Advice needed For My Epson R3880 and Matt Paper

[ianbarber]

<p>I have just taken delivery of an Epson R3880 as I wanted to take advantage of printing my black and white on matt papers. </p>

<p>Having never printed on matt papers before, I opted to buy some epson Archival Matte to see what it was like before I tried a more expensive paper like Hahnemuhle.</p>

<p>I am a little disappointed how the prints are turning out, they look really flat (lack of contrast). In Lightroom 4 I have tried to do some soft proofing but I just cannot seem to get the image to pop.</p>

<p>Any advice on using Matt papers would be appreciated</p>

<p>Ian</p>

[curt wiler]

<p>I am sure you will get plenty of responses to this, but my recommendation would be to stick with Epson papers until you get used to the printer and the paper profiles. My current favorite matte paper is Ultra Smooth Fine Art, but I seem to be working toward Hot Press Bright for this application. That said, I use PhotoShop to control the printing, ignoring the printer's ability to control B&W very well by itself (I usually tone B&W and that requires more control over color). For B&W that really 'pops' though, I find I need to go to Exhibition Fiber paper. It is really good, but it isn't matte; and it is more expensive. The Archival Matte, or whatever they are calling it now, is good, but it doesn't quite have the deep blacks.</p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>Ian-I really have to agree with Curt here. I print to a 2880 on Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper for my black and white images and I like the results a lot; as noted however, this is not a matte finish.<br /> Consider it as a soft gloss; give it a try and you just might be surprised.<br>

Happy printing! regards, cb :-)</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>On my 3880, I <em>really</em> don't like "normal" matte papers. But Epson's VFA (Velvet Fine Art), and both the natural and bright flavors of both the Hot and Cold Press papers really do it for me. <br /><br />If you let Epson's driver software run the show, you should get really nice looking results.</p>

[ianbarber]

<p>Thanks everyone for their comments, I am guessing that the Archival Matte which I have bought may have been a bad choice fi I am looking for Deep Blacks.<br>

Do you soft proof your images before printing ?</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Par for the course with this kind of paper and yes, if you soft proof prior to printing, select the simulate check boxes, you’ll see how kind of ugly the results will be. That said, *some* types of images really lend themselves to this kind of paper in B&W. </p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>I used to soft proof but once I settled on my paper of choice for black and white, I no longer felt that it was necessary but that's just me. cb</p>

[ianbarber]

<p>When you select the simulate check boxes, ( I am working in Lightroom 4 not sure if thats an issue) and the image looks ugly, is the idea that I then try to fiddle with the sliders until I reach at something thats looks like the image does on the screen</p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>Ian-I understand what you are saying but you did ask. I have found that using the one paper makes me familiar enough with it to know what I can expect and I haven't yet been disappointed. Again, that's just me-I have no doubt many others do softproof. cb</p>

[alan_goldhammer]

<p>Ian, the basic problem is you not get as wide a gamut from matte paper as you will from glossy papers. I have a 3880 also and have done a considerable amount of testing of papers. The Dmax for matte papers falls in the range from 1.5 - 1.65 while Dmax for gloss papers is 2.1 - 2.3. This of course means that the range will be compressed in terms of being able to control the contrast. You can see the marked difference by just putting an image into soft proof mode and trying out a matte profile vs a glossy profile. I do a lot of printing on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth which is a real nice matte paper. It does a good job on B/W and color images. However, when I want a more vibrant print I move to gloss (mostly Museo Silver Rag or Ilford Gold Fiber Silk).</p>

[sjluke]

<p>I had trouble with the Exhibition fiber paper on my 3880, even tho I absolutely loved the richness of the blacks and the overall look. I could not keep it from getting "wheel marks" (from the rollers that feed the paper through) on an image with large black areas. They were very faint, but it drove me crazy to the point I quit using the paper and sold it to someone with a vacuum feed printer. Otherwise, the printer is great for whatever paper; matte paper works best, it seems to me, on certain types of images that are more high key.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>you are probably not using the correct paper profile, or you are probably using 2 color management.. common error for new comer ; )</p>

<p>heres a quick how to;</p>

<p>1_make sure that you have 240ppi, draft printing not check, AND that under color management you see something like SP3880_EMP_MK or similar. Then relative. hit print. You will end up in the epson menu.. go to print setting, choose again your paper, make sure you are turnin OFF color management (dont let the usual epson option), choose your speed (1400 is more than you need) and turn off high speed, on printer lower than a 4880 you will get fine thin lione after 2-3 print..</p>

<p>And first of all.. make sure you are using the correct side of the paper.. when you take a sheet in your hand, bend it lightly so the back of the page kind of touch the front of the same page.. the yellower side is the back of the paper.. you dont want to print on that side.</p>

[michael_ross5]

<p>Like Stephanie Luke, I get wheel marks or what others refer to as Pizza Wheel Marks on any gloss or semi-gloss print I create on my Epson 3880. The marks can only be seen at an angle in bright light, they are subtle but they are there! I've spent probably 15 hours with Epson tech support on this issue. Epson says, "this is a known issue," but they tried creating special profiles for me, front load, rear load, every imaginable option, and I still get pizza wheel marks. Epson blames me because they say they do not guarantee the quality of prints from 3rd party photo suppliers like Ilford or Hahnemuhle. They say I should only use Epson paper. Well, Espon doesn't have a truly archival, semi gloss or pearl finish that is rag based. I love the quality of Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl on my Epson except for those damned wheel marks. So I find it interesting that there is even dialogue about having paper options with an Epson 3880 when really your only options are matte papers and from Epson's position, they claim you should only use Epson paper.</p>