Printer Question

[glennab]

Hi all

I'm thinking about slowly starting my own restoration business, and right now my main concern is printing.  I'm in the middle of reading 4 books on printers, mostly Epson, and since I have an older Epson, I know they're easy to use, reliable, and they create fine looking prints.  Would any of you who  print restorations, wedding photos, art prints, etc. who might have feedback for me on what you use and the pros & cons let me know what  you'd recommend?  I'd appreciate it!

Bless!

GK

[TerryB]

Hi Glenna:
I've used Epson's stylus Photo1400 since September '07.

Good news: Excellent prints up to 13x19. Very good print yield. Waterproof and  scratch-resistant prints. Plays well with Canon papers and exceptionally well with all Epson papers. Superb and reasonably fast full-color CD/DVD printing

Bad news: The driver interface and settings are a nightmare to initially configure and subsequently modify for various paper types and image sizes/types (grayscale, color). And it seems to randomly forget (corrupt?) one or more of the settings.

Here's the PDF that'll take some of the mystery out of color management if you want to check it out.
files.support.epson.com/pdf/pho140/pho140mc.pdf

[Hannie]

Glenna, just today I was swearing at my Canon printer.  No matter what I try, I cannot get a good print, what a monster!
Before I had an Epson till it wore out, Terry's printer has very good reviews and sounds like it is a good buy.

Would love to hear more on this subject from our other volunteers!

Hannie  

[Marydh]

I have a Canon i9900 which I love except I've never been able to get a good black and
white print from it.  I think I would get an Epson next time.
Mary

[glennab]

Sounds as if it'll be another Epson, but probably one with the extra ink colors.  Terry, I had on heck of a time printing a B&W restoration a couple of years ago, and I contacted Epson's Tech Support.  They were great.  Got the answer to my question very quickly, and have subsequently discovered from all my reading that when printing from Photoshop one must either manage color from Photoshop or from the printer, but never from both (which is what tech told me).  Letting the printer do the managing seems to be the most recommended.  Somehow I ended up with three books on printing specifically with Epsons, and if what I've read is correct, they have more ink and paper options than any other printer available right now. So it's to the internet to check prices, especially of inks.  I'd think that could get pricey if one went with all the colors available.  One of the very high-end versions has 3 or 4 blacks, a gloss finish, a light magenta, light cyan, red, blue and orange.  Holy smoke!  That would have to be hundreds of dollars.

Terry, Hannie and Mary, thanks for the information.  You're verifying the direction in which I was going anyway, but I appreciate knowing for sure.

Hugs!

GK

[schen]

I have an Epson and I did not use it often.  The print heads dried up.  Unlike HP, Epson print head is with the printer not the cartridge.  So I gave up and use the local Wolf Camera.

[glennab]

Shujen, one thing that my books stressed is that the printer has to be used at least a couple times a week in order for the heads to not clog.  Some of the more sophisticated ones (most likely much more printer than I'll ever need) work differently and evidently aren't as prone to clogging.

Since I haven't printed anything for at least a month, I don't know whether my 1280 will continue to flow or not.  It has in the past.

Is Wolf Camera an outside vendor?  I've considered that as well, because I don't know how much printing I'll need to do.  At this point restorations are where I'm heading.

I'll keep researching.  Epson often sells refurbished scanners and printers for a pretty decent price (that's how I got my latest scanner).

Thanks for the feedback.

GK

[schen]

GK,

http://www.ritzpix.com/

is the place I upload my prints and I can direct it to any of the Wolf or Ritz Camera shops.  I would not vouch for the quality but there is one in town within biking distance.  Usually the print is ready within an hour.

Shujen

[TerryB]

I worked at a Charleston-area Ritz Camera for a couple of years and based on that experience the print quality will run from terrific to garbage depending upon who's doing the printing on any given shift.

Best way to determine which you'll get is to provide them a known commodity; feel free to use this one:
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/Cyberwretch/OPR/Colortargets.jpg
which will immediately quantify the colors for you and them. 200 ppi, Adobe RGB. 1MB

I encountered the single strip a number of years ago and set it up as for use as a manual calibration tool for the monitor, scanner and printer.

I don't recall where I found it or the creator is, so I can't provide attribution. But if that person sees this I'd like to say thank you, thank you, thank you.