /><br />To my surprise the old water-damaged print got a lot of attention and I could tell that folks were genuinely enthusiastic about it. So I decided to publish <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghost Ship Albatross</span> as a limited edition of giclée prints. That's when I discovered that the original negative had gone missing in action. There are more than 500,000 pictures in my old film archives and the archive was organized way before computers.<br /><br />At first I thought I was in luck when I found the envelope containing the original 41-year old 35mm negatives from that infamous roll. But the one negative I needed had been snipped off the roll and wasn't there! You know how that goes... I had put that very special negative in a 'safe' place. So I decided to use a copy negative made of a 20 X 16 inch (50.8 X 40.64 cm) exhibition print from an old portfolio collection.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY0JBwkoSp3Q2D0M9dJrRV9YBQSefN1QZ15CLxYzHmxvE9qdl0YmXP46IzcB-9hz52GLUcrLyNad11iIlUdrSPhgYo-HTZsIXpv3gW1XiY_exQRrFQEtOvTdSKnixF287WreXf6eI0qE/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY0JBwkoSp3Q2D0M9dJrRV9YBQSefN1QZ15CLxYzHmxvE9qdl0YmXP46IzcB-9hz52GLUcrLyNad11iIlUdrSPhgYo-HTZsIXpv3gW1XiY_exQRrFQEtOvTdSKnixF287WreXf6eI0qE/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519595401585683602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The red arrow points to a bird in the fog -- the 'albatross' -- enlarged below.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip1KlAqLtLLR-Ehu5guTaf4OASEpO4fGy6m-mWwUtdVCrLtlb7zCCXKBsc_JP0JO13RSWtPLk9HSiKW2gNY3t3NWT8RHaJIq2jCy1ixLtYAkRrQWCHnCFjbEegMJzm5_SJuvGTe-vbU1o/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip1KlAqLtLLR-Ehu5guTaf4OASEpO4fGy6m-mWwUtdVCrLtlb7zCCXKBsc_JP0JO13RSWtPLk9HSiKW2gNY3t3NWT8RHaJIq2jCy1ixLtYAkRrQWCHnCFjbEegMJzm5_SJuvGTe-vbU1o/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519595587033577234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Darkroom technicians at </span><span>Modernage</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> thought that the bird was a dust mark and they very carefully retouched it out of the big 40 X 60 </span> (152.4 X 101.6 cm) <span style="font-style: italic;">print I ordered. You can imagine my horror when I opened the package. The albatross shown here is 280 X 280 pixels, representing a 1.2 inch (3 cm) section of the 32-inch-wide print (81.28 cm).</span> Blogspot <span style="font-style: italic;">limits pictures to 320 pixels on the long dimension, which makes it difficult to show details. Sometimes I enhance them for illustrative purposes, so that you see a closer approximation of what I see. Its a step beyond color management... you could call it '</span><span>perception management</span><span style="font-style: italic;">'.</span><br /><br />The copy negative was shot 4 X 5 inches (10.16 X 12.7 cm) to accurately recreate the grain texture in the original. Shooting a large format picture avoids the problem of grain enlargement.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Copying Can Make Grain Stronger</span><br /><br />Grain enlargement occurs with smaller formats because they don't have enough grains of their own to capture each individual grain in the original. Micro-clusters of grains are rounded-up into single grains.<br /><br />Any rounding involves averaging, so the single-grain version won't have the same perceived color as the original cluster. The result is stronger looking grain... which may be a good thing in some cases, but not this one.<br /><br />The tendency toward stronger grain is further enhanced by the contrast kick that occurs in any photocopying process. This phenomenon and its implications are discussed in detail in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée </span>(www.gicleeprepress.com).<br /><br />The 4X5 negative is copied with a digital camera. Two exposures are made, one with a softening filter on the camera lens. The softening effect should be ever so slight. The purpose is to get an alternate set of grains that contain more mid tones. The two exposures are merged into a single layer for further prepress.<br /><br />I can hear you saying that the picture could just be softened in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span>, but the effect is not the same because you are softening only one set of grains. Have a second set of grains creates a third generation when the first and second grain sets are merged.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fine Tune Grain with Unsharp Mask</span><br /><br />All pictures taken with digital cameras need to be sharpened to some extent, some more than others (see picture of test strip #1, below). That is because digital cameras use algorithms that involve a certain degree of dithering, which softens the edges between pixels. There's much more about that in the book but the gist of it is that you need to sharpen using Unsharp Mask.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7TcoO9mzb4a8pbIQ6QkkrT1LnGmgOn_ZB7agA0MdvkQ3CFmY0DripQMvTkWZR015rtM0-4O3iuZmOkOMsnOAKk-3w0XqK1c0EgOGAZZVU8YRMuvEC4jknyM2Um6fCj8hdyLhWCYTMp8/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7TcoO9mzb4a8pbIQ6QkkrT1LnGmgOn_ZB7agA0MdvkQ3CFmY0DripQMvTkWZR015rtM0-4O3iuZmOkOMsnOAKk-3w0XqK1c0EgOGAZZVU8YRMuvEC4jknyM2Um6fCj8hdyLhWCYTMp8/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519601295517886562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Sharpening the image 4.4 / 444 delivers sharp grain but makes the picture look darker.</span><br /><br />All sharpening increases the contrast of pictures and also changes the dynamic tone range, eroding mid tones. That is one reason mid tones need to be retained in the copying stage.<br /><br />The grain texture in the digital master needs sharpening to get rid of the camera's dithering and get closer to the look of the grain in the original. However, if you have strong grain to begin with the amount of sharpening needed may kick the contrast too much and make the grain look too strong. That can be minimized by making several copies of the image layer, sharpening them to varying degrees, and tweaking the look with adjustments to Layer Opacity and Blending Options<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Test Strips Reveal What Monitor Doesn't</span><br /><br />Grain matching can't be done on your monitor. Test strips are a must. As you can see from these three, the look of the picture was altered by the degree of sharpening.<br /><br />Test strip #1 shows the un-sharpened, dithered original image.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqOX1B5YLvFbZjkoDGCoiqkzT-JQvuOTXFEEvTDEhfqf1eXjMsyn0fYxEhsLsdRuroVOaY6JC7BUHoCNOJQD5GokpDS-UJ4fp1y7Tna8MV0-S2OlGEiXXFSjDdSrP56JWAyCp4iD3PJk/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqOX1B5YLvFbZjkoDGCoiqkzT-JQvuOTXFEEvTDEhfqf1eXjMsyn0fYxEhsLsdRuroVOaY6JC7BUHoCNOJQD5GokpDS-UJ4fp1y7Tna8MV0-S2OlGEiXXFSjDdSrP56JWAyCp4iD3PJk/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519596107937215970" border="0" /></a><br />Test strip #2 shows result of heavy sharpening (4.4 / 444) and looks too dark and contrasty*.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlktSmOoqJKSd4Vfx74QhhSp4vwyPvxP-kCmA5bYkENPF63dDIUphtg8dixgwuk9FtrYzoTGPEhMVpVFWhYG9RPrMBf9GBtqRgw3LwSzftHI3lHOkG6xz0qASPx4kxVNdrzZxLjY7Ub6M/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlktSmOoqJKSd4Vfx74QhhSp4vwyPvxP-kCmA5bYkENPF63dDIUphtg8dixgwuk9FtrYzoTGPEhMVpVFWhYG9RPrMBf9GBtqRgw3LwSzftHI3lHOkG6xz0qASPx4kxVNdrzZxLjY7Ub6M/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519596349184359762" border="0" /></a><br />Test strip #3 combines the contrasty -- but very sharp -- layer (test strip #2) with a third layer that is a copy of the original (test strip #1) sharpened 1/4 as much (1.1 /111).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIc92JCOeBV6uDVPjpWsM3rquSMlqTCfnqURtB1IWhbcTwZZ8T06mPbKiuXHbhxUk6VcuxQCHPvkkpoJSk9zKQD9zLAXtULuQCJee6cPsDIBNIhm0HapuV7VBqX2NJbMFLLEupbkmW1yM/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIc92JCOeBV6uDVPjpWsM3rquSMlqTCfnqURtB1IWhbcTwZZ8T06mPbKiuXHbhxUk6VcuxQCHPvkkpoJSk9zKQD9zLAXtULuQCJee6cPsDIBNIhm0HapuV7VBqX2NJbMFLLEupbkmW1yM/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519597874086078082" border="0" /></a><br />Final look has layer blending that is 44% of the sharp dark layer (44% opacity and 44% fill) on top of the lightly sharpened layer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj903J7Gwbdv3qBa94yU0zvjOSOrY0bsko7J4ho3mFNEBF2rcgaVg1r2BTIJ2tw373mPPUD-zD3yFPYIbTEDXQxFpWbhgYgG9wnsBl2iMpnggwsZ_kgNV3MT1iMpSTr3zBunOIOvLWRWqY/s1600/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj903J7Gwbdv3qBa94yU0zvjOSOrY0bsko7J4ho3mFNEBF2rcgaVg1r2BTIJ2tw373mPPUD-zD3yFPYIbTEDXQxFpWbhgYgG9wnsBl2iMpnggwsZ_kgNV3MT1iMpSTr3zBunOIOvLWRWqY/s320/MESNEY_Ghost_Ship_Albatross_1.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519598212168007122" border="0" /></a><br />* 4.4 / 444 is a heavy setting for the Unsharp Mask unless you are making large prints. The print made of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghost Ship Albatross</span> is 36 X 24 inches (60.96 X 90.44 cm) and at that size the sharpening setting is 'moderate'. There have been instances when I have doubled up on the sharpening. If you like grain, that double dip should satisfy your taste for true grit.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-75837553638639099792010-09-20T10:52:00.000-07:002010-09-20T13:22:36.576-07:00Something for Nothing<span style="font-size:180%;">E</span>ven though we are told time again that there is no such thing as free lunch, people still hope to get something for nothing. Actually, they do every time money is spent for something because the money was made from nothing. You see, our society transacts business using fiat currency.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'Fiat money'</span> is a term that derives from the Latin word <span style="font-style: italic;">fiat</span>, which means 'let it be done'. In the case of our money, it is created by government decree. The Fed says 'let there be money' and there is.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OL08YC-FheFuIaUtb-DKUX1J-8aquIGL-9VWtpDrwjPEu2iTQjjZAKfoSLTN4eq6cLHZ8UAMgSfJia_Lz5QsJowHduf-cCTTsWmbUbUEO9nwQ9NyoHrroHm9_Gbb7G5KJM5rmVbvHmo/s1600/MESNEY_Money_Hand_Fanning_Fifty-Dollar_Bills_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OL08YC-FheFuIaUtb-DKUX1J-8aquIGL-9VWtpDrwjPEu2iTQjjZAKfoSLTN4eq6cLHZ8UAMgSfJia_Lz5QsJowHduf-cCTTsWmbUbUEO9nwQ9NyoHrroHm9_Gbb7G5KJM5rmVbvHmo/s320/MESNEY_Money_Hand_Fanning_Fifty-Dollar_Bills_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519055383846252066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I love a good magic show as much as anyone but not when it comes to making money appear out of thin air... because the money can just as easily disappear.... Witness what happen to the world's economy.<br /><br />How can The Fed can do that? Who or what is 'The Fed' anyway? We all know that it is a 'Central Bank', just like the central banks in other countries. Every country needs a central bank, right?<br /><br />Conventional wisdom would have you believe that Wall Street greed caused our fiscal fiasco and that The Fed rescued us from certain disaster. But things aren't always as they appear to be.<br /><br />Ed Griffin pulled the wool off my eyes and the result was like a line out of that song <span style="font-style: italic;">Amazing Grace.</span>..'I was blind, but now can see'. Amazing is what I see going on now. I am so incensed by it that I want to share what I learned with you, the same way I usually share news and information about pixel perfect printing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In Your Best Interest?</span><br /><br />You are probably thinking 'what does this have to do with giclée prepress?' Let me explain.<br /><br />You know that I am into the Zen of giclée. In my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span>, and in many previous blogs I have described the many facets of the elusive state of being called Zen. The gist of it is that as prepress artists we have many repetitive tasks, 'thoughtless' ones. You know, when you feel like a robot.<br /><br />During those stretches the mind wanders. You aren't 'here' you are somewhere else. Call it daydreams or whatever you like. You think about stuff. I want you to think about what Ed Griffin has to say.<br /><br />I have been born again by Griffin's understandable explanation of how the nation --and world's -- economy actually runs. Now I understand who does what to who, and why.