The advantage that comes from using a printer profile is not just limited to enhancing the accuracy of your printed color. You can also achieve awesome black and white output that will blow you away! It is possible to print B&W images that will display incredible shadow and highlight detail, as well as remarkable tonal range... when you use a B&W printer profile specially developed to do just that! Several newer Epson printers offer a special Advanced Black and White (ABW) Photo mode that facilitates getting this kind of outstanding B&W image quality from color management that is built right into the printer driver. But it is possible to successfully obtain similar results even with a printer that is NOT an Epson, and that is NOT configured for Advanced Black & White Photo printing. How.... you ask? The secret is in making use of a custom black and white printer profile that has been specially created to enhance your B&W printing experience.
A number of Epson printers currently offer an Advanced Black & White Photo mode. They include the Stylus Photo 2400, R2880, R3000, and several of the Stylus Pro models -- 3800, 3880, 4800, 4880, 7880, 7900, 9880, 9900, and 11880. Furthermore, a number of other Epson printers (including the 1280, 2200, R800, R1800, R1900 and many others) possess a special "Black Ink Only" setting. When this setting is used, these printers can also be coaxed to print outstanding B&W images. (Other manufacturers -- like HP and Canon -- may offer a similar "Black Ink Only" or "Grayscale" setting. Check your printer's documentation for this special functionality.)
But you don't have to have one of these specially configured printers to achieve excellent quality when you print your black and white images. If you use a specially created B&W printer profile with ANY photo printer -- even one that does not specifically support advanced black and white printing -- you can experience huge improvements in the quality of your black and white prints. The range of grayscale colors required for creating a special B&W profile is MUCH smaller than what is required for a color profile -- just 256 basic grayscale shades, as opposed to more than 16 million colors! This much smaller level of color information allows for incredibly precise grayscale accuracy and linearity. This special B&W profile will greatly enhance your digital printing experience by delivering an unmatched range of highlight and shadow detail in your black and white prints.
If you have a printer that does not support Epson's Advanced Black & White Photo printing mode, and if you are an aficionado of black and white photography, you should seriously consider adding a custom B&W profile to your digital printing workflow for the best results possible. If you take this step, be prepared to enjoy printing some amazing black and white images!
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