Right. I've done more experimenting and I have had success. As I told before, with the Qimage One demo version the overdrive seemed to sometimes work the way I wanted, sometimes not. Now I know when it doesn't.

If I produce 24 frames for my 50 lpi lens, it becomes a 1200 ppi image file. Whether I print it directly from photoshop using the Pro-200 driver or with Q One using the 1200 ppi overdrive, what comes on the paper is just 12 frames - no hint of the missing inbetween frames.

However, when I produce 18 frames (900 ppi) again without Qimage the frames that go beyond the 600 ppi max resolution are dropped. But with the overdrive ALL the 18 or frames turn up in the print! And seen through the lenticular sheet the difference is remarkable compared to a 600 ppi print.

It this is the way it works, I'm okay with that. 18 frames is a lot better than 12. Anyway, it would be interesting to know what happens when you work with a 1200 ppi image and the overdrive just drops every other line.

I'm sure with more than 600 ppi the individual lines are not totally sharp and some bleeding happens (that's why you usually do see 3 frames at once, though one of them pops out more), but still the full data is transported from photoshop to Qimage and also to the paper. Why then does it work with 1000 ppi and not with 1200 ppi?

It's Qimage One and Forge interpolation is the first choice in the list (quality 10, speed 1).
Yeah, perhaps you're right and I didn't get 1200 ppi and it was something else. It's not possible to see 1200 ppi with the naked eye, but in the finished lenticular image it's possible to actually count the frames. I printed a picture with 30 lpi lens and to my recollection I was able to count 40 frames - this would only be possible if it's a 1200 ppi print. Unfortunately I don't have that particular picture anymore so I could check.

Why is it that pixma pro-200 cannot produce 1200 ppi output? It offers the same 4800 x 2400 max dpi as pixma pro-10, which does produce 1200 ppi. I had test prints from Canon for three models: pro-10, pro-200 and pro-300. Pro-10 was the only one with 1200 ppi (I'm sure of this), but I chose to buy pro-200 because the overall print quality was clearly sharpest of the three. And because I understood that with Qimage you can double that native 600 ppi.

If it's not because of the max dpi resolution, what is the hardware limitation?

And when does the Qimage overdrive actually produce twice the ppi that the native driver offers? Say the native driver supports 1200 ppi, why do you need the overdrive since you can just choose the max setting to get 1200?

Okay, maybe we're getting somewhere. I must say I don't understand what's the relevance of the image dimension because this is a general issue regardless of the printed image size. For example, now I've printed different sized details of the same image and the same info always applies.

But okay, let's take the test image I last used: Pixel dimensions 2016 x 2018, resolution 1200 ppi, which means 42,67 x 46,74 millimeters. Lenticular lines are horizontal. This is all set in Photoshop.

Setting in qimage:
Original size (so the same dimensions as before)
Media type: Photo paper pro platinum
Media size: A4
Orientation: Portrait
Printer profile: Let printer/driver manage color
Printer setup (Pro-200 driver): Photo print, Print quality custom-1 (highest accuracy), Photo paper pro platinum
Printer setup (qimage): Interpolation Forge (have tried others), Antialias off, Overdrive for both normal prints and poster, print sharpening off, spool all pages

I believe these are the max quality settings in each department. The same settings I originally used, when I DID get the 1200 ppi print (except I probably didn't mess with the Qimage printing options under Printer setup).
If the source image size changes, it doesn't affect anything when I print in original size which is defined in the file itself (TIFF format or exported to qimage from Photoshop).

Yes, the problem seems to be outside of Qimage. To my understanding there has been no update to the printer's own driver and since I already got 1200 ppi out from it, the driver can't be the problem. Now that I mentioned it, I can check if I can find an older version. It's a long shot though.

Also, if I was able to get 1200 ppi with the native driver, I never would have needed Qimage. I understand the point of the overdrive mode is to double the native max output resolution anyway.

