In an email today from Mike Chaney announcing Qimage Ultimate 2018 he also shared this tidbit:
"Mac news: we are now actively working on a version of Qimage for the Mac. We plan to have something available for the Mac by fall 2017. Please stay tuned for further developments."
This is the one app I missed after moving to Mac just over 6 years ago.
As a long time user myself (since before 2001), I can say this is great news for MacOS users (even though I'm a Windows 10 user myself). The user interface, which just got updated with this new 2018 version, is probably something to get used to, but it is actually very efficient. That has always been a big priority for Mike Chaney, being able to do the most needed tasks with as few keystrokes or mouse clicks as possible, and automate time-consuming operations, like nesting for an optimal paper usage, or for easily cutting multiple images out of larger sheets/rolls.
Image quality wise, it's hard to beat Qimage. It's possible if one puts a lot of time and effort in each individual image with special tools, but that could hardly be called an efficient workflow. Qimage, in my opinion, strikes an excellent balance between very high output quality and speed of production.
I'm currently experimenting a bit with its Overdrive capability that allows exceeding the printer driver's 600 or 720 PPI limit, and it adds yet another bit of resolution to images that are printed at modest sizes (so that they natively already exceed the number of pixels needed for that output size, like e.g. Stitched Panoramas). Even at 600 or 720 PPI, there may be a benefit with printing at double (overdrive) resolution, because the finest detail can be resolved easier, and sharpened better at output size.
It also explains why Qimage has now reached its 20th anniversary, it has been offering real benefits at a very modest price (and with an attractive upgrade model) since the very beginning, and it's still getting better all the time.
Cheers,
Bart
