Digital BW, The Print

Steve, you wrote:

> And let's face it- the curves box in Qimage is a joke; There's
no
> way you could make precise adjustments, so even improving that
alone
> would be a usefull upgrade.

Correct on the point that it can be improved. So far I do not see
much need for it as there are more versatile image editors. But
if it makes B&W printing possible ...........

> > MIS www.inksupply.com
> > have several in their download section.
> >
> > That will deliver similar quality to what Photoshop does:
Epson
> > driver paper settings + resolution + and in PS the curves to
get
> > the grey inks in the CMYK/CcMmYK inklines in line with one
> > another. Qimage can of course add its nesting and imposition
> > features etc
> > but I'm not sure what the Interpolation routines will do on
B&W,
> > think that will be trial and error time. On the other hand it
> > might need a special interpolation and it is more likely to
> > appear in Qimage than in another application  ;-)
> >
> > Next step:
> > What some people already do and what isn't so widely known on
the
> > B&W list is that after the individual RGB curves are applied
a
> > general stepwedge is printed from 0-100 % and the steps
measured
> > with a densitometer, measurements converted to PS for the
master
> > curve and by that the unevenness in the greyscale caused by
the
> > rough individual RGB curves + the inconsistency of the
printer +
> > the
> > points where the separate grey inks overlap are compensated
to
> > bring it in one line. More or less a linearisation on top
instead
> > of a linearisation at the bottom as found in RIP software. It
> > would be nice if a tool was added to Qimage that would allow
the
> > conversion of densitometer data to the master curve or a
> > conversion from an Excel files that contain that data. AFAIK
> > Excel is used now for the PS curves. Maybe 17 nodes in the
curve
> > tool of Qimage could be upgraded to more if that helps in
> > refining the tone corrections, don't know whether that is
> > necessary.
> >
> > Another step:
> > The same people that are using densitometers seem to use
Doctor
> > Pro
>
> Where do I find Doctor Pro? is it stand-alone or part of a CM
> package?

Colorvision software like Profiler Pro. But first you need a
"null" profile to add the curves to. That null profile can be
made with Profiler Pro but there are some null profiles floating
around as well.

> > Yet another step:
> > This workflow still relies on the Epson (Canon is another
> > candidate) driver. That driver is RGB based, has usually
limited
> > paper settings and doesn't allow ink limitation and/or
> > linearisation of the individual CMYK channels, custom paper
> > settings can't be added and after 2 to 3 years the driver
updates
> > for new Window OSses are not appearing anymore. As often
older
> > printers are converted to B&W use this can be a problem.
> > Linearisation of the CMYK channels isn't that important in
B&W
> > printing if a general linearisation on top is possible. I
would
> > be nice however to get more control of the printer driver in
all
> > aspects mentioned here. That's what is done in RIP's (Wasatch
> > etc). Too big a task to undertake for the many models
available
> > and appearing + the Windows changes along the road.
>
> This is the biggest problem here: what we realy need is a major
job,
> and way beyond the scope of this exersise. Let's keep in mind
that
> Qimage is small, cheap, (and we'd like to keep it that way) and
does
> a couple things well: it has image imposition abilities that PS
> doesn't have, it has more sophisticated interpolation routines,
and
> good resizing-on-the-fly. My interest here is to add the kind
of
> functionality that makes its strong points usefull to us. For
> instance, setting it up as a Photoshop plugin-that would give
us all
> of its functionality with less hassle swithching over?

Qimage as a plugin for PhotoShop ? That is the last thing I would
like. I prefer programs like Vuescan and Qimage as separate
applications and if possible use them on separate systems that do
not interfere with the system that is running the editor. I'm
coming from an Acorn Risc Os background with its multiple simpler
programs based on modules and have a dislike for the "everything
is possible in this program" philosophy. That it should read
common bitmap formats is another thing but for me Qimage is the
endstation, no file that goes in that direction will be archived
or edited afterwards, that's done on another system. So I have no
problem to send Tiff copies with layers merged and alpha channels
removed.

> >>The only
> > option that may be possible is a port of Gimp-print parts etc
to
> > Windows.
>
> Gimp-Print in Windows I'm interested in only if they fix it so
it no
> longer screws up my 7500 every time I try to use it. When I
tried it
> with Linux I had to go through 1/2 hour of self-diagnostics,
> uplugging, printing test patterns, etc. to get it to work
properly
> in Windows again. A pox on that!

If there's no need to switch between OSses when it runs on
Windows then I see no problem there.

There are already some nice B&W Gimp-print derivatives running on
Linux, OS X.
http://www.bowhaus.com/inkjetcontrol/
http://www.harrington.com/QuadToneRIP.html

The basic work on Gimp-print printer drivers continues and that
is what makes it so interesting for a port to Windows. The port
may be an awful lot of work but maintenance of a drivers program
shouldn't be underestimated.

Ernst