QTR-Quadtone RIP

Group,

I am brand new to the group and have only learned of the Quadton RIP a few days ago.

The internet can overwhem with information so at the recomendation of the person who 
told me about the software I am posting a few questions to the group BEFORE I download 
anything.

I currently have a Epson 1280 for home use, using regular Espon Inks ( the color cart. is 
the T009), currenlty printing with Canon Photo Paper Glossy. I run Mac G4 with OS X 
10.3.9 

I am looking for a way to print neutral Black and White prints and regular color prints on 
the same printer.

Is this Quadtone RIP designed to work with the regular Espon Inks? or would I need special 
inks? 

As best I can tell, this is a program that you launch to print and print thru the software 
which finds and controls the printer. IF I want to use Photoshop CS2 and print color am I 
correct that I can launch CS2 and print color?

Again it appears this setup is aimed to best work with matte paper. Will I be able to use 
any glossy paper if I so choose to?

My main point here are that I don't want to get into a position that I can only print B&W. I 
have taken the time to get my color printing set to my liking so I don't want to mess 
anything up.

I am more of a photographer than a tech person so I don't spend all my time learning the 
computer stuff. Is this a highly technical procress to do well?

Thanks for any and all help,

DK

Doug,

With your setup of 1280 printer using regular Epson inks, QTR is 
definitely NOT the solution for you. Two reasons: (1) the 1280 does 
not have a light black ink, and (2) to the best of my knowledge, no 
one has tried to create proper QTR grayscale out of ONLY the color 
inks. It probably can be done, but it would require a "techie" 
mindset.

My recommendation if you want color and b/w in a single printer: the 
Epson 2400; and you will not even require QTR, you can do it all from 
Photoshop, and do it very well. Color, b/w, glossy, matte, all from a 
single printer. Not bad, eh? But, the printer is more expensive and 
the inks are not cheap either. The 2400 will make better prints much 
faster, and they will last longer than the 1280 prints.

Good luck.

Shilesh

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "dougkoontz" <dougkoontz@...> 
wrote:
>
> Group,
> 
> I am brand new to the group and have only learned of the Quadton 
RIP a few days ago.
> 
> The internet can overwhem with information so at the recomendation 
of the person who 
> told me about the software I am posting a few questions to the 
group BEFORE I download 
> anything.
> 
> I currently have a Epson 1280 for home use, using regular Espon 
Inks ( the color cart. is 
> the T009), currenlty printing with Canon Photo Paper Glossy. I run 
Mac G4 with OS X 
> 10.3.9 
> 
> I am looking for a way to print neutral Black and White prints and 
regular color prints on 
> the same printer.
> 
> Is this Quadtone RIP designed to work with the regular Espon Inks? 
or would I need special 
> inks? 
> 
> As best I can tell, this is a program that you launch to print and 
print thru the software 
> which finds and controls the printer. IF I want to use Photoshop 
CS2 and print color am I 
> correct that I can launch CS2 and print color?
> 
> Again it appears this setup is aimed to best work with matte paper. 
Will I be able to use 
> any glossy paper if I so choose to?
> 
> My main point here are that I don't want to get into a position 
that I can only print B&W. I 
> have taken the time to get my color printing set to my liking so I 
don't want to mess 
> anything up.
> 
> I am more of a photographer than a tech person so I don't spend all 
my time learning the 

> computer stuff. Is this a highly technical procress to do well?
> 
> Thanks for any and all help,
> 
> DK
>

"Shilesh Jani" <shileshjani@...> wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply:

Would a simple change to different set of inks allow this to work? And is there a set of inks 
that would allow me to print both color and black and white?

Technical point here: are the inks l have seen refered to some variation of black inks to 
replace the color inks in my 1280??????

Prehaps a simple explination of what inks are used would be helpful?

Doug,

I use a 1280 with MIS UT2 inks for black and white printing.  I use 
QTR with this set up.  If you want to try QTR with the 1280, I would 
recommend this set up because it is the only one that has curves 
already made.  It is much easier to start with premade curves and move 
on to makng your own if you find you need them later.

The UT2 inks are a set of greyscale inks that allow you to select the 
tone (warm or cold tone) by the use of toner.  These inks are also 
pigment instead of dye (like the 1280 OEM inks) so they have much 
greater longevity.

Hope this hjelps,

Peter

Doug,

Yes replacing the inks with would work. Best of my knowledge, MIS UT2 
inks are set up for use with the 1280. See 

http://www.inksupply.com/ut2-1280.cfm

Paul Roark has a lot of information at

http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/UT2-Readme.htm

Please be informed up-front, all this will require a significant amount 
of learning and tweaking. Most people don't get a wow print the first 
time around. And the 1280 is a finicky printer with pigment inks. You 
can switch back to the Epson color inks, but doing it back-and-forth 
all the time is not generally adviced.

If you are not an experimenter, and want good prints off-the-bat, I 
would recommend the 2400.

See also

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/

Shilesh

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "dougkoontz" <dougkoontz@...> wrote:
>
> "Shilesh Jani" <shileshjani@> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the quick reply:
> 
> Would a simple change to different set of inks allow this to work? 
And is there a set of inks 
> that would allow me to print both color and black and white?
> 
> Technical point here: are the inks l have seen refered to some 
variation of black inks to 

> replace the color inks in my 1280??????
> 
> Prehaps a simple explination of what inks are used would be helpful?
>