Thanks for sharing those things, Mike. Have you done any lenticular printing? I have to ask, because it's very few people who do it or even know how it works. Being a graphics professional for more than 20 years, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to printers, resolutions and particularly lenticular printing. Please trust me on this and let's not waste energy talking what resolution means but just find out how to make things work

Just to make sure we know what we are talking about: When I say I have 24 frames on a lenticular 3D picture, it doesn't mean I want to print 24 separate images. All of those 24 images are interlaced into one SINGLE image that is 1200 ppi in resolution. Every 24th vertical line belongs to the first frame, the next line to the second frame etc. In your example you seem to assume I need to print 24 separate 1x1 inch images on a 6x4 inch sheet. This is not how lenticular works, a 24 frame lenticular image is 24 images interlaced into a single print. The output size plays absolutely no role here, only the resolution.

So in terms of printing with Qimage, I need to print ONE 1200 ppi image and I need to get each pixel on the paper. It is the magic of the lenticular material that it magnifies each of those 24 lines and then you see a different image from different angle.

And I know Qimage demo version was able to make this happen, I assure you, but now it does not happen with the version I purchased. It also stopped happening a couple of days before the demo expired. And I need to sort out why that is. Because the possibility to get 1200 ppi prints was the only reason why I need Qimage and I trust there is a way to configure it in a way that it does that consistently - not just for me but other users as well.

What happens now is that the image prints clearly sharper when I use overdrive compared to not using it. However, it still outputs only 600 ppi from a 1200 ppi image file. This  means, it loses half of the image data somewhere along the line. This is not an odd assumption, just a factual observation.

I attach an image file where on the left you see the original and on the right the Qimage print. These are not in 100% resolution but it's not necessary, because this effectively shows what you can see with your eyes (you can't see individual pixels in a 1200 ppi print anyway): In the original image there are 24 images spread over a distance and you can't distinguish them from one another (or just slightly, where I've marked the numbers.

Now one way to find out what do do about this situation: I can send you the original file (which is a small detail of a much larger image - file too large to attach here), then you can print it out in the overdrive mode and you will instantly see whether you get the smooth transition (the left image) or the stepped 12 images. In the first case scenario we will know we have some differences in the Qimage settings or our computer setup and we will find this out. In the second case it means the overdrive feature is not working the way it should and it needs to be fixed.

I don't understand what you mean by this. Surely Qimage doesn't have the option to interlace 24 separate images into a lenticular print? I've made lenticular 3D since 2000 and always used photoshop for the interlacing (for example 24 images interlaced with 1200 ppi means 24 lines per each lenticule on a 50 lpi lenticular sheet).

Oh and one more thing that might help to sort out the problem: Although I only get a 600 ppi print with overdrive (1200 ppi), it's clearly sharper than with the 600 ppi setting. It seems it's an INPUT issue - Qimage outputs 1200 ppi but doesn't read the image in full resolution.

Thanks for your reply.
As I said, I already succesfully printed 1200 ppi images with the Qimage demo version, using the overdrive setting. Surely it should work with the licenced version then!
Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't and the only explanation I could think of was that it was a memory issue.

Now I tried loading the image from hard drive instead of using the Photoshop plugin. No difference, I just get 12 images. Pro-200 is a terrific printer and on glossy paper it makes a big difference whether it's 1200 ppi or 600 ppi. On 30 lpi sheet I was actually able to get a whopping 40 images and in the finished 3D picture I was able even count them all (objects that "hover" very var from the surface, so the difference between each image is noticeable).

I'm testing this with a very small images, so now it's definitely not about shortage of memory either. So any ideas what to try next?

Hi!

I just purchased Qimage after using the demo version first. I need it to make 1200 ppi prints with my Canon Pixma Pro-200. I'm printing lenticular 3D images, that's why I need the highest output resolution possible.

I have a problem - already had with the demo version. Sometimes the overdrive works, sometimes it doesn't, and I just get 600 ppi. I've tried tweaking the settings, tried clearing up memory, but right now nothing seems to work.

When printing for 50 lpi lenticular sheet, I should get 24 images with 1200 ppi, but I only get 12 (12 x 50 = 600). What should I do to fix this?

Thanks!