<br /><br />It turns out that The Fed is not on our side at all. It is an 'Appearance of the Fourth Kind', according to Griffin who quotes from the sayings of <span style="font-style: italic;">Affectatus</span>, a philosopher in an ancient land called <span style="font-style: italic;">Frigia</span>.... But I disgress.<br /><br />When it comes to politics I'm 'RGB'... red for some issues, blue for others and green for most. Mix those colors and what do you get? Gray. It's an appropriate color because my understanding of the money mess we're all in has been in a 'gray area'. I hear this and I see that. I think this and I ponder that. But I can't say that I totally get it. How about you?<br /><br />Then one day I got an email from Randy Ettman which came as a total surprise since the last time I even heard the name was when I was in High School and we were classmates. We got in touch of course and after a catch-up found ourselves commiserating on the states of our respective economies. That is, crying on each other's shoulders.<br /><br />Randy asked if I'd read<span style="font-style: italic;"> 'The Creature from Jekyll Island'</span> by Ed Griffin and of course I hadn't (I am not what you would call a reader, I'm a picture guy). He said he would send me a CD, and he did. But with a crazy name like that I let the disc gather dust. Then one day I rediscovered it while cleaning up. Rushes of guilt sprang forth as I realized I hadn't even thanked Randy for sending it. So I got right on it and listened to an eye-opening lesson in the economic facts of life.<br /><br />As prepress artists and giclée printers we work hard for our money. I mean in the sense of long hours with tight profit margins. Its hard to balance the books when the spending power of the money we earn is eroding... intentionally, according to Griffin.<br /><br />It has been several weeks since I first listened to the CD and I have replayed it thrice since. Today I listened to it again and was prompted to write this blog. I want you to listen to what Ed Griffin explains about the origins of The Fed and our fiat money system. That will give you plenty to think about during your moments of Zen.<br /><br />As long as fiat money is the currency of the land our economy will be volatile. As Griffin points out, the number of dollars we pay for something is unrelated to real value. Dollar prices change, but real values do not change.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAF0RaIgs4Bqu9mq87Qc1YuEXwyjNqh1Lxj_phg09_jxvD4b9PkwamsGExtFraA3xkuu7HHnoXMmgxkAEiz_ORHEn8ejkJFBVeoDZEd2mQnHPJrpCh4sUF9cqA-Gtkg9Ql4jfHtmZbObE/s1600/Gold_Bars.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAF0RaIgs4Bqu9mq87Qc1YuEXwyjNqh1Lxj_phg09_jxvD4b9PkwamsGExtFraA3xkuu7HHnoXMmgxkAEiz_ORHEn8ejkJFBVeoDZEd2mQnHPJrpCh4sUF9cqA-Gtkg9Ql4jfHtmZbObE/s320/Gold_Bars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519066655638981410" border="0" /></a>One anecdotal story Griffin tells concerns the buying power of an ounce of gold. Back in ancient Rome a thousand years ago a one ounce gold coin would buy a Toga, a belt and a pair of sandals. With an ounce of gold today you can buy a fine suit of clothes, a belt and a good pair of shoes. The <span style="font-style: italic;">real</span> price for those wardrobe items hasn't changed, although now a cup of coffee costs $5 instead of 5¢.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Only </span><span>things</span> have real value. That is why they call it '<span style="font-style: italic;">real</span> estate'.<br /><br />Until 1971, when Nixon took the USA off the gold standard and out of the Bretton Woods agreement, the US dollar was backed by gold. Since then the dollar 'floats'... But what is the dollar floating on?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Promises Promises</span><br /><br />Floating currencies based on nothing but promises are only as valuable as people <span style="font-style: italic;">think</span> they will be tomorrow... in a year... or a decade... whatever. What they think is based on what they see and hear. Spin doctors try to alter what people see and hear because how something is perceived defines what it 'is' in their minds. Which brings me back to Griffin's well named character, <span style="font-style: italic;">Affectatus.</span><br /><br />The word<span style="font-style: italic;"> affectatious</span> means 'to wear something out of character in an effort to put up a facade'. The character <span style="font-style: italic;">Affectatus</span> explains that things...<br /><br />1.) Are what they appear to be<br />2.) Neither are nor appear to be<br />3.) Are but do not appear to be<br />4.) Are not and yet appear to be<br /><br />The thesis of Griffin's explanation is that The Fed is an appearance of the fourth kind. He explains how the plans for what became The Fed were laid out at a secret meeting of the world's richest men on Jekyll Island in 1910. Where do the plans lead? To quote from the website www.bibliotecapleyades.net, "Griffin sees doomsday as an engineered financial debacle the severity of which will cause panicked Americans to welcome — a World Bank "rescue" with a world currency. The IMF/World Bank is already functioning — in conjunction with the Federal Reserve — as a world central bank. A world currency is already designed, awaiting a crisis to justify its introduction."<br /><br />That may sound far fetched to you now but it won't after you listen to Griffin's one hour explanation. Believe me, this is stuff you need to understand if you want to keep on being a happy go lucky giclée prepress artist.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pass It On</span><br /><br />Everyone's played 'pass it on' when they were kids. That's what this blog is all about. Now that I can see what is really going on I am outraged and want to do something about it. Like the character Howard Beale in the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Network</span>, I'm mad as hell and I ain't gonna take it anymore. But what to do?<br /><br />1.) Try not to feel hopeless. It is so easy to be apathetic under the guise of denial. The institutions that are the fabric of society are huge and monolithic. There is no personal contact anymore. It's easy to see yourself as a cog in the wheel... or a brick in the wall.<br /><br />2.) Pass it on. Right now... as you read this, I am accomplishing that goal, which is to persuade you to listen to Ed Griffin during one of your giclée prepress Zen states. If more people understand this situation for what it really is there will be a better the chance to rectify the situation.<br /><br />3.) Vote. But be an informed voter. Sort out the facts. The airwaves and blogs are already filled with well-scripted political messages that are as confusing as they are divisive (be design). It takes a little work to separate the spin from the stories and get at the underlying truths.<br /><br />Newscasters note that independents will be especially important in this year's mid-term elections. And many states formerly red or blue are now purple. Independents are a group that can swing elections, if they vote. Well, count me in on that.<br /><br />Call me a dreamer if you like. Those who know me see a pragmatist in disguise as an artiste. I know full well that the <span style="font-style: italic;">'cognizanti'</span> is only a very small percentage of the total population. And that fractiousness is the goal of the intelligentsia. Divide and conquer. That's what 'polarity' is all about.<br /><br />Ah 'polarity'. The yin and yang... black and white... red and blue... vanilla and chocolate... good and bad... true and untrue. Which side are you on?<br /><br />There are no 'sides'. Polarity involves all sides at all times. They are co-dependent. Like the one between us and the institutions that (try to) run our lives. They do so partly -- maybe mostly -- because we let them. We play by the rules after all. And we pay by the rules too. Which brings me back to money.<br /><br />By being informed I can work around the situation. The best workaround is not to feed the creature. Avoid paying interest of any kind. Interest is the lifeblood of the fiat currency system. I do that by using cash wherever possible, which turns out to be about 95% of the time. Credit card transactions now account for only 1/10th of my purchases. Further, I am divesting all investments which involve interest payments to banks, like mortgages. Then there's barter... stuff for stuff directly, without the need for any currency at all.<br /><br />Think about it...The Fed makes money from nothing and distributes it through banks. When the banks loan you that money (nothing) they a.) Charge you interest and b.) Force you to promise them your real property as collateral for... nothing. That interest is paid by the sweat from your brow.<br /><br />The magic of this shell game is that when it has gone full circle<span style="font-style: italic;"> they</span> have something and <span style="font-style: italic;">you </span>have nothing. So what's new?<br /><br />Even the name<span style="font-style: italic;"> Federal Reserve System</span> is an oxymoron.<br /><br />● It is not Federal. It is a private cartel in partnership with the government.<br />● There are no reserves of anything other than promises.<br />● It is not a system. It's a monolithic central bank.<br /><br />The Fed is not unique. It was modeled after other central banks and they are all in cahoots with each other. Nor is this anything new. The first paper currency -- called <span style="font-style: italic;">'Jiao Zi</span>' was used in China's Sichuan Province 1000 years ago during the Song Dynasty, a period of flourishing trade.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrz7m_mqRWRb-5PfQiOj4uD7yfK4AU8FEc6-hiFZ77_r4-0IYcgSvxHbL8UjUfTs49ArJo0VJh4kTEGPAeWDJxmAV9W9lIi6Iu1vysh1VmYcAZujw_MIpuSwYi0DySWBC0Z4u0fX6OEU/s1600/WIKIPEDIA_Jiaozi_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrz7m_mqRWRb-5PfQiOj4uD7yfK4AU8FEc6-hiFZ77_r4-0IYcgSvxHbL8UjUfTs49ArJo0VJh4kTEGPAeWDJxmAV9W9lIi6Iu1vysh1VmYcAZujw_MIpuSwYi0DySWBC0Z4u0fX6OEU/s320/WIKIPEDIA_Jiaozi_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519079169858332674" border="0" /></a><span>Jiao Zi</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> text says that the note may be used instead of 77,000 </span>wen<span style="font-style: italic;"> of metal coinage (then made of copper or iron and now popular as<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span><span>'I Ching</span></span><span>'</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> coins).</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4BzCFxNLmN7EgEstjPut4PidL407FTwOFnM919KlgKFZ5Z-fnKwO9iv7u5lqLyX88UyPF6-WvBgrHECK03VGbCuWxcA3nkwrddnqGd15q0q3BrkxgXBp_9zmd09d43DDK6UMbWlzZO8/s1600/WIKOPEDIA_220px-Hancoin1large_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4BzCFxNLmN7EgEstjPut4PidL407FTwOFnM919KlgKFZ5Z-fnKwO9iv7u5lqLyX88UyPF6-WvBgrHECK03VGbCuWxcA3nkwrddnqGd15q0q3BrkxgXBp_9zmd09d43DDK6UMbWlzZO8/s320/WIKOPEDIA_220px-Hancoin1large_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519091797382162098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The square hole in the center was for stringing coins together. A string of coins weighed just over 70 pounds (32 kilos). Mule trains hauled the tons of coins needed to make big purchases. The shipping costs between Chinese provinces could be as much as 25% of the coins' value.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jiao Zi</span> were originally notes made between people to make deals... like IOU's. They were backed by the metal coinage of the realm. The notes were made for convenience and to save people the shipping costs for the huge amounts of heavy coins needed to transact business. So many Jiao Zi circulated that the government created a savings bank to 'organize' everything. Then what happened? If you guessed that the notes evolved into credit instruments you would be right. But that didn't happen first in China.<br /><br />In 1694 the Bank of England became a monopoly by Royal decree. Thenceforth only they could create currency. Private 'jiao zi' weren't allowed anymore. It didn't take long for other countries to catch on to this money making idea. By the early 1900's Germany's Warburg Bank had emerged as Europe's most powerful financial institution... and guess who was at that secret meeting on Jekyll Island? None other than Paul Warburg.<br /><br />Enough said. Google<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> '<span style="font-style: italic;">Jekyll Island</span>' or '<span style="font-style: italic;">Ed Griffin</span>' and you'll be on your way to understanding the world a little better. You can download the program that I have on the CD from any number of sites. Or if you email me (douglas@vashonislandimaging.com) I will send you a copy of it.<br /><br />Now I'll get back to the real 'currency' of our business, prepress.