QTR-Quadtone RIP

In a message dated 8/11/2007 12:16:04 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
mike.amato@... writes:

I'm very  new to this group and to QRT. I just want to say that over 
the past few  days, all this stuff about manuals, tutorials and so on 
is really kind of  odd, a reflection of our need for instant 
gratification. If I can't get a  gallery-quality print on the first 
try, then something must be wrong  with.....something....but certainly 
not me. Sure, you're going to use a  lot of ink and paper, as I have 
been doing, experimenting, trying to get  some acceptable prints. But 
that's the same thing I did when I started  making gelatin silver 
prints. There are many variables to account for in  both systems. I 
can't say how much paper and chemistry I "wasted" getting  started.


That's the gist of it! 
Why are people so resistant to the idea of experimenting and trying out  
their ideas in the digital darkroom? It is the only way to find out what is in  
one's conceptual bank and to learn what the hardware / software combinations  
will do. I have been playing around with inksets running a 4000 with a mix of NK 
 7 and Piezo Sepia and warm carts. Lo and behold, my QTR NK 7 profiles gave 
me  terrible prints, but I switched to GQ profiles and now I have exactly what 
I was  looking for. Wrong inkset/profile mix + right on print. You just have 
to play  with these things. I buy EEM in the 5 pack letter size, and just run 
through it  like butter. I would love to do the Vermont Workshop thingy, but 
instead, I'm  spending the money on paper and ink to teach myself how to get 
what I want in a  print. It is a problem for me, because my images cover such a 
wide gamut of  genre and a mix of scanned film and digital. It would be 
fruitless for me  to ask someone (even Tyler)  what  "settings" they are using with  
their 4000 and their inks. I have 3 4000's and they all behave differently, so 
 how does someone else think I can tell them what to do with their equipment. 
I  remember a time when I spent over a week in my chemical darkroom trying to 
get a  print just right. I consulted with a number of excellent NYC printers 
about my  frustration. I even spoke to W. Eugene Smith about it and he told me 
to add some  warm exhausted developer to the Dektol. Voila!!! and WTF!!
 
Richard Massie



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