Clark,
Piezography does not use the QTR curve format, but rather I produce .quad files that are compatible with QTR. As a result, the Piezography workflow does not follow the standard QTR workflow. It is very important that you use the workflow we recommend. It is also critical that you use a workflow that is not intercepted by recent versions of the Mac OSX which differ remarkably in how they handle color management on your behalf (something unwanted). These Piezography blog posts should be of interest to you in regards to workflow:
http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPress/blog/piezography-technical/lightroom-4-and-piezography/
http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPress/blog/piezography-technical/the-differences-between-apples-and-apples/
http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPress/blog/piezography-technical/qtr-prin-tool/
Further, you should not use the QTR manual that is downloaded with QTR as some of the procedures are not compatible. We have a very simplified approach that involves setting your PS workflow, selecting the correct K7 curve in QTR - and under no circumstances adjusting anything in the advanced settings. The Piezography manuals (as well as specific installation instructions for supported printers) are located here:
http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPress/technical-support/
Soft Proofing requires a calibrated display in order to reproduce a ICC profile via Photoshop's Soft Proof feature. The initial calibration on your part (as per our manuals) is to calibrate to Gamma 2.20 which visually imitates our printing Gamma. We have an adaptive algorithm in our K7 profiler that produces a linearization that will mimic the highlight and shadow bits of an RGB Gamma 2.20. So this initially gets you into the correct Gamma range on your display. Further calibration setting the black point is essential in all inkjet printing because of today's overly bright displays. You will want to reduce the brightness of the display (which affects black point) to about 80-85 candelas which will be closer to the brightness (or contrast ratio) of ink on paper. Then on top of this calibration, you can display a SoftProof of the Piezography inks. Special Edition has a huge array of Soft Proof profiles available for a wide range of papers. The other inks have not been released with Soft Proof profiles - as most who use Soft Proofing have sophisticated consumer ICC profiling kits like the Color Munki or the Spyder - because the Soft Proof is dependent upon the quality of the display calibration. These devices can be used to make Soft Proofs. QTR directly supports this with the Eye One - which is at the high end of the consumer kits and really part of a professional's kit.
Having said all this - I will try and put up some Soft Proofs on the Piezography blog in the next few days. We use calibrated Eizo displays - and the Soft Proofs really, only add paper color and ink color to our on screen displays. If these Soft Proofs dramatically alter your display in contrast or dynamic range - then your initial display calibration is wanting and the quality of the Soft Proof is compromised.
By your question here it sounds to me that you are mixing standard QTR workflow with K7 inks and I want you to get the most out of my product. Soft Proofs produced at a different visual contrast may not be to your best interest. So, please make sure that you have read the K7 QTR manual on the link I put above - and read the postings about the Mac OSX issues. You WILL WANT to use the new QTR TOOL in you are in 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, or especially 10.8.
You can also always use the free Technical Support form at InkjetMall if you need additional help or are confused by the advise you may be getting from many sources!
regards,
Jon Cone
Piezography
--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "clarkcase" <clarkcase@...> wrote:
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> I'm curious about the icc profiles that are included in the installation of QTR - what papers / ink / paper are they intended to model?
>
> I have used RGB_Matt_Paper.icc to soft proof, and it seems to be pretty close to my actual prints - paper and ink tones notwithstanding.
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> My set up, for what it is worth...
> Mac, printing from Lightroom
> Epson 1430
> Piezography carbon inks
> Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte and Moab Entrada Natural papers
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> Thanks,
> Clark
>