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-32463228789103140892010-09-18T12:42:00.001-07:002010-09-18T16:01:57.424-07:00History Repeats Itself<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaFfsfLug9vxU0zAmKi700wDHK1irhwUmW2A7soF0YZccbc8WTdgSbEbcEnjX3zWamPZaybDwqUx0tx1n1wwpOAUER3OqBm6zSsN1GM3vfeYcViEM8xMRDbMAs3K1Nj06nWDzIsTzIlA/s1600/MESNEY_Photo_Negative_616_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaFfsfLug9vxU0zAmKi700wDHK1irhwUmW2A7soF0YZccbc8WTdgSbEbcEnjX3zWamPZaybDwqUx0tx1n1wwpOAUER3OqBm6zSsN1GM3vfeYcViEM8xMRDbMAs3K1Nj06nWDzIsTzIlA/s320/MESNEY_Photo_Negative_616_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518345186904630786" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6i0uz-1Qw0B23r0wPKj4OTFGz6OwK2q6oYD44fVb4y3WbqFaXE4QuhqzJ_i3zK4neWgwXF42YdHPCsa2duWqD2lq1RGEDGyvelbcBZhyphenhyphenx81HNxZ5Xx2VIK1ldOJm4aOuRX5bjeZN5Q7M/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6i0uz-1Qw0B23r0wPKj4OTFGz6OwK2q6oYD44fVb4y3WbqFaXE4QuhqzJ_i3zK4neWgwXF42YdHPCsa2duWqD2lq1RGEDGyvelbcBZhyphenhyphenx81HNxZ5Xx2VIK1ldOJm4aOuRX5bjeZN5Q7M/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518341437934006306" border="0" /></a><br />It was déjà vu all over again today as I worked on yet another restoration job. This one involved really old negatives shot on '616', a now defunct roll-film size that once produced large negatives 6 X 3.5 inches (15.24 X 8.89 centimeters). The last time I handled 616 film negs was when I was a junior at Bayside High School in New York. Back then I had a darkroom in the basement of my parents house where I developed film shot with a <span style="font-style: italic;">Rolliflex</span><span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> (120-size film) and a <span style="font-style: italic;">Minolta SR-2</span> (a 35mm camera). Word got out that I knew how to develop pictures and one day a customer brought some 616 film for processing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieObkj2dEpOkTXGxmJIqWANo7w_HjzpXqHpj2wErYGvIR3Fy_M_BQwrPPxX15tqZ8c4H_PbCqD1WQpZz7fryif8hSmx2rxDJzeRm_BLM-V6xviwzOwmTn2yaxAu6V0mKLiTzS6mTLQvbg/s1600/MESNEY_1960_Mesney-Nolte_Photographers_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieObkj2dEpOkTXGxmJIqWANo7w_HjzpXqHpj2wErYGvIR3Fy_M_BQwrPPxX15tqZ8c4H_PbCqD1WQpZz7fryif8hSmx2rxDJzeRm_BLM-V6xviwzOwmTn2yaxAu6V0mKLiTzS6mTLQvbg/s320/MESNEY_1960_Mesney-Nolte_Photographers_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518380036865964914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Yours truly (right) in 1960 with high school classmate Dave Nolte (left). He and I started a photo business in shooting weddings, bar mitzvahs, and portraiture of people and pets.</span><br /><br />I remember that the wide 616 film was so flimsy that it buckled easily making it almost impossible to thread onto those old spiral film-processing reels. If you managed to maintain your sanity the resulting negatives produced outstanding prints, however.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdAdGgZde_OlWFaLoKivNJWIyK8gixHvXhc5zqRA5-nKuUu_zbvySJMmw-WXdd31qEodaq5OBnF2utYO9Akg-s5Y8yJs38hKn1lf8xjbllr0AuzkqrFnHbC5WjfWB9yQcdiFyLPKJ4X4/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_2.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdAdGgZde_OlWFaLoKivNJWIyK8gixHvXhc5zqRA5-nKuUu_zbvySJMmw-WXdd31qEodaq5OBnF2utYO9Akg-s5Y8yJs38hKn1lf8xjbllr0AuzkqrFnHbC5WjfWB9yQcdiFyLPKJ4X4/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518341612132165954" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Uneven processing caused by buckling of the film during development results in a mottled appearance that is very difficult to fix, as shown above.</span><br /><br />But that was in 1960 at the very tail end of the 616 era, shortly before Kodak<span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> discontinued making films in that size. 35mm format was by then replacing many of the larger old formats, made famous by<span style="font-style: italic;"> Life</span> magazine photographers who preferred the 'miniature' size cameras for reportage.<br /><br />Now good quality prints are often giclées, not photographic prints. To make giclées photo negatives need conversion into digital images.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Photo Copying Vs. Scanning </span><br /><br />The process begins with photographing the negatives with a digital camera. This is done with a simple copy stand and light box. The light box light source isn't so important if you are shooting black-and-white negatives. Lining up the camera squarely is important and accuracy when shooting will save you a lot of time later correcting the 'skew' in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWQourrB4601_c4uPH7eY1sY8A71B_-YCxCTPclnWIAU3InDWe59zUWWGwrRO0xq_8AgkDBg-64kzLXrzT7kTUqlz6nmoTPTx2YVbMkEB8zOPEEUHSEzxp87fPsV_n3SPKL1kz0NTHPk/s1600/MESNEY_Photo_Copy_Stand_2.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWQourrB4601_c4uPH7eY1sY8A71B_-YCxCTPclnWIAU3InDWe59zUWWGwrRO0xq_8AgkDBg-64kzLXrzT7kTUqlz6nmoTPTx2YVbMkEB8zOPEEUHSEzxp87fPsV_n3SPKL1kz0NTHPk/s320/MESNEY_Photo_Copy_Stand_2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518381295743537426" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is the copy stand set-up I use. The light box is swappable. The one pictured is a fluorescent one that I use for copying black-and-white negatives. For color I use the dichroic head from an old </span><span>Omega</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">®</span> enlarger turned upside down. </span><br /><br />You might ask, why not just scan them? Because photocopying delivers a better result than scanning for giclée prints. The reasons for this are detailed in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress the Art of Giclée</span> (www.gicleeprepress.com). There you can also read complete instructions about how to make digital files from film negatives and positives (slides). The gist of it is that good digital cameras have better image-processing algorithms and more precise exposure controls. In addition their dithering is picture oriented. Unless it is a very expensive one, a scanner is best used for business graphics and technical illustrations, like blueprints. The book explains why.<br /><br />Find the base exposure for an 'average' negative. Use your camera's highlight warning to find the point at which highlights burn out. The highlight warning on my Nikon flashes any blown out picture areas on the preview screen. So I adjust the exposure until the clearest part of the negative film (at the edges) flashes a warning, then back off one third of a f/stop. There should be no 'white' in the digital negative. White should be a shade of light gray (10%-20% depending on the nature of the image).<br /><br />Once the exposure has been found, I copy all similar average negatives. Negatives that are thinner or thicker than average require some exposure bracketing, but not very much... and eventually the best parts of the bracketed exposures are recombined into a single PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">® </span>layer.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Digital Processing in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span></span><br /><br />When a picture is first opened in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> it is the Background, which is fixed and resists certain adjustments. Right click on the Background and change it into a normal Layer. Label that layer as the original master, copy it (to make a working copy) and then turn it off and forget about it. Then use the working copy for the following PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> processing sequence:<br /><br />● Invert<br />● De-saturate<br />● Auto Levels<br />● Duplicate Auto Levels layer<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVVyRoyhZO6gTpXvMxNAqPf36qS5dbaxyVvWRmI-PYmfh7ATxv2M1EMh8GwPIP9zfKsK7s2xS1z0QW7RZ7OpDlN_WmFO7cpMWGn5PGfha_PSDGdCJUchXhiMZZUfUZhMiViW_vGooGCE/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_4.1_Sequence_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 105px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVVyRoyhZO6gTpXvMxNAqPf36qS5dbaxyVvWRmI-PYmfh7ATxv2M1EMh8GwPIP9zfKsK7s2xS1z0QW7RZ7OpDlN_WmFO7cpMWGn5PGfha_PSDGdCJUchXhiMZZUfUZhMiViW_vGooGCE/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_4.1_Sequence_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518341909150985554" border="0" /></a><br />If you have a lot of pictures to prepare, you can make a PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">® </span>Action of the above sequence. That will save you a lot of time. The rest of the procedure involves manual adjustments in this sequence on the duplicate of the Auto Levels layer.<br /><br />● Levels<br />● Brightness & Contrast<br />● Tone Balancing (Gradients)<br />● Burn & Dodge<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Levels</span><br /><br />When shooting the original negative your slight underexposure should have delivered a digital version with a light gray white point. Now you can trim that back closer to white using the Levels controls. Likewise, trim in the black point. Then adjust the mid-tones for the best overall look.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brightness & Contrast</span><br /><br />Tweak the look created with Levels adjustments by using Brightness & Contrast controls.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7Ax42gs300pP2NgQ_fY5iyq9EnYrQBaOz8uWnS0piQxM35dy-AZwsC1gkjQDtGpW6qI88a_0ogPcpg0HPBkvtubMdcFNmBDJHV2rc4g9aLgA0sCaomFcx_hDHi4pc4nN4mb_K9ZtT5U/s1600/MESNEY_Histogram_CU_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7Ax42gs300pP2NgQ_fY5iyq9EnYrQBaOz8uWnS0piQxM35dy-AZwsC1gkjQDtGpW6qI88a_0ogPcpg0HPBkvtubMdcFNmBDJHV2rc4g9aLgA0sCaomFcx_hDHi4pc4nN4mb_K9ZtT5U/s320/MESNEY_Histogram_CU_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518381828710157314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Levels histogram shows black point on left and white point on right. Those points are like goal posts and all the action happens between them. What is white stays white and what is black stays black.<br /></span><br />The black and white points are fixed when you use Levels. The darkest tones cannot be made darker. Nor can the lightest tones be made lighter. That is what Brightness controls do.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF6v8B242xcaHjgyPKUFafXgjjoN2syuROYE4TJrfkq71oAL_oyPN-UFd0E0gP53Qw1SkLf3WmwJ1WS6q6UdfHZgmiXHxudVXsrUVvBmO1ZJy5ximDoEEj17-Ys6RHrq2bL-m3tNN7nI/s1600/MESNEY_Histograms_Brightness_Contrast_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF6v8B242xcaHjgyPKUFafXgjjoN2syuROYE4TJrfkq71oAL_oyPN-UFd0E0gP53Qw1SkLf3WmwJ1WS6q6UdfHZgmiXHxudVXsrUVvBmO1ZJy5ximDoEEj17-Ys6RHrq2bL-m3tNN7nI/s320/MESNEY_Histograms_Brightness_Contrast_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518382124453430690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Turning down brightness moves the black point left to a point that is off the histogram (blue arrows). The opposite occurs if you turn up the brightness (yellow arrows). Anything off the chart doesn't show in the picture.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Brightness controls move the white and black points beyond the left and right chart boundaries of the chart. Anything off the chart doesn't exist. That means the dynamic tone range is shifted up or down (or both) until white and black are shades of gray. This is fully described in the book.<br /><br />Contrast flattens the amplitude of the curves, compressing or expanding the tone range dynamically. Reducing contrast compresses both light tones and dark tones closer to a single tone, 50% gray. Increasing contrast pushes the tone range the other way, toward two tones, black and white.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gradient Tone Balancing</span><br /><br />Frequently one part of a picture is too light or too dark compared to the rest of the picture. If so, make two duplicates of the image layer. Adjust one for the light part and one for the dark. Put the dark one over the light one. Make a layer mask for the upper layer using Gradients. Tweak the blend by erasing away parts that are unwanted.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Painting With the Eraser</span><br /><br />A similar technique is to make one layer adjusted for darks and another for lights. I usually put the darker layer on top and erase through it to reveal the lighter layer below. The technique is like painting with light. Adjusting the opacity of the Eraser can make subtle effects.