QTR-Quadtone RIP

I'm sure that this question has been asked many times. Which EYE--ONE 
package is used to make profiles using the Ultracrome (or K3) inks
for the 2200,etc. series and the 2400, etc. series printers. The
Entry Level or the Photo or.... I obviously can't use my Xrite 
Densitometer 
for this.

JH

I used an Xrite 810 for curves for a while. I had some problems in
the deepest values, and needed color management, so eventually 
ended up with an eye-one photo. In the end, that didn't solve the 
problems with the deep blacks. In my experience, the 810 does 
nearly as well if not just as well as the eye-one for QTR curves.

Costa 


--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Mr_Misty_44" <jharvey@i...> wrote:

> I'm sure that this question has been asked many times. Which EYE--ONE 
> package is used to make profiles using the Ultracrome (or K3) inks
> for the 2200,etc. series and the 2400, etc. series printers. The
> Entry Level or the Photo or.... I obviously can't use my Xrite 
> Densitometer 
> for this.
> 
> JH

> From: Mr_Misty_44
>
> I'm sure that this question has been asked many times. Which EYE--ONE
> package is used to make profiles using the Ultracrome (or K3) inks
> for the 2200,etc. series and the 2400, etc. series printers. The
> Entry Level or the Photo or.... I obviously can't use my Xrite
> Densitometer for this.

Are you looking to make color profiles? The Eye-One spectrophotometer is an
excellent piece of hardware, so the Eye-One Photo package is probably the
one you want. I have an older version, which did a pretty good job for me,
but didn't have any profile editing capability. However, I see that the
current version does.

If you're interested primarily in B&W (this being the QTR list), it would
seem to me that a $1400 spectrophotometer is overkill. A densitometer is
enough for linearizing B&W curves, and any inexpensive single-shot
colorimeter like an old ColorMouse ought to be enough for measuring the
toning, since QTR includes its own curve-building software.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. DeRocco" 
<pderocco@i...> wrote:
> > From: Mr_Misty_44
> >
> > I'm sure that this question has been asked many times. Which EYE-
-ONE
> > package is used to make profiles using the Ultracrome (or K3) 
inks
> > for the 2200,etc. series and the 2400, etc. series printers. The
> > Entry Level or the Photo or.... I obviously can't use my Xrite
> > Densitometer for this.
> 
> Are you looking to make color profiles? The Eye-One 
spectrophotometer is an
> excellent piece of hardware, so the Eye-One Photo package is 
probably the
> one you want. I have an older version, which did a pretty good job 
for me,
> but didn't have any profile editing capability. However, I see 
that the
> current version does.
> 
> If you're interested primarily in B&W (this being the QTR list), 
it would
> seem to me that a $1400 spectrophotometer is overkill. A 
densitometer is
> enough for linearizing B&W curves, and any inexpensive single-shot
> colorimeter like an old ColorMouse ought to be enough for 
measuring the
> toning, since QTR includes its own curve-building software.
> 
> --
> 
> Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul                mailto:pderocco@i...


Paul,

I guess that is what I'm trying to find out before I put down a 
bunch more money. I assumed that since I'm working with colors in 
the Ultracrome ink to get to various tones of cold or warm that I 
would need a spectrophotometer. I would not think that it would be 
quite as necessary with the 2400 but with the 2200 on up I's think 
it would be. In looking at the premade curves I can see that there 
is a mixture of color, not just cyan, for the cold tone prints and 
others for the Sepia. How do I arrive at the mixture and not get the 
problems inherant in the Epson driver profiles; the very reason we 
are using QTR or IJC with the Ultracrome inks?

> From: Mr_Misty_44
>
> I guess that is what I'm trying to find out before I put down a
> bunch more money. I assumed that since I'm working with colors in
> the Ultracrome ink to get to various tones of cold or warm that I
> would need a spectrophotometer. I would not think that it would be
> quite as necessary with the 2400 but with the 2200 on up I's think
> it would be. In looking at the premade curves I can see that there
> is a mixture of color, not just cyan, for the cold tone prints and
> others for the Sepia. How do I arrive at the mixture and not get the
> problems inherant in the Epson driver profiles; the very reason we
> are using QTR or IJC with the Ultracrome inks?

I've not tried building toned curves, so I haven't had to deal with this.

My point is that what you're paying so much money for with the Eye-One Photo
package is a fancier instrument than I think you need. It provides 36
spectral outputs, not just three colors, which is nice for measuring the CRI
of a light source but unnecessary for reading the color of ink on paper.
Also, it's optimized for scanning large numbers of samples by sliding it
across a test print row by row, also something you probably don't need when
you're only reading a 21-step wedge.

The Eye-One spectro is a great instrument, so if you've got the bucks and
like expensive tools, by all means go for it. But I think you can probably
accomplish the task with a one-reading-at-a-time colorimeter. I wouldn't
recommend that for anyone who wants to read a 729 patch test chart, but for
step wedges, it's acceptable.

You might look on eBay for something like an old ColorMouse with a serial
interface. I got one for under $100 a couple years ago, and it came with a
simple software driver that turned each reading into a series of simulated
keystrokes that you could direct into Notepad or Excel to capture the data.
I haven't tried it with QTR, since I also have the Eye-One, but I would
think that would be plenty. Has anyone here used a ColorMouse for QTR curve
building?

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...