ianbarber

February 9, 2015

I seem to be having issues with the status monitor on the R3880 The PK indicator shows the cart to be around 50% + full but yet the cart is bone dry.

This is not the first time this has happened and it is becoming quite annoying because there is no way to determine how much ink is left and I am not sure if it will damage the printer having a cart installed which is bone dry.

I am running MAC OSX Yosemite version 10.10.2

The printer driver version is 9.33

February 9, 2015

Thanks Howard for the reply.

I have tried QTR in the past but always found that it lacks profiles for the papers I use. I know you can make your own profile curves but the only instrument I have is the X-Rite Color Munki and I have never seen a detailed explanation on how to actually create these curves with tis device.

February 9, 2015

I do a fair amount of printing for personal use and the odd print sale and the cost of Genuine Inks has got me thinking about whether it is time to move over to third party inks.

My workflow is fairly straightforward and goes like this.

For my Black and White prints, I always print through the ABW driver and have been very pleased with the results. I understand that the ABW driver uses a tiny bit of cyan and yellow in order to neutralise the greys.

Although I have read online that you should NOT use the ABW driver if using third party inks I haven't been able to find out why.

The third party inks I have been looking at are the Marrutt Professional inks and refillable cartridges.

Does anyone know if you can use the ABW mode with third party inks and if not why ?

Does anyone have any experience with third party inks for the Epson R3880 and also Marrutt Inks ?

Ian

August 21, 2012

Surely you must have friends that could just say how close it looks, another set of eyes?

</blockquote>

I was looking for someone who understands how we photographers look at images and understands what I am trying to replicate.

Thanks for the link, I am heading there now

August 21, 2012

Ian, I actually do not follow this: "The issue I have is that I have a red/green color deficiency which means that although I can see the image has a tone applied to it, I am having serious issues with comparing my results to the Lenswork prints". Could you please elaborate.

</blockquote>

When I use the settings in my screenshot and print the image, I can visually see that there is is a warm tone being applied to the image but when I compare it with an image from one of the Lenswork magazines, I am unable to say how close my warm tone looks compared to the the warm tone in the Lenswork Image.

I would upload a lenswork image for you to see but I don't think I would be allowed because of possible copyright infringement.

Ian

August 21, 2012

I have been asked to print some Black and White photographs for my local Library and they have asked if I can apply a warm tone to them that closely matches the Lenswork look.

I will be using the Epson ABW driver to print the images so therefore I will have to use the color wheel vertical and horizontal settings to apply a tone.

The issue I have is that I have a red/green color deficiency which means that although I can see the image has a tone applied to it, I am having serious issues with comparing my results to the Lenswork prints.

I think I am pretty close but just wanted someone to apply the settings I have come up with and give me their opinion.

Many Thanks Ian

August 14, 2012

If you haven't already check out Eric Chan's instructions for printing on the 3880 using ABW. He also provides some profiles to use. His website is probably the single best resource for the 3800 or 3880 owner.

</blockquote>

Unfortunately on the new Mac operating system, you can no longer use the ABW driver with an icc profile so I am unable to take advantage or Eric Chan's custom ones.

August 13, 2012

I know what I want to see coming out of a printer and ABW has given me professional results.

</blockquote>

Thanks Eric.

On a side note, I know that the ABW is a black box. I am assuming that you are converting your color files to black and white prior to printing through ABW. Do you convert through the regular methods like photoshop b&w adjustment layers or Nik Silver Efex pro etc.

August 13, 2012

I found that I liked the ABW output better than the RIP output. ABW really produces some excellent B&W prints with smooth, even gradation of gray tones.

</blockquote>

Thanks Eric, although very few comments, this comment is music to my ears. There are features I like about Image print but I just wanted to hear from people that have tried both systems to see if they thought the final result of Image print was superior to what the ABW driver can produce.

August 13, 2012

From what I have learned in my time of printing, a RIP is worth the while if you do a lot (!) of printing, including a variety of output channels (your Epson, CMYK conversions for offset prints etc.)

</blockquote>

I can see the benefits if you are printing on a variety of papers. Do you think a RIP like Image Print can give you a big improvement over printing through the Epson ABW Driver?

Ian

August 12, 2012

Not long ago I bought an Epson R 3880 mainly because I wanted better black and white images.

I have been told that if I buy the Image Print RIP and use the supplied paper profiles for the particular paper I am printing on which is mainly the Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta 325, I am going to see a big difference in the final result.

Having checked out IP, it's nearly £700 (ouch). If this is what it takes to getter a better print then I will have to buy it but before dropping £700 on some software I thought I would reach out to the community.

My current workflow if needed is...

<ul>

<li>Mac Computer running Mountain Lion Operating System</li>

<li>Convert RAW file (16 bit RGB) to Black and White with Nik Silver Efex Pro</li>

<li>In PS CS6 Let Printer Manage Colors </li>

<li>Choose the ABW mode and change the Tone from Darker to Dark</li>

<li>Press Print</li>

</ul>

Thanks

Ian

August 12, 2012

May wish to try using Photoshop Manages Color and selecting Adobe RGB (1998) which will also work in CS5 now that No Color Management is gone from that dialog. ABW expects a gamma 2.2 document.

