need help - b&w printer?

There are myriad different options and all the posts so far have spoken wisdom.

It took me ages to figure out what I needed - consider it the same as trying to figure out a darkroom for the first time.

Colour calibration. Yes, it makes a difference. I bought a Spyder3 Elite, now my prints are consistent i.e. I know what I will get on the paper given what is on the screen.

I have a Epson R2880 which I am using with Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm paper and the Hahnemuhle provided printer profile. The B&W is neutral and lovely.

The Epson R3880 works out cheaper in the long run as the ink tanks are bigger, but I didn't have the room for it in my house.

I had some problems until I realised that in the printer driver I needed to switch off colour calibration and enable it in Photoshop.

Whatever you decide, get a colour calibration tool.
 
If you only print black and white, you can use photoshop/scanner as a calibration tool. Check Paul Roakes site for more info.
 
Hey cam, I just want to second your boyfriend's recommendation--several months on, I am still doing great with the Epson 1400/MIS inks/QTR workflow. No clogs, even when i go a month or so without printing. QTR is absolutely perfect for this inkset, and I love the quality i'm getting.
 
thank you all for your help -- and i do have EyeMatch for calibration (i think that's acceptable?).

mabelsound -- thanks your getting back to me. (always helps because i know your work!) which of the ink sets are you using? are you printing glossy or matte? rich enough blacks and/or is the point moot because the gradations are so smooth?
 
dfoo said:
Do you find the prints quite warm compared with wet prints?
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I can't compare them to wet prints, I'm afraid--but the nice thing about QTR is that you can load up two separate presets, one warm and one cool, and then use sliders to adjust between the two, until you have the desired level of warmth for the paper in question. Then you can save this as a preset, and have a preset for every paper. It's very effective!

cam said:
mabelsound -- thanks your getting back to me. (always helps because i know your work!) which of the ink sets are you using? are you printing glossy or matte? rich enough blacks and/or is the point moot because the gradations are so smooth?
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I'm using the UT14 inkset, and printing matte. (Apparently you can print glossy, but the Eboni cartridge can't be used for that, and I haven't figured out yet how to configure QTR correctly for it.) The first couple of prints were a little weak in the blacks, but then I realized there is an "ink limit" slider to control that. I nudged it up to 3 and that's about perfect for the papers I'm using.

You get very, very sharp prints with smooth gradations! If you PM me your address I'll send you a sample.
 
I print glossy & matte with my UT14 inkset. I don't use QTR. The glossy prints look great! I've been printing glossy on the kirkland glossy paper. Matte I've used primarily the epson matte ultra premium. I have some more expensive matte paper which I haven't used.

Actually, I haven't used the printer that much over teh past 6 months since I got my darkroom set back up. The inkjet prints look great, but not as good as real silver prints.
 
I have the 2400 and I'm split on it. It does make great prints once you figure it out, but the inks are really tiny (and costly), I've had clogged heads, as well problems with the printer communicating with my mac (a known, but unresolved issue). It can be a very frustrating printer to work with. I've been thinking about upgrading to the 3880, but I'm not sure it's worth it to me right now.
 
IF you only print black and white, get a black and white inkset. They are super cheap (if you buy the 4oz containers), and you get better results.
 
I have prints from just about every printer made from participating in numerous prints swaps on the Yahoo b&w digital printing group.

I can say that you can make really really good prints from just about any printer made. It boils down to the learning curve, maintenance, and ink costs.

In the final analysis, it comes down to you and your skill, not the hardware you have chosen. That is a bit comforting.
 
I'm always surprised how well my monitor and BW prints match up. I use an Epson 2400, a calibrated monitor, and the paper manufacturer's profile. Soft-proofing is critical.

I get the image the way I want it in Photoshop, then duplicate it for soft-proofing, and tile the two pictures. I use curves or levels to tweak the version to be printed to match the original. Pretty simple, really.

I'd be interested in learning how other LR users handle soft-proofing.

John
 
a sort of update - - -

i did not buy a printer yet. i was confused and thought that maybe i should just stick with my lab. a printer's cost with ink and paper might not be worth it for the number of prints i would make.

i now seem to be getting more prints made so it might be more worth it.
i saw a new epson 1400 on sale today for 249. cdn. and that got me thinking again...
 
