Fine Art Printing With HP 8750

[rddelliott]

Can anyone direct me to a site where the steps are discussed to

produce a fine art black and white print on the HP 8750 using HP inks

and papers?

[sladez]

Hi Robert--

 

It depends on what you mean by "fine art". I only say this because many in the inkjet world have adopted this name to mean printing on canvas or other type media rather than your typical gloss/satin papers.

 

I use the HP 8750 with HP inks and HP gloss/satin paper exclusively for b+w printing. If this is what you are referring to let me know and I would be glad to help all I can. If you are talking about using "art papers" then I can't do much for you there.

[rddelliott]

Slade:

 

Thanks for the reply and sorry if I was misleading. I will be using HP Premium Plus Satin Paper and HP Inks on the 8750 and I do not find a Photoshop CS2 workflow in my manual.

[sladez]

What is your starting point? Digital? film to scanner? Also--look on the back of your HP paper package and make sure it is stamped "Switzerland" and not "Manufactured in US". Hard to explain but you can't get neutral b+w's from this printer using the US paper--they turn out very red and you can't compensate enough to get rid of it.

 

Once I get these answers I can see if I can be of help.

[beauh44]

<I>What is your starting point? Digital? film to scanner? Also--look on the back of your HP paper package and make sure it is stamped "Switzerland" and not "Manufactured in US". Hard to explain but you can't get neutral b+w's from this printer using the US paper--they turn out very red</i><P>

 

That's very interesting. I have the 8750's "little brother" - the HP 7960 and have had a similar problem. Do you know if this might be a problem with it too? I'll have to check my paper!

[sladez]

Beau--I also have the 7960--great printer! I haven't tested to see if this was a problem on it as well but would have to assume so. This has been about a 6 month issue with HP and I going back and forth and they finally concluded there was a difference and an issue with the US stock. That was the last I heard from them. It makes buying paper online nearly impossible. The good news for 8750 users is that all the 13x19 inch stuff is manufactured in Switzerland--anything smaller than that is a crap shoot unless you buy it at a store and can verify where it was made.

 

Keep in mind--what some people call neutral is very "reddish/brown" to me. So even the Swiss made paper is on the warm side but definitely not as much as the US stuff. I like the look of my old cold toned FB papers that had been selenium toned. I found a great solution to give me this look with this printer. A bit more difficult on the 7960 as the printer software is different but you can get it closer. So...if you find your paper was Swiss made and you still feel it is a little on the warm side then you are more like me and will have to try other alternatives to cool it down.

[rddelliott]

Slade:

 

I have the Swiss paper. Starting point is 12mp digital camera and good glass.

 

Bob Elliott

[kelly_flanigan1]

One good artist and Phtographer at out print shop this week said <i>"fine art is not about materials, brushes, cameras, printers or papers. It is about the look, the attitude, the feel and emotion of the product". </i>.

[sladez]

Sorry for the delay Robert--Great, you have what you need to achieve wonderful b+w's

with this printer. I'm not sure at which point you want me to start. I scan 4x5 b+w negs

so I will leave the RAW and b+w conversion to others more involved with that aspect. I will

say, for what it's worth, at least try the TLR BW Conversion--it is free and really well done.

You should be able to do a google search under Thelightsrightstudio.

 

I'll assume you have converted your image to b+w and have done all the corrections

needed including capture sharpening (again, TLR Professional Sharpening Toolkit (free) is

a great sharpening script).

 

Here's what I do: I make a duplicate file of my 16 bit greyscale image full of layers.

Flatten the image, convert to 8 bit, image>image size (adjust size as needed using the

correct interp. method-either bicubic sharper if going down or bicubic smoother if going

up). I select "constrain proportions" and set my heighth and width letting the resolution

fall where it may--I then uncheck "constr. prop." and set my resolution to 300 ppi--

matching HP printer's native resolution. With my 4x5's I rarely have to rez up and

sometimes need to set it to 600 ppi (which is fine) if I am closer to that than 300 ppi.

 

Next I do my final sharpening at 100% and do a quick check over the entire image to

determine if this amount of sharpening works or if I need to adjust. Then I select

File>Print with Preview. The most important part of this box (other than making sure your

image fits on the page correctly and you have the correct size of paper selected for what

you want--all done under "Page Setup") is the "options" section. What you want to see is:

Color Handling: Let Photoshop Determine Colors ; Printer Profile: HP PS 8700-Prem Plus

Photo(tricolor+photoblue+gray) ; Rendering Intent: Perceptual ; Black Point Compensation

"checked" -- then hit "Print". In this dialog box go straight to "paper type/quality (third

option box down on a Mac). At the top it gives you 3 heading options, chose "Paper".

This gives you 3 things to be concerned about--Paper Type: HP Prem Plus Photo Paper ;

Quality: Best ; Color: Application Managed Colors.

 

Next, at the top select "Color Options". This gives you all the color options such as

Saturation, Brightness,.....etc. It also lets you adjust individual colors in the image. This is

where my personal preference comes in. I select "-2 Yellow". Doing this gives the image a

more neutral to cold tone to my eye. It looks a lot like the old cold tone FB prints toned in

selenium. If it is too much for you then try "-1 Yellow" or nothing at all as some people

find the tone of the HP gray inks straight to be very pleasing. My recipe looks great under

all lights except flourescent where it takes on a green cast. I just make sure I don't sell my

images to anyone to be hung in a garage or office with no window:)

 

That's all there is to it--hit "Print" and let the printer do its thing. Keep in mind--always

let your prints dry before evaluation. They will "cool" down as they dry. This depends on

your environment. On the east side of Washington State they are dry in a few hours. May

be different in other parts.

 

Let me know how it goes or if I got too confusing in parts or can answer anything else.

 

Good luck.

[rddelliott]

Thanks for the response. That is just what I was looking for.

 

Bob Elliott

[scotteagle]

Very helpful, lead me to pull my head out of my @$$ and change the printer profile at least. Now to make it tougher, how can we get nice rich colors and a nice thick inky look on a grainy fine art paper such as a 90 lb. paper? ANY advice on this front would be HUGELY helpful, for color printing especially.