QTR-Quadtone RIP

Hi Alan,

> I've been lusting to do super fine art BW printing with
> a dedicated BW printer (1400) ...
> but there DOES seem to be some info for newbies missing:

> All docs ... seem to come from a view that one pretty much 
> knows what they are doing, ...

See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/UT14.pdf  Paragraph 2 states:  
"With the Epson driver, UT-14 is both "plug-and-play" easy and a flexible
variable tone inkset that can print on matte and glossy papers without the
need to change inks."

With the UT14 inkset, as well as most others, I tried to make an inkset that
would be useable by a newbie simply by plugging in the carts and hitting the
print button in Photoshop or Elements.  On page 2 of the PDF there is a
screen grab that shows what the driver settings are.

On page 3 of http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eboni-6.pdf I compare the
characteristic curves of Eboni-6 with no curve or profile to an ideal Gray
Gamma 2.2 curve that results when an ICC is used and the working space is
Gray Gamma 2.2. They are very close.  (The printer used in the Eboni-6 PDF
was not a 1400, but that inkset also works on the 1400.)  

But, beyond the plug and play starting point, there is a learning curve that
allows one to gain significant amounts of control over the inksets,
including both using and making custom ICCs and using the QTR rip.

I've tried to recognize the fact that most even experienced darkroom
practitioners will be buried by the jargon and details of the new printing
technology.  As such, the goal has been to make a route that gives you quick
and positive feedback in terms of nice prints while you slowly absorb as
much (or little) of the new technology's nuances as you're interested in.

> ... is there any info on learning =how= to evaluate a print ...

One goal is to have the print match the monitor, at least with respect to
relative densities.  With no controls the UT14 inkset (or Eboni-6) come
close.  An ICC is probably the best way to get a better match.  These ICCs
are made with QTR's Create ICC (and Create ICC-RGB).  Aside from that, does
the print look the way you'd like it to?

>... Any ideas or links? 

Dive in and enjoy the journey. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com