#Colour Printing From 3DS
6 messages in this thread
Don,
It looks like you have received several suggestions such as Gamma, dot size and
Renderprint software. Any of these may do the trick. You might also try an
image adjustment in Photoshop to increase the dynamic range of the image. We
have found that a lot of images rendered by 3DS don't have a full range from
black to white. With Photoshop you can stretch the images range and give
better contrast. There is a chance for some artifacts like banding but it
will probably be to subtle to notice on an ink jet print. The command is
/Image/adjust_levels. You can then either choose Auto or manually adjust the
white and black points. This can really improve the look of a printed image as
long as you don't over compensate. It might also be used in conjuction with
some of the other suggestions to really tweak you output. Good luck.
Terry Gilbert
Terry,
<<increase the dynamic range>> I haven't tried that yet. Do you have feel for
what it is actually doing? Sounds like it may be taking the 256 color limit of
3DS and 'spreading' the range. Sounds like an interesting idea.
<<don't over compensate>> What happens if you do 'over compensate'? Is that
where the banding comes in?
What kind of hardcopy / printer do you have? What print driver are you using?
Thanks for the interesting idea, I'm off to do some 'stretching' …(g)…
Russ
Insight Development
:<<increase the dynamic range>> I haven't tried that yet. Do you have feel
for what it is :actually doing? Sounds like it may be taking the 256 color
limit of 3DS and 'spreading' the :range. Sounds like an interesting idea.
When Photoshop adjusts the levels of an image it is shifting the lighter pixels
towards white and the darker pixels towards black. You can also control where
the middel gray falls but it usually not necessary. You should work with
either Grayscale or 24-bit color images. These have a continuous range of
values to work with and you will get less artifacts than working with 8-bit
paletted color images. 3DS doesn't have a 256 color limit. Some of the
outpupt formats are 8-bit 256 color formats and some are 24-bit 16.7 million
color formats. TGA and TIF usually work best. Most printers and printer
drivers work internally in 24-bit color so you really don't gain anything by
using 8-bit images.
:<<don't over compensate>> What happens if you do 'over compensate'? Is that
where the :banding comes in?
Yes, if you stretch a narrow range of values too much you get banding.
:What kind of hardcopy / printer do you have? What print driver are you using?
For the proofs that we print in-house we print to a Seiko postscript color
thermal printer using windows postscript driver.
:Thanks for the interesting idea, I'm off to do some 'stretching' …(g)…
:Russ
:Insight Development
have fun <g>
Terry Gilbert
Terry,
Thanks for the info. The 'stretching' seems to do some funny stuff. The
threshold adjustment seems to have the most total effect while the shift is
almost totally image dependant. Interesting.
Our company writes printer drivers so we are 'somewhat' familiar with most
issues regarding color ranges. However your 'dynamic range' provoked some
interesting ideas from some of the 'brighter' types around here! THANKS.
Russ
Insight Development
Thank-you again for all of the information. I am still a beginner at
a lot of this and so some of the stuff was a bit beyond me, but I am
encouraged by the wealth of help available and so readily given. I
will investigate all of the areas suggested and when I feel I have
some useful information, I will report back.
Thanks again for the help,
Don
Don,
<<wealth of help available>> You are quite welcome, and BTW, that's why we all
hang out here too! …(g)…
Russ
Insight Development