QTR-Quadtone RIP

> From: Mr_Misty_44
>
> I guess that is what I'm trying to find out before I put down a
> bunch more money. I assumed that since I'm working with colors in
> the Ultracrome ink to get to various tones of cold or warm that I
> would need a spectrophotometer. I would not think that it would be
> quite as necessary with the 2400 but with the 2200 on up I's think
> it would be. In looking at the premade curves I can see that there
> is a mixture of color, not just cyan, for the cold tone prints and
> others for the Sepia. How do I arrive at the mixture and not get the
> problems inherant in the Epson driver profiles; the very reason we
> are using QTR or IJC with the Ultracrome inks?

I've not tried building toned curves, so I haven't had to deal with this.

My point is that what you're paying so much money for with the Eye-One Photo
package is a fancier instrument than I think you need. It provides 36
spectral outputs, not just three colors, which is nice for measuring the CRI
of a light source but unnecessary for reading the color of ink on paper.
Also, it's optimized for scanning large numbers of samples by sliding it
across a test print row by row, also something you probably don't need when
you're only reading a 21-step wedge.

The Eye-One spectro is a great instrument, so if you've got the bucks and
like expensive tools, by all means go for it. But I think you can probably
accomplish the task with a one-reading-at-a-time colorimeter. I wouldn't
recommend that for anyone who wants to read a 729 patch test chart, but for
step wedges, it's acceptable.

You might look on eBay for something like an old ColorMouse with a serial
interface. I got one for under $100 a couple years ago, and it came with a
simple software driver that turned each reading into a series of simulated
keystrokes that you could direct into Notepad or Excel to capture the data.
I haven't tried it with QTR, since I also have the Eye-One, but I would
think that would be plenty. Has anyone here used a ColorMouse for QTR curve
building?

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...