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Multiple Layers for Greater Control</span><br /><br />Make as many different layers as you need to generate the widest possible dynamic tone range... the most tones. The layers can be individually adjusted for the parts of the picture that need work. They can also be used to bring out the subject(s).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Burn & Dodge</span><br /><br />After the above procedures use the Burn and Dodge tools to fine tune tone balance. <br /><br />Negatives that are extremely under or over exposed can't be totally done with the overall adjustments described above. For those kinds of images try to get a good range of mid tones. Doing that isn't usually a problem as under and over exposed images generally have low contrast.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLSD23Gdd9V4zYJTNqOFf7RhI-YAp4hOKMZ8jsmrB2lEmBzt9sGPHv3lD01gxVO4BansMQTccdv45J66Mry5lzCWiAQ1GNnyPPV7hl3Sg0Gs5k9fuzDE2EU5yZ0VWAx_gHIFET7MWSAM/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_3.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLSD23Gdd9V4zYJTNqOFf7RhI-YAp4hOKMZ8jsmrB2lEmBzt9sGPHv3lD01gxVO4BansMQTccdv45J66Mry5lzCWiAQ1GNnyPPV7hl3Sg0Gs5k9fuzDE2EU5yZ0VWAx_gHIFET7MWSAM/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_3.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518341763589606258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This underexposed picture had its highlights and shadows restored using the burning and dodging techniques described below.</span><br /><br />To build contrast start by alternately dodging highlights and burning shadows. Use a light touch (intentional pun). Build up the contrast slowly. A dash of mid-tone work here and there helps even out look. After building the contrast to a 'certain' point you will be able to use global adjustments (Levels, etc.) to get closer to a normal looking picture.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Instant Sepia</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIF4-fDmF8_kyqh6BZpcAXPjbB-p_edUlycFDHYSD_7NbByvAbCkocErDf8Zhlp4offQ-__-GI2EgpcHWn0dzc5cZUFjMcep-iiLMz61GqHruSYpYXf0PbfRVlkQRGF5RRFm_IsGFVTV4/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_5.1_Sequence_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 101px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIF4-fDmF8_kyqh6BZpcAXPjbB-p_edUlycFDHYSD_7NbByvAbCkocErDf8Zhlp4offQ-__-GI2EgpcHWn0dzc5cZUFjMcep-iiLMz61GqHruSYpYXf0PbfRVlkQRGF5RRFm_IsGFVTV4/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_Old_Negs_5.1_Sequence_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518344366369298114" border="0" /></a><br />Sepia is a popular look for old pictures. For 'instant sepia' shoot the negatives with your camera set for 6700°-7200° Kelvin (if you are using a daylight-balanced light box). That fools the camera and produces brownish colored images that are easily tweaked in PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> to the sepia shade you prefer.<br /><br />True, when you invert the negative into a positive the brownish yellow tones will become bluish cyan ones. However, those can easily be reversed back to sepia using Hue & Saturation controls together with Color Balance.<br /><br />Sepia is only one of many traditional tint colors for black-and-white pictures. Those who practice the alchemy of darkroom work use special chemicals called Toners to change or replace the silver halides in photo prints making them look warmer (reddish) or colder (bluish). Some popular toners are <span style="font-style: italic;">Selenium</span> (red-brown to purple-brown tones), <span style="font-style: italic;">Blue </span>(cold grays, actually), <span style="font-style: italic;">Gold</span> (blue-black tones), <span style="font-style: italic;">Copper</span> (reddish tones), and <span style="font-style: italic;">Iron</span> (blue tones). PhotoShop<span style="font-size:78%;">®</span> adjustments can easily match any of those looks, especially using multi-tone, gray scale tools.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Multi-Tone Variations In Grayscale Mode</span><br /><br />Working in gray scale mode (vs RGB or CMYK) variations are possible using multi-tone tinting controls such as these:<br /><br />● Duotone<br />● Tritone<br />● Quadtone<br /><br />You'll need to convert your image to gray scale to use those tinting tools but after you've gotten the effect you want you can always switch back to RGB, and then further tweak your colors with the adjustments described earlier in this article.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The Color of Money</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lqB0i7Hl4QCNUweVRrdglLuWfCAM6fVZiWdY3Eib0NsAcpP-2ffLBUHDvaSGJcwQa_mnIYP7g6ugtxTMVmY83aIIZEjvTwDkHOPBKj0J5kzSIrv0QKew49tWA9uubigj9grFLPN5dqE/s1600/MESNEY_Money_Hand_Fanning_Fifty-Dollar_Bills_1.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lqB0i7Hl4QCNUweVRrdglLuWfCAM6fVZiWdY3Eib0NsAcpP-2ffLBUHDvaSGJcwQa_mnIYP7g6ugtxTMVmY83aIIZEjvTwDkHOPBKj0J5kzSIrv0QKew49tWA9uubigj9grFLPN5dqE/s320/MESNEY_Money_Hand_Fanning_Fifty-Dollar_Bills_1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518385424204360930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">One color I'm sure you'd love to tweak is that of your money. </span><br /><br />Converting photo negatives to digital images for giclée prints will bring you a new category of customers and a lot of new business. At least that has been our history at Vashon Island Imaging. It's a history that I hope will keep on repeating itself.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-7858540279330171302010-09-16T18:43:00.000-07:002010-09-16T20:01:54.287-07:00Balancing Digital Rights<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbCUOAJiMFAw8kzFTQmOAskXVE56uCmxHcVfm2olNJTl71fr5aKh-U1EpdxWJvjLZDSjbeXjbX1lS35Gcypzz7xIAzCzyMbcw124LgL8cqwiMl4_bEQFoi1gQ56pmrem0k48m-T7-m9A/s1600/MESNEY_Blind_Justice_State_1.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbCUOAJiMFAw8kzFTQmOAskXVE56uCmxHcVfm2olNJTl71fr5aKh-U1EpdxWJvjLZDSjbeXjbX1lS35Gcypzz7xIAzCzyMbcw124LgL8cqwiMl4_bEQFoi1gQ56pmrem0k48m-T7-m9A/s320/MESNEY_Blind_Justice_State_1.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517698129899194338" border="0" /></a><br />Rights to pictures is a shadowy subject to which many artists and photographers turn a blind eye because of the confusion that prevails. These issues have been a conundrum for artists and photographers ever since I can remember. After all, what artists charge for their work depends in part on how they are used.<br /><br />Trade associations like the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graphic Artists Guild</span> and the <span style="font-style: italic;">American Society for Media Photographers (ASMP)</span> establish policy guidelines but there is no way to enforce them (and there is always somebody willing to sell for less than those guidelines suggest). Magazine articles, newsletters, forums, blogs and emails continually discuss rights and rates issues, yet many people -- dare I say most -- still don't get it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoUKX_AmY02N1r7E9X8C7f9U-TkmyAcSXIdHeZ81XVJySambbZ2GLPWDuXocbctR2fQvXy7cQpuqhKfZpMQ46SHj6ykv0kIj71_tGSnskFaw2qeguwLvw4FHdJYzpc6NteDBbbz6E1wI/s1600/MESNEY_Chained_Head_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoUKX_AmY02N1r7E9X8C7f9U-TkmyAcSXIdHeZ81XVJySambbZ2GLPWDuXocbctR2fQvXy7cQpuqhKfZpMQ46SHj6ykv0kIj71_tGSnskFaw2qeguwLvw4FHdJYzpc6NteDBbbz6E1wI/s320/MESNEY_Chained_Head_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517710334272970050" /></a><br />In the image food chain there is direct linkage between picture rights and income. Like a chain, its as strong as the weakest link. Lately the interrelationship between picture rights and income seems more like a missing link. The balance is an inverse proportion, especially for digital picture rights.<br /><br />Admittedly, I am in total denial when it comes to selling my pictures and illustrations on or for the Web. I am clueless about how to even approach the subject and don't know where to find the facts. There are no clear guidelines or price structures as there are with and picture outlets. Like most photographers and artists I have a general sense of what I can expect to receive if one of my images is used in a magazine or newspaper. But what about use for a blog like this? How much is <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> picture worth?<br /><br />Although this subject may seem a bit far afield for a blog about prepress for pixel perfect printing, it really isn't. It is our responsibility to protect the rights of our clients and, by extension, those of artists and photographers everywhere.<br /><br />It goes without saying that we should never print artwork or any intellectual property that does not belong to our clients unless they have written permission from the creator of the original(s). Those pieces that we do print should bear the name and copyright of the artist(s) who created them. But you already knew that, eh?<br /><br />What you may not know are these 10 effective ways to protect your digital rights that are described below in an article put together by Paul Melcher. The piece came across my desk in the form of an email from <span style="font-style: italic;">ASMP</span> Seattle member Kate Baldwin who distributed Melcher's informative article to the organization's mailing list. Now, I'd like to share it with you. The article that follows is © Paul Melcher whose details can be found at the end of the piece. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">10 Ways to Fight for Your Digital Rights as a Photographer </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Fighting for your digital rights would seem to be an uphill battle these days. Let’s face it; the rights of photographers have been badly battered.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">First came </span>Google<span style="font-style: italic;">®, when it won the case to publish images in its search results without paying anything. Then came </span>National Geographic®<span style="font-style: italic;"> and others, republishing entire issues on CD-ROM without paying additional fees. Even today, the magazine industry poor-mouths its way to paying pennies for images on Web sites that now have bigger circulation than the corresponding print editions.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And yet, many in the photo industry still view the Web as their savior. The question is, How so?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">An image posted on the home page of a site that receives one million hits per week is not licensed at the same price as an image on the cover of a weekly magazine that has one million readers. Why is that?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">What makes publishers believe that images online are worth less than those in print? What makes photographers and photo agencies agree?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Most of the discourse is about how a magazine’s online edition generates far less revenue than its print edition. Since when has that been the concern of photographers and agencies? Is this now one of our responsibilities — to guarantee revenue on top of licensing images?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It shouldn’t be.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Here are 10 ways we — all of us in the industry — can fight back.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">1. Stop treating “digital rights” as an add-on to a license. Maybe we should make “print rights” as an additional right. We should treat Web usage as a full-blown license of its own.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">2. Stop licensing images online as “one week on home page” or “one day inside, 1/4 page.” A Web site is not a magazine; it doesn’t work that way. We should also stop making a distinction between commercial and editorial usage. Most editorial sites have a hundred times more traffic than corporate sites. We should treat the Web as an entity. It has measurable traffic — much more so than a magazine. Charge a license based on traffic; that is how sites charge advertisers, isn’t it?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">3. Don’t buy into the poverty talk. Many editorial sites today have a budget bigger than their print siblings. As publications close their print editions for online only, they shift their budgets. Some with the biggest traffic charge $400,000 for a one-day banner ad.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">4. Don’t buy the “it’s good publicity” argument. How many images have you ever licensed because one of your images appeared online? Would you offer your images for pennies to a print magazine because it’s “good publicity”?