ADVANCED BLACK AND WHITE FOR THE EPSON 3800 AND 4800 SERIES PRINTERS

by Gerry Eskin (posted September 2008)

This write up has to do with the Advanced Black and White section of the Epson Driver. I happen to have two printers that support ABW, namely the 3800 and the 4800. I like them both and I like ABW but it has taken me a while to puzzle out exactly what it does and how to use it best. In hopes of saving someone else some of these efforts I post these notes. One of the open issues is how much of what I have done applies to other Epson printers that support ABW. The formal answer is – we don’t know in that all my work was done on the above two prints. My conjecture is though, that ABW is pretty much the same on all printers that support it. But, I leave to someone else to check this out.
A lot of the work reported here depends on reading Lightness score, frequently with the aid of a spectrophotometer. This methodology is discussed in Appendix Note A1 (a PDF file).

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Advanced Black and White (ABW) is the best of the three Epson alternatives for printing Black and White Photographs. It uses three black inks- Black, Light Black, Light Light Black plus some color (less than with the color setting).

Generally it is better to remove the color yourself rather than letting ABW do this. This provides more control. Grayscale images are best submitted to ABW in Gamma 2.2, 30% dot gain, sRGB or Adobe98. These latter two color spaces are visually equivalent to gamma 2.2 when there is only gray in the image (that is R=G=B). If images are prepared as above, it makes little difference if the color management setting is No color Management or Printer Management (perceptual vs relative color metric also makes no difference). If an image is prepared in gamma 1.8 or 20% dot gain it needs to be converted to one of the above spaces before submission to the ABW driver.

Soft proofing is a problem in ABW. The best solution is using Gray Profiles when available. Eric Chan has provided some 31 profiles for the 3800. I see little problem with using these same profiles with the 4800. See Eric Chan for detailed instructions.

It is sometime possible to get by without soft proofing, primarily when using Photo Black ink with gloss and luster papers. For Matte papers and Matte Black ink, soft proofing makes a big difference.

Close attention should be paid to Media Type settings. Good results can be obtained by using the setting recommended by Epson when using Epson papers but it is also possible to get good results by using other settings. These settings effect linearity, color cast and color density. In general the Ultra Smooth and Watercolor setting are warmer than Enhanced Matte and Velvet settings. The watercolor setting has a lower ink limit than the other three.

If a Gray profile is used, this will dictate the settings in the ABW driver. When Gray profiles are not used, there is an open question about the best setting for Tone. Tone is a “gamma” setting, mostly affecting the mid tones (it does not changing the black or white point). The Epson default Darker is rarely the best choice of settings.

1.0 What is - Advanced Black & White?

Advanced Black and White (ABW) is one of three color setting options, the others being Color and Black. With the Black setting only one ink is used. The results are not acceptable for photographic prints. One reason is that a very course pattern results in the light gray areas. With the ABW and Color settings, up to three inks (two being dilutions) are used resulting in between 2 and 3 times as many dots being used thus resulting in a “smoother” appearance.

There is also a color cast issue with the Black setting - see Appendix Note B2.

The color setting produces rather good black and white prints but still has a little color cast and some metamerism. In my view ABW is better. The basic difference between the Color and ABW is in the amount of color ink used. The color setting uses a lot of color (using 5 color inks) and some black while ABW uses less color and more black ink.

Appendix Note B1 considers in detail ink used in ABW. Note B2 considers color cast differences between the three color settings.

2.0 Preparing Images for ABW

ABW will accept either color or grayscale images in any working space, BUT, you might not like what it does in the conversion process. There are at least two problems. First, if you let the Epson driver convert from color to grayscale you get what Epson gives you. Better to do it yourself using the Image/Adjust/Black and White command or some other procedure that give you adequate control over conversion.

The other issue has to do with the selection of working space. Surprisingly this is more of a problem then when printing color. Using Photoshop Manages Color as the Color Management setting seamlessly shifts between spaces. With ABW the workspace used makes a difference and may change the appearance of the print.

This is illustrated here. A gamma 2.2 image is submitted to ABW to print. The same image, converted to gamma 1.8, is also submitted to ABW. Simulations of the resulting prints are shown below.

As a further demonstration of this problem step wedges are also printed, scanned and displayed below. Resulting lightness values are show on the wedges.

There are definitely differences. The gamma 2.2 space produces a more linear response and exhibits a midpoint lightness value of 50. The gamma space produces a print that is too dark where obtained Lightness is only 44.

