Is QIMAGE missing the point?

[dLESKO]

There's no need to "fight" the
PhotoShop interface to try to print 20 4x6 prints of images that
you know are ready to print (with maybe only a few corrections like
red eye, blemish removal, some levels, etc.).

So then it is ok to "fight" the QImage inteface to print PSD files? I know from talking to David that he didn't make his workflow entirely clear. He is not using QImage to print images "ready for print" as you say. He is printing PSD files with text and other graphics overlaid onto the images.

In most cases, you
can load Qimage and you will have already navigated to the folder
in question and will have started selecting the first batch of
images using the thumbnails before PhotoShop CS can even load!

Try it with large PSD files. Not to pick, but the QImage file browser is not the speediest thing either...

A full featured program that offers batch processing of multiple
images, filtering, borders, cutouts, text, and has low level access
to the print driver is not a candidate to be a plugin inside
another [large] program.

Agreed, but if you can exploit a weakness or extend the utility of the other large program why not?

but to try to "dump" all of Qimage into
PhotoShop is to dilute the very thing that makes Qimage what it is
today.

Although it is not clear from the post, I don't think David is suggesting that all of QImage be available as a plugin.

there are
some things that just cannot be done as a plugin: plugins are not
compilers; they must run under the auspices of PhotoShop and within
those limitations.

That's a valid technical reason for not being able to do something. On the flip side, Some of QImage's features could probably gain some advantages from PS scripting and actions. Not to mention Automation from languages like VB.

So no, it doesn't make sense to make Qimage a PhotoShop plugin any
more than it would to make something like your favorite word
processor a PS plugin.

Apples/Oranges IMO.

Oh, and as for Bill Gates "embrace and extend", I'm happy for him
that he makes so much money. A bloated tick on a dog's back has a
pretty easy life too

Guess you don't like BG....

The only reason for me to try to put
the entire Qimage program into a PhotoShop plugin would be to dip
into Adobe's pot, and that's not the way I do business.

I didn't think that was advocated in the post

I really don't think putting Qimage [as a whole] into a PS plugin would
benefit the end user, which is why I don't do it.

As a whole, I agree but again I don't think that is the idea.

And who says that this plugin has to be "QImage"? It could be something else...

dlesko

 

[dLESKO]

Bryon,

What if you needed to add text and graphics to the images? Having QI crop them would arbitrarily crop off parts of the text and graphics...

dlesko

 

[Patrick Martin]

You certainly make a valid point. I don't do work nearly as extensive as yours, but I have lately worked on several images, trying them out as color, black & white, or with selective desaturation. I wind up saving different .psd files for each, then printing with QImage.

So I see where something like you describe could be helpful, but how would the interface really work? You'd have to essentially tell it: print layers 1,3, & 10 together as an 8x10 and a 5x7. Then print layers 1,5, 12 & 15 as two 4x6s. And do you then just remember which combination of layers gave you which print?

--
Patrick Martin
http://www.patrickmartin.com

 

[dLESKO]

It only prints the active layers. If you need to print different layers you have to save multiple PSD files or re-open/re-save for each set of prints. Try using QImage with a PSD file that has 25 images in 25 layers...

dlesko

Ron . . . not sure what you are referring to. I use QImage to
print .psd files quite often . . .

~ Bill Dunn

 

[dLESKO]

Lawrence, for your workflow it doesn't make sense since you don't add graphics and text to your images (I am assuming).

dlesko

 

[dLESKO]

Id rather see the effort going into automatic file placing and other
things as well as bug fixing and interface streamlining and not some
gimmiks a few simple minds would want because they have a tiny
workflow for a few hundred images ... just do some useful stuff with
your time ..

Gee, why the personal attack on David? And how did you arrive at the notion that the workflow was for only a few hundred images? You sound more experienced than to make statements and assumptions like that...

dlesko

 

[Tricia]

Bryon,

What if you needed to add text and graphics to the images? Having
QI crop them would arbitrarily crop off parts of the text and
graphics...

dlesko

Why do you keep[ saying "arbitrarily crop off parts"? Qimage offers manual cropping just like PS does.

--
Tricia

 

[dLESKO]

Whats the difference between a layer and an image? none.

A PSD file is just a container. Each layer is like a separate image. Layers with transparency expose the underlying layer so stacked layers appear as one image when viewed. If I could Queue the layers as if they were individual images and select the layers to be printed at the same time I'd be very happy. Also, in PS, layers can be linked - you could read the links and treat the linked layers as one image too...

The flip side is to just let me use QImage printing as I am working in PS via a plugin so I don't have to save to disk.

dlesko

 

[dLESKO]

It doesn't work right unless you re-render the text and graphics in the PSD file to the new dimensions. If it were a straight photo there would be no problem.

dlesko

Bryon,

What if you needed to add text and graphics to the images? Having
QI crop them would arbitrarily crop off parts of the text and
graphics...

dlesko

Why do you keep[ saying "arbitrarily crop off parts"? Qimage offers
manual cropping just like PS does.

--
Tricia

 

[Tricia]

dLESKO wrote:

Umm..contary to your post above, most of us DO use PS; it's just that we can also see the point of view of people who don't.

The flip side is to just let me use QImage printing as I am working
in PS via a plugin so I don't have to save to disk.

Okay, I've read your barrage of posts. Am I understanding that the crux of your problem is that you don't want to save but one file, and you're looking for an interpolation package that won't require you to save each output document at each resolution/ratio you need? Or is there some other function of Qimage that you would use in a plugin?

--
Tricia

 

[dLESKO]

Hi Tricia,

Umm..contary to your post above, most of us DO use PS; it's just
that we can also see the point of view of people who don't.

