iMAC and epson 3880 print adjustment

[IWC Doppel]

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I have fed with the top auto feeder and the back. I also checked with other paper settings if the greyed out fine art media type would change and unfortunately it didn't.

 

I will be receiving some enhanced Matt and Natural Cold Press today so I will see what settings are required for those papers and if I can fathom settings. I am happy to try with recommended icc, media type and the Print adjustment to compensate for my iMAc adjustment brighter image.

 

I will get my screen calibrated as soon a s I can. My adjustments are 30% brightness and 30-35% Contrast on Jessops Matt.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys

[tobey bilek]

My 27" achieves the proper brightness between 5 and 6 clicks up from off with keyboard brightness controls. Push the key above number 1 repeatedly to get it to off. Then key above 2 for 5 or 6 to get ti it brighten up to 80 or 90 cdls.

 

If the screen is too bright, then prints will be too dark. Histogram checking is advised and is a better indication than eyeballing brightness even if calibrated.

 

Proper calibration is the key. I can get my iMac pretty good.

The big problem is it has no contrast control, only backlight brightness. Best you get a graphics screen, NEC or Eizo.

[IWC Doppel]

Thanks guys,

 

Well I have spoken to Epson to get some help, but they don't deal with Lightroom, as were unable to help, then I spoke to Adobe (After 15 minutes of waiting and SEVEN menu options....) and I got unintelligable overseas 'support' that eventually told me that I needed my serial number before they could help. I don't have this with me....

 

I might have to leave printing with expensive cold press natural tonight

 

I seem unable to select a velvet fine art media setting

[Jeff S]

I don't have time for research on this, but a quick search yielded this article, which says that Velvet Fine Art requires the rear feed on the 3880. Have you tried this with different color management options?

 

I repeat my suggestion that you stick to one paper before complicating matters further.

 

Jeff

[mija1789]

In Photoshop (Lightroom will be discussed in Printing 101), you should almost 
always choose “Photoshop Manages Colors” for Color Handling 
(as shown above in Photoshop CS4) if you intend to use paper profiles 
and do soft proofing. The [color="Red"]exception[/color]
to this generalization is when you are printing using the Epson 
[color="red"]Advanced Black & White[/color] mode where 
you will choose [color="Red"]“Printer Manages Colors”[/color].

 

From the article quoted by Jeff S

[IWC Doppel]

No joy so far......

 

I have tried every paper setting, print option and all settings in between, no joy on the fine art paper options at all. I will do more reading but with 25 sheets sat next to me and my £900 printer on the other side I am going to give up and do something else for a while

 

I have opened and closed trays, printer feeds etc, tried numerous paper sizes, set the color management to 'managed by printer' tried several icc's. The ink is matt which is correct.

 

I also note that I do not have A3+ as a paper option, I am very frustrated !

[Jeff S]

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I have opened and closed trays, printer feeds etc, tried numerous paper sizes, set the color management to 'managed by printer' tried several icc's. The ink is matt which is correct.

 

Did you switch off ABW and let LR manage the process (which is the only way to benefit from a specific custom profile) using the rear feed?

 

Also, from the FAQ I linked to earlier, Eric Chan says the following, which might prompt some issue for you:

 

"The Media Type setting controls the driver's ink strategy during printing. This includes details such as how much ink to put down for a given RGB value, how to mix the inks, etc. Different Media Types are appropriate for different kinds of paper.

It is very important to understand that the Media Type isn't directly tied to the actual paper that you print on. Even if you select the Premium Luster Media Type, for example, the 3800 doesn't know whether you're really using Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper or whether you've actually fed some other type of paper (such as Ilford Smooth Pearl or Innova Smooth Cotton). All the printer driver does is carry out the ink strategy associated with the Premium Luster Media Type, regardless of which paper you're using.

 

Naturally, the ink strategy for each Media Type is optimized by Epson to work on the corresponding Epson paper. For example, the Enhanced Matte Media Type is designed to work well for Epson Enhanced Matte paper, and the Premium Glossy Media Type is optimized for Epson Premium Glossy.

