Digital BW, The Print

Now that we have not one but two solutions for printing bw in Mac OS X with
user-defined profiles, I'd like to invite users of either QTR or IJC/OPM to share
their experiences, comments and/or problems.

I realize IJC/OPM for OS X was only released a few days ago,
but maybe some have already had a chance to use it . I would rather limit
comments to the new version, if possible, since there are so many improvements
in it over the OS 9 release.

The aim is to look at the pros and cons of each software. I don't think we
should look at this as a way to pick a winner, however. We are lucky to have both
at this point and it could be useful to know how they differ or not in their
approach.

Since we have the creators of each s/w on the list,
 Joe Berndt (IJC/OPM) and Roy Harrington (QTR) may also offer to shed light on 
aspects that may not be completely understood by some users.

To kick this off, I asked Carl Schofield for his opinion, knowing that he has worked 
with both QTR and IJC/OPM. What follows is his response - and I hope others will 
jump in with comments in a similar vein.

Antonis



------------------
Excellent print quality can be obtained from either IJC/OPM or QTR and it is basically 
a matter of which profiling approach seems most comfortable to the user.  As I see it, 
the fundamental steps for profile construction in both IJC and QTR are establishing 
ink limits for the ink/paper combination being used, partitioning the gray inks, and 
finally linearizing the profile.  Ink limit determination is done in essentially the same 
way for both IJC and QTR and it is after this preliminary step that IJC and QTR diverge 
in their approach to completing the profile.  IJC uses a graphical approach for 
partitioning the inks which requires that the user either select pre-defined curves for 
each ink channel (very easy for standard quads, but not for UC inks) or construct/
tweak the curves themselves with a curve editor.  The latter requires some experience 
and familiarity with how the ink curves should look and some tweaking to get the 
partitioning correct.   In QTR the user defines ink partitioning points quantitatively 
from comparative density measurements of test strips and then QTR generates the 
curves automatically.  Although this approach is relatively straight forward and does 
not require expertise in curve construction it is somewhat tedious.  Linearization is 
also basically the same process for both IJC and QTR, but easier to do in IJC and also 
more flexible in terms of data input.  Soft proofing and printing are both handled in 
Photoshop with QTR whereas a separate program (OPM) is used for both printing and 
softproofing profiles made with IJC.  Both handle profile blending in a similar manner, 
but softproofing the blends is more easily accomplished within the print preview 
window of OPM.  On the other hand, the use of standard icc softproof profiles allows 
more accurate proofing as well as image editing within Photoshop with QTR profiles.  
Both IJC/OPM and QTR are excellent packages for profile development and printing.  
QTR needs to have better integration with a good GUI and I believe that Roy is 
working in that direction.  IJC/OPM has been significantly improved with the latest OS 
X release, as you have noted in your prior comments to the group, but needs some 
tutorial assistance for users having no prior experience working with curve 
construction.  Additional pre-sets for the UC inkset would also be a helpful addition.

____________________________