dcjohan
Newbie
Posts: 11
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« on: January 25, 2013, 03:59:05 AM » |
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I'm brand new to this forum and the program as of today. I've just begun my 14 day evaluation and have one major concern relative to purchasing. I would like to use Qimage Ultimate (QU) in conjunction with PS6 & LR4. Do I need to do the majority of my editing in PS6/LR4 first and then bring the image into QU for final work and printing, or can I start in QU, export to PS6/LR4, and then return to QU. I note the <CTRL> e option, but when I tried to go this route it seemed to me that I lost most of the QU edits as soon as I got into the graphics editor.
I would greatly appreciate any and all advice as to how to best implement the two programs QU & PS6 or QU & LR4 together as part of my purchase determination.
TIA
dave
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BrianPrice
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« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2013, 08:17:15 AM » |
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Dave
I do all my adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop first, then export from LR or save from PS, then print from QImage. You can also add QI to Lightroom as an external editor and either right-click and 'Edit In>QImage' or choose QI in the Post Processing>After Export option in the Export dialog box (its at the bottom).
To get the best out of QI its important to avoid any re-sizing or interpolation before printing - this way the file only undergoes a single interpolation from camera resolution to printer resolution followed by the correct amount of output sharpening, and the Mike's interpolation algorithms are the best by miles. It's also important not to apply output sharpening in LR.
The other option is to do all the editing in QI - many users do this very successfully but I don't think there's any advantage to go from QI to Photoshop and then back again, especially if you are currently using Lightroom for your raw files .
Please ask if you have any other questions, there are forum members who use QI in many different ways and are always ready to help.
HTH
Brian
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Terry-M
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« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2013, 09:19:20 AM » |
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Dave, I do all my adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop first, then export from LR or save from PS, then print from QImage. You can of course, like me, work the other way round!  I use QU to process raw images and do editing in QU too, and then print from the raw image. There are some occasions when I need to use an external editor, which can be set up to link with QU. I then convert the raw to a tiff and send to the external editor, do the cloning or perspective correction required and save the modified tiff. I will always to the final editing tweaks in QU, especially sharpening with its superior Tone Targeted USM. Not only that, all the main editing tools are there. but when I tried to go this route it seemed to me that I lost most of the QU edits as soon as I got into the graphics editor. QU does not change the original image when it is edited. Edits are saved as a filter file (.flt) alongside the image. To apply those edits permanently to an image it must be saved to a new name. Either Save as from the editor or put in the queue, right click and select convert; auto renaming is an option there along with many others. Keep asking during the trial, we are here to help - and you will not be disappointed with prints made with QU  Terry |
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Fred A
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« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2013, 11:00:21 AM » |
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You can of course, like me, work the other way round!
I use QU to process raw images and do editing in QU too, and then print from the raw image.
There are some occasions when I need to use an external editor, which can be set up to link with QU. I then convert the raw to a tiff and send to the external editor, do the cloning or perspective correction required and save the modified tiff.
I will always to the final editing tweaks in QU, especially sharpening with its superior Tone Targeted USM. Not only that, all the main editing tools are there. Welcome to the forum, Dave. I have to agree wholeheartedly with Terry. (Sorry Brian) It has been shown many times that the results from using Q-Ultimate on Raw images especially, far outperforms the other programs. Just take your time and roam through the web site. Just the looking at one feature alone, the new Deep Focus Sharpening http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=AiVoXcB1uzk&vq=hd1080Add to that, Tone Targeted Sharpening, and you will be doing all of your sharpening in Qimage Ultimate. As Terry pointed out, no image is altered or changed so you can simply delete the filter and start over, or save that adjusted image and make a fresh one and compare the two. Printing from Raw.... what could be better? The less often you change and save, making a Tif or a JPG, or changing the pixel resolution, the better the image and print. ... and just let Qimage Ultimate do the initial rendering of your raw images, and most often, you need not do any more to it to get the exposure right! As Terry said again, we love to help people get as excited as we are about using QU. So ask questions as often as you like.... Fred |
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Fred A
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« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2013, 04:33:17 PM » |
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I use QU to process raw images and do editing in QU too, and then print from the raw image. I know it's not couth to reply to oneself, but just want to give you a sample of what Terry was saying, but graphically. http://ddisoftware.com/tech/articles/july-2011-restless-natives/What Mike is showing you is that Qimage Ultimate will take your image and make a print file setting it to your native input resolution, and do it automatically. Fred |
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« Last Edit: January 25, 2013, 05:10:17 PM by Fred A »
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dcjohan
Newbie
Posts: 11
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« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2013, 08:13:38 PM » |
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Gentlemen -
Thank you very much for your quick reply's to my first inquiry. Since you've invited me to ask more, here goes. I just finished watching the video about printing for a print service. The service that is handy for me where I live in the Northern part of the Kitsap Peninsula is COSTCO. They have professional grade Noritsu printers like the kind we used in a camera store where I used to work. All of them have custom ICC profiles available. Can I use the appropriate printer ICC profile from Dry Creek in conjunction with QU to optimize the prints I would get from that print service? If so I'm already sold!