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">5. Stop believing that because the image is of a smaller size and only 72 dpi, it has less value. That is like saying that if an image is used in B/W, although it was shot in color, it has less value. Where does that come from? The value of an image has nothing to do with the numbers of pixels it has — nothing. Does a </span>Cartier-Bresson<span style="font-style: italic;"> or </span>Leibovitz<span style="font-style: italic;"> image lose value with fewer pixels?</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">6. Stop waiting for others to act. Stop expecting someone else to show you the way. Google® is taking your rights away, yet you turn a blind eye. Call that association to which you pay a hefty membership fee, and tell them to act. Tell your agency to stop giving away your rights and your images. And if they don’t, leave them. This is your problem, now. Not someone else’s in the future. It’s not going to go away; it’s only going to get worse.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">7. Focus less on what to shoot next — and more on licensing what you already have. Unless we start dealing with the issues at hand, those magical pictures you plan to shoot in the future will only generate a fraction of what your existing images can.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">8. Stop being beggars. Your images are needed. In fact, they are the core value of many publications and Web sites. These publishers are not doing you a favor by using your work; you are bringing them the value they need in order to run their business. What you do is unique. Trust me, if they could do it themselves and shut you out, they would. But they can’t.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">9. Stop being technophobes. It’s not cute anymore. All the information is at your fingertips. Read, learn. Saying you don’t understand is no excuse anymore. You shoot digital, don’t you? So stop the crap about how you do not understand RSS feeds or HTML, or anything Web-related. No one buys it — and if they do, it’s only so they can squeeze more out of you.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">10. Stop being afraid. Stop being afraid of losing clients, afraid of tomorrow, afraid of big corporations, afraid of your own decisions. The images you shoot or that you license have the value you give them. Bargain if necessary, until you have no breath left. And leave the table if you have to.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Your images are like your children. Don’t let them be mistreated.</span><br /><br />Paul Melcher brings more than 17 years of experience in technology breakthrough and leadership roles for world-renowned photography agencies and was named by American Photo as one of the "50 most influential individuals in American photography." Mr. Melcher is currently the C.K.O. of <span style="font-style: italic;">Zymmetrical.com</span>, the first mid-stock visual art marketplace, and strategist for <span style="font-style: italic;">Adbuynet</span>, an on-line, self service, video advertising agency. He also a consultant for a variety of high tech software service companies that are involved in the image licensing world. For more information about Paul Melcher visit his blog at <span style="font-style: italic;">blog.melchersystem.com.</span>Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-65277826580479698042010-09-14T18:46:00.000-07:002010-09-15T13:28:18.125-07:00Snappy Snapshots for Sexagenarian Sizzlers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmt6p6e11H5r5Hp4WsyRiEMR94d_56miJba_wzoHUVucgBr9F3FVQ-uI55NPF5TPVcsdPR3eFZlet7w0-kdnRb90S_s96YbyY65889p5AZttZ9fiG9FfQ1kaEVOPHxbkdH0GYohZuaUxM/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_10.3_Monique.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmt6p6e11H5r5Hp4WsyRiEMR94d_56miJba_wzoHUVucgBr9F3FVQ-uI55NPF5TPVcsdPR3eFZlet7w0-kdnRb90S_s96YbyY65889p5AZttZ9fiG9FfQ1kaEVOPHxbkdH0GYohZuaUxM/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_10.3_Monique.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516967877501745810" border="0" /></a><br />Servicing sexagenarians has become a hot business for us at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>. The Viagra® crowd brings us faded family photos to be restored before precious memories disappear. We put the 'snap' back into their snapshots and provide the client with both a digital file and a 5 X 7 inch print (12.7 X 17.78 cm) at a price they can't refuse.<br /><br />Restoration is an offshoot of prepress work. It is business we are encouraging because it is great filler work and highly profitable. Consider that 90% of the job ticket is billable hours, which go straight to the bottom line. However, to make money you have to work fast because people don't have unlimited funds for restoration work these days.<br /><br />Family albums are low hanging fruit for prepress artists like me. Think about it... Older folks saved those albums for exactly this time of their lives. Imagine their distress when after all these years they open the album to find that the pictures have their own version of Alzheimer's and that their memories are fading fast.<br /><br />These same people are concerned about their legacies. Those family pictures were supposed to be passed on through future generations, but they will never make it in their current form. Most of them are aware of digital solutions for archiving pictures, like CD's and optical drives, but they are clueless about where to take their family snapshots to have them rescued from the ravages of time.<br /><br />I'm a sexagenarian and have watched time ravage my own picture archive. Black-and-white negatives and prints are holding up well (as expected). However, anything color is in deep trouble, whether slides or prints. Color slides and negatives have two enemies, unstable dyes that fade, and 'protective' plastic pages that melt away releasing oils that stain and permanently damage film emulsions. (The plastic pages sold for CDs also have this problem after only 15 years.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7hTlV_OGEDhKAU7BWk8Vkj0e9hBa-s0WCwiA-532L0gepZ-QHaghzAzLWkEIHe36Ad7fmsVZBab0isYWdKHj96llbUwY7HDuwExP6oLPy0_xfc90z5eabxev5LXCaOYTOd1QWTBsVK8/s1600/MESNEY_1973_by_Dona_Tracy.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7hTlV_OGEDhKAU7BWk8Vkj0e9hBa-s0WCwiA-532L0gepZ-QHaghzAzLWkEIHe36Ad7fmsVZBab0isYWdKHj96llbUwY7HDuwExP6oLPy0_xfc90z5eabxev5LXCaOYTOd1QWTBsVK8/s320/MESNEY_1973_by_Dona_Tracy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516998720019341682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This 1973 portrait of yours truly taken by Dona Tracy hasn't changed much over the years. Either have I (ha ha). It was printed on Kodak® </span><span>Kodabromide</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> paper processed in </span><span>Dektol</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> developer, the combination used at</span><span> <span>Life</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>magazine photo laboratories back in the day.</span><br /><br />How well 40 to 50 year old color prints in my archive have survived is all over the map. Mind you, although my archive isn't kept in a humidity and temperature controlled environment, I live in a temperate zone without extremes and the work is kept in very subdued light. Dye transfer prints have survived in good shape. Kodak® Type-C prints (printed from color negatives) are borderline and have that 'old' look about them. Kodak® Type-R prints (a color-reversal process made for printing slides) are badly faded. The worst are old Polaroid® prints, which turn pink as their cyan dyes disappear.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUztJ5Nl5x_4N5KiWFYREj-F5BGvs5Emhpz6k5dPGmwSG3XM_1VlgvEnjyXoVeBPgeVgHtHG-kUEKtD1pKVXo4h1pCwioIC2LBqtP71kBgpYDbg6T4N15sIDGEuQh9ABiLCL-2rTxGM8/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_6.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUztJ5Nl5x_4N5KiWFYREj-F5BGvs5Emhpz6k5dPGmwSG3XM_1VlgvEnjyXoVeBPgeVgHtHG-kUEKtD1pKVXo4h1pCwioIC2LBqtP71kBgpYDbg6T4N15sIDGEuQh9ABiLCL-2rTxGM8/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_6.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516971110522403026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Polaroid® print from 1961 shows degradation of all dyes, particularly cyan.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJD0eW_bhaCR4HJUHqrW23eYTOG6dZqun9O8zMDA3Ha6GFvoGa-m4hiYygdu920jSgGoJUngZCtU-K6FsF9rgAqk9FIrKO1AoBPBRkcnnmx3TQ9Nd5EqUbvK9NUSiodnpG-cmuzmepvfs/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_8.3_C-Print_Faded.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJD0eW_bhaCR4HJUHqrW23eYTOG6dZqun9O8zMDA3Ha6GFvoGa-m4hiYygdu920jSgGoJUngZCtU-K6FsF9rgAqk9FIrKO1AoBPBRkcnnmx3TQ9Nd5EqUbvK9NUSiodnpG-cmuzmepvfs/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_8.3_C-Print_Faded.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516994748502819410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Kodak</span><span style="font-style: italic;">® </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Type-C print has lost its cyan dye but the magenta and yellow have held up pretty well. The total lack of cyan information makes the restoration of accurate original color dicey.</span><br /><br />The problem is like disappearing ink... a time bomb. But folks can't hear it ticking because after all, how often do you open the old family album these days?<br /><br />Chances are none of this is or will be of any concern to you until you too, are a sexagenarian. But guess what?<br /><br />Sexagenarians are the leading edge of the 'baby boomer' tsunami that has reached our shores. There are an unlimited number of family albums out there begging for affordable restoration. Once the word is out that you provide such a service, watch what happens... your dance card will fill up fast. That is why we offer sexagenarians sizzling deals they can't turn down.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Piece Pricing Is Preferable</span><br /><br />We try to keep the price to about $15 per picture, including a 5 X 7 inch (12.7 X 17.78 cm) print. Keep in mind that we are talking about snapshots here, so in comparative terms a 5 X 7 is big. Some folks end up getting bigger sizes needless to say. However the printing is the smallest part of the job. Some customers aren't even interested in prints, as they are more interested in the digital files of the restored images. In those cases you have no job costs at all.<br /><br />Our customers set the $15 price for the snapshot service. Formerly we tried working at an hourly rate but that seemed awfully high to our customers. If you quote $50 or $75 an hour folks get nervous. But if you point to a snapshot of their Mom and ask for $15 that seems more reasonable.<br /><br />There is no clear relationship between the $15 price and our normal hourly billing rates. To make our targets we've got to process five snapshots per hour. Sometimes that is possible, but often the throughput is less. I just finished a job with an average speed of only two per hour... or $30. However, that's the exception and I should have seen it coming (read on).<br /><br />Knowing when to stop is the key to making money. Restoration work is like a hike in the woods. You can go forever. If you are like me your heart is with the picture not the price. I always put in more time than I should, however that is my way of giving back to the customer. In today's economy it is better to extend service than to cut price.<br /><br />'Twice as good' is my mantra while I'm working on family album restoration work. Each restored picture should look twice as good than the original. That too is an imprecise measurement, but you get the idea.<br /><br />It may well be that the pictures you are working on will have mostly $15 price tags with a few that costs $20 or $25. Whatever, with piece pricing the customer has an easier time deciding.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxDTToHL0Y772ofuUv-gDJgMpMtDr5i67i72mWnAkKiXaKbrgqVwvOT2imseRQp0ncWAtzzdhCun5PSc6Pb8_rmYi5JScJCLdyqF5GvWfLUAt0O7eIGEdlv6SXjnKxlbWVFN307_BfUvk/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_1.2_Rubbing_Damage.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxDTToHL0Y772ofuUv-gDJgMpMtDr5i67i72mWnAkKiXaKbrgqVwvOT2imseRQp0ncWAtzzdhCun5PSc6Pb8_rmYi5JScJCLdyqF5GvWfLUAt0O7eIGEdlv6SXjnKxlbWVFN307_BfUvk/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_1.2_Rubbing_Damage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516985385267291250" border="0" /></a><br />Importantly, take a very close look at each snapshot you are servicing. If some of the pictures look problematic take time to explain that to the customer. Point out any unusual problems. That job I just mentioned, that took an extra long time, should have been $25 or $30 each since the throughput rate was 2 per hour.