QTR-Quadtone RIP

Hi folks:

Just recently purchased an Epson 3880. I'd like to say that I absolutely love Quad Tone Rip. Really, I would. I'll try to keep things factual, as it's not my intention to purposely take a stab at the program.

I installed the program without a hitch. I tried some Epson enhanced matte paper using the neutral settings, and have to say I wasn't terribly impressed. The Epson advanced black-and-white mode produced a much more realistic result to me, albeit a little low in contrast.

I went about creating an ICC profile. The first attempt did not work, but my second one did and I had my first ICC black-and-white profile--nice! Great to be able to soft proof a black and white.

I went to create a second,  using the exact same procedure, but the profile would not install by right clicking and choosing "install profile". I then manually placed it into the color folder, but it would not show. I repeated the entire procedure, but QTR refuses to allow me to make any additional ICC profiles. 

I went about trying some various profile combinations using the stock profiles, but each and every time I sent an image to the printer, I got an error message and the program crashed. Don't know if that's a memory issue or what-- I have four gigs of RAM, and a brand-new dual processor CPU. The system is actually state-of-the-art. 

Once I close the error message " do you want to send this report to Microsoft, etc." the print would finish. After using about five or six different profile combinations I came to the conclusion that nothing looked as good as the stock advanced black-and-white mode using the Epson driver. I have to say that I'm super impressed with what Epson has done. It's hard to imagine much improvement. QTR, for me has been nothing but problems. Seems loaded with bugs. (okay, one opinion here!) The rest is factual. 

I would really love to be able to produce some additional ICC profiles. What a great asset to have, but it would seem that QTR is a one-hit wonder! If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. 

For me, I will concentrate my efforts on the advanced black-and-white mode of the 3880. This is by far the best printer I've ever used for black-and-white. I'm truly amazed. It's actually renewed my interest in black-and-white photography after nearly 20 years. 

Troy

I just bought a 3880 also. My experience is much like yours. My first prints with QTR on Epson Enhanced Matte had a nice tonal range. Whites were white and blacks were deep black. My problem is in the lower Zones. Areas in shadow were solid black with QTR. Printing the same image via the Epson ABW was much better.

For comparison, I looked at an older print I made on an Epson 2200 with custom printer profiles. It had better separation than the 3880/QTR print but not as good as the 3880 ABW. 

I do not have the equipment to measure my own test strips. I am asking for help in improving separation in the shadows. 

What should my next steps be to get better shadow separation? Ink Limits? Something else?



Thanks

Frank

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Troy" <colorworks@...> wrote:

>
> Hi folks:
> 
> Just recently purchased an Epson 3880. I'd like to say that I absolutely love Quad Tone Rip. Really, I would. I'll try to keep things factual, as it's not my intention to purposely take a stab at the program.
> 
> I installed the program without a hitch. I tried some Epson enhanced matte paper using the neutral settings, and have to say I wasn't terribly impressed. The Epson advanced black-and-white mode produced a much more realistic result to me, albeit a little low in contrast.
> 
> I went about creating an ICC profile. The first attempt did not work, but my second one did and I had my first ICC black-and-white profile--nice! Great to be able to soft proof a black and white.
> 
> I went to create a second,  using the exact same procedure, but the profile would not install by right clicking and choosing "install profile". I then manually placed it into the color folder, but it would not show. I repeated the entire procedure, but QTR refuses to allow me to make any additional ICC profiles. 
> 
> I went about trying some various profile combinations using the stock profiles, but each and every time I sent an image to the printer, I got an error message and the program crashed. Don't know if that's a memory issue or what-- I have four gigs of RAM, and a brand-new dual processor CPU. The system is actually state-of-the-art. 
> 
> Once I close the error message " do you want to send this report to Microsoft, etc." the print would finish. After using about five or six different profile combinations I came to the conclusion that nothing looked as good as the stock advanced black-and-white mode using the Epson driver. I have to say that I'm super impressed with what Epson has done. It's hard to imagine much improvement. QTR, for me has been nothing but problems. Seems loaded with bugs. (okay, one opinion here!) The rest is factual. 
> 
> I would really love to be able to produce some additional ICC profiles. What a great asset to have, but it would seem that QTR is a one-hit wonder! If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. 
> 
> For me, I will concentrate my efforts on the advanced black-and-white mode of the 3880. This is by far the best printer I've ever used for black-and-white. I'm truly amazed. It's actually renewed my interest in black-and-white photography after nearly 20 years. 
> 
> Troy
>

Perhaps the 3800 doesn't need matte ink for matte paper, but I found 
that on my R2400, using the right ink for the matte paper - and 
adjusting the image while soft-proofing in Photoshop - things work 
splendidly with Epson Enhanced Matte.

