QTR-Quadtone RIP

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Eddie Wiseman" <pahts@...> wrote:
>
> Hi David..
> 
> OK..sorry but my computer illiteracy is showing!..I'm on a Windoz
Vista computer..I have the UT14 settup..I can't figure out how to
install your files from a "description"..Windoz does not recognise a
"COMMAND FILE..
> 

Eddie,
   I've not actually used QTR with Windows, so I'm afraid that any
guidance I can offer is based on reading the User Guide by Tom Moore.
 Perhaps Tom can jump in if I write anything misleading.  But, the
following may help:

There are basically two kinds of file that are used with the QTR system:

1. "Curve" files that are used directly by the QTR print driver to
specify how much of each ink to squirt out for a given gray level. 
These are basically just long lists of numbers and have the file
extension ".quad".  On a Mac, the reside printer-specific folders
within /Library/Printers/QTR/quadtone/.  I presume that on a Windows
machine they reside is some equivalent directory that the QTR driver
access.  One could, in principle, create the curve files by typing out
these lists of numbers, but it wouldn't be much fun.  So, there is a
semi-automatic means of creating them, which leads to:

2. "Ink description files".  These are text files that specify a set
of parameters from which the curve files are actually generated. 
These files have the extension ".txt" on the Mac and ".qidf" for
Windows and are the type of file that I provided.  These files are
roughly analogous to the source code for a computer program which
written in text by a human is then read by an interpreter (or
compiler) program that generates the actual executable program. On the
Mac, the interpreter that generates the curve file is the "command"
file provided in my folder.  On Windows, there is a nice
graphical-user-interface program, called "Curve Creator".

To create the curves on Windows, I believe that you need to follow
these steps:

1. Change the suffix on the file names from .txt to .qdif.  

2. Start the Curve Creator program.  (As I understand it Curve Creator
is part of the Windows QTR package, but you need to specify that it be
installed when you first install QTR, or add it later.)  

3. Open one of the qdif files in Curve Creator.  This should fill in
the various parameter boxes.  Do not change anything!  Just click on
the "Create Curve" button.  This, I believe, will generate the quad
curve and save it in the proper place so that it will appear in the
QTR dialog.  You then need to repeat this with each of the curves you
want to use.

It is also possible to use QTR to generate "ICC profiles" that can be
used to print without using QTR directly.  This is what Paul Roark
provides for the UT-14 inks.  I have not really tried this.  To me, it
is much nicer to be able to use QTR to mix warm and cool curves for an
individual print.

I hope this helps.  If need be, I can provide the curve files, so that
you don't have to mess with Curve Creator.  But, the downside to that
is that you then have to worry about putting the curve files in the
correct place.  If someone can tell me of a better way to distribute
the curves, I'll be happy to do it that way.

As I said, I am relying heavily on the User Guide and have not
actually done this with Windows.

Good luck,
David