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcDG9uQzYjdKGKVkvjipEUKv-tWznEF_VYLlAFhr_Dp1eU5eai5ORtIfXRaSv6EBMs-_E832IZBH1NFaKzhI2mj6X-IfrvIroVJ7jVoRi80rnMzudVfHboA_qJSdoFpTrD2YBT-3Aynw/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_1.3_Rubbing_Damage.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcDG9uQzYjdKGKVkvjipEUKv-tWznEF_VYLlAFhr_Dp1eU5eai5ORtIfXRaSv6EBMs-_E832IZBH1NFaKzhI2mj6X-IfrvIroVJ7jVoRi80rnMzudVfHboA_qJSdoFpTrD2YBT-3Aynw/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_1.3_Rubbing_Damage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516985782085702034" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Extreme close-up of black fibers embedded in picture's emulsion. They are from the album paper and are the result of </span><span>compressed storage</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> in a </span><span>humid environment</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Many albums end up in the basement or an unheated attic at the bottom of piles being squeezed hard by the weight of the stuff on top. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Dried glue drops, tape and those 'corners' they sell for albums create high points that can push paper fibers into the soft emulsion surface of old color prints. </span><br /><br />This time I didn't look closely enough to notice a huge problem, however.... the album pages had shed black paper fibers which had became embedded in the emulsions of certain prints (especially Polaroid® prints). On others, the glue from one side had seeped through stained prints on the other side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKEv44fl0_zqmDoBbK9bO2QvLSCy83WRBAblL1W046DPPL01cLzfkLgGZL4Im6gNRva-r008g047nmvL_HQDAM8hW8p-06VyJbbKeNkIXTHpaimpRSq-j5PY6xyDXIz7yC7ONtT4BEQE/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_1.1_Rubbing_Damage.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKEv44fl0_zqmDoBbK9bO2QvLSCy83WRBAblL1W046DPPL01cLzfkLgGZL4Im6gNRva-r008g047nmvL_HQDAM8hW8p-06VyJbbKeNkIXTHpaimpRSq-j5PY6xyDXIz7yC7ONtT4BEQE/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_1.1_Rubbing_Damage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516986111436676882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The fibers turned out to be so embedded that some were impossible to remove. Using cotton swabs with a variety of solvents did nothing, and water softened the emulsion so that it wiped away with the fibers, as shown above...yikes! </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8In_qF17QWVQ4p7kS0URo1i5tMpalPsrvaBLzL6j02MoAmKRAxGlKpPkAI-Z-k2obIw4CJA_2SUgo-yG9YkRJAHlH9WAZN-bd0VFfvT9YagaL9AeTeGmwnKzJ6u0RCNvyozMqjT6BxsE/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_11.1_Stainj.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8In_qF17QWVQ4p7kS0URo1i5tMpalPsrvaBLzL6j02MoAmKRAxGlKpPkAI-Z-k2obIw4CJA_2SUgo-yG9YkRJAHlH9WAZN-bd0VFfvT9YagaL9AeTeGmwnKzJ6u0RCNvyozMqjT6BxsE/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_11.1_Stainj.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516986864012767810" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yellow stain of chemical migration from glue has been intensified for easier recognition. Seepage is aggravated by humid conditions. Nice fibers too, eh? It was lots of fun removing those, let me tell you. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6XQy3oBPRtsJgIdwv084fsh5DSBYVlL6QDU4VQZXtASwnVNHxVrzykZFqqkSxKlU0rRUrMai24ZLtoV0E0qddxR5NdkpgKMZCkbiaF8CXm76JGCR72-jYqjLNb8WhPm50ahnqE7UV4E/s1600/MESNEY_Sponge_Pad_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6XQy3oBPRtsJgIdwv084fsh5DSBYVlL6QDU4VQZXtASwnVNHxVrzykZFqqkSxKlU0rRUrMai24ZLtoV0E0qddxR5NdkpgKMZCkbiaF8CXm76JGCR72-jYqjLNb8WhPm50ahnqE7UV4E/s320/MESNEY_Sponge_Pad_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517237321137645858" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A scouring pad sponge turned out to be the solution for removing the fibers. Only certain types work on pictures. NOT the ones that are green and yellow and meant for scrubbing pots! The scouring pad part must be a soft plastic so that it doesn't scratch the surface of the prints. Using this sponge I was able to get rid of 90% of the fibers by rubbing hard in a crisscross pattern </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Restoration Is Prepress On Steroids</span><br /><br />Technically speaking, restoration work is not prepress.<br /><br />Prepress is the adaptation of an image for a particular type of output. It does not generally involve changing the picture, although I stretch that definition in practice every day of the week. <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span> is known for making pictures look good and that usually means 'intensification' of the image to extend its dynamic tone range.<br /><br />The techniques used for restoration are actually the same ones used for general prepress work for giclées. You could say that restoration is prepress on steroids. Such work is described in detail in my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> and in prior blogs. Following now are some techniques for servicing snapshots:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As Similar As They Are Different</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwd2arnHlFzTztdF0sStup5TtoOnUySATp4O4JMvdiIdaJAVxFzpKRTk0J2GnCH0oCShoayp1GEsmZKsHE3Jr_emyAYkbAln7R7CacdM_QR47xByEKEy_BjsZKRNNUyB5fjspj8xp3z0g/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_9.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwd2arnHlFzTztdF0sStup5TtoOnUySATp4O4JMvdiIdaJAVxFzpKRTk0J2GnCH0oCShoayp1GEsmZKsHE3Jr_emyAYkbAln7R7CacdM_QR47xByEKEy_BjsZKRNNUyB5fjspj8xp3z0g/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_9.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516988150124851458" border="0" /></a><br />Old snapshots are different from one another and have inconsistent tonal qualities. However, they share common aging problems so you'll find yourself doing the same things over and over, and after a while the work goes fast.<br /><br />You may even be able to make PhotoShop® Actions for the most basic adjustments. That's because all pictures of a certain type share the same problems. An old Polaroid® may have completely different problems than other types of color prints, but all old Polaroid® prints have the same problems.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCbnN5tJVZ-0rLeVnhX_Y0vr5yEPlhQX0iX6G4SS79m_GJxoDDuzUkuyh_FpsjtY6Rg27HBtFCtd4NdUK7_bclpWFa0rF1Ho4DkihbxT2q1d_MJDkEQJ9_n0pta6g9cER0Wzij3wkzs0/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_7.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCbnN5tJVZ-0rLeVnhX_Y0vr5yEPlhQX0iX6G4SS79m_GJxoDDuzUkuyh_FpsjtY6Rg27HBtFCtd4NdUK7_bclpWFa0rF1Ho4DkihbxT2q1d_MJDkEQJ9_n0pta6g9cER0Wzij3wkzs0/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_7.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516988515783957618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This old black-and-white print didn't fade with age. It was originally a badly underexposed picture</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">printed on contrasty paper. These kinds of problems are not difficult to fix.</span><br /><br />Old black-and-white prints present their own rainbow of challenges but they are generally not time or age related. Black and white images are made of silver particles, which are relatively inert. Instead the problems you encounter with old black-and-whites is poor photography combined with bad processing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYUYewPWRHfjAqzYyLX1M1-hDwnvgYBTpFgGmJo9jGdjwMfyblqWJQgNYwXD1BH-MToEuuUu47UeTFM3ntp-5_icbv1BJOabBGTuFrm4d64LrPPtp2ttzAm_YVokTbZFOF__ISVFuTzk/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_4.2_Polaroid.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYUYewPWRHfjAqzYyLX1M1-hDwnvgYBTpFgGmJo9jGdjwMfyblqWJQgNYwXD1BH-MToEuuUu47UeTFM3ntp-5_icbv1BJOabBGTuFrm4d64LrPPtp2ttzAm_YVokTbZFOF__ISVFuTzk/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_4.2_Polaroid.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516991037631821554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This old Polaroid® print is brown where lack of proper fixing left silver salts that have oxidized into brownish shades. Remember those smelly fixative wipers that came with the original black-and-white </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Polaroid® film packs? If you didn't wipe completely, covering the entire surface with the fixative, this is what happens. </span><br /><br />Compounding the restoration may also be physical damage. Some glues, pastes, papers and tapes leave chemical stains, as I have come to discover.<br /><br />The result of all these assaults is an album full of photos that are:<br /><br />● Faded<br />● Poorly photographed (over or under exposed)<br />● Unevenly lit (especially flash photos)<br />● Badly processed (motley degradation)<br />● Damaged by water, tape, tearing or other<br /><br />What a treasure trove for a prepress artist, eh? If you decide to have at it, here are some easy techniques we use at <span style="font-style: italic;">Vashon Island Imaging</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Capture Highlight & Shadow Details</span><br /><br />When copying the snapshot, under expose the capture so there is no white. The white parts of the picture should be 10% gray (at least).<br /><br />If it is a dark picture make an alternative over exposure in which all blacks are 90% gray. If you use more than one exposure, combine the best parts of both into a single layer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlf3b2_kbPrVRZi1pVhW0VLQnEBl6jOo53vswVcR80yZVuJe2v_LwRrgAbxtGJm4v8n5r7EwtsQDD84jUgiB1ZeG_LhilF3sSqMqemyGp7SQLW1eTHfjaAk8QmMiisnjp9RbXsINEC7mw/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_5.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlf3b2_kbPrVRZi1pVhW0VLQnEBl6jOo53vswVcR80yZVuJe2v_LwRrgAbxtGJm4v8n5r7EwtsQDD84jUgiB1ZeG_LhilF3sSqMqemyGp7SQLW1eTHfjaAk8QmMiisnjp9RbXsINEC7mw/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_5.3_Polaroid_UnFaded.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516991582954179874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">On the left is how the image capture should look as you begin your prepress work.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Whites should be grays at this early stage of production, making available a wider assortment of adjustment tools that will not respond to white.</span><br /><br />Working in grays is better than whites at this stage. It is easier to pull white out of gray than the other way around. For example, if a face is blown out or faded, under expose your capture so that white is 10-20% gray, then lighten the whites of the eyes and teeth. Subtle use of the Dodge and Burn tools will allow you to contour highlights in the light gray tones. You can only do that if the white point is low enough to begin with. And as I say, it is easier to lighten gray than to darken white. Whites have no data so there is nothing to work with.<br /><br />Light gray tones are also more adjustable with both mid tone and highlight controls. The lighter the gray the less it responds to mid-tone adjustments.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Clean & Spot Capture</span><br /><br />Start prepress work with a thorough cleaning, removing any dust & scratches or other mars. There are usually plenty of those in old snapshots so this part of the job can be tedious. Concentrate on the most important parts of the pictures, their subjects, and work your way out from them. I use the Rubber Stamp clone tool for that job.<br /><br />Duplicate that picture layer and get it cropped and sized. If you included a gray card in the picture keep a bit of that gray in the frame (crop it out after color adjustment).<br /><br />The lowest layer in the stack should be the original image. It's there for back-up so you can switch it off and forget about it. Consider the duplicate picture layer as the new original.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Set Levels and White Point</span><br /><br />Use Levels and get the picture looking as balanced as you can. I often start by using Auto Levels to see what PhotoShop® has to think about the situation. About 25% of the time I agree and keep that version on a separate layer, if only to cannibalize it later. Quite often using Auto Levels provides a great starting point for further Levels adjustments. I like my pictures darker and warmer than the folks at Adobe and I have an Action that copies the Auto Levels layer and applies a Brightness setting of -22 (moves the white point to gray).