The reason this happens is that ABW does not color manage in the same sense that Photoshop does. There is no conversion based on the file profile. The Printer Color Management setting, as well as the No Printer Management setting, process files without taking account of the workspace they come from. Additional information on this issue is provided in Note C2.

As indicated, gamma 2.2 spaces are good spaces to work in. sRGB and AdobeRGB, for all practical purposes, are gamma 2.2 spaces. A comparison between sRGB and Gamma2.2 is given below.

Lightness values from a scan of prints of two 11 step wedges

Images that start out as color images (either sRGB or Adobe98) do not have a working space problem. Conversion to black and white via Image/Adjust/Black and White does not change the work space. If the image was originally in Adobe98 it is still in Adobe98 after the conversion. The difference is that conversion to black and white the only remaining values of R, G and B are R=G=B.

Images that start out in a gamma 1.8 space do have a problem. Many scanners use 20% Dot Gain. This is a gamma 1.8 space and may cause printing and soft proofing problems. My recommendation is to convert all non gamma 2.2 images to gamma 2.2. For a more complete comparison of work spaces see Note C.

3.0 Color Management

The color handling options are: options

One might think there is no need for color management as there is no color. But things are not this simple as these settings control more than color. I have read recommendation for “No color management”. I have also read recommendations for “Printer Color Management” when using ABW. Until recently, “Photoshop Manages Color” was not an option as it requires profiles. Now there are such profiles and I will argue they are worth using.

3.1 Gray Profiles

Profiling is generally done to remove color cast, improve linearity and allow soft proofing. Grayscale profiles do not remove color cast but they can improve linearity and allow soft proofing (but not soft proofing of tints).

Mechanically Gray profiles are similar to color profiles just simpler. They are only defined on the 256 values of R=G=B, rather than on the entire color space. To use one –select Photoshop Manages Color, select the appropriate gray profile and set the appropriate soft proof option. For more complete details see Appendix Note D and Chan.

The number one advantage I see to using Gray Profiles is they improve the match between the screen and the print. A gray profile, just like a color profile, adjusts the soft proof based on the lightness reading for a particular ink set on a particular paper.

A key measurement point is the black point for the paper/ink combination. This is especially important for matte where black point, lightness values, tend to run in the neighborhood of 15-17. For gloss paper (and ink) they tend to be in the in the 2-5 range causing much less of a problem for screen to print matches.

Below are screen saves of soft proofs for an image converted by three gray profiles.

EEF-Epson Exhibition Fiber

The EEF Screen Save is similar to gamma 2.2 but just a little flatter.

EEM-Epson Enhanced Matte

The EEM Screen Save is lighter and exhibits less contrast than the gamma 2.2 file.

MEFA-Moab Entrada Fine Art

The MEFA Screen Save is more similar to EEM than to Gamma 2.2.

Each of the above profiles does a better job of representing the print for their respective papers than does the Gamma 2.2 Screen Save.

2.2

3.2 What to do when a gray profile is not available

The options are to use a substitute profile or use ABW without a profile.
At this writing, gray profile are publicly available for some 31 papers, all for the 3800 printer (and none for the 4800). I have used the 3800 on the 4800 with good results. This substitution works because the two printers need very similar profile instructions, at least for matte papers (see: Appendix Note C4).
When Gray Profile is not used, the Tone and other ABW settings require more attention (with profiles settings are determined by the profiler).

3.3 ABW without profiling

In Color Management select No Color Management. An alternative is to use Printer Color Management using either Perceptual or Relative Color metric). I can find no differences between these settings in the content for ABW.

As an example of their similarity is here demonstrated by a scan of prints from three settings (printed on Enhanced Matte paper under the Tone: Dark setting).

tone

The results for rendering intent, makes sense as there are no out of gamut situations in a gray scale. As best as I can determine the Printer Color Management setting treats all incoming files the same and in this regard is no different from No Color Management.

For more details see Appendix Note D1.

The other settings required to print without a profile, are considered in the next section.

4.0 Color Controls

Having selected Print/Page Setup/Advanced a host of adjustments are possible. Holding tinting aside, my approach is to use them just enough to get a match between my soft proof image and a print.

4.1 Tone

Options are:
options

To get a reasonable match to screen for gloss papers usually require only adjusting the Tone setting. The default setting is Darker which is always too dark to match my screen. Dark works better for me (see Appendix Note F1).

Tone is a gamma setting hence it lightens or darkens the mid tones without changing the white or black point. As mentioned above, I find the default too dark. Why the setting two steps up from the default is called Normal, I cannot say.

