Does anyone here have extensive experience with this B+W print driver? I have a couple of questions about tapping into the more advanced features such as creating new files but want to know if there are experts around first!
A simple question however...has anyone used this software but preferred the original printer software instead?
I have looked on a couple of dedicated QTR forums but they run to hundreds...probably thousands...of messages and have little real value in some respects unless viewers have countless leisure hours.
I prefer to keep those reserved for pixel peeping!
Depends what you're running. If you're using a modern Epson with ABW mode and multiple black pigment inks, I find the Epson driver a heck of a lot faster and easier for very, very similar results.
If you're one of those crazy people demanding perfect B&Ws out of a first-gen Ultrachrome, or worse, a dye printer (with or without a set of replacement monochrome inks), it's QTR or bust.
I'm using an Epson 2200 with a CIS and OCP pigment inks plus a 27" IMAC.
I have had good results with the basic setups available to me...but decided to go one step further and calibrate my own ink profiles.
The process seemed quite simple...I did the calibration charts etc and found the new values. I then selected a profile which was very similar, opened in text-edit as instructed, put in the new values, and saved in the same folder with a different name.
However, when I went to print...it didn't show on the profile options despite it being there in the folder underneath the original. I tried everything that was obvious even down to restarting the computer.
Then it stopped printing altogether - I got a message that the software was incorrectly installed - and eventually I had to uninstall then re-install the driver.
Now it gets strange. The QTR drivers now work again.....and sitting there in the options is the file I created originally! Which I have just used and it shows the sort of differences I anticipated when compared to the original.
I would like to fine tune this profile a bit with TextEdit and create some more profiles.....but not until I know what's happening.
I've used QTRGui for several years with my Epson 2200; it was the only way I could get true B&W without a magenta cast. I also have an Epson 3800 that renders B&W perfectly without the rip.
I think like Trout Gut just pointed out....you would probably be much better off moving up to a 3800 or 3880 and not need to deal with your RIP or the old 2200. It was good for it`s time...but it`s time has passed.........Peter
Peter Le wrote:
I think like Trout Gut just pointed out....you would probably be much better off moving up to a 3800 or 3880 and not need to deal with your RIP or the old 2200. It was good for it`s time...but it`s time has passed.........Peter
I'm not a believer in upgrading just because I can.....only if there are no alternatives! I can't see myself needing A2 prints, and I suspect that with the right calibration technique and printing paper the 2200 still has the potential to do better....and at little or no additional cost! It's not that I'm getting poor B+W prints...far from it.....I'm just seeing if I can get better!
If I became more commercial with gallery sales etc I would probably start exploring other options.
Since making the original post I have experimented a bit with the profile I managed to produce and it shows promise...particularly when used in conjunction with some of the standard profiles. I'm looking to understand this process properly before exploring other, more expensive, printing papers.
For the PC there is QTRGui which is really nice and makes working with QTR much easier than one would on a Mac platform. However, Ron Reeder has published a very complete and detailed QTR manual for those using QTR on a Mac. The manual is written to focus on creating digital negatives but has all the information needed to tweek and tune QTR.
I had decent results with it using a 2200, which is a tough printer to control for BW work. However, you get into some pretty geeky stuff if you don't use the most standard papers and so on.
Newer Epson printers actually do very nicely with black and white using their own drivers. I get wonderful BW prints from my 7900.
Slowboat wrote:
For the PC there is QTRGui which is really nice and makes working with QTR much easier than one would on a Mac platform. However, Ron Reeder has published a very complete and detailed QTR manual for those using QTR on a Mac. The manual is written to focus on creating digital negatives but has all the information needed to tweek and tune QTR.
