QTR-Quadtone RIP

Roy,

I can agree with much of what you say, but... Take for instance 
printer resolution. Depending on what printer resolution you choose, 
the resulting prints vary wildly in tonality. Somebody on this forum 
replied that most profiles are valid for 1440dpi only, but this is 
nowhere documented. Even the needed conversion to a paper profile is 
not documented, except that I found the information hidden in a 
readmy file. The Media Type field would make one believe that QTR 
would apply any conversion necessary for the chosed paper type, but 
that's not the case and again, it's not documented.

It is not really clear what the recommended processes are and the 
lack of concise instructions results in people making errors, not 
following just another way to the end result.

I love the program, don't misunderstan me, but there are lots of 
improvements to be made. I would venture to say that many people 
trying out the program, will get frustrated and give up; I almost did.

Frans Waterlander

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, Roy Harrington <roy@...> wrote:
>
> Frans,
> 
> The "correct method" from a color management point of view is to 
buy 
> the highend
> spectrophotometer and custom profile all your components on a 
regular 
> basis.
> But even that doesn't take into account the ambient lighting as you 
> edit and the
> lighting of the displayed print.  All these things can affect what 
you 
> consider the
> "perfect" print.  Even soft-proofing has a couple options to match 
in 
> different ways.
> You can simulate the ink black and/or the paper white.   But 
there's no 
> "correct" way
> just what helps you the most.
> 
> But the issue in all this and what I mean by "best results" is 
whether 
> YOU the image
> maker/editor can look at your screen and judge what the print will 
look 
> like.   It's
> an inexact goal from the get go because the light-emitting screen 
is so 
> different
> from a light-reflecting print.   So I think relying on your eyes 
and 
> perception is
> always the final test.   It's especially important to note 
that "best 
> results" of tonal
> match have nothing to do with print quality in this case.
> 
> Back to the color management workflow:  if you don't custom profile 
> everything in
> your system I've provided a couple generic print profiles -- Gray 
Matte 
> Paper and
> Gray Photo Paper.   The only thing these do is approximate a 
typical 
> dMax for the
> two kinds of paper given the typical linearization of QTR 
profiles.   
> For the "average"
> situation that isn't custom profiled they are probably better than 
> anything else.
> 
> What's important once you are using color management is what the 
LAST 
> profile
> conversion in your workflow is.   With QTR/PC that is typically a 
> Convert-To-Profile
> in Photoshop before saving.   With QTR/Mac or say Qimage/PC its the 
> "print"
> profile.  (printing with a profile means Convert to that profile).
> 
> Hope that helps.
> Roy
> 
> On Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at 07:22  PM, fwaterlander wrote:
> 
> > Joost,
> >
> > Sorry, but I don't buy into this "do whatever gives the best
> > results". That's a cop-out. This program was created to perform
> > certain functions and if the program was written logically than 
for
> > any given printer/ink/paper/editing program combination there is 
only
> > one correct method, unless several options were created on 
purpose,
> > which I doubt is the case here. I would like to see Roy speak 
clearly
> > as to what needs to be done when for best results and update the
> > documentation, which is badly needed.
> >
> > I'm really impressed with this program, but I also see some 
glaring
> > issues.
> >
> > Frans Waterlander
> >
> > --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Joost Horsten" <j.h.j.h@>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Duane,
> >>
> >>>> Hope some of this has made sense to you.
> >>
> >> Yes, it does. You just described my workflow and how I understand
> > it.
> >> Thanks for confirming. Unlike you, I DID found the need to 
convert
> > to
> >> gray-lab. Without it, I my monitor-print match was not as good. 
But
> >> we do seem aligned on the theory of it.
> >>
> >>
> >> Hi Frans,
> >>
> >> --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "fwaterlander" <frans2001@>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> No, I'm not applying magic or anything, just doing what the good
> >>> doctor told me to do. This is a straight quote from Roy
> >>> Harrington: "For Windows where it's necessary to save a tiff
> > file,
> >>> you should Convert to Profile using either Gray Matte Paper or
> > Gray
> >>> Photo Paper.  Then save the file for printing in QTRgui."
> >>
> >> I know. I read that section over and over again. And I tried it
> > when
> >> I started off with QTR. But 1) I conceptually don't understand 
it,
> > 2)
> >> it gave me worse results, 3) when asking Roy's advice in this, he
> >> suggested me "to do whatever gives the best results".
> >>
> >> And that's probably the best advice to you as well. There seems 
to
> > be
> >> no "best" workflow. By now I've seen many different ones. One way
> > or
> >> another you now seem to have found a workflow that works for you.
> >> Perhaps just stick to it and have fun with printing.
> >>
> >> Joost
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> -
> Roy Harrington
> roy@...
> Black & White Photo Gallery
> http://www.harrington.com
>