Printing services with Epson 4900 / 7900 / 9900 and Ilford Gold Fibre Silk

<p>Does anyone know of printing services that use Epson 4900, 7900, or 9900 printers, especially ones that offer prints on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk paper? I'm considering buying a 4900, but I'd first like to see how some of my photos look when printed by those machines as compared to the C-print service that I currently use. I know, the x900 prints are supposed to look much better than C-prints, but I'd like to see it for myself.<br>

So far, I've found these services that use a 9900 and offer Gold Fibre Silk:</p>

<p>http://www.oregonfineartprinting.com<br>

http://archive.artisticpursuits.net</p>

<p>and these others that have a 9900 but don't offer Gold Fiber Silk, at least not as a regularly stocked paper:</p>

<p>http://austindetailsart.com<br>

http://www.sedonagicleestudios.com<br>

http://www.thecanyongallery.com</p>

<p>Any others? Thanks!</p>

 

<p>Send me a piece of paper and a file ready to print (or not) and I'll do it for you on my 4900. You can get sample packs very reasonably, though if you are going to buy your own printer sooner or later having a box of paper isn't going to go to waste.</p>

<p>Scott --- Thanks for the very nice offer! Right now, I'm leaning toward going with Oregon Fine Art Printing, to avoid one round of shipping. I'm going to give them a call this afternoon; if things don't work out there, I'll let you know.</p>

<p>Bill, </p>

<p>Whatever works best for you, I do have a sample pack of Epson Signature Worthy 8.5x11 that I haven't gotten round to using, so if you were interested in any of those I could do them, you'd just need to email a file.</p>

<p>One thing I have noticed with the 4900, well practically every ink jet, the darks seem to block up a little, very dark shadow detail is far and away the most difficult thing to recreate accurately, if you are sending out a test image make sure it has lots of low level shadow detail. I am not talking about the prints being too dark, that is invariably a function of viewing illumination. Most people who do critical printing won't rely on calibration techniques and soft proofing, they will apply a custom curve, or lightening layer just before sending to print. Working that out is the key to superb prints from these machines, but it can be a steep learning curve initially.</p>

<p>Take care, Scott.</p>

<p>To follow up: I remembered that a photo store near me had a big Epson printer. It turns out that they currently have a 9900. I was able to walk in with a flash drive and had ten 13x19-inch prints less than two hours later. For reference, it's L.B. Wheaton's, in Worcester, MA: http://www.lbwheaton.com</p>

<p>Thanks again to Scott for his offer. And the preliminary assessment is that, yes, I'm preferring the Epson prints on Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster to C-prints done on a Durst Theta 76 HS on Fuji Crystal Archive Luster or Glossy. The C-prints are very nice, but colors and sharpness are looking better on the Epson, and I'm not seeing artifacts in challenging areas of the prints (unlike from Epson consumer "photo" printers of some years ago).</p>

<p>Hi Bill,</p>

<p>I mainly use the Epson Ultra Premium Luster. How did you get on with the deep shadows, and, if I may ask, how much was a 13x19?</p>

<p>Thanks, Scott.</p>