Digital BW, The Print

Tom Husband wrote:
> When using the "print to file" feature Qimage changes a grayscale to 
> RGB.  Has anybody noticed a difference when printing the 16 bit RGB 
> file through QTR vs. printing a grayscale? I printed one in RGB and 
> one in grayscale (changing it back in Photoshop) and the RGB seems 
> noisier than the grayscale.
> 
> Did I miss the reason given in the Qimage group for why Qimage won't 
> print grayscale or why that feature can't be incorporated?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tom

Tom,

I can't comment on the difference in printing (dry setup still) 
but I always suspected that the Qimage RGB routines may not 
translate well in  greyscale printing.  Is it a 16 bit RGB file 
that you get from the Print to File flow ? Roy probably can tell 
what happens in QTR when RGB is translated.

It never became clear why it couldn't be done but my guess is 
that Qimage has an RGB colour engine only. The extrapolation, 
colour management, sharpening are all based on that. Not that 
strange as many print drivers default to monochrome (BO) printing 
only if you feed them greyscale images. So I guess Mike thinks 
that a good profiled colour printer usually delivers better B&W 
than BO printing does. That's his opinion. He also sells Profile 
Prism :-)

That he didn't want to add a greyscale conversion at the end of 
Qimage's print to file route is a pity. Could just be that I'm 
not the right person to ask for that feature. I've made a small 
list of what could be added to make Qimage a better frontend for 
QTR and send that to the Qimage list. You never know.

Ernst