I didn't say that most of you don't use photoshop - I said that most of you don't use photoshop to create graphics. You must have stopped reading that sentence before you got to the creating graphics part.

I am also reading here that you are implying that I don't see the point of people who don't use photoshop. Frankly, I think you have that backwards in that those who don't use photoshop don't see the points of someone who does.

Am I understanding that the
crux of your problem is that you don't want to save but one file,
and you're looking for an interpolation package that won't require
you to save each output document at each resolution/ratio you need?

Yes, pretty much correct.

dlesko

 

[dLESKO]

that this is with borderless printing...

dlesko

dlesko

Bryon,

What if you needed to add text and graphics to the images? Having
QI crop them would arbitrarily crop off parts of the text and
graphics...

dlesko

Why do you keep[ saying "arbitrarily crop off parts"? Qimage offers
manual cropping just like PS does.

--
Tricia

 

[Tricia]

Umm..contary to your post above, most of us DO use PS; it's just
that we can also see the point of view of people who don't.

I didn't say that most of you don't use photoshop - I said that
most of you don't use photoshop to create graphics. You must have
stopped reading that sentence before you got to the creating
graphics part.

Gee, I apologize for not completing the sentence. Most of us DO use PS, and many of us use it for graphics.

I am also reading here that you are implying that I don't see the
point of people who don't use photoshop. Frankly, I think you have
that backwards in that those who don't use photoshop don't see the
points of someone who does.

I didn't imply any such thing. I was merely explaining the statement I did make, "I think this statement means just what it says - so that you do not have to use Photoshop; if a person uses Elements or Paint Shop Pro or Picture Windows Pro or Picture It or Corel Draw or whatever, they can still use Qimage - which they probably couldn't do if it were a PS plugin." This was in response to the original title,"Is QIMAGE missing the point?".

Am I understanding that the
crux of your problem is that you don't want to save but one file,
and you're looking for an interpolation package that won't require
you to save each output document at each resolution/ratio you need?

Yes, pretty much correct.

So it's not really Qimage that you want as a plugin, it's the interpolation. I'm not at home, so I don't have PS in front of me. Does GF offer this, or do you have to save the file before you can print it? Are there any plugins that offer the features you need?

--
Tricia

 

[Lawrence Keeney]

Lawrence, for your workflow it doesn't make sense since you don't
add graphics and text to your images (I am assuming).

dlesko

dlesko,

I'm not sure is you are saying ti doesn't make sense for me to use Qimage for my printing, or if you are saying it doesn't make sense to have Qimage as part of Photoshop.

In any case, I find I get better prints when I print with Qimage, and I like the fact that Qimage handles all of the details. I did print one of my photos at 4 foot x 6 foot with Qimage and it still looked good.
--

'Good judgement comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgement'. - from an Australian Aviation Magazine.



--
Lawrence

 

[dLESKO]

I'm not sure is you are saying ti doesn't make sense for me to use
Qimage for my printing, or if you are saying it doesn't make sense
to have Qimage as part of Photoshop.

For your needs a QImage plugin would not offer any additional benefits (at least as I see it).

In any case, I find I get better prints when I print with Qimage,
and I like the fact that Qimage handles all of the details. I did
print one of my photos at 4 foot x 6 foot with Qimage and it still
looked good

Exactly the reason I'd like to use the QImage print engine for my PSD files without having to save/open/save/open etc.

dlesko

 

[dLESKO]

Hi,

I didn't imply any such thing. I was merely explaining the
statement I did make

But you wrote that "we" can see the viewpoint of people who don't use photoshop which seems to infer that "I" don't.

I think this statement means just what it
says - so that you do not have to use Photoshop; if a person uses
Elements or Paint Shop Pro or Picture Windows Pro or Picture It or
Corel Draw or whatever, they can still use Qimage - which they
probably couldn't do if it were a PS plugin."

But... they can still use QImage like they always have been. Why would they ever use a PS plugin if they don't use Photoshop? I am so confused!

Are you saying that I said to replace QImage with a plugin? no where did I say that in any of my posts...

So it's not really Qimage that you want as a plugin, it's the
interpolation.

YES! and if I could print the active layers from the plugin wihtout having to render yet another layer I would be veeery happy!

I thought that was the point I was trying to clear up from the original post....

dlesko

 

[Tricia]

But you wrote that "we" can see the viewpoint of people who don't
use photoshop which seems to infer that "I" don't.

Okay. I'm not a debater. I also am not a person to insult others by inference. So, since I seem to offend you by replying to your posts, I'm through here.

--
Tricia

 

[Ron B]

I post-process my raw images in C1, then do a little tweaking in
Qimage. Whenever possible, I try to avoid PS as I've recently
adopted a "less is more" approach. Qimage keeps things simple,
efficient and gives me high quality prints. If it ain't broke....

I agree. I use PS(CS) to do raw conversion and color correction in 16 bit mode before saving a jpg. The little bit of editing/croping I do is simple and straight forward with Qimage. The Qimage user interface may be a bit strange but it works. PS is so bloated and its user interface so combersome that I avoid it whenever and however I can.

--
Ron B

 

[dLESKO]

Not offended in the least.

dlesko

 

[Bryon Daly]

I wasn't aware of that issue; I guess I've never quite needed to do that. (I mostly do touchup-type stuff in PS).

Anyway, I suppose in the case you're talking about, I would export the image to a TIFF or jpg and then crop as normal in Qimage.

-Bryon

dlesko

Bryon,

What if you needed to add text and graphics to the images? Having
QI crop them would arbitrarily crop off parts of the text and
graphics...

dlesko

Why do you keep[ saying "arbitrarily crop off parts"? Qimage offers
manual cropping just like PS does.

--
Tricia