On 6/20/2010 10:39 AM, Frank wrote:
>
> I just bought a 3880 also. My experience is much like yours. My first 
> prints with QTR on Epson Enhanced Matte had a nice tonal range. Whites 
> were white and blacks were deep black. My problem is in the lower 
> Zones. Areas in shadow were solid black with QTR. Printing the same 
> image via the Epson ABW was much better.
>
> For comparison, I looked at an older print I made on an Epson 2200 
> with custom printer profiles. It had better separation than the 
> 3880/QTR print but not as good as the 3880 ABW.
>
> I do not have the equipment to measure my own test strips. I am asking 
> for help in improving separation in the shadows.
>
> What should my next steps be to get better shadow separation? Ink 
> Limits? Something else?
>
> Thanks
>
> Frank
>
> --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com 
> <mailto:QuadtoneRIP%40yahoogroups.com>, "Troy" <colorworks@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hi folks:
> >
> > Just recently purchased an Epson 3880. I'd like to say that I 
> absolutely love Quad Tone Rip. Really, I would. I'll try to keep 
> things factual, as it's not my intention to purposely take a stab at 
> the program.
> >
> > I installed the program without a hitch. I tried some Epson enhanced 
> matte paper using the neutral settings, and have to say I wasn't 
> terribly impressed. The Epson advanced black-and-white mode produced a 
> much more realistic result to me, albeit a little low in contrast.
> >
> > I went about creating an ICC profile. The first attempt did not 
> work, but my second one did and I had my first ICC black-and-white 
> profile--nice! Great to be able to soft proof a black and white.
> >
> > I went to create a second, using the exact same procedure, but the 
> profile would not install by right clicking and choosing "install 
> profile". I then manually placed it into the color folder, but it 
> would not show. I repeated the entire procedure, but QTR refuses to 
> allow me to make any additional ICC profiles.
> >
> > I went about trying some various profile combinations using the 
> stock profiles, but each and every time I sent an image to the 
> printer, I got an error message and the program crashed. Don't know if 
> that's a memory issue or what-- I have four gigs of RAM, and a 
> brand-new dual processor CPU. The system is actually state-of-the-art.
> >
> > Once I close the error message " do you want to send this report to 
> Microsoft, etc." the print would finish. After using about five or six 
> different profile combinations I came to the conclusion that nothing 
> looked as good as the stock advanced black-and-white mode using the 
> Epson driver. I have to say that I'm super impressed with what Epson 
> has done. It's hard to imagine much improvement. QTR, for me has been 
> nothing but problems. Seems loaded with bugs. (okay, one opinion 
> here!) The rest is factual.
> >
> > I would really love to be able to produce some additional ICC 
> profiles. What a great asset to have, but it would seem that QTR is a 
> one-hit wonder! If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears.
> >
> > For me, I will concentrate my efforts on the advanced 
> black-and-white mode of the 3880. This is by far the best printer I've 
> ever used for black-and-white. I'm truly amazed. It's actually renewed 
> my interest in black-and-white photography after nearly 20 years.
> >
> > Troy
> >
>
> 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I recently moved from a 2100 on which I had been using QTR successfully for
many years to a 3880 and have had none of the problems using QTR on the
latter.  I did try ABW, but found it more complex and less flexible than the
QTR I was used to.  The only thing I did have to adjust was the balance of
cool to warm curves as I found that the prints were slightly cooler compared
to what I had been getting on the 2100.  So, I am delighted with the 3880
and don't recognise any of the problems you mention.  I use a PC.

Yours,

John

On 20 June 2010 19:48, Ken Lee <kenlee333@...> wrote:

