Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Adobe Lightroom Q&A => Topic started by: JimAscher on November 17, 2012, 04:54:58 pm

Title: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 17, 2012, 04:54:58 pm
The Basic Brightness control in LR 3.6 is an essential part of my printing workflow (via QTR), which Basic control is no longer available in LR 4+.  However, I am discovering in use of my trial version of LR 4+ many new features (different from LR 3.6) which I find useful.  If I should decide to purchase (upgrade to) LR 4+, will I (1) still be able to process photos in both versions, but more specifically (2) will I be be able to process a photo first in LR 4+ then massage it further for printing purposes in LR 3.6 before sending it off to VTR for printing?   As I've reported before in other threads in this forum, in order to get my photo as printed to match fairly well the photo I have evolved on my monitor, I must lighten it somewhat using the LR 3.6 Basic Brightness control.  This methodology may appear unnecessarily cumbersome to other forum members, but it's really quite simple, and works fine, for me.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Anthony.Ralph on November 17, 2012, 05:28:10 pm
Apart from the difficulty in keeping catalogues from two different version in any sort of synchronisation, there is always the possibility of choosing different process to develop particular images (2010 or 2012). The sliders change to suit each version.

The best way, in my opinion, is to embrace the 2012 process pipeline and really get to know it well. And possibly look at either Micheal/Jeff's videos or George Jardine's ones all of which give a big helping hand in such an endeavour.

Anthony.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Tony Jay on November 17, 2012, 05:29:25 pm
As far as I am aware the answer is yes 3.6 will still work.

As to the issue of needing to brighten images prior to printing - just get your monitor luminence correct and the need for your cumbersome workflow dissapears.

Tony Jay
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Steve House on November 17, 2012, 05:36:13 pm
Why don't you just turn down the brightness on your monitor a skosh?  You say you adjust the image to what you want the print to look like and then notch up the brightness a bit in LR3 so it will print properly, right?  Well, turning up the brightness slider in LR at that last step makes the on-screen image look too bright doesn't it?  So back off the brightness control on your monitor until the image on the screen once again looks proper and leave it set there as your standard monitor setting for all your photo work.  What you now see on your screen is what you'll get when you print regardless of which version of LR you use.  Problem solved without having to jump through hoops using multiple versions of LR.

Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 17, 2012, 06:06:02 pm
Why don't you just turn down the brightness on your monitor a skosh?  You say you adjust the image to what you want the print to look like and then notch up the brightness a bit in LR3 so it will print properly, right?  Well, turning up the brightness slider in LR at that last step makes the on-screen image look too bright doesn't it?  So back off the brightness control on your monitor until the image on the screen once again looks proper and leave it set there as your standard monitor setting for all your photo work.  What you now see on your screen is what you'll get when you print regardless of which version of LR you use.  Problem solved without having to jump through hoops using multiple versions of LR.



Ah, Steve, if only it were that simple!  The logic behind your solution would seem irrefutable, and most compelling.  I in fact use a separate monitor for my photo work (which i neglected to mention is entirely in black-and-white).  I have struggled with Eye One Match 3 to get my monitor to match a final print, to no avail.  In spite of all the expert advice and apparently successful experience reported by other members of this forum, I remain highly dubious that a back-lit monitor display can EVER sufficiently represent for me a matching reflective paper photograph.  I have come to terms with this disparity over a period of time, and evolved my solution described earlier, using the LR 3.6 Basic Brightness control.  With keeping both LR 3.6 and LR 4+ operational on my PC, and maintaining the two separate LR Catalogs that this necessitates, I believe I can export from LR 4+ to its catalog, then synchronize a massaged photo from there to LR 3.6 for applying the LR 3.6 Brightness control, before printing.  I may, nevertheless, have a go at the method you describe as a solution, but i remain doubtful.  Many thanks, though.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Rand47 on November 17, 2012, 06:12:23 pm
While I also would not consider this optimal - take a look at the LR4 print module.  You'll notice you now have the ability to increase brightness and contrast, "post develop module" and applied only in the print pipeline.  Perhaps you can find a set amount of one, or both, to apply to get a print match that would obviate the need to run LR 3.x and move images back and forth?  Worth some time testing, I'd think.

