Digital BW, The Print

Thanks for the information and the comparison.

What are the differences in terms of price?  I'm sure the 'value factor' is also something 
many consider.

Thank you.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Antonis" <antonisphoto@y...> 
wrote:
> 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.
> 
> ____________________________