steveluther
newbie
Reged: 19/03/2008
Posts: 2
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I have an Epson r2400 printer, bought because of all the reviews promissing top quality photographic prints. While I am prepared to believe it is capable of this , I am yet to discover the secret. I have used a variety of papers, Epson, Hanimhuile, etc but have yet to get a print worth keeping, they are all truly dreadful. Dark, dead, flat blocky a true disgrace as one other r2400 owner commented on another forum.
I have set up as suggested, photoshop blah blah, tried via proofing tool in Cs2 and in desperation experimented, to no avail.
The question I put to the forum is, "What paper do you select to print on matte paper when choice is limited to Plain, Gloss or semi-gloss etc?"
This question has been asked in a few places, not by me until now. On each occasion it is asked members reply either accusing the operator of being an idiot but not saying why, or start going on and on about using the correct prifiles to paper. This is irrelivant as I see it, if you don't have the option of using the high quality and expensive papers and have to print them as if on copy paper.
Please can someone just explain how to print on say Epson Heavyweight Matte, Epson inks, Photoshop CS2, IF POSSIBLE AVOID PROFILING SIMPLY WHICH PAPER TYPE PLEASE.
CHEERS
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Lounge Lizard
Old Wrinkly
Reged: 17/01/2004
Posts: 17885
Loc: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
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You can probably get a reasonable result by using an Epson Matt paper for which there should be a setting in the driver.
Now, I don't personally have a 2400 (I have the 3800, the next model up) so I don't know what gets listed in the driver but under Media Type, I see a range of paper that use the Photo Black ink and a range of paper that uses the Matte Black ink. All these media types should be installed when you installed the 2400 printer driver. So the first task is to check that your driver gives you options for Epson Matte papers. You won't find independent papers in that list - you have to refer to the box or instruction sheet to see which setting they recommend.
If you are printing on matt rather than gloss paper, you will be using the Matte Black ink rather than Photo Black. You may have to physically swap the cartridges if it is not already installed.
So, the correct driver and driver settings for the paper is half the battle. If you don't see options for a range of paper types in the driver then you are going to have to sort that first before looking at anything else. If the worst comes to the worst, delete the driver, download the latest from Epson and install that.
BTW, I do much of my printing on gloss/semi-gloss because I do not like the dull dead matt finish for everything - do you get good results with gloss paper? It is easier to see what is going on with something like Epson Premium Semi-gloss paper rather than dive in with a matt paper.
You don't mention your monitor anywhere in this. If your monitor is set way too bright then you will be making your images on screen darker to compensate and naturally they will print darker and be over-inked. This is why we recommend a monitor calibration tool to ensure that what you produce on screen has a reasonble chance of printing correctly.
Finally, when you come to use the specialist art papers, download the profiles to use with them. Also check that you are using the profiles correctly as it is possible to use them in two different places with the end result that the image and print are doubly-compensated leading to a poor print.
So, the first step is to start with a basic Epson paper (suggest Premium Semi-gloss or Gloss) and make sure that you can see that paper listed in the driver. Once you get this printing right, then you can move onto matt papers. Another personal preference here - I only use matt papers for high-key or pastel-like images as this, IMHO, suits matt better. If you want bright vibrant colours then it has to be a gloss or semi-gloss.
Let us know how you get on.
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Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
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Monobod
'Phantom' of the forum!
Reged: 03/04/2003
Posts: 5777
Loc: Just West of Norwich, Norfolk
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On the R2400, the paper selections are restricted depending on which ink cartridge you have installed. You will only be offered the drivers for Matt Papers if you have installed the Matte Black Ink. Otherwise you will only see the drivers for the Photo Black ink, which are the Glossy and Semi Glossy, with of course the plain paper document option.
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David.
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Photos hosted by Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/monobod/
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I see the world thro' a viewfinder, but the world watches me via CCTV!
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Lounge Lizard
Old Wrinkly
Reged: 17/01/2004
Posts: 17885
Loc: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
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Thanks David. That makes sense. On my 3800 I can see everything at once but I wasn't too sure about the 2400 without installing the printer driver to look.
I would guess that the OP is selecting a Photo Black type paper with Photo Black ink installed and seeing over-inking when printing on a matt paper and wondering how to select the right paper type. I guess the answer is to read the manual to see how to install the Matt Black cartridge.
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Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
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Monobod
'Phantom' of the forum!
Reged: 03/04/2003
Posts: 5777
Loc: Just West of Norwich, Norfolk
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Having installed the matte Black ink cart, on the latest driver, it is automatically recognised and the switch to Matte paper needs no input from the user. On the earlier driver, the user had to tell the driver that the ink had been changed. There was a tick box somewhere on one of the TABS. This can lead to confusion because the user might still only see the options for Photo ink. It was an anomoly that has been covered in the latest driver release.
Our Pro3800's are much better because both ink carts are installed, so both options are visible. I have leaned one lesson though with the 3800. It is important to check how a document from WORD or EXCEL is set up before it is printed. I had switched to Matte Black for a print run but in between printed a letter that was configured for Photo Black. The printer ran the head clean routine twice just to print a one page letter and then return to Matte printing for the next image. A bit wasteful on ink!! 
Edited by Monobod (19/03/2008 10:10)
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Lounge Lizard
Old Wrinkly
Reged: 17/01/2004
Posts: 17885
Loc: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
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I only use my 3800 for photos. I have a laser printer for letters.
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Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
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ermintrude
Hinkypuff
Reged: 30/06/2003
Posts: 12299
Loc: London, UK
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These are the options offered on my R2400 for those with logical minds. I have Matte Black installed.
Matte options are available, other options are grey. Does this look similar to yours David?
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Further, longer, higher, older...
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Monobod
'Phantom' of the forum!
Reged: 03/04/2003
Posts: 5777
Loc: Just West of Norwich, Norfolk
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Yep, but yours is more up to date than mine was, by the look of things.
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David.
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Photos hosted by Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/monobod/
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I see the world thro' a viewfinder, but the world watches me via CCTV!
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Lounge Lizard
Old Wrinkly
Reged: 17/01/2004
Posts: 17885
Loc: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
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Quote:
Yep, but yours is more up to date than mine was, by the look of things.
...and it's a Mac (I'm surprised that it actually works at all  )
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Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
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Monobod
'Phantom' of the forum!
Reged: 03/04/2003
Posts: 5777
Loc: Just West of Norwich, Norfolk
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Mac the knife? Cutting edge technology? No wonder I didn't recognise it!
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David.
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Photos hosted by Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/monobod/
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I see the world thro' a viewfinder, but the world watches me via CCTV!
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Mojo_66
Carpal \'Tunnel
Reged: 25/05/2006
Posts: 3249
Loc: Lancs
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Just a small point, but I've noticed that it can take a few minutes for the printer to "recognise" that the cartridge has been changed, though that could be my old PC.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojo_black/
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steveluther
newbie
Reged: 19/03/2008
Posts: 2
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Thank you very mouch, you are the only person to answer this, top marks!
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