Rand
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 17, 2012, 07:42:11 pm
While I also would not consider this optimal - take a look at the LR4 print module.  You'll notice you now have the ability to increase brightness and contrast, "post develop module" and applied only in the print pipeline.  Perhaps you can find a set amount of one, or both, to apply to get a print match that would obviate the need to run LR 3.x and move images back and forth?  Worth some time testing, I'd think.

Rand

Unfortunately, Rand, I have my preferred ink-mix profile well-established in QTR and don't want to venture away from printing with that tried-and-true (for me) method. But thanks for pointing out that the LR Print module does allowing brightening.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Schewe on November 17, 2012, 08:31:58 pm
If I should decide to purchase (upgrade to) LR 4+, will I (1) still be able to process photos in both versions, but more specifically (2) will I be be able to process a photo first in LR 4+ then massage it further for printing purposes in LR 3.6 before sending it off to VTR for printing? 

That would be a goofy workflow...first off, the LR 4 catalog is not compatible with LR3, so you would need to keep two completely different catalogs for both versions. Second, there's no reason you are forced to use Process Version 2012 that doesn't have Brightness...you can keep images in PV2010 and use Brightness in LR4. But that will be giving up all of the important tone mapping improvements in PV 2012. I would suggest you rethink your workflow and take steps to correct some weaknesses you currently have...

Quote
In spite of all the expert advice and apparently successful experience reported by other members of this forum, I remain highly dubious that a back-lit monitor display can EVER sufficiently represent for me a matching reflective paper photograph.

And I'm here to tell you, you are wrong...I've been doing it for years and now it's even easier (and better) to do soft proofing in LR4. If you have a well profiled display and you have a quality output profile, soft proofing is very accurate (once you learn how to do it).

It's also pretty easy to take what Brightness "used to do" in PV 2010 and convert that to a Point Curve in LR and you can even save out the custom curves and apply them from a drop down or create a preset.In point of fact, the Point Curve Editor is prolly where you should have been making all your final tone mapping for QTR...much more powerful and complete than a simple Brightness command with is very crude.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 17, 2012, 09:01:14 pm
Jeff:  Many thanks.  I'd drafted a longer appreciative reply to you, but the forum "dropped" my draft, as I'd apparently "timed out."  In short, I'll have a go at the various suggestions you've made.  (I wish the forum had a method of "backing up" draft thread contributions.)  Again, thanks.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Rand47 on November 17, 2012, 09:25:16 pm
Jeff:  Many thanks.  I'd drafted a longer appreciative reply to you, but the forum "dropped" my draft, as I'd apparently "timed out."  In short, I'll have a go at the various suggestions you've made.  (I wish the forum had a method of "backing up" draft thread contributions.)  Again, thanks.  Jim

Jim,
/side-track 

I've been bitten by the time-out bug enough that I now compose in Word, then copy & paste into forum reply!   ;D 

/end side-track

Rand
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 17, 2012, 09:33:30 pm
Jim,
/side-track 

I've been bitten by the time-out bug enough that I now compose in Word, then copy & paste into forum reply!   ;D 

/end side-track

Rand

Rand;  Good idea (although I may use Wordperfect!). Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Schewe on November 17, 2012, 11:21:25 pm
Jeff:  Many thanks.  I'd drafted a longer appreciative reply to you, but the forum "dropped" my draft, as I'd apparently "timed out."  In short, I'll have a go at the various suggestions you've made.  (I wish the forum had a method of "backing up" draft thread contributions.)  Again, thanks.  Jim

Just so you know, I downloaded and installed QTR and used it to print out of LR4...if what you need to do is a gamma adjustments to overall tonality, you could easily do that using the Brightness adjustment in the Print module. There is no way to use the QTR profiles for soft proofing because they aren't actually ICC profiles, but there should be a way of creating a profile that would simulate the gamma output of QTR.

