QTR-Quadtone RIP

I think the main "confusion" here is ICC color management.  CM is an industry
standard for dealing with the output of lots of devices.
Unfortunately CM has been an
evolving feature so lots of software products have added it over time
-- Photoshop
has it, printer drivers have it, operating systems have it.  But when
you actually use
it you must know where and when its happening -- the usual error is
"double profiling".
Because of this most people don't really know what's happening but
have lots of canned
procedures of how to use it.  The procedures may be different but
still result in the
same underlying operations and same results.

So, how does this relate to QTR?  The QTR driver does not deal with
color management,
embedded profiles etc.   It's a low level print driver that takes
pixel values of 0-255
and puts ink on the page based on the input pixel value and the curves
selected. Period.

The way to color management any device/driver is "profile" it and then
convert your
pixel data to that profile on the way to the device.  In Photoshop
this is totally invisible
as far as the display is concerned -- you can't change this or see it happening.
Printing on the other hand is done more manually -- and you have to do
it right.  In the
Print command you can select No CM, Let the driver do it, or Let
Photoshop do it.
In the last one you select a Print Profile.  When you do this Photoshop does a
Convert-to-Profile on the fly as it sends it to the driver.  This is
why there is always
a big sign -- Turn OFF CM in the driver.

Now back to QTR.  On the Mac you do exactly like the previous
paragraph.  You simply
Print, select a Print Profile and QTR has no CM to turn off.  This is
just like color
printing with the Epson driver.  On the PC though there's a major
difference in QTR.
QTR is not a regular print driver on PCs -- its a separate program
called QTRgui.  So
when you are in Photoshop you are not going to use the Print which
means you don't
get the on-the-fly print profile conversion.  You must do it manually.
 This is where
the Convert-to-Profile command is used.  You Save the TIFF file with
the conversion
done.  (note: it's not the embedded profile that's important is that
you converted the
pixel values).  QTRgui and the QTR driver will see the "print
profiled" values just
like it did in the Mac case.

I think that pretty much says how CM is used (how it works is another issue).
But to throw one more wrench in the gears, with B&W its reasonably easy to get
away without any CM at all.  B&W is a single dimension so you can
fairly easily learn
to edit a file to get the print you want.  CM does not add any quality
to a print.  QTR
started that way -- no CM -- and many still use it that way, Epson ABW
from Epson's
point of view is still that way.  I think for someone starting you may
want to avoid
CM at first.  It's virtually impossible to understand how everything
works all at once.

I'd venture to guess if you aren't getting prints you like its not a CM issue.
It's probably becoming familiar with inkjet prints, papers, and screens
and how different things are because of the media or just something not
working -- wrong paper, wrong ink, wrong side, clogged jet etc..

Hope this helps.
Roy

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 7:20 PM, emulsion4ever <emulsion4ever@...> wrote:
> Pam,
>
> "Confusion" seems to be a regular thing where Quadtone RIP is concerned.
>
> If I understand correctly, what's being asked is that you convert the
> embedded color profile of the image you are working on, prior to sending
> it to the printer. This, by my understanding, does NOT refer to the
> "printer profile" but rather to the profile embedded in the actual image
> file you have open in Photoshop.
>
> To do this, you need to:
>
> 1) Click on the EDIT menu
> 2) Choose "Convert To Profile"
> 3) In the dialogue box that opens, you should see the "Source Space"
> which reflects the current color space of the image. Below it you'll see
> "Destination Space". Click on the drop down list and scroll alllllllllll
> the way down until you get to "QTR Gray Matte Paper".  Make sure you
> save a copy of the image as something else as this conversion will
> flatten your image.
>
>
> As for the overall print quality of your images, that has to do with
> profiling the printer (not the source image, as we just did). I'm a
> newbie too btw. I hope this helps or at least saves you some
> frustration. All of the information above reflects nothing more then my
> own sense, having read & played around with the options/settings
> described.
>
> IF I AM WRONG ABOUT ANYTHING I'VE SAID - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CORRECT
> ME!
>
> I don't want to send someone on a wild goose chase.
>
>
> --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "pzdaum" <pzdaum@...> wrote:
>>
>> --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Joost Horsten" j.h.j.h@ wrote:
>> >
>> > --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "pzdaum" <pzdaum@> wrote:
>> >
>> > > I uninstalled & reinstalled; still not an option. What do I do?
>> >
>> > What exactly have you installed? If I remember correctly, You must
>> > install the QTR profiles manually as they are not installed
>> > automatically with QTR.
>> >
>> > Joost
>> >
>> Hi Joost,
>>
>> This info I copied directly from the Quad Tone website:
>> "Beyond just the printing capability Quad Tone Rip also includes
>> several tools that allow the user to create a complete color-managed
>> system for black & white printing. This includes making full B&W ICC
>> profiles for both printing and soft-proofing within Photoshop or any
>> other editing package that allows soft-proofing.
>> This software is included in the main QuadToneRIP download. The B&W
>> ICC profile tool is called QTR-Create-ICC and is found under the
>> Eye-One Folder. There is also an RGB version this tool."
>> From an article by David Brooks I've gotten this info:
>> "The QTR QuadR1800 printer driver is linear & expects a grayscale B&W
>> photo file to also be linear, without an embedded grayscale profile
>> which has a curve. All of the std Adobe Photoshop grayscale workspace
>> profiles like Gray Gamma 2.2 have a non-lineal curve which will
>> influence internal contrast, particularly affecting shadow detail in
>> any resulting prints made with QTR. To obtain match on-screen adjusted
>> image attributes, you must use the Photoshop Edit command Convert to
>> Profile and select the Destination Space: QTR-Gray Matte Paper (which
>> should be available in the profile drop down list as it is installed
>> as part of QTR)".
>> I'm a rookie at this, so please bear with me; I'm just going by what's
>> given to me…none of the above downloaded w/ QTR & my prints
> reflect
>> it. They're awful! Any help & advice is greatly appreciated. I'm so
>> confused I feel like going back to B&W film & setting my darkroom back
> up.
>> Best regards,
>> Pam
>>
>
>
>
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