Quoting Richard Kenward: > We are also disagreeing with Dan Margulis....now we are in trouble<G> > As for the dither...sorry I did not notice and this screen is super > smooth...just off out so no time to look again for a while.
Richard: I don't mind dissenting opinions, though when it comes to comparing final output from four color offset, I wouldn't want to go head-to-head or toe-to-toe with either Stephen or Dan! <bg> It took me a long while to understand the relationship between the state of "tonal variation" in an image and how it would appear in print (previsualization if you will). Part of my training included preparing files of mine to emulate the drumscans that a printing firm was preparing for a clients' magazine. Looking at these drumscans at 100 percent in photoshop in CMYK and comparing them to the final output in terms of ink and paper make it hard to mistake the obvious. As in all things the final intended use drives everything. If you are preparing files for use in 4-color printing, I just think it's a waste of time to do all that work in 16-bit if the image you are given exists only in 8-bit. Certainly if I was given the option to use the RAW file (and had the appropriate conversion software) I'd start with that. But if all I have to work with is an 8-bit Jpeg file, and the end use if 4-color output, I'm not going to waste my time... or the clients. If you are talking about images intended for sale through a stock photography portal then that's another thing entirely. In that case you shouldn't be starting with a Jpeg file to start with if you are interested in the highest quality end result. If the vendor (stock agency) is going to "scrutinize" the files you are preparing then most will assume that "smoother = better" and there is no sense arguing with them. Though I will not that I would like to ask these staff people how often they actually have prepared images for final output just to find out whether they do know what they are talking about. ;-) David -- Creating an image database? visit (http://ControlledVocabulary.com/) and join the discussion list, or read areview of the Image Info Toolkit utility at: (http://ControlledVocabulary.com/imagedatabases/imageinfotoolkit.html) David Riecks http://www.riecks.com - http://zillionbucks.com =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