The bottom line is that there is no real good reason to resist upgrading to LR4 and a lot of benefit from doing so.

I downloaded QTR because I was interested in a better/different B&W workflow to include in my upcoming The Digital Print book. Although I doubt I would EVER install the Piezography Cone inks...having an alternative to the Advanced B&W mode of the Epson driver could be useful.

Also, just so you know, I tested out both soft proofing (using a glossy R3000 profile on a grayscale image) and a -30 Brightness setting in the Print module and got a very, VERY close display>print match. I used a neutral curve one and a warm curve 2 with a split tone that resulted in a very nice print. Note, the split tone doesn't soft proof and would need to be set by trial an arror but the soft proofing did a good job of proofing the contrast range of the print.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 18, 2012, 12:32:55 am
Jeff:  For what it's worth, I use a modified ABW (warm) curve with QTR, employing Paul Roark's formulas for mixing the three grades of carbon inks I use: the MIS 100% black with dilutions of 18% and 6%.  My printer is the Ebson 1400, with a CIS system, both of which have served me well for years (along with Silver Efex Pro 2).  However, I am tantalized by the further possibilities of Lightroom 4, and would like to explore it to the extent I'm able to improve my print quality.  Thanks again.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Steve House on November 18, 2012, 07:17:37 am
Ah, Steve, if only it were that simple!  The logic behind your solution would seem irrefutable, and most compelling.  I in fact use a separate monitor for my photo work (which i neglected to mention is entirely in black-and-white).  I have struggled with Eye One Match 3 to get my monitor to match a final print, to no avail.  In spite of all the expert advice and apparently successful experience reported by other members of this forum, I remain highly dubious that a back-lit monitor display can EVER sufficiently represent for me a matching reflective paper photograph.  I have come to terms with this disparity over a period of time, and evolved my solution described earlier, using the LR 3.6 Basic Brightness control.  With keeping both LR 3.6 and LR 4+ operational on my PC, and maintaining the two separate LR Catalogs that this necessitates, I believe I can export from LR 4+ to its catalog, then synchronize a massaged photo from there to LR 3.6 for applying the LR 3.6 Brightness control, before printing.  I may, nevertheless, have a go at the method you describe as a solution, but i remain doubtful.  Many thanks, though.  Jim
You don't need to completely re-profile the monitor, just use whatever profile you are using now BUT with a slight decrease in the brightness knob.  You are adjusting the image in LR until it looks right to your eyes, then dialing in a brightness amount you have determined experimentally will get the print to look like the screen looked before the last brightness adjustment step.  But the will leave your screen image looking too bright.  So you back down the monitor control until that over-brightness on the screen goes away and you're golden, from now on out files that look right to your eyes on the screen will print the way you want them to without needing that last brightness adjustment step.  Now you can use any software you want for your image prep, make it look 'right' to your eyes on the screen, and you'll get predictable results when you print.

You're correct that it is a hopeless cause trying to make the image viewed on a light emitting screen look identical to the image viewed on a reflective print.  But there's really no need to do that in the first place.  An image of a film negative projected on an enlarger baseboard doesn't look anything like the positive print it leads to but a skilled darkroom worker can look at that image and couple what he sees with his knowledge of the behavior of his printing materials (and the appearance of a test print) to select a paper grade, exposure, and development that will produce a beautiful print.  IMHO, the image you see on the screen as you make the develop adjustments to your digital file corresponds to the negative in analog photography.  As long as you can look at your work surface (the screen) and from what you see there predict the appearance of the  final outcome (the print), it really doesn't matter whether or not the on-screen image actually looks identical to the on-paper image.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 18, 2012, 11:23:30 am
Steve:  Your further, and very much appreciated, more detailed explication would be foolish for me to ignore, and not give a try.  I'm not certain that my (Dell) monitor's brightness control will permit me to dial down to the extent required, but what can I lose in trying (except the need to reset if it doesn't work)?  It just took me so long over time to evolve my current practice (and settings) that I am (possibly understandingly) loathe to mess with it all.  But I will.  Thanks again.  And also to Jeff, for so much more to think about and experiment with.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 18, 2012, 01:48:49 pm
Steve:  Your further, and very much appreciated, more detailed explication would be foolish for me to ignore, and not give a try.  I'm not certain that my (Dell) monitor's brightness control will permit me to dial down to the extent required, but what can I lose in trying (except the need to reset if it doesn't work)?  It just took me so long over time to evolve my current practice (and settings) that I am (possibly understandingly) loathe to mess with it all.  But I will.  Thanks again.  And also to Jeff, for so much more to think about and experiment with.  Jim

