Handpicked Software

I’ve been reading Tim Daly’s excellent guide to creative printing techniques, The Digital Printing Handbook. This beautifully designed book will help you get the most out of your printer.

I’ve been having fun experimenting with techniques for printing on unconventional papers, like watercolor paper. But printing on unconventional paper can be tricky. Most artist papers, for example, are significantly more absorbent than papers designed for inkjet printers, producing unpredicable results. Images may be dark or, because of chemicals in the paper, unexpected color casts can appear. Obtaining good results requires patient trial and error. A great way to save time (and paper) is to print a “ringaround,” a collection of thumbnail images that show the effect of minor variations in color and brightness.

For example, here’s a picture I took on a recent trip to Beverly Hills:

And here’s a ringaround of a detail:

Tim Daly has created a Photoshop Action (used to create the above ringaround), described in the book, but unavailable on his website. I attempted to email him, but the message was bounced back. I scoured the web and found a post in a forum at the Digital Camera Magazine Web site. Since it was so difficult to locate, I’ve made it available for download here (my thanks to Jeff Singer and Gerry Robinson). Be sure to read the Read Me file for instructions. If you have any problems, make sure that your resolution is 200 or 300 ppi and that you select the corresponding Action.