HP 7960 print driver and papers

[kent_morris]

First, it seems that there is only one generic setting for "other

photo papers" in the printer driver. What have people found to work

well with 3rd party papers (both papers and paper settings) and why

does HP seem to not want to support any other papers (other than the

obvious, $$). I like the HP prem plus matte, but would like to see

what other papers look like.

Second, the white line down the edge of one photo on the borderless

5x7 and 8.5x11, have there been any fixes yet or have i just missed

them.

 

Third, an interesting point that HP may want to pay attention to. I

was trying some of the Kodak Ultima paper, which seems nice. I

noticed that they suggest to use their own software to make the best

prints, big surprise, but it is a free download, so what the heck.

It is clearly aimed towards the basic home user. But ANYWAY, the

interesting observation is that 1) there is no white line down one

side of at least the 5x7 print as there is using the hp

driver/software; and 2)you can choose specifically non HP papers, of

course only kodak papers, duh.

 

So, apparently both #1 and #2 are issues than can be solved. Maybe

no one at HP is smart enough to figure it out or maybe they just

haven't taken the time or specifically don't want to. There did

appear to be a very slight difference in the gray scaling b/t the

two prints. Not sure that one is clearly better than the other

though.

 

Kent

[des adams]

Kent,

 

I�m sorry I can�t help by giving any answers but as a potential HP user of this series would like to see any advice you may be getting to your problem and the points you raise. Adding a question of my own � using only the 59 cartridge on the 7960 is it possible to generate duotones etc and influence warm and cold tones of black and white? In terms of printer manufactures and their supporting only their own papers and ink � isn�t it a bit like GM saying you have to buy our gas and oil too and by the way you can only drive in LA. Does Ralph Nader print inkjet?

[ade rixon]

Al,Unless I've missed something, duotones and other toning require a slight injection of colour into a B&W print - something you won't get with just the grey cartridge. I have had good results printing a sepia image on my 7660 with the #57 & #59 carts loaded; the toning came out pleasingly subtle.Ade_ /

[des adams]

Ade thanks for the tip.

[bob_rannells]

I use Ilford Galerie Classic Pearl with the "Other Photo Papers" setting when using my 7960 for color printing. The results are great. I like this combination even better than using HP Premium Plus Photo Paper. When using the 59 cart and printing B&W, the image on Ilford Galerie Classic is very neutral toned. The image using HP Premium Plus Photo Paper is brown toned. I like both papers for B&W printing, depending on if I want a neutral toned or brown toned image.

[kent_morris]

Well, I'm going to order some of the Ilford Galerie Classic Pearl and i may also try the Kodak Ultima in the satin finish. The glossy is okay, but to my eye all of the glossy papers have a little bit of a funny reflection at certain angles that the matte papers don't.

 

I guess the little white line thing isn't such a big deal if you're going to frame. I ran across an elargement I had done at Wal-Mart some time back and it had a bigger white line than the 7960 leaves.

 

As far a driver settings, i seem to be able to get the closest match b/t what's on the screen and what comes out of the printer using the HP print manager software included with the printer. Using PS essentials with color management on and adobeRGB is pretty close, but not quite as accurate to my eye, a little too red maybe? or the yellows are too flat? I may still play around with the color management in PS, but so far haven't been able to beat the HP software for printing. Of course i'm still an amatuer at PS and color management, so if anyone has any tips, please share.

 

Kent

[conrad]

Regarding what driver setting to use with third party papers in an HP printer consult the paper manfacturer. In the case of Ilford Galerie Classic, their web site says to use the HP Premium Plus setting.

 

For the problem of a white edge on borderless prints, there could be two possibilities. One, is your paper tray set properly? If the adjustable side of the paper try is not set properly the paper can feed unevenly. Two, have you run a calibration routine on the printer. This can be done through the driver software or the printer menu.

 

As to your issue with the prints looking too red, I had the same problem with my 7660. Initially, I solved it by setting the printer to use the sRGB color space and set the color and saturation sliders one notch to the left. Shortly afterwards I profiled my monitor using Adobe Gamma, setting the white balance to 6500K and a gamma of 2.2. I also went into the print driver and set the color and saturation sliders back to the middle and set the color space back to AdobeRGB. I cranked out a color test print and the problems I had with a red cast and poor yellows was gone, and the print was extremely close to what was on the screen.

 

If you profile your monitor, check your monitor's menus for color settings. In the case of my CRT monitor is was defaulted to a white balance of 9300K. I've read that this is a common defauly for CRT's. That was probably a large part of my problem.