QTR-Quadtone RIP

Thanks Roy. You are exactly on the problem I have.

In the Lightroom print module, one can choose a custom size for the resulting jpeg. I use a size a bit smaller than the print area on the target paper size and tell QTRGui to print centered.


Happy new year to all!


--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, Roy Harrington <roy@...> wrote:
>
> I've done some looking into this whole jpeg issue.  The whole thing is a bit
> complicated but I think I understand some of it now.
> 
> Originally there was a simple jpeg compression file that did not have
> resolution information -- it just compressed the image data.  Soon after
> a header called JFIF was added with some more info -- specifically
> the resolution.  Most older programs used this for a long time.  More recently
> a more general approach was started -- called EXIF data which most people
> recognize from camera data.   The file extension .jpg and .jpeg are now used
> for all these different formats.  So different programs write out
> different headers
> -- in fact Lightroom seems to use one for export and a different one for print.
> (QTR is not the only program affected:  see
> http://forums.adobe.com/message/2977973
> if you want to see an unending discussion)
> 
> QTR on the PC has two distinct parts the QTRgui which is written in a high level
> language with file reading builtin and a low level part which actually
> writes to the
> printer.  So QTRgui understands some more formats than the low level driver.
> The driver uses open source libraries for reading files and the jpeg
> library does not
> look at or understand the EXIF version of the header --only the JFIF version.
> This is the main cause of the print size problems.  Whether this can be easily
> resolved is still unknown.
> 
> Another thing to consider is that in Lightroom the export and print
> modules have
> pretty different concepts in mind.  The export is pretty
> straightforward -- it simply
> exports just images -- conversions and formats are always one image at a time.
> The print module on the other hand is a page formatting function.
> When you print to
> jpeg file you are formatting an entire page and outputting that full
> page as a jpeg.
> It can contain multiple images and most important includes all the borders and
> margins.  So taking this formatted page and putting it into QTRgui which also
> does page formatting is possible but needs careful thought of what's happening.
> In particular LR formatting a 8.5x11 sheet will output an 8.5x11 jpg.
> But reading
> this into QTRgui for printing on 8.5x11 paper is a problem because of
> the margins.
> Typically the largest image is 8.25x10.75 on most Epson printers
> (non-borderless).
> 
> Needless to say there are a lot of considerations here.  I'll try to
> find a workflow
> that accommodates this.
> 
> Thanks,
> Roy
> 
> BTW, there's a little confusion of terminology here.  QTRgui is a
> program only on
> the PC and Print-Tool is Mac only.  I think QTRgui is being mentioned on the Mac
> but I think its really referring to the print dialog page.

> Roy Harrington
> roy@...
> www.harrington.com
>