Digital BW, The Print

It seems to me that if we had ICC profiles for inkset and paper 
combinations, we should be able to use any ICC aware application 
(such as Qimage) to see and print accurate B&W prints.  This would 
eliminate the need for special drivers, curves etc.

Has anyone tried this?

I am hoping to buy an ICC generation software that allows for 
generation of gray scale ICC profiles.  As soon as I find one that 
supports this feature -- unfortunately Profile Prism does not support 
this feature at this time.

Unfortunately, ICC is a standard that was developed specifically for color. While 
there is "space" in the format to characterize quad and hextone b/w, any 
software taking advantage of this has to be configured specifically to do so. To 
date, when companies have developed this capability (ie Colorbyte) they have not 
been eager to share the secret sauce. This may soon change, as more imaging 
companies develop for b/w.

You will always be better served using a good driver and optimally a RIP to take 
advantage of any profiling. Your RIP has to be able to output a target that the 
spectrophotometer can measure properly, and the profiling software has to 
receive this data in a compatible format. Then, the RIP has to actually be able to 
utilize this non-standard (ie non-CMY) information. Many color print makers use a 
RIP, spectrophotometer, and profile-generating software each from a different 
company, so the idea of compatability does exist in the color world.

Amadou Diallo

One question: What is a RIP?  Does that refer to the profiling 
software?

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Amadou Diallo 
<amadiallo2001@y...>" <amadiallo2001@y...> wrote:
> Unfortunately, ICC is a standard that was developed specifically 
for color. While 
> there is "space" in the format to characterize quad and hextone 
b/w, any 
> software taking advantage of this has to be configured specifically 
to do so. To 
> date, when companies have developed this capability (ie Colorbyte) 
they have not 
> been eager to share the secret sauce. This may soon change, as more 
imaging 
> companies develop for b/w.
> 
> You will always be better served using a good driver and optimally 
a RIP to take 
> advantage of any profiling. Your RIP has to be able to output a 
target that the 
> spectrophotometer can measure properly, and the profiling software 
has to 
> receive this data in a compatible format. Then, the RIP has to 
actually be able to 
> utilize this non-standard (ie non-CMY) information. Many color 
print makers use a 
> RIP, spectrophotometer, and profile-generating software each from a 
different 

> company, so the idea of compatability does exist in the color world.
> 
> Amadou Diallo