Gimp-Print 4.3.16, released June 7, 2003, is a development release of
this package. Like all development releases, this version is
considered unstable and should only be used by those individuals
tolerant of the likelihood of problems. Individuals desiring a stable
release of Gimp-Print should use the latest 4.2 release.
Gimp-Print is a suite of printer drivers that may be used with most
common UNIX print spooling systems, including CUPS, lpr, LPRng, or
others. These drivers provide high quality printing for UNIX
(including Macintosh OS X 10.2 and newer) and Linux systems in many
cases equal to or better than proprietary vendor-supplied drivers, and
can be used for many of the most demanding printing tasks.
This software includes the Print plug-in for the Gimp, and Ghostscript
and CUPS drivers, including Foomatic data.
This package requires libxml2 2.5 or above. You may need to install a
package named "libxml2-devel" or the like on many distributions.
The Print plugin for the Gimp requires the Gimp 1.2 (later versions of
the Gimp are not supported). You may need to install a package named
"gimp-devel" or the like on many distributions.
The CUPS driver requires CUPS 1.1.15 or higher. You may need to
install a package named "cups-devel" or the like on many
distributions.
The Foomatic data will work with either Foomatic 2.x or 3.x. Foomatic
3.x has additional capabilities that this package detects and takes
advantage of.
The IJS-based GhostScript plugin driver requires GNU Ghostscript 6.53
or later, ESP Ghostscript 7.05 or later, or APFL GhostScript 7.04 or
later. It also requires that glib 1.2 be installed. You may need to
install a package named "glib-devel" or the like on many distributions.
Users of Macintosh OS X 10.2 and above can use this package, as the
printing system is based on CUPS, which is supported by Gimp-print.
Note that Macintosh OS X 10.0 and 10.1 (including 10.1.5) cannot use
this package.
Please read the README file for full instructions on installing this
package.
Gimp-Print 4.3.16 contains the following major changes over Gimp-Print
4.3.15:
1) There are many quality and functionality improvements for Epson
Stylus printers. All users of 4.3 who are using an Epson printer
(particularly newer models of photo printers) should take this
release. Specific quality improvements include:
* Most photo printers have been retuned for significantly improved
color quality. In particular, color casts when printing grays
are greatly reduced.
* The Epson Stylus Photo 2200 (using Photo Black ink) now prints
correct blacks, and with correct density. The Photo Black ink
has been tuned with Premium Glossy Photo Paper and Premium
Semigloss Photo Paper. We recommend using the default setting
for Ink Type (which is 7-color photo) at all times.
* The Epson Stylus Photo 950/960, 2100/2200, PM-950C, and PM-970C
had a minor color registration bug in 6 and 7 color modes; in
particular, the light inks were offset by 1/360" from the dark
inks. The change is probably unnoticeable in continuous-tone
images, but may have been visible when printing solid colors with
sharply-defined edges.
* Support for Epson Premium Semigloss and Archival Matte papers has
been added (Archival Matte for the Stylus Photo 2100/2200 and
Stylus Pro 7600 and 9600 only).
* Support for Epson UltraChrome Ink with Matte Black has been
added. The combination of Matte Black ink and Archival Matte
paper has been tuned, at least for the Stylus Photo 2200. We
recommend using the default setting for Ink Type (which is
7-color photo) at all times.
* Internally, there have been many changes to the data organization
in the driver.
The Epson Stylus Pro 7600 and 9600 should work well, although this
is untested and we would appreciate volunteers. It's likely that
the dot sizes on these printers are different from the 2200; most
likely resolutions below the highest resolution will not work
optimally, although 2880x1440 should use the same drop size on all
UltraChrome printers.
We recommend using the Color mode and default setting for Ink Type
at all times with UltraChrome ink. These inks appear to have been
designed to work together as a set, and very strong color shifts
*will* occur if this is not done.
4) A few compilation problems have been fixed.
5) A new modular interface to the color code has been created. This
will permit addition of color management later.
6) The user interface now enables and disables options based on other
option settings more accurately.