</blockquote>

I am using a Mac system (Mountain Lion) and CS6

I am unable to select the ABW Driver if i let PhotoshopManage Colors. I have to let the Printer Manage Colors to get access to the ABW Driver.

Am I right in saying that I need to convert my document from Pro Photo down to Adobe RGB 1998 just before I Print with the ABW Driver ?

June 25, 2012

Many thanks for the image, this has help me understand how others do it.

Interesting to see that you use an umbrella rather than a soft box and more interested that you only used one light

June 22, 2012

Leave overhead softboxes to food photographers and plates of food. For example, nearly <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/cjbroadbent/Halfplate?authuser=0&feat=directlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">everything I did here</a> was done with one umbrella, sometimes a softbox, now and then a window.

Lovely portfolio there. I was wondering if it was possible for you to roughly explain your setup, a small diagram would really help. Also what size space was you working out of, I do not have a lot of room. How are you controlling the background, what I mean is, is there a plain wall behind your subjects so you do not have any other clutter in your shot.

Ian

</blockquote>

June 21, 2012

You often need deepish and hardish shadows for a moody look. Moving a softbox away from the subject will certainly harden up the shadows, but then you'll lose the steep falloff that often goes to create a moody look.

</blockquote>

I understand that moving a light source further away from the subject will produce a harder light (I always relate this to the sun)

I assume that moving a large light source as close to the subject as possible will give a softer light, will this also give you a quick fall off of light?

I am struggling to get my head around this inverse square law

June 20, 2012

Thank you for the comments.

I do own a Lastolite 18x18 Ezybox which I am using with my SB900 speed light.

One of the issues I am having is that until I fire the shot, I am unable to see what the lighting looks like but I guess this is one of the drawbacks of not having a modelling light.

Ian

June 19, 2012

I am just starting out with still life photography, nothing big, just small items.

My aim is to try and create some soft moody lighting and this is where I am getting stuck.

I have reagan article that said that I need to use a soft box placed above the subject and place it as close as possible to get soft light.

I do not really have the room for studio heads and I was wanting to use my Nikon SB-900 speed light.

Can anyone confirm that a soft box placed above the subject is the way to go and also what is the biggest sized soft box I could get a way with when using one Nikon SB900 flash.

March 16, 2012

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

March 16, 2012

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.

Do you soft proof your images before printing ?

March 15, 2012

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

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.

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.

Any advice on using Matt papers would be appreciated

Ian

March 4, 2012

I have just taken the plunge and upgraded my Epson R2880 to an Epson R3880.

I am starting to get more involved with the ABW driver and have reached a question where I am not quite sure of the answer.

My normal working colour space for editing my images in Photoshop and Lightroom is ProPhoto. I have just been reading that the ProPhoto Colour Space is in actual fact (Gamma 1.8) and the Epson ABW driver expects to receive a file which is Gamma 2.2.

I am therefore correct in saying that before printing through the ABW driver, I am better to convert the image from ProPhoto to say Adobe 1998 in Photoshop.

Ian

February 21, 2012

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, I am learning a lot.

Thanks patrick Lavoie for the curve trick, in Lightroom, what have you found the best settings to use so I can create a preset.

Ian

February 21, 2012

in addition to all of that, you may want to do a bit more research before you pull the trigger. As of the latest Epson driver (for many, that's v8.6x), you CANNOT use a profile and ABW mode simultaneously. In the new driver, if you pick ABW, you MUST use Printer Controls Color.

</blockquote>

This is what I am learning at the moment. Any ideas as to why Epson went down this route?

By doing this, am I likely to expect inferior results and if so am I better thinking about the ImagePrint RIP.

February 21, 2012

in addition to all of that, you may want to do a bit more research before you pull the trigger. As of the latest Epson driver (for many, that's v8.6x), you CANNOT use a profile and ABW mode simultaneously. In the new driver, if you pick ABW, you MUST use Printer Controls Color.

</blockquote>

This is what I am learning at the moment. Any ideas as to why Epson went down this route?

By doing this, am I likely to expect inferior results and if so am I better thinking about the ImagePrint RIP.

February 20, 2012

I am days away from purchasing a new Epson R3880 to replace my R2880 printer but there are just a couple of areas that I can't seem to get answers. I have spoken with Epson online help but to be honest, they didn't appear to know what o was talking about.

My Computer is an Apple iMac 27 running Lion

Question:

I will be printing on Hahnemuhle Papers, both Baryta and possible the William Turner for Matt prints but I just cannot get head around how to set the printer options in Photoshop or Lightroom to use the ABW Driver.

The part that is confusing me is "Where or how do I tell the ABW Driver what profile to use" How does it know that I am printing on Hahnemuhle Baryta for example.

I have read about RIP software like ImagePrint but at £700 this is nearly as much as the printer. With ImagePrint, you can choose the paper you are printing to from within the program.

Thanks

Ian

Sign In

Profiles

Forums

Blogs

Events

Downloads

Gallery

Store

Posts posted by ianbarber