 

You can certainly use third-party papers with the 3800. When you download color profiles for the paper (usually from the paper manufacturer's web site), there are usually instructions telling you which Media Type to choose in the driver settings. If you are creating custom profiles for your paper, the key is to choose a Media Type for the Epson paper that is most similar to the paper you're trying to profile. For instance, if you're interested in creating a profile for Ilford Smooth Gloss, you probably want to use the Premium Glossy Media Type." (emphasis added)

 

Jeff

[IWC Doppel]

Jeff, hi

 

All of the comments make sense and reflect my understanding, the challenge I have is setting the media type.

 

I can choose ABW if I manage the colours in the printer, no problem but I stil can't select velvet fine art media type.

 

My limited understanding is icc is colour and media type is volume and implementation. I simply can't seem to choose the volume and implementation profile for fine art paper. I also recognise that as yet I haven't attempted to print on A3+ and this is not available on my paper options, I wonder if I am missing part of my sofware install ?

[Jeff S]

I can choose ABW if I manage the colours in the printer...

 

 

But then you lose the benefits of the custom profile; see my above posts.

 

And are you sure of the media type for the paper you're using?; it may not be as obvious as you think (per Eric Chan link).

 

Jeff

[IWC Doppel]

But then you lose the benefits of the custom profile; see my above posts.

 

And are you sure of the media type for the paper you're using?; it may not be as obvious as you think (per Eric Chan link).

 

Jeff

 

I have the two pages of instructions from Eric printed out and this was how I found my problem.

 

See below, I have loaded an icc print profile, in this case an Eric Chan profile, then looking at my paper options for media type velvet fine art are greyed out, also my print settings options for any color adjustment are greyed out and I cannot choose ABW or any colour adjustment. Also I have no 3+ for paper size. I have tried a lot of other paper settings and it makes no difference. The final screen is AFTER I have set the colour management from a chosen icc to 'managed by printer' this is the only way I can access the greyed out menu's. my paper options remains the same and I still have greyed out fine art papers.

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[IWC Doppel]

Well......

 

Of the three papers I have bought Enhanced Matt, Cold Press Natural and Traditional Photo (Exhibition Fibre in the US) they are all A3+

I have tried to set the custom paper size, but this is greyed out, I did manage to print an A3 on A3+ paper just to see, it came out with the image pushed up to the top right, in A3 set size. As I suspected.

With Enhanced Matt media type, enhanced Matt driver and the same print adjustments for brightness and contrast the image looks much darker and flatter than the super cheap jessops matt paper and its curled with the ink

 

Time for breakfast as I have a days holiday today. I will try speaking to epson and adobe today, any other ideas would be much appreciated. I was very excited about getting my first decent printer and with £250 of paper and £900 of printer achieving only frustration I am extremely dissapointed at this stage. I have probably spent 15-20 hours so far, I have never been described as stupid. But perhaps I should be........

[archi4]

When using fine art papers, you should first when choosing the paper size (Page Setup) also choose the feed (rear manual ) and use the appropriate accessory.

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[IWC Doppel]

Archi, thanks

 

That's one step forward, another menu I had seen on the internet had shown A3+, at least I have found the right paper size.

 

Unfortunately my greyed out Fine Art media type remain the same with manual rear feed or any of the others.

 

I have also downloaded the latest printer driver and Mac OAX updater from Epsons website, which has mode no difference.

 

After a coffee and dog walk I think I'll try the 7 menu options and see if I can decipher broken english in a foreign land and speak to adobe.

[IWC Doppel]

Another step forward, I have only just realised that you need to set the paper size in the print settings sub menu for page layout as well as the page setup menu. Then I can see Fine Art Paper menu........

 

I know need to understand why paper is not loading in the back manual feed and giving me an error

[archi4]

You'll get there!

When the rear manual sheet feeder accessory is installed, place the sheet in it, slide the left hand paper holder so that it rests against the paper but not too tightly (eventually back of a fraction.

Then gently push the paper down against the resistance until the printer grabs it and pulls it in.

The error you get is when you just place the paper without afterwards gently pressing it down.

Sometimes, the printer cannot align the paper properly and then you get an error message.

Push the down button so that the paper is ejected and retry.

When pushing down the paper it works best by using both hands, each about 1/3 from the left and right edge so that pressure is evenly distributed.

[Jeff S]

No offense intended, but I think you will benefit significantly by reading your printer manual thoroughly. I assumed you understood basic panels like Print Setup, which of course is required for proper size and feed.

 

Epsons are notorious for some difficult feeds...do a search and you'll find discussion about using the rear feed on some printers, which requires that you level the paper and push it down carefully into the feed mechanism until it grabs; otherwise, you'll continue to get error messages.