> Perhaps the 3800 doesn't need matte ink for matte paper, but I found
> that on my R2400, using the right ink for the matte paper - and
> adjusting the image while soft-proofing in Photoshop - things work
> splendidly with Epson Enhanced Matte.
>
> On 6/20/2010 10:39 AM, Frank wrote:
> >
> > I just bought a 3880 also. My experience is much like yours. My first
> > prints with QTR on Epson Enhanced Matte had a nice tonal range. Whites
> > were white and blacks were deep black. My problem is in the lower
> > Zones. Areas in shadow were solid black with QTR. Printing the same
> > image via the Epson ABW was much better.
> >
> > For comparison, I looked at an older print I made on an Epson 2200
> > with custom printer profiles. It had better separation than the
> > 3880/QTR print but not as good as the 3880 ABW.
> >
> > I do not have the equipment to measure my own test strips. I am asking
> > for help in improving separation in the shadows.
> >
> > What should my next steps be to get better shadow separation? Ink
> > Limits? Something else?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Frank
> >
> > --- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com
> > <mailto:QuadtoneRIP%40yahoogroups.com <QuadtoneRIP%2540yahoogroups.com>>,
> "Troy" <colorworks@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi folks:
> > >
> > > Just recently purchased an Epson 3880. I'd like to say that I
> > absolutely love Quad Tone Rip. Really, I would. I'll try to keep
> > things factual, as it's not my intention to purposely take a stab at
> > the program.
> > >
> > > I installed the program without a hitch. I tried some Epson enhanced
> > matte paper using the neutral settings, and have to say I wasn't
> > terribly impressed. The Epson advanced black-and-white mode produced a
> > much more realistic result to me, albeit a little low in contrast.
> > >
> > > I went about creating an ICC profile. The first attempt did not
> > work, but my second one did and I had my first ICC black-and-white
> > profile--nice! Great to be able to soft proof a black and white.
> > >
> > > I went to create a second, using the exact same procedure, but the
> > profile would not install by right clicking and choosing "install
> > profile". I then manually placed it into the color folder, but it
> > would not show. I repeated the entire procedure, but QTR refuses to
> > allow me to make any additional ICC profiles.
> > >
> > > I went about trying some various profile combinations using the
> > stock profiles, but each and every time I sent an image to the
> > printer, I got an error message and the program crashed. Don't know if
> > that's a memory issue or what-- I have four gigs of RAM, and a
> > brand-new dual processor CPU. The system is actually state-of-the-art.
> > >
> > > Once I close the error message " do you want to send this report to
> > Microsoft, etc." the print would finish. After using about five or six
> > different profile combinations I came to the conclusion that nothing
> > looked as good as the stock advanced black-and-white mode using the
> > Epson driver. I have to say that I'm super impressed with what Epson
> > has done. It's hard to imagine much improvement. QTR, for me has been
> > nothing but problems. Seems loaded with bugs. (okay, one opinion
> > here!) The rest is factual.
> > >
> > > I would really love to be able to produce some additional ICC
> > profiles. What a great asset to have, but it would seem that QTR is a
> > one-hit wonder! If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears.
> > >
> > > For me, I will concentrate my efforts on the advanced
> > black-and-white mode of the 3880. This is by far the best printer I've
> > ever used for black-and-white. I'm truly amazed. It's actually renewed
> > my interest in black-and-white photography after nearly 20 years.
> > >
> > > Troy
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


-- 
John Beeching
http://johnbeeching.com/
Three Frome Artists: http://www.blurb.com/books/1395201


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I used Epson matte ink. The 3880 switches blacks automatically.

If you haven't read this, you'll find it very helpful:

http://www.diallophotography.com/pdfs/QTRworkflow.pdf

On 6/20/2010 9:11 PM, Frank wrote:
>
>
> I used Epson matte ink. The 3880 switches blacks automatically.
>
> 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I have read the information. 

What should my next steps be to get better shadow separation? Ink Limits?
Something else?


Thanks

First of all, have you established that what you see on the monitor, is 
exactly what you get from the printer ?

If you are surprised by the output, then you need to address that issue 
first. Until that is resolved, you are wasting time and resources.

If what you get is what you see, then just change what you see. In other 
words, just make adjustment layers like curves, levels, etc.to increase 
shadow separation.


On 6/22/2010 10:21 AM, Frank wrote:
>
> I have read the information.
>
> What should my next steps be to get better shadow separation? Ink Limits?
> Something else?
>
> Thanks
>
> 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I understood that QTR was not a color managed workflow. Second, I am getting good prints with ABW Mode but not with QTR anmd I was askinh what controls in QTR to use to get a better looking print. 

I printed the ink separation test target. Most inks max out abnout 50-60 %. Should I print with 60% ink limit?

Should I print with 60% ink limit?
 

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "frankp1_98" <frankp0@...> wrote:

>
> I understood that QTR was not a color managed workflow. Second, I am getting good prints with ABW Mode but not with QTR anmd I was askinh what controls in QTR to use to get a better looking print. 
> 
> I printed the ink separation test target. Most inks max out abnout 50-60 %. Should I print with 60% ink limit?
>