Digital BW, The Print

Tom,

IJC/OPM can automatically import scanner data directly during 
linearization.  I'm not sure about QTR.  It works pretty well, but 
won't be quite as accurate as a spectrophotometer or densitometer.

A spectrophotometer gets a little expensive, but has a lot of other 
uses.  I love mine and wouldn't trade it for anything, but it is a 
big investment.  I used it all the time, for monitor profiling, 
building color printer profiles, measuring color chips and light 
values, etc.  I have the Eye One with Profile Maker Pro.  The Eye One 
Photo package is much more reasonable but doesn't do CMYK and has a 
few limitations, but still does a lot.  Spectro's don't directly read 
density, but you can convert L* to density with a conversion chart.  
IJC/OPM accepts L* data directly, and maybe QTR does too.  I also 
like reading Lab values, since it tells me precisely what colors to 
correct when building a neutral profile.  

I don't have a densitometer (others may wish to chime in here).  
These will work fine with either IJC/OPM or QTR for linearization, 
but you can't build ICC profiles with one.  You may be able to pick 
one up on eBay for a couple hundred dollars.  For my needs, a 
spectrophotometer is a better fit.

If you buy IJC/OPM, you can try automatic scanner based linearization 
and see how it works for you.  

Regards, Lou

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tom Husband" 
<thusband@s...> wrote:
> 
> If I want to get serious about using QTR or IJC/OPM it sounds more 
and
> more like I'll need to buy a densitometer or spectrometer but which
> one?  A spectrometer measures color along with density too right?  A
> densitometer would be used for B&W only right?  There are enough
> manufacturers and models out there to really confuse me, Eye-one,
> Macbeth, X-Rite and the price range is huge.  Maybe a scanner is 
what
> I should start with.  Where can I get educated on this?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tom