TIA,
dave
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Fred A
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« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2013, 08:40:19 PM » |
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All of them have custom ICC profiles available. Can I use the appropriate printer ICC profile from Dry Creek in conjunction with QU to optimize the prints I would get from that print service? If so I'm already sold! Absolutely, YES! Here's how easy. Simply place the Dry Creek profile in the Job Properties box marked Prtr ICC. Then click FILE and PRINT TO: Select FILE Set the size and the ppi that the printer asks for, and just make sure you dot the one that says PRINTER USE. That's it. Follow through and make a print. You will have created a print file with the dry creek embedded ready for Costco. If you need more screen snaps, just ask. Of course, you would sharpen and any other enhancement before you make your file for Costco. I can even make a video for you if needed. Fred |
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dcjohan
Newbie
Posts: 11
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« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2013, 06:12:15 AM » |
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Hi Fred - Let me tell you I am VERY impressed with the response on this forum; reminds me of my DOS days in the early 80s. I'm assuming from what you wrote I click the blue dot next to Prt ICC: which jumps me into the Color Management dialog box and from there click the ... box, navigate to the printer profile and load it there. Yes? I'm sold, and even more than that, I've shown it to two colleagues. One purchased it today and the other is in the process of so doing. Thanks for the great support!!!!! I know I'm going to love what this can do for my work. dave http://sonofjohan.smugmug.com/ |
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tonygamble
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« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2013, 03:46:17 PM » |
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Ditto about the responses on the forum - and indeed about the products. On the matter of Image Editing I was lucky, back in the early noughties to be introduced to Picture Window Pro and not PhotoShop. PWP has a three things in common with Qimage. It is still run by the man who conceived the original code. There is a quick and friendly forum supported by some folk who really know the product, plus the originator. Thirdly, IMHO anyway, it is better than the competition. On Thursday I had to work on an image I took of quite a large (ten foot by four foot) embroidery. In 1997 I photographed it on medium format neg before it was framed behind glass. I could have probably (a) found the neg but (b) would then have had the challenge of scanning it on my flatbed as my neg scanner is 35mm. So I took a chance of rephotographing it behind the glass and lit by picture lights at the top. My resultant shot had no reflections but it was significantly brighter at the top when compared with the bottom. I used Qimage Ultimate to Refine my Raw in terms of exposure and white balance (important to the embroiderers involved). I exported it as a TIFF and then used PWP to graduate the image so the brightness was constant. I had asked around here if I could do that in QU but it seemed not. As I was in PWP I sorted the contrast and general tonality. I could have taken it back into QU to do that and to do the sharpening. QU has the new DFS sharpening and Tone Target Sharpening. PWP has a new Bilateral Sharpening. I am not going to suggest that the PWP is better but as (a) the image was never going to be shown very large and (b) as I was already in PWP I stayed there for the sharpening. This is the shot. http://www.tonygamble.org/Embroidery_Jan/embroidery.htm(There is a bit of a halo under the table on the web image but I put that down to the web conversion by BreezeBrowser and not the fault of PWP) An example of using the combined resources of QU and one's favourite image editor for, as they said in the Heineken advert, reaching the parts that others cannot reach. Tony |
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Fred A
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« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2013, 04:02:05 PM » |
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Let me tell you I am VERY impressed with the response on this forum; reminds me of my DOS days in the early 80s. I'm assuming from what you wrote I click the blue dot next to Prt ICC: which jumps me into the Color Management dialog box and from there click the ... box, navigate to the printer profile and load it there. Yes?