 

The 3800 has 3 feeds...top, rear and front; I'm not sure about the 3880. I use the front feed for all my thicker papers, particularly with any that tend to curl; otherwise I use the top feed. I've long since stopped using the finicky rear feed. You may not have that option if in fact the VFA requires the rear feed (although I'm not sure why it would, despite the article cited). I don't use matte papers, preferring a wider gamut associated with glossier papers. The latest baryta gloss papers retain the subtlety associated with the matte papers, but with a broader tonal range IMO.

 

Jeff

[mweiner]

I don't know anything about LR and can't help the OP with his problem. However, I have long been confused about one of the issues discussed here. Everyone seems to agree that one EITHER lets the printer manage color (eg with AWB or the printer's choice of icc) and turns off the printing program (eg LR) from using an icc OR turns off the printer's managing color and has the printing program manage color according to a specified icc. That is what I've always understood; it's one or the other.

 

However, I have had difficulty understanding Eric Chan on this issue. He seems to be saying that one should use AWB (printer managing color) AND use one of his bw icc profiles. I know nothing about how to do this in LR. In the excellent printing program, Qimage, I select AWB (printer managing color). Then I go where one selects the icc (as when Quimage is managing color -- preferences>color management>profiles>printer). There, whenever one has requested that the printer manage color (eg ABW), Quimage shows it will use a generic sRGB profile (which I assume is it's idea of 'no profile'). When using Chan's method, I select his profile instead of the generic one. Then, according to the Qimage documentation, I am having both printer and Quimage manage color, probably using two profiles, which is usually wrong and does result in horrible color prints. However, doing this with Chan's icc's (which are probably optimized for this situation), I get prints that are pretty much the same as using the usual AWB method -- possibly a little better or worse as I am poor at judging that.

 

I'd be interested the other's thoughts about this.

[IWC Doppel]

No offense intended, but I think you will benefit significantly by reading your printer manual thoroughly. I assumed you understood basic panels like Print Setup, which of course is required for proper size and feed.

 

Epsons are notorious for some difficult feeds...do a search and you'll find discussion about using the rear feed on some printers, which requires that you level the paper and push it down carefully into the feed mechanism until it grabs; otherwise, you'll continue to get error messages.

 

The 3800 has 3 feeds...top, rear and front; I'm not sure about the 3880. I use the front feed for all my thicker papers, particularly with any that tend to curl; otherwise I use the top feed. I've long since stopped using the finicky rear feed. You may not have that option if in fact the VFA requires the rear feed (although I'm not sure why it would, despite the article cited). I don't use matte papers, preferring a wider gamut associated with glossier papers. The latest baryta gloss papers retain the subtlety associated with the matte papers, but with a broader tonal range IMO.

 

Jeff

 

Jeff, unfortunately I read most of the Chan article and the entire Epson manual. Looking back the manual is very confusing as they show setting up the feed on the page but the screen shot does not match either the lightroom right hand side 'Page setup' or the page layout sub menu in the print settings left hand side menu. And it certainly does not say you need to do this in both places and they have to match. I had followed the lightroom video and set under the page set up and then assumed that was it, not needling to find another submenu and do the same there.

 

There does seem to be conflict between the Chan advice and what is possible on my system and what the manual says.

[Jeff S]

Unless the manual changed from the 3800 to the 3880, there's a section on Page Setup options. The instruction is to open the file menu and hit Page Setup, and this will bring you to the panel that's in the LR print module. The Kelby book, which I already recommended, clearly explains all the LR print menus. Eric Chan will only confuse you if you don't first go through the basics, which the Epson manual and the Kelby book will jointly provide IMO. (Martin Evening's book is a good alternative to Kelby's.)

 

Jeff

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[IWC Doppel]

I read through again and it does say 'page setup' and then goes on to printer settings, it certainly doesn't unfortunately say 'page Layout' hidden in printer settings, and doesn't appear to say you need to do both.

 

It also shows screen shots that are different to anything I can see, I think it's probably photoshop on a Mac and not Lightroom, in any event it confused me !

 

I have read the manual, reviews, forum posts, watched numerous you tube videos and have spent over 20 hours on this printer since last Saturday, I am sure I'll get there eventually and appreciate all the help, but for me this hasn't been a walk in the park !