HP 8750 paper selection for Ilford classic pearl paper

Just bought a HP 8750 inkjet printer and I am trying to use Ilford

Classic Pearl paper and Galerie smooth fine art paper. Mainly b&W

prints, but I would like to know about color as well. Should I set

the printer for HP premium plus high gloss, premium plus matt, or

satin finish? Has anybody had good results with any other

settings? The Ilford paper cover says to experiment, but if someone

has found a satisfactory solution I would rather not waste the money

and time. The printer, by the way, makes spectacular 11 x 14 color

and b&w prints on HP's premium plus high gloss paper. I just want

to see the difference with Ilford paper. Someone here recommended

the classic pearl.

Set it at Premium High Gloss Film for the best results with either. Those are two of my favorite papers but I like them better for color than B&W (they do work for B&W).

 

I made six prints yesterday on the 8750 and I never fail to be very satisfied with the results. The prints I made are gift for my brother and are a surprise for him so I doubly enjoyed seeing the output.

 

Conni

Thanks for the quick response. We'll see if anyone else has something to say. I am also pleasantly shocked by the quality of the prints of the 8750. I just completed two 11x14s, one in color and the other in b&w. I suppose a professional lab could do slightly better, but I would have to look over their shoulders to make sure it was done the way I wanted it. Now I can do it pretty close to the way I want it the first time. Fortunately, I've had no problems at all with color calibration, and that's without having done any calibration at all. My screen colors seem to automatically match the printed colors (using the HP software sRGB settings, which my KonicaMinolta 5400II also seems to be using. Until someone says otherwise, I will continue to follow your advice on the paper selection.

One other thing, and you may be aware, but if you're not, you will get a rather "abstract" mess. Be sure to turn the paper when you put it in your printer. Because of the way HP printers load ( paper upside down and fed up and through), you can end up printing on the side ink won't stick to. They're very interesting but not likely anything you want to waste ink on.

 

Conni

Larry - I scan using the KM5400 and output black-and-white prints using the HP7960 onto Ilford Classic Pearl. Our setups are very similar. When scanning via Vuescan, under the Color tab I specify the printer output space as AdobeRGB. For printing, I choose HP Premium Plus Matte, set print quality at Max DPI and specify the color space as Adobe RGB. I've tried many driver settings, including using the Ilford-supplied profiles, and this is the combo that I've found works best for me.

I just ordered the 8750 myself and am looking forward to trying out the Ilford papers everyone is raving about. Ilford does publish ICC profiles for the 8750 - are these the ones you tried Dale? I was planning to try them out in any case but I'm curious to know what your results were.

 

http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/prod_html/galerie/IJPROFILES/default.asp

More tips. Thanks. I guess Ilford pearl is somewhere in between HP premium plus glossy and matt finish. I've tried setting the printer on glossy with good results; I guess I'll have to try the matt setting to see if there's any difference. Ilford (paper cover) simply says to use the highest quality HP paper, so both of these apply. May must be a matter of taste.

If you use the "film" setting I recommended above, you will save a good bit of ink since the Ilford paper does not absorb like H-P's matte paper. The results look just as good and last just as long.

 

Conni

Conni -

 

I read a thread on Steve's Forums where someone using the Ilford Smooth Pearl had trouble with the ink not drying after 10 days. Have you noticed anything like that? Does specifying the Film profile you mention above put less ink on the paper and allow for a faster drying time? Also, you mentioned in another thread that you coat your photos with a fixative after printing and I was wondering if that works well on the Ilford papers?

 

Thanks! - Mary

 

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=57325&forum_id=56&jump_to=324332

When it doesn't dry, it means he printed it on the wrong side. Otherwise, it dries as quickly as H-P Premium Plus paper.

 

The fixative spray works just as well on Ilford papers as it does on H-P papers.

 

The Vivera inks really love Ilford but the 7960 uses these inks as well, now. I printed some pics from my Japanese castle series on Ilford Gallerie Pearl that look better than anything I've seen elsewhere.

 

Do try the Ilford recommended setting though because it will save ink, cover just as well and last just as long as the matte setting. This is especially pertinent when printing in B&W.

 

Conni

<i>I read a thread on Steve's Forums where someone using the

Ilford Smooth Pearl had trouble with the ink not drying after 10

days. Have you noticed anything like that? Does specifying the

Film profile you mention above put less ink on the paper and

allow for a faster drying time? Also, you mentioned in another

thread that you coat your photos with a fixative after printing and I

was wondering if that works well on the Ilford papers?</i>

<p>

 

 

Mary - Ilford Smooth Pearl is designed for pigment-based inks

(as opposed to Ilford Classic Pearl, which is a "swellable" paper

designed for dye-based inks).

 

 

This would certainly explain the extremely long drying time when

used in conjunction with HP's 8750 (which I'm now considering

for replacing my Epson 2200 for b/w and color printing work). It's

truly a "horses for courses" matter, where the wrong

printer/paper match ends in disaster, regardless of the ink

technology involved.