How do you print your digital image files?

[Chip Hildreth]

I decided to try this because of another thread with some semi-passionate views being expressed. Since printing choices are frequently made based on the intended use for the prints, it might be helpful to specify why you print what with what. You can select more than one type but I ask that you only select the ones you use regularly.

[Noelf]

I print "lesser" images on an Epson 1280 printer, and then archival images on an Epson R800.

Truthfully the R800 has printed as nice if not nicer images in some cases, than anything I had done by a larger lab.

- Noel

[jeaniesa]

Like Noel, I use an Epson 1280 for prints that I don't need to last very long. Since I got a CIS to use with my 1280, my ink costs have dropped dramatically.

I use an Epson 2200 for my archival prints. I'm a control freak, so I love having control over the entire process. I used an awful lot of ink getting to the point where I know what I see on my screen is going to come out on the printer, but now that I'm at that point I can't imagine printing any other way. Plus, I love all of the paper options!

Jeanie

[Vikki]

I've used quite a few of the printers listed above, and my favorite is the Fuji Frontier. Actually, I'm surprised it isn't a category, as it is used by most online services and places such as Walmart, Sam's Club, and Costco.
Matte and mounted is my favorite finish.

[Juliana Ross]

Any one try the somerset velvet paper on an Epson 9600, looks nice for B&W stuff....and I have too many favs to vote, different stuff for different results

[Chip Hildreth]

This is cool. I've gotta tell you, I've never participated in a forum before and I'm really happy about finding a community of people who share thoughts and ideas on a subject like this... It's just cool. Thank you guys for responding to this poll; digital printing has consumed a lot of my time over the last couple of years and now I'm learning how other people approach it.

Noel, Jeanie,
I like prints from the 2200 just as well as lab prints with the exception of the blacks, I don't get the sort of blacks I used to get in the darkroom.
We use the Media Street G-Chrome inks with a Niagara CIS and it rocks. We've used it for two limited edition printings now and with the exception of some head striking the printer has turned out as many as 80 13"x19" watercolor prints a day when needed. We use it for all kinds of stuff. It paid for itself in about a month, that includes the CIS.
I've had a little trouble with the head parking station and occaisionally, particularly with textured paper, the head will strike the paper and start siphoning. I do have to baby sit it when doing long runs.

Vikki,
I intended the in-store kiosk choice to cover the Fuji Frontier, I probably shouldn't have used the word 'kiosk'... matter of fact, I think I should have used kiosk in conjunction with the dye sub choice instead. I've never used one. An old business partner and friend of mine runs a mini-lab and he really got clobbered when a Wal-mart moved in an his printing business dried up practically overnight. I guess I've harbored a personal predjudice since then but... the Frontier must be good or all that business wouldn't have dried up. I'll probably try it soon just to see for myself.

Juliana,
I use Somerset velvet to print restorations of hand tinted photos. It's really perfect so long as you protect the surface with bulldog or some sort of laquer. We are looking into a Epson 9600 right now for large format exhibit printing which has become an important part of our business. At the moment we rent time on an Epson 10000 at my friend's mini-lab.

This is just cool...

[Noelf]

Originally Posted by Chip Hildreth

Noel, Jeanie,
I like prints from the 2200 just as well as lab prints with the exception of the blacks, I don't get the sort of blacks I used to get in the darkroom.

I have to agree it is cool to find people of like minds

I don't use a 2200, I use the new R800. I've just finished printing out a few b/w images that I was definitely satisfied with. Not sure if the 2200 uses the same ink setups or not honestly.

The 1280 definitely doesn't do as nice a job on black and white unfortunately. If I ever did a lot of b/w printing on that system, I would have to look into one of the dedicated b/w ink setups.

- Noel

[jeaniesa]

Chip, Are you using the latest ICC profiles from Epson for the 2200? I just discovered these yesterday (I think they were posted back in Feb) and I have to say they made a huge difference in the quality of my B&W prints!! I'd pretty much given up on trying to get a good B&W and resorted to sepia toning for just about all of my monotone prints. But the new profiles are great - I'm so excited!

Jeanie

[charlotte]

Hi Jeanie
May I ask if you are printing with these profiles from PS -I have not used them yet and was curious - I usually print from Qimage -I am still trying to understand the art of printing and what settings to use and not- it can get confusing.
Charlotte

[jeaniesa]

Charlotte, Yes I'm printing from PS. But the profiles should work with any program that has color management (which the Qimage website says it does).

Jeanie

[slipchuck]

I have a gretagmacbeth eye one display and profile my monitor.
I get almost perfect results from my epson photo 820 but it just costs too much.
for just regular prints I send mine to walmart and I get good results for less then the cost of my paper.
If I am really fussy I print from my 820

slipchuck

[Markendorf]

Originally Posted by jeaniesa

Charlotte, Yes I'm printing from PS. But the profiles should work with any program that has color management (which the Qimage website says it does).

