Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How do I profile my printer????

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    How do I profile my printer????

    Please can some kind person point me in the right direction to profile my printer so that the printed picture bears some resemblance to the one on my monitor?
    My printer is an Epson Photo Stylus R1800.
    I have calibrated the monitor with a Spyder 3 Express.
    Thanks.

    #2
    Re: How do I profile my printer????

    Check your paper manufacturers website they may have a profile for your paper.

    If not then there are various people on eBay that will do it for you. That is what I did. You download an image from them and print it onto your paper with your ink (ink and paper are important as the profile varies with these so you need to always use the same). Send them the print and then they email back a profile. I did this with a guy in Florida it only took 5 days from me printing and putting in the post and getting the profile back. It was worth the £7 or so that he charged.

    Alternatively see if anyone locally has a color munki that you can borrow or other printer calibrator.
    --
    Colin
    http://fotos-espana.com
    http://macameraclub.com
    http://turnspain.com

    Comment


      #3
      Re: How do I profile my printer????

      Hi...it's not your printer you profile...it's the paper and inks used in your printer for that machine...I have been through all this frustration myself and binned SO many prints before realising what is a rather simple issue is quite easy to solve...but it can be a little costly in the offset. Having said that, you will not bin many prints once it's done so you will recoup your loss in time...Before reading on...I AM NOT a Fotospeed rep...I am just someone who can do maths...

      I now use Fotospeed inks (k3), and Fotospeed papers...both are excellent and far less expensive than other branded products out there..and from what I have been told the paper is made in the SAME processing plant other branded papers are made in and stuck in a different box!? Fotospeed will do custom profiles for their papers free of charge...others charge a fee to profile their papers, so that you can use them (?)...I find that's a bit like a car showroom charging you to test drive their car before you buy it...and it's obviously an unnecessary fee...Fotospeed don't charge one!

      I my experience you will need to sort out three things to get it right...your monitor will need calibrating (I use an eye-one, but there are loads of others out there and I have had mine for a while now...so it is more likely superseded...I am sure there are lots of people on here that will have newer versions that can advise). Once you have a calibrated monitor you have a screen that is showing you an image, you are partway there...

      Now you need to chose a paper manufacturer and get some of their paper types to hand (( I know Fotospeed do two different 'selection' boxes of mixed papers - a box of their matt papers and a box of their glossy papers at a very reasonable price for you to try and make a decision as to the type you prefer. This means you can have all their papers profiled to your set up for the price of the two boxes of paper (£17) plus postage...some manufactures charge you £20/paper profile!))...you will be profiling these papers to your printer and calibrated monitor.

      Next you need to decide what ink you use? In your case you can go with epsons own brand inks at a cost of £10.98 per cartridge...equivalent to £850 per litre/colour! (best price I could find on amazon)...or Buy a full set of inks (13ml of 8 colours) @ £95.70...or you could go for Fotospeed inks and pay Far less...Equivalent to £2.70 for a 13ml refill in each colour or £208 per litre/colour...in order to use Fotospeed inks you will need to use one of their inflow systems I believe (I use an epson r3000 so it's a little different), but even these systems are reasonably priced?..for your printer it's £168ish...once fitted you can use their inks for good...and make stupid savings! There inks are 85yrs...not that it means much to me...I will be dead before then.

      Now...you have calibrated your monitor, stuck the ink you want in your printer and got the paper you want ready...you need to profile the paper to your set up. This involves printing out a test chart and sending it to the appropriate people (yes you guessed it...in my case Fotospeed)...they then create a custom profile that will ensure you are printing off exactly what you see on the screen in front of you from then on...Fotospeed give you step by step info on how to print off test charts, install paper profiles etc on their website (I cannot speak for anyone else...I dont use anyone else)...it's a bit of a pain in the butt, but once you have gone through it you are sorted. remember though...you will then get what is on your monitor so it is important you regularly calibrate your monitor using your spider or monkey or whatever you decide to use...I do mine once or twice a month...generally when I decide to do a batch of printing...good luck...oh..and you might want to look at the Fotospeed website...not that I am biased in any way but FOTOSPEED ROCKS!

      Comment


        #4
        Re: How do I profile my printer????

        I calibrate my printer so what I see on the screen is what I get when I print.

        The difficulty of keep calibrating the screen is that you then have to recalibrate the printer to match
        ef-r

        Comment


          #5
          Re: How do I profile my printer????

          Thank you Colin, Minime and Briansquib.
          Minime - I have been in touch with Fotospeed and will probably go to them for paper and ink (although theysuggested pigment is better?).
          Their bulk system looks very interesting too.
          Thanks again y'all.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: How do I profile my printer????

            I think the pigment inks are better mate, but more expensive, you need a different paper (?) and I will be dead before the other (supposedly) fades out...that or it works out so good price wise...if it does fade out I will print another...so I don't think it's really that big an issue unless you are selling your stuff? Good luck whatever way you go...and great move using fotospeed!

            Comment


              #7
              Re: How do I profile my printer????

              Originally posted by minime View Post
              I think the pigment inks are better mate, but more expensive, you need a different paper (?) and I will be dead before the other (supposedly) fades out...that or it works out so good price wise...if it does fade out I will print another...so I don't think it's really that big an issue unless you are selling your stuff? Good luck whatever way you go...and great move using fotospeed!
              I'll be long gone as well but the ones that are left behind will (I think) appreciate my pics not fading away.
              By "whatever way you go" did you mean dye or die?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: How do I profile my printer????

                Hey ho...whatever floats your boat matey...but I think dye may be less of an issue for you? I think die...unless of course you are going through a 'best road kill shots'...may well stop you worrying about your printer!

                Comment

                Working...
                X