Steve:  My present established brightness level on my Dell is 36.  Bringing it down to its minimum (of zero) I regret still doesn't reduce the brightness level sufficiently for me to employ your otherwise highly logical and attractive solution.  Many thanks again.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on November 19, 2012, 08:47:16 am
There is no way to use the QTR profiles for soft proofing because they aren't actually ICC profiles, but there should be a way of creating a profile that would simulate the gamma output of QTR.
I'm unsure about this since it runs counter to what Eric Chan (http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/faq.html#abw_custom_profiles) and others have said.  I've used QTR to prepare ABW profiles for the papers that I use on my 3880 under the Win7 OS since Mac OS does not support this feature with the Epson driver.  The effects are quite subtle since the profiles correct for a very small amount non-linearity in my measurements.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 20, 2012, 11:13:46 pm
Just so you know, I downloaded and installed QTR and used it to print out of LR4...if what you need to do is a gamma adjustments to overall tonality, you could easily do that using the Brightness adjustment in the Print module....

Also, just so you know, I tested...  a -30 Brightness setting in the Print module and got a very, VERY close display>print match....

Jeff:  I am following up our recent exchange with a further query.  What you stated, and I've quoted above, interests me and/or I've subsequently followed up on, namely:

I took one of my photographs to which I had had to apply a +125 LR 3.6 Brightness setting to get a print which matched my monitor.  I ran this print through my trial version of LR 4 print module, using the Profile setting of my preferred Eye-One Match 3 monitor calibration, and without altering the Print Module's Brightness setting at all, I produced a rough print with almost exactly the same "overall tonality" as on the monitor and my preferred final print!

However, I assume my printing through the LR 4 Print Module did not employ the three-ink proportions I achieve through using QTR.  You state that you "downloaded and installed QTR and used it to print out of LR4..."  How did you do this, as I'd like to try QTR in combination with the LR 4 Print Module's brightness settings?

Many thanks, again, Jeff, for all your assistance.  Regards, Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Schewe on November 20, 2012, 11:43:23 pm
However, I assume my printing through the LR 4 Print Module did not employ the three-ink proportions I achieve through using QTR.  You state that you "downloaded and installed QTR and used it to print out of LR4..."  How did you do this, as I'd like to try QTR in combination with the LR 4 Print Module's brightness settings?

Correct...if you printed through the Epson driver instead of the QTR driver, you are not getting the advantages of the QTR B&W toning...but the Epson driver can be used well...(depends on wether or not you are using the ABW mode or color mode)

As far as using the QTR in Lightroom, the QTR driver installs like any other print driver which you can select in the Print Settings/Page Setup (depending on OS) dlog in LR. I just used the QTR printer for my Epson R3000 (I had to jump though some hoops to get the R2880 curves into the R3000 printer). I selected a Neutral Curve 1 and the Warmer toned Curve 2 and blended the split toning. Then I ran tests on using the Brightness slider in the Print module.

I ended up with a real good screen>print match my setting the Brightness in Print to -35. LR didn't show the accurate split toning colors-that would require making an accurate sort proofing profile just for soft proofing (which I'll test out at some point).

There are further steps you can take to more formally make profile corrections in QTR...but that's a rabbit hole I'll likely not go down.

