Should I try to get imagesetter output at 4800 dpi or higher?
Sure. If you can find a service bureau that reliably produces resolutions like that there s no reason you shouldn t. Silver printers in particular will find that the highlights are smoother if the Diffusion Dither Bitmaps they create in Photoshop are 1800 ppi or higher. Platinum printers are usually perfectly happy with the 1200 ppi Bitmaps that run on imagesetters with a resolution of 2400 dpi. Another option is to use a conventional linescreen instead of the diffusion dither bitmap. Brooks Jensen makes wonderful negs for silver gelatin printing using a 450 lpi (lines per inch) traditional screen that is imaged with an Agfa imagesetter that runs at 3600 dpi. Which Imagesetter Curve Should I Use for Silver Printing? Should I be using the Lenswork curve or the Folberg curve? I recently made imagesetter negs at a workshop in Santa Fe and the Folberg curve worked very nicely. Brooks Jensen has his curve worked out perfectly for his system but some users find it a bit flat in the highlight
