Agfa-gevaert Ag

Matthias Mandl

Friedrich Jacob

Steffen Schubert

Wolfgang Keupp

Peter Czekal

A method and apparatus for printing high quality prints from photographic negatives employ a printer with a system that scans the negatives optical densities region by region. Corresponding quantities of light are calculated, the first prints are then printed using these quantities, and thereafter these quantities are stored in a memory to be retrieved at a later time for duplicate prints. To locate the stored values representing the first printing light quantities, the densities employed to calculate the light quantities are associated with those quantities in the memory. The negatives are scanned again when the subsequent prints are to be printed. The measured densities are then compared with the densities stored during the first printing process. If and when the results are similar, the identity of the two negatives is confirmed and the first printing light quantities are obtained from the memory and employed for producing the subsequent prints.

Method and apparatus for printing high quality prints from photographic

A master to be copied has a picture in which a dark region and a light region are located one behind the other. The two regions are separated by a light/dark transition where a halo can develop on copies of the master. Prior to copying, the master is scanned and the resulting data used to produce a mask for the master. The mask has a light/dark transition corresponding to the light/dark transition of the master. However, the light/dark transition of the mask is shifted relative to the light/dark transition of the master. The shift is such that, when the mask is superimposed on the master, the light/dark transition of the mask is superimposed on a region of the master which reduces the visibility of the halo. The master is copied following masking.

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Grosshelfendorf, Germany

Matthias Mandl