I'm sold, and even more than that, I've shown it to two colleagues. One purchased it today and the other is in the process of so doing.
Thanks for the great support!!!!! I know I'm going to love what this can do for my work. Sorry for the delay Dave, but the ddi server was down until now. Besides the setting up of the Print to file for making an image for outside printing, you can and should save that setup as a print setup by clicking FILE SAVE, clicking the "P" button and naming the setup appropriately. For example: P2F RED RIVER 16 x 20, or whatever you set in that size ppi box. Next time you need it, POW! RECALL!! Loads of great stuff in Qimage. and great controls for FILL, Contrast, Gamma, Levels, Curves, etc. PS I tried to email you at your web site. I don't know if it went through. Enjoy! Fred |
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Terry-M
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« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2013, 05:29:22 PM » |
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There is a bit of a halo under the table on the web image but I put that down to the web conversion by BreezeBrowser and not the fault of PWP Why use Breezbrowser to downsize for web? QU with DFS (no sharpening halos) does a much better job. I find QU is a "one stop shop" for most image tasks. Terry |
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tonygamble
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« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2013, 05:42:40 PM » |
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That's a point Terry.
I could sharpen in QU and then use BB with no sharpening. Will give it a try.
Tony
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Terry-M
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« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2013, 08:00:55 PM » |
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Tony and then use BB with no sharpening Sorry but you've missed the point, do it all in QU with Make E-mail/Web copies. Then you get QU world class interpolation and the ability to set anti-aliasing for the best results. Terry |
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dcjohan
Newbie
Posts: 11
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« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2013, 09:47:07 PM » |
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Afternoon Fred - Yes, your email came through just fine; thanks. Just sent off my first batch of (test) prints to COSTCO to see if I understand how to do all this stuff correctly.  The COSTCO page said that I should resend at a different resolution because the prints might be muddy but I sent full sized files (2-4 MB) for 4x6 prints a 300 DPI. That doesn't seem like a too small file in my experience with sending them files not created with Qimage. Any thoughts on this? It all seems rather easy once you understand what you need to do, but then, I guess that's true of most things. I know there is a quick way to empty the print queue but I can't locate it at the moment. Once I do it will then seem obvious. For now I believe I need to watch the videos some more while I have Qimage open, follow along with my own files, and just give it time to become as familiar for me as PS ver x. Thanks for your help!! dave |
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Fred A
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« Reply #14 on: January 26, 2013, 11:19:16 PM » |
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It all seems rather easy once you understand what you need to do, but then, I guess that's true of most things. I know there is a quick way to empty the print queue but I can't locate it at the moment. Once I do it will then seem obvious. For now I believe I need to watch the videos some more while I have Qimage open, follow along with my own files, and just give it time to become as familiar for me as PS ver x.
Thanks for your help!! Hi Dave To clear the queue, simply right click on the large preview panel upper right area, and select Clear Queue (of all things)  st sent off my first batch of (test) prints to COSTCO to see if I understand how to do all this stuff correctly.
The COSTCO page said that I should resend at a different resolution because the prints might be muddy but I sent full sized files (2-4 MB) for 4x6 prints a 300 DPI. That doesn't seem like a too small file in my experience with sending them files not created with Qimage. Any thoughts on this? 300 ppi is some number that these places want so just set that Print TO: dialogue box to 300 ppi. It's as simple as that. I just tried it. Obviously, 6" x 300 = 1800, and 4" x 300 = 1200 pixels The file size with embedded profile is 1.3 megabytes. with a JPG quality of 90. Just curious Dave, but why not make your own prints if that's the size that you like to make? Have a good night. Fred |
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