As the card is used in the open air, high demands are put on its durability.
That is the reason why we have made it washable, strong and highly fade-resistant. Nevertheless you should treat it with care. Exposure to the sun or other bright light for some time does not harm it.
Over longer periods, however, you should keep it wrapped up to avoid colour changes over the years.

If the card has got dirty, wash it only with water and a little washing-up liquid or, even better, with a plastic cleansing agent. Never use a solvent or a detergent. Avoid scratches. The card is intended to last a photographer's life-time.
You do not, however, have to be overcareful. The Greystep Card can stand a lot.

For those of our customers who are irritated by the white border on the card, we recommend the following: Slit the card on the back with a stanley knife, then you can break it; that way you can remove the white border. The card can also be split in this way.
The white border is a result of production techniques and prevents wear of the greystep area.

The Greystep Card is a guid to find out correct exposure time and process datas. As its graduation exactly corresponds 1/2 blindstep (for N° 4962 and 1/3 blindstep for N° 4960) you only need to count out the steps to touch the correct value.

Relate mainly on the steps of middle density.
The steps 0.00 and 0.15 log. Dens sometimes becomes a wrong evaluation in its reproduction. Our eyes are differentiating the low densities outsized.
We have a good look in bright light. High densities however we differentiate scarcely.

The steps above 1.20 log. Dens are realized by growing gloss and therefore they could be differentiated only by glossy papers.
This is a result of the physical limits of black description on dull materials.

This steps only would be measured correctly by instruments with glosstrap. They count only conditionally for judgement of a reproductions quality.
For example they allows you to draw conclusions on density range of a given paper, but not on its absolut density values.

Illuminate the testshots of the Greystep Card with great care!
The lighting demands an equal illumination. Lighten the card as far as possible from every four sides or use diffuse light.
The glossy steps above 1.20 log dens should reflect as possible as least of all.

If you aim at colourcast free prints, your light should be neutral too.
I.e. you should use normlight with a colourtemperature of 5500° Kelvin.

 

Now by processing step-by-step you approach the correct values for exposure- and developing time by achieving a reproduction corresponding to the greystep values.

Note mainly middle density (DN = 0.75) and try to achieve an approximately grey. Colourcasts you eliminate just in the following steps.

Take four partexposures, each with the double time or half a blind.

By comparison with the orginal card you find out the correct value. Count the deviation steps and correct the time or blind in the next run.

A difference of two greysteps for the 12step Greystep Card (and three for the 18step one) means a fault of one blindstep (equal to one timestep).

By the help of a Greystep Card you grasp easily the grey density range of your shot and printmaterial.
Your working out is quit right, if the graduation is equally preserved and the white and black fields of the reference card marks its extent.

In case of wrong exposures the whole scale shift to one or another side. Accordingly the number of steps you change the exposure.
Depending on soft or hard quality of the used material, every 12/18 steps would be shown more or less. And glossy papers even differentiate high densities.

Work out the Greystep Card on different materials.
Use ever low and high sensitive materials, soft and hard ones, dull and glossy papers.

Go through the whole scale, thus the graduation differences would catch your eyes. This way you gain an idea of the effects of the different materials and this experience facilitates you the graduation choice for different shots.

On extrem hard materials, e.g. lithfilms, you achieve usually only 3-4 distinguible steps. By continuated reversion you even can reduce its extent to two steps, black and absolutly clear.

Here a Greystep Card is the help to find out on which greyvalue the copy tips over.
This way you decide what should change to black or white.

Approach a development, on which the reduced greystep would be placed nearly DN-step (0.75) of the scale.

Now place the measurement cell of your exposure timer in the projection of the DN-step, and sett the meter of paper guide value to mid-zero. Thus you have achieved the correct value for separation of tones.

Now pick any greyvalue on your halvetone picture.
If you now place the measurement cell in these area and adjust the timer by the separation guid value, the print changes at this grey value.

For photo experiments or working out later on as a print model, you can this way produce greyvalue extractions of a halftone or even a colour negativ by your own.

With the similar technology you can grasp exposure values for correct reproduction of greystep values, for example for contrastrange changing papers or graphically alienation effects.

Grasp the grey value you would at all reprocduce correctly.
Work out this shot correctly und save its value in your exposure timer.
Now you have the valid value for the whole succeeding series of a similar value.

This way fo example you can achieve by own the values for Zone System, or even create your own version of a zone system.

By the help of a Greystep Card you can recognize different colour drifts of different filmmaterials clearly and optimate your working method.

Make a colour shot of the Greystep Card by normlight with a colour temperature of 5500° Kelvin and filter it out the way, that DN-step is reproduced free of any colour cast.

Start and end of the scale then mostly shows nearly complementary weak colour casts, i.e. the colour drift of the used material. Most papers shows a green-magenta colour drift.
This appearance couldn't even today times completely avoided. Therefore you should accept a compromise. Once test the different materials and then decide for the best suiting material combination.

Greystep Cards are imperativ for calibration of the different output medias of computer or videosystems in electronic imaging and the present one is good to be used this way.
Proceed there as declared in the specification of your software.


Have fun and seccess on your work with our products.


Sudwalde, October 2005


No part of this application may be copied or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written conset of FOTOWAND-Technic.
The reference card may only be pictured as a reference by working out your own pictures.
Every lownstanding reproduction of the reference card, especially doing of testprints for business distribution or trade based on its reproduction needs the written conset of FOTOWAND-Technic (Germany).