<br /><br />Use the Burn and Dodge tools to bring out the most important parts of the subjects in the picture. If they are faces, intensify the eyes and make sure that the whites of the eyes (and teeth) are white enough. De-saturate and adjust the brightness of those that aren't.<br /><br />Do all burning, dodging and tone 'depth' adjustments before making color adjustments. Reversing the procedure can alter the colors.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Make Color Adjustments After Tone Depths Are Set</span><br /><br />Next I use Auto Color and am frequently surprised to see PhotoShop® deliver an entirely different interpretation than the Auto Levels or Auto Contrast adjustments. To see for yourself, do Auto Color first one time, and Auto Levels first the next time. What works best in my opinion is Auto Levels first, followed by Auto Color which usually makes the picture slightly less contrasty and a little warmer.<br /><br />If you use Auto Color on a separate layer you can combine the best parts of the Auto Levels layer with those of the Auto Color layer. If you make such a combination, re-visit Levels for a final tweak.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sharpen Resulting Image</span><br /><br />When you are happy with the result, make a duplicate of that layer and sharpen it using the Unsharp Mask tool. How much? That's a matter of taste however for a file that is about 2,200 pixels on the long side settings of 2.2 / 222 are not unusual. That may seem extreme but the 5 X 7 inch (12.7 X 17.78 cm) giclées will look outstanding.<br /><br />Another technique is to make additional layers and sharpen them to varying degrees, then re-combine the best parts of those layers. This is a good trick for portraits, making the eyes sharpest of all.<br /><br />Changing the Opacity levels of various layers can further tweak the look, as can adjustments to their Blending Options (lighten & darken).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Clean and Blend Sharpened Image</span><br /><br />No matter how thoroughly you spot and clean a picture, when you sharpen it more spots and scratches appear. Thus, after sharpening you may have some more spotting and cleaning to do. Try the following procedure to quickly get rid of the light spots.<br /><br />1.) Set the sharpened layer's Blending Options for darken.<br />2.) Adjust mid tones of the un-sharpened layer beneath to 1.07 or so<br /><br />In this way the softer pixels below fill in the lighter sharpened ones above making most of the objectionable light-colored spots invisible. The reverse holds true for getting rid of dark spots. Merging the results of both procedures reduces the need for laborious spotting with the Rubber Stamp tool.<br /><br />Not that you will entirely escape the drudgery... Some handwork is always needed after sharpening. Don't forget that you can set the Blending Options for the Rubber Stamp, which can make spotting go way faster.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Creating Repair Patches</span><br /><br />If there's a section that is unusually dusty or dirty, replace it with a repair patch made by airbrush work or blur tools.<br /><br />1.) Copy offending part of image onto a separate layer.<br /><br />The copied section of the picture will be converted into a repair patch by defocusing it using Blur tools.<br /><br />2.) Place repair patch layer beneath image layer.<br />3.) Apply some Blur to the repair patch (Gaussian Blur, Surface Blur, etc.).<br /><br />Alternatively, select the offending area and airbrush over it on a separate layer. (To get the paint colors right, sample the image with the Eye-dropper tool.) Then...<br /><br />4.) Set the Blending Options of the image layer on top to darken.<br />5.) Adjust mid-tone Levels of the patch underneath to about 1.07, (slightly lighter).<br /><br />Adjusting the Levels of the patch gives you control of the amount that the patch shows through the image, which has its blending set for darken. The light spots in the sharpened layer can't darken so the patch shows through, filling in the light-colored crap in the sharpened layer. Reversing the procedure also works.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Use Noise to Recreate Grain & Digital Textures</span><br /><br />Severe problems may require that repair patches be placed over the image layer to replace entire sections, not just the spots. Any airbrush work you do lacks the 'grain' texture of the original image. Lacking that texture your retouching stands out like a sore thumb.<br /><br />The fix is to recreate the look of the grain by adding noise and then blurring that noise. The size and type of noise must be precisely adjusted in combination with the amount of blur. It's a little fussy but with those adjustments you can recreate the look of almost any type of film grain or digital texture.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You're As Good As Your Last Print</span><br /><br />Although they probably wouldn't admit it, when our colleagues and customers see our work the first thing they look for are problems. Once satisfied that there is nothing wrong, they relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors.<br /><br />There's always a client that will insist on making a change, usually as some sort of power trip. But hey, it goes with the territory. Once a client has been identified as being a 'helper' all future work we do for them contains red herrings.<br /><br />99% of the time our clients are blown away by what we do with pictures that looked lost. Sometimes I am surprised myself to see how basic prepress can bring pictures back from the dead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWVz9wIKWpULGNUHKkEJdNHWY6aohP1a2c2IwmnKGO7xyBuZiG1jgeDnkP9J6uEQxW7-mK4YAJS7N2ealjFRh2bVrsMtNptlNNum11Y8xH6DIYrMEdbbEK0WmygN4zfRXjYqHtPmakhI/s1600/MESNEY_Restoration_12.1_Lucrezia.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWVz9wIKWpULGNUHKkEJdNHWY6aohP1a2c2IwmnKGO7xyBuZiG1jgeDnkP9J6uEQxW7-mK4YAJS7N2ealjFRh2bVrsMtNptlNNum11Y8xH6DIYrMEdbbEK0WmygN4zfRXjYqHtPmakhI/s320/MESNEY_Restoration_12.1_Lucrezia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516984705242610706" border="0" /></a><br />One of my earlier blogs details the account of restoring a picture washed away in Hurricane Katrina. That picture (seen above) took days, not hours, of tedious detail work. To keep from getting discouraged, remember that this job is an advertisement about you... so it better be good!<br /><br />When clients are pleased I like to say, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Ingen Kunst Als'</span> a Swedish expression with a double entendre. As slang the expression means, 'Nothing to It'. Literally translated it means 'No Art At All'. Being an artist, you can appreciate the irony.<br /><br />Making snappy snapshots for sexagenarians may not be as sexy as printing fine-arts giclées. However, restoring humble snapshots and memories thought lost brings smiles (and checks) that are just as big as those we earn for fine art.Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-80538768654842708842010-09-11T16:23:00.000-07:002010-09-11T17:23:13.734-07:00Sparkle Magic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepKSJ23G94P1krH-Fg4Vfg3ou4n6sl1m-EpDi4CJ19OVyBvIVt0nMq_L3gPyueIotKN4ddZ8UXJX9UNw4PJfGclJAQGn9UJorhWzCuln9E7TCcslTPjGWw7UVKXOH3sfp5opaI0ZW5bM/s1600/MESNEY_Prism_Splitting_Light_1.3_10.09.11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepKSJ23G94P1krH-Fg4Vfg3ou4n6sl1m-EpDi4CJ19OVyBvIVt0nMq_L3gPyueIotKN4ddZ8UXJX9UNw4PJfGclJAQGn9UJorhWzCuln9E7TCcslTPjGWw7UVKXOH3sfp5opaI0ZW5bM/s320/MESNEY_Prism_Splitting_Light_1.3_10.09.11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515807031773368338" /></a><br />The idea for this blog came to me in a flash, literally. It was a brilliant spark of clear red light caught in the corner of my eye as I scanned the horizon. Then another one, blue… then, after a few more seconds yet another… tiny sparks in the distance like the clear faint 'ting' of a distant Buddhist monastery bell in a gentle breeze… each one an invitation to move your attention to something else.<br /><br />The source of the flashes turned out to be a crystal someone had hung in the window across the way. The crystal was catching the sun and as it slowly rotated its prismatic facets split the sunlight into flashes of light in a rainbow of colors.<br /><br />Attracted by the beauty of the flashes they gave me pause and I reflected on their brilliance. Soon I found myself thinking about how to capture the effect of the crystal in a giclée print. (Everything I think about eventually evolves (devolves?) into pictures, something that has continued to happen for my entire life. I see pictures everywhere, all the time. Some intentionally, others spontaneously.)<br /><br />Pondering flashes brought recall of another picture I had seen from the ferry window one sunny morning, of water sparkles. I love to stare into the middle of a patch of water sparkles and just let them tickle my eyes as they burst and disappear like natural 'fireworks'. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eHq59TMjnqBz8I0YVwHDeOzTPlM1gkF5n4cF5hyphenhyphen6BQNgzUpk8MPv2EFlvaiIjNoLLBgpJrc27-N_UjaF2coaqR5JghA8v5aOmUkACt334OfEF9WmYmv95TdRSyJepOVKp6kpUWovjM8/s1600/MESNEY_Moonlit_Water_Falling_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 86px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eHq59TMjnqBz8I0YVwHDeOzTPlM1gkF5n4cF5hyphenhyphen6BQNgzUpk8MPv2EFlvaiIjNoLLBgpJrc27-N_UjaF2coaqR5JghA8v5aOmUkACt334OfEF9WmYmv95TdRSyJepOVKp6kpUWovjM8/s320/MESNEY_Moonlit_Water_Falling_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515809030944789266" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Disney</span>® long ago mastered the art of sparkles in animated films and has been widely imitated since with varying degrees of success. But as you are probably already well aware, it is very hard to sparkle magic in a printed picture. The reasons for that are physical and have to due with the nature of light and how we see it. You can't look directly at the sun without blinding yourself, and that is why a picture of the sun lacks its natural 'vigor'. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Reflected vs Source Light</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOM-u_YLr8bxyscTEthByE1MVS_0o3CJVAPdfl1lZGCtt_FrMi0wCPqqyVzn7cOGQpj9tHF4YCZBmMe6AOaYNG91Ls2m-p2jm7qT16XaDJqZBQk8rmYtGWlly5FwnKXkzHStdKGS0_KbE/s1600/MESNEY_Radiant_Reflected_Light_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOM-u_YLr8bxyscTEthByE1MVS_0o3CJVAPdfl1lZGCtt_FrMi0wCPqqyVzn7cOGQpj9tHF4YCZBmMe6AOaYNG91Ls2m-p2jm7qT16XaDJqZBQk8rmYtGWlly5FwnKXkzHStdKGS0_KbE/s320/MESNEY_Radiant_Reflected_Light_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515809807936427906" /></a><br />The things our eyes see are illuminated by light. The light radiates from a source and reflects off objects around it. Source-light rays are reflected by natural and synthetic elements in varying amounts, always less than the source light. That is, some reflect better than others. Mirrors reflect 99% or more of the source light that hits them. Black velvet reflects nearly zero source light. A standard photographic gray card used by photographers reflects 18% of the light falling upon it.<br /><br />Just as you can't look at the sun, it is difficult to look directly at bright lights. The physics in all cases are the same. The amount of reflected light is inversely proportional to the 'spread' of the light. Anyone who has projected imagery is familiar with this. If you double the size of the screen, you quarter the brightness. Common sense would have you think that a screen twice the size would be one-half as bright, but that would be wrong. Photographers encounter the same phenomena when distancing lights from a subject. Pulling a light back twice as far doesn't halve the light, it quarters the light. <br /><br />If you measure the light falling on a subject with a meter and then turn around and point the meter at the source light you will discover that the difference in the measurable amount of light between the source and the reflection is enormous. That is why you can't use the same camera exposure for each... and why source lights that appear in pictures are usually blown out because of over exposure.<br /><br />There are many ways to avoid these kinds of problems and many other ways to fix them, all described in my book, <span style="font-style:italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> (www.gicleeprepress.com). However, even if you make a perfectly balanced original image, source lights like the sun will still lack the magic of luster without some prepress work. