Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

Hi Mike

Since Qimage have some extended capabilities to remote and setup the printerdriver (Driver AI),is it possible for you to switch between Color and Adwanced B&W photo mode(Epson and of course Canon too) ,and give us all the settings and dials(colorwheel etc. ..) like in Epson Print Layout?
And when you switched to B&W mode you also could automaticly switsched to Softproof-View ,so we can see how the tonality would change(i know .....Epson Print Layout does it too ).

That will be a great improvement ,and i guess ,....you have it already in the pipeline ;) .

That would be a nice enhancement but I've found that things like B&W mode, borderless and expansion settings, etc. are best left inside the driver.  The reason is that unlike standardized items like media type, media size, and color management modes, they are non-standard between drivers of different models.  Meaning each model printer has different settings and controls for B&W modes and options.  Control at the individual printer model level is getting into RIP territory which I've been staying away from for many reasons.

All driver options controlled by Qimage now are manufacturer specific and not model specific, making it bug-free and easy to manage.  For example, switching between color modes (no color correction and ICM) in the driver is manufacturer specific so once you code it to work on one Epson, it works on all Epsons and consequently all new drivers for new models.  Once you get further into the weeds with more obscure settings like borderless modes, borderless expansion, B&W modes and the B&W options, those differ by model and are thus better left inside the driver.

Regards,
Mike

Ohh,....that is sad to hear,but your explanation make some sense for your "bug free" software(but not for me and other B&W-mode capable printer owners  :'()

But only an on/off switch in the existing B&W/color indicator,would by posible?

No.  That's the problem: not even that is feasible.  Some Epson models have Advanced B/W mode, others have "grayscale", others have just "Black and White" mode, while still others have BOTH "grayscale" and "Black and white" modes that are separate in the same driver.  Then there's "Black Enhanced Overcoat", Carbon Black, and a bunch more.  No two Epson models have the same option even when it comes to just activating a B/W mode.

Mike