[pure-silver] 50% Off-Topic

This is also 50% on-topic because it directly concerns silver images. I don't mean to step on any toes, so if someone thinks this is inappropriate for the list, please let me know on- or off-list so we can take the whole discussion off-list. But I think this is a pertinent discussion of necessity as times change and we are committed to doing (and sometimes promoting!) what we love within that context.
I am having a devil of a time trying to make sense of the process of getting biz cards & postcards printed of my silver images. I recently tried an online printer, which after 3 hrs. of phone calls & online chat during which everyone seemed stumped and clueless about the correct file specs for B&W photos, I followed the advice given to me and ended up w/blue images on the cards. The return procedure is cumbersome since they turn a blind eye to my e-mails and phone messages about refunding my money. But I am chipping away at it, I think I finally found someone there with a brain and some compassion for what I have been through.
It seems that everyone these days uses a CMYK press, which is pretty inefficient in rendering grayscale images. Do bricks-n-mortar commercial printers have other presses capable of doing this type of output? I am trying to gain a vocabulary and understanding of the process so I can move ahead and get good, repeatable results.
I called one local printer for some info, and after he got done apologizing for laughing(!!!) when I told him I am looking to get B&W photos on cards, said the photoshop file should be done in grayscale instead of CMYK. And they would tell me when to go over there to look at a press-proof, free of charge, as they were about to print the job (sounds like unheard-of customer service to me, I'm inclined to try them on that basis alone since press-proofs are becoming increasingly rare, therefore incurring usurious charges.)
Thanks in advance for any guidance, I am nearly bald from tearing my hair out over what seems like it should be such a simple thing. 

-Adrienne Moumin

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