Precise Control Yields Trophy Trio

To printers, black and white with refined grayscale is beautiful. And a good (or poor) photo can make (or break) a project. LensWork, a bimonthly pro photographer’s journal, focuses keenly on duotones. Every other month for 12 years, the 8.5×7´´ anthology-style periodical has pursued a single-minded mission: to celebrate the artistry of fine photography created by sharp-shooters from around the globe.

“The high-quality duotone printing process results in art quality prints of the photographs,” as one reader gushes. “The tones and details are just so rich and vibrant that they jump off the page.”

Printing images as duotones extends the tonal range with more contrast than is possible using just black. In the case of LensWork, each 96-page issue is perfected in one pass with PMS Warm Gray 11, in addition to black, on a six-year-old Speedmaster 104 6-color sheetfed at Hemlock Printers, British Columbia, Canada. Stock is 80-lb. NewPage Sterling Ultra dull text.

For the 18,000-copy cover run (100-lb. Sterling Litho C1S gloss cover), the ink sequence adds a second hit of Pantone spot gray plus an overall gloss aqueous coating. Ink is supplied by Hostmann Steinberg; it’s printed on a Speedmaster 74 6-color..

LensWork Publishing, based in Washington state, supplies PDF spreads made from Adobe InDesign files with duotones in place. Using custom linearization curves, the printer matches plate imaging to expected tone reproduction values. Hemlock has a custom dot-gain compensation curve built into plate making to achieve correct percentages.

Several years ago, the printer performed multiple press tests to determine the proper duotone curve for images. At that time, plate compensation curves were back-adjusted. Hemlock applies the same curve from publication to publication, repeating the parameters with no variables. They’re locked in unless anything in the manufacturing process gets altered, such as when plate suppliers have changed—then, minor tweaking becomes necessary. Fuji Brillia LH-PJ plates are used presently, with color bars and grayscale set in the margins.

To match digital files to original prints, the publisher uses Photoshop to the fullest, even taking densitometer readings on the computer monitor when preparing duotones. “Then, we simply make the imposition and make plates,” says Peter Madlinger, prepress VP at Hemlock.

There’s process control at the printer, too. “We run standard ink densities, which LensWork confirms with an X-Rite densitometer,” Madlinger notes. “The process runs smoothly now that we’re dialed in. Makereadies are quick—and reliable.” There are no hard-copy proofs, and Hemlock doesn’t worry about monitor calibration “because there’s no visual judgment involved,” adds editor Brooks Jensen, a photographer by trade.

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