Printing revisted....

[MMarz]

I've been trying to get a decent print from LR for the past two weeks... my quest started here..

After ingesting every resource article I could locate, I started to give consideration to hiring a local professional to trouble shoot my settings. Then I realized there was one trick I didn't try.

Years ago I purchased a copy of DDI's Qimage which worked great for me for a long time.. alas, my copy was an XP version and I have since moved on to Vista. But DDI offers lifetime upgrades so upgrade I did. It took about five minutes to install the new version of Qimage and after setting the preferences exactly as I have set them in LR, and using the same ICC paper/ink profile and the same ink, paper and image, Qimage cranked out a perfect image. The flat image that LR was generating via the Print module was now as vibrant as it appears on screen in the Develop & Library.

The only difference is the additional step of having to export the image so Qimage can pick it up with the LR develop changes, where as LR is printing from within, which I would expect to be a better print.

So, does anyone have any insight as to why LR would not render the same print as Qimage is capable of?

And, if I am going to have to print via Qimage, is there any benefit to exporting as a TIFF rather than a jpg?

 

[samdring]

Michael
Not an expert by any means but the interpolation and print sharpening methods available in QImage even at standard settings are nulli secundus in my opinion. I've tried LR for printing many times as it has evolved but always go back to QImage. I export jpeg - haven't tried tiff to see if there's a difference (I doubt it)

 

[MMarz]

Thanks Sam...

Looking like I'll be doing the same. I did notice, after about a dozen test prints, that even Qimage suppresses some of the vibrance.. The prints are tuer in color and vibrance when I let the printer control the color.

If I understand Qimage correctly, the image is being double processed if the printer driver is allowed to intervene. But that has proven to be the best result..