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Recreate the Natural Light Balance</span><br /><br />Recall that it is difficult to look at source lights because their extreme power is out of the range of cameras if their exposure is set for reflected light. You could set the camera's exposure for the sun – people do it all the time. However then the rest of the scene is way underexposed. True, you can combine exposures and/or use fill light to get a balanced picture... but it will <span style="font-style:italic;">still</span> lack the luster of the original scene because <span style="font-style:italic;">now you can look at the sun </span>(or radiant source lights). The sun's energy has been <span style="font-style:italic;">reduced</span> to match that of the rest of the scene. To get back some semblance of 'luster' in a print, radiant lights and spectral highlights must be made to be the only white points in the picture. <br /><br />Spectral highlights are clear and focused reflections of radiant light sources. For example, the sun reflecting off highly polished metal. Spectral highlights give us visual cues about an objects composition. We know that objects making spectral highlights are hard and polished, or liquid as no other substances produce them. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAeICYTyKsm4MHLk0TQrEs0ONxt0FvLLCPG8MR1elfsMaCa7TzislWP4U1acm7zubK1aXI3rDK3LzkiVDVO9qZpSOMYk16yD00HogeLkTUmuMOYCSTN5w4ENk_59cZ9Hgfvz0FQHlGac/s1600/MESNEY_Contrast_Mask_Bubble_Sprite_400_1.6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAeICYTyKsm4MHLk0TQrEs0ONxt0FvLLCPG8MR1elfsMaCa7TzislWP4U1acm7zubK1aXI3rDK3LzkiVDVO9qZpSOMYk16yD00HogeLkTUmuMOYCSTN5w4ENk_59cZ9Hgfvz0FQHlGac/s320/MESNEY_Contrast_Mask_Bubble_Sprite_400_1.6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515810422479236978" /></a><br />The simple addition of a spectral highlight to an illustration of a ball provides an example. Without the highlight the ball is perceived as soft. Adding the highlight changes its perceived hardness. The more spectral the highlight, the harder the ball.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Make Spectral Highlights 5% Brighter</span><br /><br />To add depth to prints of images containing spectral highlights the prepress work involves the restoration of imbalance to the lighting of the scene. The is done by isolating the spectral highlights and making them 5% brighter with the use of a Highlight Control Mask. <br /><br />The only way you can make highlights brighter in a print is to make everything else darker, which is exactly what a Highlight Control Mask is all about. There are several procedures for making highlight control masks described in my book and in previous blogs. One very simple way is as follows:<br /><br />1.) Duplicate the image layer.<br />2.) Adjust the Levels to darken the image substantially.<br />3.) Use Brightness and Contrast to further differentiate the highlights.<br />4.) Desaturate the layer to remove all color.<br />5.) Set the layer's Opacity to 5% or thereabouts.<br /><br />Controlling the opacity of the mask layer is how you bring out the spectral highlights in the giclée. It is a delicate balance. If you apply too much mask opacity you can make the print look dull (maybe that is good). At Vashon Island Imaging we normally apply about 5-7%.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXYFHrIVyofKYihOIYGFRPUwXC89VT9tqgTHnbxB5b31ApGh2sg3MeA8dXxnPy6hICHHntO5io_vWfRhoOQaMTqNdkRgrSW1ksW2YYMKsH9RV4bc0V0-bmE2sTNb6-aYcTJ392BFZqcA/s1600/MESNEY_Contrast_Mask_Bubble_Sprite_400_1.5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXYFHrIVyofKYihOIYGFRPUwXC89VT9tqgTHnbxB5b31ApGh2sg3MeA8dXxnPy6hICHHntO5io_vWfRhoOQaMTqNdkRgrSW1ksW2YYMKsH9RV4bc0V0-bmE2sTNb6-aYcTJ392BFZqcA/s320/MESNEY_Contrast_Mask_Bubble_Sprite_400_1.5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515812956838572738" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Mask looks solid black before opacity change in layer.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTNnAAG31q0bv2MYmJ8PplZYbLb6ue4jMaIwkd7gvVyqhwh2Q1hF8uCKzMYaCmgpFWZZAGHevUxBihxj1UxYq3idE1yY-O9oDMUEMEKdlFp4tu78pAwcTA392WHt2MbuCuxlZVhcgvmc/s1600/MESNEY_Contrast_Mask_Bubble_Sprite_400_1.7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTNnAAG31q0bv2MYmJ8PplZYbLb6ue4jMaIwkd7gvVyqhwh2Q1hF8uCKzMYaCmgpFWZZAGHevUxBihxj1UxYq3idE1yY-O9oDMUEMEKdlFp4tu78pAwcTA392WHt2MbuCuxlZVhcgvmc/s320/MESNEY_Contrast_Mask_Bubble_Sprite_400_1.7.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515813160227132930" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Reduce mask layer opacity to make highlights stand out better.</span><br /><br />You can also use the Eraser Tool to completely or partially remove parts of the mask to bring out the brightness in parts of the picture, if you like.<br /><br />Inverting the highlight control mask layer into a negative can be done to add color to spectral highlights. Use the brightness and contrast controls to lighten the dark highlights into a mid-range tone and then apply color balance controls to add the color of your choice. Once they have had some color added to them, the tones will also react to hue and saturation adjustments. After getting the color right, adjustments to the brightness, contrast and layer opacity fine-tune the look of the spectral highlights. (See also an earlier blog on the subject of adding color to highlights.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx2NKBkovKTvYWm3V8byvBt7I6oitqkMk_fTrF1bfyg0z_8YlZ5eLLHAZMK8_qUdRd4HvbsGt7FHczXXWZaO1Fx8BdEuAGut8I3kfsqyVVL2ibmmbCinGSExyG9omjJ9VoksIMTaYiYJ8/s1600/MESNEY_Fireworks_Sparkles_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx2NKBkovKTvYWm3V8byvBt7I6oitqkMk_fTrF1bfyg0z_8YlZ5eLLHAZMK8_qUdRd4HvbsGt7FHczXXWZaO1Fx8BdEuAGut8I3kfsqyVVL2ibmmbCinGSExyG9omjJ9VoksIMTaYiYJ8/s320/MESNEY_Fireworks_Sparkles_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515809512606050946" /></a><br />Adding sparkle magic to your giclées will put a twinkle in your customers' eyes when they see them. Better-looking giclées will also spark your sales... and I'll bet you could use some of that the kind of magic, eh!Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119164068703953618.post-74700024774141798812010-09-07T22:36:00.000-07:002010-09-11T16:22:55.357-07:00Tip Sheet #4 - Coatings Disposal Solution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwf3qrlM9CWtjVpsF-FHbp-qImVzFbexbN8UE9p_cjUm45WZQT_eeVitZ07DllFIo-VVp7fE77ORoZAdYW01_kBxHIbjNudCD8gvu41xDooBRHd6NqjvaX5VyLBYgX7aNLOrI1VMdGya4/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Evaporation_Tray_Residue_1.3_10.09.07.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwf3qrlM9CWtjVpsF-FHbp-qImVzFbexbN8UE9p_cjUm45WZQT_eeVitZ07DllFIo-VVp7fE77ORoZAdYW01_kBxHIbjNudCD8gvu41xDooBRHd6NqjvaX5VyLBYgX7aNLOrI1VMdGya4/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Evaporation_Tray_Residue_1.3_10.09.07.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515800428216912242" /></a><br />You are looking at the dried up residue of about two gallons of giclée coating waste water. The toxic crap is what's left of a witches brew containing MOAB®, Clear Sheild® and Golden® brand coatings. It covers the bottom of a 16 X 20-inch plastic tray (below) that we use to evaporate the dangerous effluents. That way the stuff in the tray is trapped and never gets into the eco system. Instead, the solids are easily packaged and disposed of properly. On Vashon that means bringing them to a hazardous materials 'recycle' event, held annually for the benefit of the community.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRnz12gLNJ2D1wbm7nmJRczje94erxCPmZf24zfe0azZpQZFdfl9lIPwH9nNx0h0N07xdB60FZqwT25EtaRd7I7eGotFPkGhMVhuZJaSFZbuhWVKNirWLhLVC9ASmcW1DDwpss5rK7BY/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Evaporation_Tray_Residue_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRnz12gLNJ2D1wbm7nmJRczje94erxCPmZf24zfe0azZpQZFdfl9lIPwH9nNx0h0N07xdB60FZqwT25EtaRd7I7eGotFPkGhMVhuZJaSFZbuhWVKNirWLhLVC9ASmcW1DDwpss5rK7BY/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Evaporation_Tray_Residue_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514413839088737634" /></a><br /><br />At Vashon Island Imaging we're very Eco oriented because a.) we are on an island with limited water resources and b.) have a septic system. That combination means we eventually drink and bath in what we put down the drain. So we are very careful about disposing any kind of chemicals. Our philosophy is that if it hasn't gone through your body it shouldn't go down the tube. <br /><br />The coatings we use to protect giclée prints contain very dangerous chemicals that are lethal to plants and animals. They should never get near our aquifers or oceans. What to do?<br /><br />1.) Restrict the amount of water used to clean your coating paraphernalia<br />2.) Evaporate the waste water in a large shallow pan<br /><br />We manage to generate only a cup and a half (375 ml) of waste water when cleaning the sprayer, less than that for brushes ...and <span style="font-style:italic;">none </span>when using the roller for applying coatings, believe it or not. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sprayer Cleaning</span><br /><br />When it comes to rinsing out the sprayer, take a cue from bartenders who clean glassware with a simple 2-part dip and dunk... once in detergent and once in rinse water. You can't help think that it isn't sanitary, but the simple procedure meets Health Department standards. The point is you don't need gallons of water to clean-up. <br /><br />Instead of filling the sprayer with water, add only 1/4 cup and swish it around thoroughly before spilling it into an evaporation tray. Do that thrice and you're still under one cup if waste water. The other 1/2 cup is shot through the sprayer nozzle in three bursts. (If two rinses is OK for restaurants, three is even better.) <br /><br />Several of my earlier blogs about coatings talk more about additional sprayer cleaning necessitated by particular brands and types of coatings.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Brush Cleaning</span> <br /><br />When cleaning brushes blot out as much coating (or paint) as you can using paper towels or old newspapers before rinsing. You don't need gallons of water for brushes either... one cup is all you need. Divvy up the cup of water into six portions. Dip the blotted brush into the first portion and work the water into the brush. Then blot it dry. Repeat for portions 2 through 6, each time blotting the brush dry before the next immersion.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rollers</span><br /><br />The best roller for coating giclées is a 6-inch one made of foam or with a <span style="font-style:italic;">very</span> short nap that doesn't shed. If you use one of those you'll never need to clean it. The roller fits perfectly into a Snapple® bottle.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1xRNmfKPshXTSNRTcQ0qoQmUj7eJrIPV_e9jmTbG66UQ9SaD5NfJriZYBcDRZFvF9h5TBA-NFDUrS8MDWCBL60RSHEFBnvM80jM0HdVIQXBSk9liqTVFk7DC_NLHFXbyPbPO8vMedYw/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_Bottle_Container_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1xRNmfKPshXTSNRTcQ0qoQmUj7eJrIPV_e9jmTbG66UQ9SaD5NfJriZYBcDRZFvF9h5TBA-NFDUrS8MDWCBL60RSHEFBnvM80jM0HdVIQXBSk9liqTVFk7DC_NLHFXbyPbPO8vMedYw/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_Bottle_Container_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514428710896398818" /></a><br />Around the neck excess coating dries into a 'rind' that makes an airtight seal... a week later your roller will still be ready for action, pre-loaded with coating. (The rind needs to be removed before using the roller again.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQQ9A4JazRN0F2zqxfITM5UlTrnbQZ9fENruBkNx0YtoN0UCs4fF0TDwZ2P_1OArWFAI2GAYXUCRDe5cgIFTiMcoHxKFGCHgtxNt7A3gvInBqI7WCV33MmvisSCZ7F-yp_I1aiQEqqXk/s1600/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_Rind_1.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQQ9A4JazRN0F2zqxfITM5UlTrnbQZ9fENruBkNx0YtoN0UCs4fF0TDwZ2P_1OArWFAI2GAYXUCRDe5cgIFTiMcoHxKFGCHgtxNt7A3gvInBqI7WCV33MmvisSCZ7F-yp_I1aiQEqqXk/s320/MESNEY_Coating_Roller_Rind_1.1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514429614876368914" /></a><br /><br />Since we don't clean rollers anymore by virtue of the Snapple® bottle, we use separate rollers for different kinds of coatings. That said, we have largely given up rolling in favor of spraying. That too is the subject of an earlier blog, and there's even more in my book about pixel perfect printing, <span style="font-style:italic;">Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée</span> (www.gicleeprepress.com).Douglas Mesneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920569979896100879noreply@blogger.com0