Bottom line is that your old workflow can be superseded with LR4 with a bit of testing and tweaking. So, you don't need to rely on the old PV 2010 Brightness to get good prints.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Robert Boire on November 21, 2012, 01:03:05 pm
While I find the discussion about the brightness slider interesting, I thought the whole point behind color management was to avoid this kind of experimenting when trying to match print to screen and to ensure WYSIWYG. What am I missing? Why is it not working here.

Thanks
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Schewe on November 21, 2012, 03:24:13 pm
....I thought the whole point behind color management was to avoid this kind of experimenting when trying to match print to screen and to ensure WYSIWYG.

The OP was using the old Brightness slider in the Develop module to adjust images intended for B&W output through a specialty rip, so there was no color management in the classic sense. The QuadToneRIP doesn't use ICC profiles (although one can make them for the purposes of soft proofing). The rip actually uses specialty curves to control the B&W toning to achieve neutral or warm results. While there are some controls on the driver that can impact ink limits and gamma, tuning the results using those sliders requires trial and error.

The reason that Lightroom 4 added the Brightness and Contrast slider in the print module was because for some people, there may be limited ability to darken the display output. Certain iMacs screens for example can NOT be dimmed down to the standard 140 cd/m2 even using hardware based display profiling. For people who simply can't get their display and print viewing luminosity to match, the use of the Brightness slider is offered. It's useful in those limited situation because then you don't have to alter the image settings in Develop, you simply apply an adjustments at print time.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 21, 2012, 04:23:40 pm

...The reason that Lightroom 4 added the Brightness and Contrast slider in the print module was because for some people, there may be limited ability to darken the display output. Certain iMacs screens for example can NOT be dimmed down to the standard 140 cd/m2 even using hardware based display profiling. For people who simply can't get their display and print viewing luminosity to match, the use of the Brightness slider is offered. It's useful in those limited situation because then you don't have to alter the image settings in Develop, you simply apply an adjustments at print time.

This, Jeff, is of course my situation (and problem) exactly.  When I find the appropriate additional brightening level in LR 3.6 to match in printing the tonality of my preferred monitor image, I save that image (with a separate designation) with the Export function.  I am still struggling with being able to achieve these results with LR4 in combination with QTR.  However, in spite of your patient guidance to date in this regard, my level of comprehension is regrettably lagging behind.  I still don't understand what very specific steps I must take.  But I haven't yet given up. 
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Steve House on November 21, 2012, 05:49:46 pm
T...When I find the appropriate additional brightening level in LR 3.6 to match in printing the tonality of my preferred monitor image, I save that image (with a separate designation) with the Export function.  .... 

I'm curious .... f you hold up the print beside your monitor after printing using your procedure, does it more closely match the image you had on the screen BEFORE you dialed in the final pre-printing brightness boost or the on-screen image AFTER dialing in the brightness boost?
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 21, 2012, 06:19:27 pm
I'm curious .... f you hold up the print beside your monitor after printing using your procedure, does it more closely match the image you had on the screen BEFORE you dialed in the final pre-printing brightness boost or the on-screen image AFTER dialing in the brightness boost?

