Digital BW, The Print

---  "Martin Wesley" <mwesley250@e...> wrote:
....
> 
> The one thing that still seems elusive is the creation of the 
separation or
> partitioning curves. The decision of where and how to bleed 
one ink into
> another on the tonal ramp seems to remain as much art as 
science. Does
> IJC/OPM have any tools to help in this regard or is it still by feel 
as it
> was doing CYMK separation curves for use with RIP's in the 
early days of
> quad printing?
> 
> Thanks for the feedback and explanations.
> 
> Martin
> 

---  Kevin Gulstene <kevin@d...> wrote:
> Roy-
> 
> > For anyone considering this, a machine that can run OS X
> > might be well worth it.  The next QuadToneRIP will have 
some
> > significant new capabilities.  Transfer of files via ethernet
> > ought to be very easy.
> >
> > Roy
> 
> Any hints what these new capabilities may be?
> 
> 
> --
> Kevin
> http://www.dockwalker.com

Kevin, Martin etal

I've been away at a graduation for a few days and I see there's 
been
lots of action about partitioning and new workflows.

I'm not much for pre-announcing things -- but I guess I've got to 
say
some about QuadToneRIP.   In between a bunch of other things 
I've
managed to upgrade to a new version.

First QuadToneRIP 2.0 now has all the obvious stuff:
1) Separate control of all 4, 6, and 7 ink epson printers.
2) All curves are internally 16 bit to match the gimp-print 
internals.
3) blending of two curves for neutral--to--toned ink sets.

After working for a while with these "raw" 16-bit curves, I found 
that
partitioning at this level is very simple.  So the new and exciting
thing is another program I'm calling QuadProfile.  With a couple
of very straightforward calibration steps to measure the relative
densities of the various inks, all the partitioning curves are
generated automatically.  This works for any set and any number
of inks.  The generated curves give a monotonically increasing
density but the exact shape can be customized.  Adding toner to
the gray is fairly easy but manual so far.

I'm sure this will raise lots of questions so here's a few answers:

System?
This is a Mac OS X system -- Linux if you do the port.

Printers?
Any Epson printer supported by Gimp-print is possible.  I'm
figuring on all the 4-digit model numbers, and several of the
3-digit models (860,870,890,960,980).  Others?

When?  
The basic QuadToneRIP code has been running for quite a 
while.
The QuadProfile system is working on my computer, but it's
currently several programs and shell scripts to connect it all
together.  I've been working on putting this all in one program
and one descriptor file.  I have a lot of printing that I need to
do this month, so work on this is lower priority -- sorry.  If
anyone is familar with running shell scripts and the Terminal
program, a beta version with shell scripts can be used.  Email 
me at
quadtone <at> harrington <dot> com

Densitometer?
It's certainly a very useful tool, but I've been able to get good
results trying a flatbed scanner for the partitioning.  Contrast  
decisions can for the most part be done visually.

Roy Harrington
www.harrington.com