When using Gray profiles always use the setting that was used in making the profile.

4.2 Other ABW adjustments

For Matte papers the screen match is not as good as for glosses. If you want a screen match you will need to jiggle the other control settings. In general you will need higher brightness and contrast settings than the default.

Brightness - This is like Brightness in the Photoshop Brightness/Contrast slider in that it increases brightness (reduces K).
Contrast - This is also like Contrast in the Photoshop Brightness/Contrast control.
Shadow Tonality - This is intended to open up the dark (shadow) areas without affecting the lighter tones. It produces a very similar effect to a Photoshop curve (see Appendix Note F2).
Highlight Tonality - This is intended to give more detail in light areas (highlights) without affecting the darker tones. It produces a result very similar to a Photoshop curve (see Apprendix Note F2).
Shadow and Highlight tonality adjustment are not equivalent to adjustments produced by the shadows and highlights command in Photoshop. The Photoshop adjustments are in general superior.
Max Optical Density - Using this slider is about the fastest way I know to trash an image. It basically takes out all the black. Epson uses a little of this setting for the Sepia color toning. Here it gives that old fashion faded look. Otherwise forget it.
Highlight Point Shift - Damned if I know what this does.

4.4 Color Toning

Color Toning- These can be controlled with the Color Toning setting or in the color wheel. They cannot be soft proofed.
The four Color Toning setting settings are just selections from the color wheel. When a selection is made, the numerical values on the color wheel are displayed under the wheel. I happen to like the Warm setting for many of my images.
Below are the three preset tones.

The alternative method, to presets, is to directly pick values from the color wheel. The color wheel numbers are rescaled Lab values. Vertical values are rescaled “a” and Horizontal values are rescaled version of “b”. A Cool result is obtained by using a low (-45) “b” score; warm is obtain by using a high (+20) “b” score and Sepia is obtained by a high (48) “a” in addition to high “b”.

4.4 Comments on Print Quality, High Speed and Finest Detail

Print Quality is the dots per inch setting. 1440 means 720x1440dpi. For most of the media type settings for which ABW is available, 2880 is the maximum setting. I always use 1440 as I fail to see the benefit of 2880. It is slower and man matte papers cannot handle the ink and do not provide adequate detail. Although there is some evidence that transitions are a little smoother at the 2880 setting.

High Speed - means printing in both directions.
Finest Detail - is primarily intended for things like line drawings or bit maps. For photographs, the only time this setting would have value is when a very high resolution image was available. By very high I mean something in the neighborhood of 720 dots per inch or higher.

5.0 Media Type Settings

There is a lot going on here. It not quite as simple as looking at the name on your box of paper and select it from this pop-up. Epson has in mind that you should use their papers and set the media type accordingly. They claim to “optimize” for their papers and they don’t do a bad job. If you use non Epson papers select the setting is more difficult. Below are some of the characteristics of each setting.
.

Enhanced Matte and Archival Matte –these settings are at least very similar and I suspect that they are identical. The tones are neutral to slightly warm.
Velvet- This setting is very similar to the above. On actual velvet paper, the black point is a little but this is due to the paper, not the setting.
The Ultra Smooth setting calls for more yellow ink and produces a warmer tone. This is consistent with the yellow tone of that paper. This setting turns out to be good one for many non Epson papers
The Watercolor setting is somewhat warmer than Enhanced Matte but not quite as warm as the Ultra Smooth setting. The other difference is that this setting provides a lower ink limit. It is of course, possible to set our own ink limit as is discussed in the section below.
Premium Gloss has a blue cast similar to the other two Photo Black using papers below.
Luster and Semi Gloss- These appear to be visually very similar.

See Note E for more details.

6.0 Color Density

6.1 Via Media Type Setting

For absorbent paper like watercolor it is often desirable to use less ink. This automatically is done with the Watercolor Media type setting. The form of lower inking is less black dots per area (not smaller dots).

6.2 Via –Color Density Setting

It is possible to directly control ink limits through the Paper Configuration pallet. Here there is a slider called Color Density which controls inking. The microscopic blow up below show this effect. Here some thin (1/360”) black lines (at k=100) are shown for three values of the color density control. Just as in the case of the Watercolor setting less ink dots are laid down when density is set lower than 0.

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Note: There are a number of references from the main paper to the appendix (Notes). See PDF document
There is a reference to "chan" (Eric Chan) The URL is http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/abwprofiles.html

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