Steve:  I should have been more precise.  I compare the printed version of the image whose brightness I've increased with the original monitor version I was seeking to emulate.  (The modified version will of course appear much brighter on the monitor.)
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Steve House on November 22, 2012, 09:34:11 am
Steve:  I should have been more precise.  I compare the printed version of the image whose brightness I've increased with the original monitor version I was seeking to emulate.  (The modified version will of course appear much brighter on the monitor.)
What kind of illumination are you viewing the printed image under? The differences you are seeing between the finished print and the screen image WITHOUT the pre-print brightness adjustment could be accounted for in a couple of ways - one being that the monitor brightness is too high and the other is the print viewing illumination is too low. If the print that comes off of the printer is darker than the image you see on the monitor, it could be that the monitor is too bright or it could be that the light hitting the paper is too dim (or a combination of both).  Since you can't get the monitor illumination down far enough to get a match, what is rattling around in my head is perhaps you are experiencing the latter situation and your print-viewing illumination might be too low.   Most references seem to suggest one use a source of 2000 lux +/- 500 lux for evaluating prints and 500 lux +/- 50 lux for general display lighting.  The x-Rite calibrators can measure ambient lighting levels.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 22, 2012, 10:48:14 am
What kind of illumination are you viewing the printed image under? The differences you are seeing between the finished print and the screen image WITHOUT the pre-print brightness adjustment could be accounted for in a couple of ways - one being that the monitor brightness is too high and the other is the print viewing illumination is too low. If the print that comes off of the printer is darker than the image you see on the monitor, it could be that the monitor is too bright or it could be that the light hitting the paper is too dim (or a combination of both).  Since you can't get the monitor illumination down far enough to get a match, what is rattling around in my head is perhaps you are experiencing the latter situation and your print-viewing illumination might be too low.   Most references seem to suggest one use a source of 2000 lux +/- 500 lux for evaluating prints and 500 lux +/- 50 lux for general display lighting.  The x-Rite calibrators can measure ambient lighting levels.

Steve:  A direct, un-brightened print of my original monitor image is so much darker than the monitor image as to preclude (for me) any of the possible explanatory factors you raise.  The separate (Dell) monitor I use for my black-and-white work has been calibrated, and its illumination is in fact quite low.  And I've tried different levels of room illumination.  The disparity between direct print and monitor is just too great, and reducing the brightness with LR 3.6 as I've described has been my only (and quite workable, for me) solution.  Thanks for your further thoughts.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Steve House on November 22, 2012, 01:08:39 pm
Steve:  A direct, un-brightened print of my original monitor image is so much darker than the monitor image as to preclude (for me) any of the possible explanatory factors you raise.  The separate (Dell) monitor I use for my black-and-white work has been calibrated, and its illumination is in fact quite low.  And I've tried different levels of room illumination.  The disparity between direct print and monitor is just too great, and reducing the brightness with LR 3.6 as I've described has been my only (and quite workable, for me) solution.  Thanks for your further thoughts.  Jim
I'm not thinking so much about general room illumination as I am direct light falling on the print as you might have in, say, a viewing booth.  Such a viewing light would be much brighter than the general room illumination.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 22, 2012, 01:26:25 pm
I'm not thinking so much about general room illumination as I am direct light falling on the print as you might have in, say, a viewing booth.  Such a viewing light would be much brighter than the general room illumination.

Steve:  What I have to consider (understandably?) is the illumination of the printed photo when it is displayed for viewing by third parties.  That criteria is what i must consider, and work towards, in matching up my monitor image with my paper print.  And this is my guide in determining the amount of brightness I must add with LR 3.6 to achieve this.  Thanks again, Jim 
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: jazmatazIII on November 30, 2012, 07:09:07 pm
 Quote from: JimAscher on November 18, 2012, 10:23:30 AM
Steve:  Your further, and very much appreciated, more detailed explication would be foolish for me to ignore, and not give a try.  I'm not certain that my (Dell) monitor's brightness control will permit me to dial down to the extent required, but what can I lose in trying (except the need to reset if it doesn't work)?  It just took me so long over time to evolve my current practice (and settings) that I am (possibly understandingly) loathe to mess with it all.  But I will.  Thanks again.  And also to Jeff, for so much more to think about and experiment with.  Jim

Steve:  My present established brightness level on my Dell is 36.  Bringing it down to its minimum (of zero) I regret still doesn't reduce the brightness level sufficiently for me to employ your otherwise highly logical and attractive solution.  Many thanks again.  Jim

AND

Quote from: Schewe on November 21, 2012, 02:24:13 PM

...The reason that Lightroom 4 added the Brightness and Contrast slider in the print module was because for some people, there may be limited ability to darken the display output. Certain iMacs screens for example can NOT be dimmed down to the standard 140 cd/m2 even using hardware based display profiling. For people who simply can't get their display and print viewing luminosity to match, the use of the Brightness slider is offered. It's useful in those limited situation because then you don't have to alter the image settings in Develop, you simply apply an adjustments at print time.

