B&W gun photo problem

[Girard]

B&W photos can look really good on a computer screen. However I have a heck of a time getting a high quality B&W image of a gun set up off of an inkjet printer.

I am currently using a Canon iP7220 printer which is okay for color on the right paper.

Is there a method or paper I can use to get a good B&W image?

I also have a very nice family picture from 1955 that I'd like to print in a 4x5 size. {It might need a custom size but that is not the issue.}

 

[Bill Bates]

You are going to want to study up on work flows and color management. I'm guessing you are getting some color cast to your prints. The only way to avoid that will requirer calibrating your monitor and then soft proofing in a program like Photoshop with your paper and printer profiles.

Most printers use all colors to produce even black and white photos. After you convert your photo to black and white in your image software you might try lowering the saturation to 0. That might get you by or maybe not.

Just know that if you haven't color calibrated your monitor you have no idea that what you see is what you will get on the output end. If you want to be sure that what you see is what you will get spend a little money on a Datacolor Spyder Pro or some other calibration puck.

 

[oldbill]

Normally pictures on a computer monitor are based on 72 dpi. (Dots per inch) Normally you need about 240 to 300 dpi for a good quality print. When you try to print the 72 dpi image it effectively fall apart. Did you scan the gun yourself? If so, do it again and tell the scanner to do it at 300 dpi. Most "good" scanners will allow you to do that. (If you tell me what the make and model of the scanner is, I will try to find the documentation and look it up for you.)

Is your 1955 picture on paper, or a jpg computer file? With the right equipment, I have copied pictures about 1 inch square from the 1940's and printed them as 8x10's with good results.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Have you tried printing in greyscale? With my Canon there is a checkbox in the print properties dialog for greyscale printing. This usually fixes the color cast that I get when printing BW images. I'm no expert, and it may not work with all printers. I think it would be worth a try, though.

 

[ditrina]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What he said Try Gray Scale

 

[JayFramer]

Are you talking about beamers? As in the car??

 

[Girard]

I checked my Epson V600 and found that it will print as high as 175 dpi for "fine quality prints". I am using a print that I scanning to a tiff file at resolution of 1000 or 1200. 16 bit gray scale. I don't own a true monitor or do enough to really need one. I have started learning how to use Lightroom CC. There is a pretty steep learning curve. I had some experience on a 10 year old photoshop program.

I haven't tried printing yet at the higher settings. And I did not think of scanning as a color print.

Normally pictures on a computer monitor are based on 72 dpi. (Dots per inch) Normally you need about 240 to 300 dpi for a good quality print. When you try to print the 72 dpi image it effectively fall apart. Did you scan the gun yourself? If so, do it again and tell the scanner to do it at 300 dpi. Most "good" scanners will allow you to do that. (If you tell me what the make and model of the scanner is, I will try to find the documentation and look it up for you.)

Is your 1955 picture on paper, or a jpg computer file? With the right equipment, I have copied pictures about 1 inch square from the 1940's and printed them as 8x10's with good results.