Be prepared for a long and expensive learning curve if you're picky about your images. I had an Epson 1400 and it's about as simple as it gets out of the box, especially if you download Paul Roarke's Quadtone RIP (free to try and $50 to buy). Using all the Epson inks I got a nice neutral B&W most every time. But it drinks ink like you would not believe, as does any system that uses all the inks. Like all inkjet printers, you'll need to try sampler packs of papers to see which ones work for you as they make a huge difference in your prints.

I had better luck using the old Epson 1280 printers and printing w/ only the black ink using the MIS Eboni black ink in a refillable cartridge. It's a totally permanent carbon based ink, and your cost per print is as low as it gets. No need for a RIP or monitor calibration (beyond the standard software on your computer). With Epson Velvet Fine Art and a few other papers I got good prints. Changing papers will give you different tones. It may take a while to find a good 1280 printer but they're worth it when they work right, and dirt cheap.

I stopped inkjet printing my B&W after going LF shooting w/ a neighbor and looking at his optically printed shots. They blew mine away. Wet prints are much better for B&W, and you can dry mount them and do away w/ frames and mats and reflective glass. Nothing looks better than a dry mounted B&W fiber print. I'm currently reprinting all of my favorite images in a darkroom, and when you compare those to the inkjet prints, well......

The HP 8750 is another decent B&W printer, but you have to use the HP papers to get archival prints, and in terms of ink usage it's like comparing a Ford Falcon to a Dodge Hemi. Ultimate ink hog.
 
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Re. Lightroom and printing/profiles, a good podcast on "Lightroom for Digital Photographers" this week (can get from itunes or probably the podcaster's website): "Embedding ICC Profiles [for printing)". Example he uses is for a Costco lab near him.
I've had good success using Qimage (ddisoftware.com/qimage) to handle printing, the only reason I keep Windows virtual machine on my Mac. It handles everything very well, delivers excellent prints.

Rick
 
back alley said:
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i did not buy a printer yet. i was confused and thought that maybe i should just stick with my lab. a printer's cost with ink and paper might not be worth it for the number of prints i would make.<snip>
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Joe: this is an easy answer for me. If you want the most economical prints, send them out to a lab. If you want your prints to look the way you want them to look, do it yourself.

It boils down to a personal choice of you being willing to pay the price to have total control of your photos. Or, where does your desire to control end? What point are you willing to turn the process over to someone else? Let's face reality that it would be cheaper to hire a professional photographer than to take photos ourselves. But some are willing to do whatever is necessary to do all the job while others are willing to only go part way. It is another personal choice.
 
Bob Michaels said:
Joe: this is an easy answer for me. If you want the most economical prints, send them out to a lab. If you want your prints to look the way you want them to look, do it yourself.

It boils down to a personal choice of you being willing to pay the price to have total control of your photos. Or, where does your desire to control end? What point are you willing to turn the process over to someone else? Let's face reality that it would be cheaper to hire a professional photographer than to take photos ourselves. But some are willing to do whatever is necessary to do all the job while others are willing to only go part way. It is another personal choice.
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excellent point and really what it is all about.
i think i need to save a few more shekels and buy the 3800 epson for myself as it seems the best of the bunch for my needs.
 
I have printed B&W on a Canon 9500 Mark II that I just got and it really looks excellent on a normal Canon silk paper. I will order fine art papers and see what I can do with this printer. It looks very promising though print from Lightroom and CS3 without any profile set up.
 
back alley said:
excellent point and really what it is all about.
i think i need to save a few more shekels and buy the 3800 epson for myself as it seems the best of the bunch for my needs.
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Well, after reading all this material, I went to Epson and got a refurbished 2880 for $549 and found a code to save $15 (SAVINGS15), free shipping, no tax. I had read the 3800 is a great printer for those planning on doing massive amounts of printing, but since I anrticipate doing fewer than 25 per month, the 2880 worked out the best for my needs. Now I just need to wait for it to arrive!
 
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