This, Jeff, is of course my situation (and problem) exactly.  When I find the appropriate additional brightening level in LR 3.6 to match in printing the tonality of my preferred monitor image, I save that image (with a separate designation) with the Export function.  I am still struggling with being able to achieve these results with LR4 in combination with QTR.  However, in spite of your patient guidance to date in this regard, my level of comprehension is regrettably lagging behind.  I still don't understand
Quotewhat very specific steps I must take.  But I haven't yet given up. 


Jim and Jeff

I had this problem with my iMac and was able to get the luminance down to 100 cd/m2 and lower if needed. The solution was to put a neutral density filter over the monitor screen, I used a sheet of Lee filters #298 0.15ND (-½ stop), and then profiled the monitor.

Jack

 link: Colour Information and Spectral Charts for LEE Lighting Filters
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on November 30, 2012, 09:59:50 pm
Jack:  That sounds like a brilliant solution, which I must try.  However, my dedicated Dell monitor is already so "subdued" in luminance, that I might end up with too dim a monitor to be of much use.  I'll report back.  Thanks, Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: David Luery on December 01, 2012, 02:55:33 pm
As far as using the QTR in Lightroom, the QTR driver installs like any other print driver which you can select in the Print Settings/Page Setup (depending on OS) dlog in LR.

Jeff,

Would I be correct in thinking that this is possible on a Mac but not Win 7 computer? 

Thanks,

David
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Schewe on December 01, 2012, 03:48:46 pm
Would I be correct in thinking that this is possible on a Mac but not Win 7 computer? 

Don't know...I've not downloaded and installed the Win version...buy you can try it for yourself HERE (http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRdownload.html).
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Steve House on December 02, 2012, 09:40:28 am
Jack:  That sounds like a brilliant solution, which I must try.  However, my dedicated Dell monitor is already so "subdued" in luminance, that I might end up with too dim a monitor to be of much use.  I'll report back.  Thanks, Jim
Well, no matter how dim you get it the monitor tones will always be different then the same tones in the print, simply due to the fact the monitor is emitting light while the paper is reflecting it.  If you were to take a spot meter reading of  the light coming from various points in the image on the screen and compare it to the reading on light reflected off the same areas of the print it would be very rare if they were ever the same. But if I see the same relative separations amongst the various high values and low values, on the screen and in the print, if I can say "this cloud will be slightly darker than the paper base and the detail will be discernible in those 'black' shadows" I'm happy because then I can look at the screen and translate what I see there into what the print will look like. The screen image will have served its purpose.  I'm not interested in whether or not there is a perfect match between the on-screen image and the print as long as I can look at the screen and accurately predict what I'm going to get in the print.  If for some reason I'm going to show the image digitally I'd probably make a virtual copy and "re-develop" the copy for optimum appearance on the screen - again, there's no reason that image and a print from the same raw file have to match as each of the different viewing scenarios has a different "optimum" appearance.  It's just like in the film days where you'd make slightly different appearing prints depending on whether it was intended for gallery viewing or half-tone print reproduction in a book or some such.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on December 12, 2012, 10:37:42 pm
With the help and advice of many on this and other forums, I think I've finally solved my problem of how to switch from Lightroom 3.6 to Lightroom 4 and still print with QTR.  (You may recall that my problem stemmed from the fact that Lightroom 4 dropped the Brightness slider available as a basic control in previous versions, which control had enabled me to brighten my photos for the printed version to match the edited version on the monitor  Lightroom 4 had moved the Brightness slider to the Print module).

Well, I've belatedly discovered that QTR has similar dual brightness sliders, one labeled "Gamma," which increases the brightness of mid-tones, and the other labeled "Ink Tone, which brightens the shadows. And seemingly (miracles of all miracles), when these two sliders are each set at maximum, my printing with QTR results in a print on paper almost exactly matching the tones of the image on my monitor.  More fine tuning of the sliders may be necessary, but I am thinking I might well splurge and upgrade now to LR 4.  Thanks again to all.

Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Peter Langham on December 13, 2012, 12:07:34 am
David and Jeff,   QTR operates as a stand alone package on windows and as a print driver on mac, so that you can open QTR through LR on mac and would have to export it on windows machine.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on December 18, 2012, 04:59:32 pm
After all the agonizing I've done, and lay behind my initiating this thread, Victoria Bampton has just informed me that I can indeed retain LR3.6 Basic Brightness slider in LR4.  I'll quote her"

"There's technically no need to keep 3.6 - the Brightness slider's still
in LR 4 as long as you set it to PV2010 in the Calibration panel."

I've tried it and it works.  Now my problem is well solved, and I can upgrade to LR4 and not need to retain LR 3.6.  Thanks again to all who contributed.  Jim
 
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Anthony.Ralph on December 19, 2012, 04:43:02 am
After all the agonizing I've done, and lay behind my initiating this thread, Victoria Bampton has just informed me that I can indeed retain LR3.6 Basic Brightness slider in LR4.  I'll quote her"

"There's technically no need to keep 3.6 - the Brightness slider's still
in LR 4 as long as you set it to PV2010 in the Calibration panel."

I've tried it and it works.  Now my problem is well solved, and I can upgrade to LR4 and not need to retain LR 3.6.  Thanks again to all who contributed.  Jim
 

Whilst I am delighted that Victoria was able to help you to resolve your requirements, I would point out that I told you the same thing in the second post in this thread  ;D

Anthony.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on December 19, 2012, 06:28:47 am
Whilst I am delighted that Victoria was able to help you to resolve your requirements, I would point out that I told you the same thing in the second post in this thread  ;D

Anthony.

Anthony:  Rereading your (very) earlier posting, you're absolutely right.  I obviously failed to fully comprehend it.  I had not realized that what you were indicating I could do could occur entirely within Lightroom 4 itself.  I should have followed up with you for additional clarification -- and saved myself (and perhaps others) considerable time.  My apologies, and again thanks.  Regards, Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Rory on December 19, 2012, 09:33:06 am
Anthony:  Rereading your (very) earlier posting, you're absolutely right.  I obviously failed to fully comprehend it.  I had not realized that what you were indicating I could do could occur entirely within Lightroom 4 itself.  I should have followed up with you for additional clarification -- and saved myself (and perhaps others) considerable time.  My apologies, and again thanks.  Regards, Jim

It was also pointed out in this thread that in order to use the brightness slider in LR4 you will have to use process 2010.  This means you cannot use the process 2012 tone controls, negating much of the advantage of updating to LR4.  I suppose you could export a file adjusted using process 2012 to a TIF and then re-import into LR and make a final adjustment with process 2010 in the TIF file.  All besides the point now that you found a solution outside of LR.
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: JimAscher on December 19, 2012, 11:11:16 am
  ...I suppose you could export a file adjusted using process 2012 to a TIF and then re-import into LR and make a final adjustment with process 2010 in the TIF file.  All besides the point now that you found a solution outside of LR.

Rory:  You have correctly stated the exact workflow sequence I would (and will begin to) employ to utilize LR 4 to gain the final print quality I was able to achieve previously with the LR 3.6 Basic Brightness slider, but benefiting from the use of the improved LR 4 Basic sliders.  As such, I will not have to rely from any new use of the QTR Gamma slider.  Your further clarification (and reminder) is appreciated.  Jim
Title: Re: Retaining Both Lightroom 4+ and Lightroom 3.6 for Photo Processing
Post by: Anthony.Ralph on December 19, 2012, 07:15:10 pm
Anthony:  Rereading your (very) earlier posting, you're absolutely right.  I obviously failed to fully comprehend it.  I had not realized that what you were indicating I could do could occur entirely within Lightroom 4 itself.  I should have followed up with you for additional clarification -- and saved myself (and perhaps others) considerable time.  My apologies, and again thanks.  Regards, Jim

No problems Jim - maybe I needed to be a little more explicit...

Regards: Anthony.