wildimages@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: > And no again -- two monitors properly calibrated with a hardware > color-sensor are probably more alike that the first and last print > from a stone lithograph print run, > > Hahahah ... yea, right David. In an ideal world .... > > The fact remains that today, *now* most (all but a vanishingly > small) minority of monitors are nor "properly" calibrated. > > I've noted now you were sticking to a tiny, tiny subset of all > digital images (that is, those which are considered art AND are > printed to hardcopy). Sorry if I've narrowed the field; I understood the discussion to be about "art" from the beginning. > But where is the original for them? > > The print? Well, we know they fade faster than oil paints of silver > prints of old? I'm guessing this was intended to say "OR silver prints of old"? Responding as if that was the intention, anyway. Actually, inkjet color prints may outlast silver-gelatine B&W prints. They certainly outlast chromogenic color prints. They may well outlast dye-transfer prints. > The digital file? Well, the sequence of bytes is not the whole image. > The RGB values alone we all know don't tell the whole picture. Add on the > profiles (and the inextricably linked hardware) and the calibration hardware > [if the definition of "properly calibrating" a monitor changes what then > the file?]. > > Will today's standards stand still, be supported backwardly? When all images > are saved in 16-bit per channel (or even HDR) formats and the original has > been translated ... there may not be 1:1 bit correspondance. I'm sure the > differences would be tiny but the "original" set of bytes may not be usable > in 20y time without translation? ??? Unlikely, if you save in a sensible format. TIFF has been around for 20 years already, it'll be around far more than another 20. > I reckon the best idea is to destroy the digital file and let the single > copy of the print become the de facto original, saves worrying ... That would certainly simplify things! -- David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@xxxxxxxx>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
