A Virtual Milestone
Harald Johnson's new book, Mastering Digital Printing: The Photographer's and Artist's Guide to High-Quality Digital Output (Muska & Lipman, December 2002) seems to me something of a milestone, not only for its prodigious content, but for its very concept. For Johnson has not only written the Bible of digital printing for fine-art printmakers and photographers, but he has also solved the abiding problem of people who write books on technical subjects: currency. Technology changes fast and books on technological subjects go stale just as rapidly. So Johnson has provided his readers/practitioners with the added support of both a website (http://www.dpandi.com) and a lively online discussion group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital-fineart) which he created a couple of years ago and conscientiously moderates.
Into the Fourth Dimension
These online resources constantly lever the power and actuality of the book, providing instant access to current information on the ever-changing state of the art. More than a simple book, what Johnson has created is a "metabook" which extends its domain into the fourth dimension: time. This is a prodigious achievement for one man working on his own, one for which Johnson-the Prometheus of digital printing-is to be admired and congratulated.
Have I made the book sound stuffy? Far from it! Mastering Digital Printing is written in a personal conversational style which is more like a chat with a friendly expert than a technical manual. It is wide ranging both in breadth and depth, of interest both to beginners and experts. Perhaps the most exciting thing about this new DP compendium is the guidance it offers photographers and fine-art printmakers-and there are legions of them-who are fascinated by the possibilities of digital imaging and printing but until now have not known how to get started. Johnson's book now provides them with a clear roadmap, and is destined to make many converts to digital.
My reaction after a first look at Mastering Digital Printing was, "This would make a fantastic textbook on the subject," and less than a week later I see on the Digital-Fineart discussion group that someone is already offering courses based on Johnson's book. They are the first, but they will not be the last!
In the Beginning
The book opens with a brief summary of DP's fascinating history, which extends back to the digital printing paleolithic: the year 1989. Johnson says: "... things didn't really take off until the paths of six people-a rock star and his best friend, an art publicist, a sales rep, a computer wizard and a silkscreen printer-unexpectedly intersected..." From these humble rock `n roll beginnings a little over a decade ago digital printing has already brought about a worldwide revolution in image making, and Harald Johnson very cogently explains how and why.
The Who, What, Where, When, Why
People who like to know the underlying reasons for things will love Mastering Digital Printing. Each of its eleven chapters starts out with a brief theoretical discussion of the matter at hand, then moves into specifics, in a nice marriage of theory and practice. If you get in over your head-the chapter on "Understanding and Managing Color" left me dazed and reeling-you will be pleased to find that the second part of most of the chapters contains eminently practical how-to information, complete with product comparisons and insider procedural recommendations. These how-to details cover the complete DP process, from the choice of appropriate digital technologies for the job at hand, equipment and materials, to image creation and actual printing, whether you do it yourself or send it out to a professional print service. There are also illuminating side trips into color management, the choice of inkjet printers and print permanence. On this subject Johnson has come up with a delightful non-scientific yardstick, the Granny Standard: Will your digital print conserve its quality long enough for your grandchildren to see it properly?
Digital Ninjas?
Some of the books technical details sound like cult reading. According to Johnson the colors which you perceive on your computer monitor are influenced by the light reflected by your clothing. So, if you're doing critical color work, it is best not to wear a red or yellow shirt, which will inevitably skew your color perception. In fact, for real purists, the best indumentary is all-black. One imagines armies of black suited and hooded digital Ninjas sitting in darkened rooms in front of finely-calibrated monitors all over the world. Frightening concept!
The Frosting on the Cake
Midst the at times intense technical talk, Johnson does not forget to show his readers the proof of the pudding, a section which he calls the "Gallery Showcase" which includes digital prints by and brief commentaries on the work of eighteen leading contemporary American digital artists and photographers, a collection of work which fairly represents most of the DP techniques and tendencies current today. All that remains to complement this formidable text/reference/do-it-yourself metabook is a rich appendix listing all available resources, including URL's and e-mail addresses, and there it is.
