Little by little I think I'm getting this and am close to grasping the big picture.
Roy, I read through the entire thread that you had linked to and it cleared up quite a bit for me. However, I'm hoping you can answer a couple questions, as I'm still a little fuzzy on a few details. If I understand clearly what I've read, then there have been two main workflows ending with QTR.
The first (and apparently outdated?) process, completely bypassed any color management system and sent the file straight to QTR sans conversion, as per the printing instructions in the tutorial. So, the calibration & characterization/profiling of any ink/paper set were being combined in the QTR curves. And, any particular bumps in the output were taken care of by further manipulating the curves or through correction layers or some similar tactic.
Now however, it appears that the linearization is only meant to calibrate the output and any characterization/profiling is being done via QTR-Create-ICC, essentially leading to the same type of process as a color managed workflow.
While I can't find the quote, I recently read something regarding color management that stated, ideally calibration and linearization would be all that was needed to color manage a device, but since there are still irregularities in the output, profiling is necessary.
If the above statement is true, then am I right in coming to the conclusion that using profiles in addition to the QTR curves is optional, as long as one is willing to tweak their linearization curves or use corrective layers in order to get their desired output?
Also, if working with profiles, since the calibration is largely dependent on the particular paper being used, would one have to create a set of QTR curves for each paper as well as create a profile or in the case of differing tonal output, multiple profiles per paper?
What exactly is the target performance that is desired, when linearizing your output, re: the "ideal" densities? Am I correct in assuming that the densities are meant to correspond to the human visual response to changes in value, or are they more an arbitrary division of densities based on mathematical/mechanical efficiency?
Thanks again in advance,
Eric
www.ericashworth.net
On Sep 26, 2005, at 7:56 PM, Roy Harrington wrote:
--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, Roy Harrington <roy@h...> wrote:
> On another group I wrote a fair amount about the linearization, icc
> profiling, etc.
> I'm not sure I addressed all you questions but I think it will help a
> lot.
>
> See:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/message/68052
>
> Roy
>
I decided to load the info into the Files section of this group.
See: ICC Info.txt
Roy