Jeanie

Well, yes and no.

Will be very difficult to print the best color management pieces outside Adobe universe, I supose that the user dont' have any RIP or custom ICC's to handle color management. Despite was told about native OS CM and the real capacity of non Adobe App, there are many discrepancies about final results.

The best app's that handle well ICC's and RGB/CMY devices, are PS and Indesign CS.

Regards,

Adriano

[prole]

Due to lack of high end output devices at home I've been stuck using Xerox docu-color and HP large format at work (free prints ROCK), with a few tektronixs at other jobs and a Alps with positive results. I love the tektronix's saturation, though, I think the docu-color (in the hands of compentant operator) is pretty comparable. I haven't had a chance to try out the iGens yet, any opinions?

[vinniesworld]

I'm using a Epson Stylus Photo 960, seems to be a good inkjet. I usually send off my photos for 4x6 prints to DotPhoto, just can't beat 16 cents a pic.

[Markendorf]

Yes, this printer is good.
But how well will color managed isn't about the printer it self, but instead that, Native file application (PS/Corel/Quark and this Color Manager Modules) RIP'S and/or native printer driver.

Regards,

Adriano

[cisco]

after trying many free profiles and a few custom ones, our studio purchased an ImagePrint RIP to use with out Epson 7600. Its a great combination and I do recommend ImagePrint even with its shortcomings and bugs.

An abbreviated outline of our workflow:
-shoot images in RAW
-edit in Photoshop
-print through ImagePrint to the Epson (with Epson Ultrachrome photo inks- you can use ink cartridges made for the 9600 in the 7600, they hold more ink), we use Epson Premium Lustre paper.
-cold laminate the prints (just a simple roller device that "sandwiches" the prints between laminate

cisco

[jayk2]

For family candids and something to show the clients right away, I print on my Canon i960. For archival and prints customers pay for, I have my local pro camera shop print them. I'm toying with getting an Epsion 2200 or the Canon i9900. I've seen some prints from the Epsion 2200 and I was floored by their ability, and I'm VERY picky about stuff that's going to paying clients.

[Vikki]

jayk2, you might want to check out the R800 and the soon to be released R1800. I have the R800, and I would give these to a client - they are just awesome!
Epson R1800

[Robt]

The 2200 costs $0.77 per square foot of ink the 4000 is said to be $0.44. It wouldn't take a whole lot of volume at that rate to pay the difference on ink alone.

Of course, if I have a 4000 I'll need a new house with more walls because then I'd find I couldn't live without 16 x 20's. BTW, I read this week that the 2200 is discontinued although I haven't seen an official announcement.

[davidhughs]

I installed InkRepublic.com's 2200 spongeless CIS and use epson 7600 ink.
The prints is exact same as Epson 2200's.

With InkRepublic's CIS and Epson ink, my setup works flawlessly ^_^

reference:
http://www.InkRepublic.com/index.asp
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/B...p?oid=19302857

I can also use IR's ultra pigment ink, but need to do the profile by myself. I will just stick with Epson's 7600 ink at this moment.

[Sarg]

I use a professional lab
www.digilab.com.au

[miss jane]

i work in a fuji frontier digital mini-lab (it's fantastic having a whole mini-lab at your disposal!) and i agree with vicki. their prints aren't only exceptional, but also archival. i'm not spruking fuji cause i work with them. i've worked in kodak labs, and have printed by hand with agfa and it's just a personal preference. i think as long as it's RA paper it's probably more durable than ink jet printing.

[yuppicide]

I looked at DOTPHOTO.. they're 19 cents a print now. I'd rather just take my photos to Walmart for 19 cents and they'll have them done in an hour. Plus there won't be any shipping charges.

[wbcarey]

Hello,
I also have a fuji frontier 370 and Chromira 30inch that we use.

[chiko321]

Frontier automation workflow will always cause colors to be reprocessed. And if you use the Frontier Kiosk, hell no!!; that thing always resamples the resolution in addition to color! The printer is visibly capable of distinguishing between 600/450/300 ppi, but if you like sharp pics NEVER use the kiosk - drop off the CD with your folders laid out like instruction sets. Unless you know how to trick the algorithms, and the lazy bastards actually calibrate that printer on every roll change like they should, well, nevermind, just DON'T.

And as for the DYE SUB.... sigh. first of all, it's poly-plastic, EXACTLY the same stuff used to decorate 2-liter soda bottles, i promise. Secondly, color matching is impossible, and always comes out a little hazy, say goodbye to true black with the DYE SUB. And OH, don't forget the misalignment of the color layers. And the SCRATCHES??? Did you forget the SCRATCHES??? All i gotta say is you get what you pay for, and at 26 cents or LESS?
NNNNNNope. Sorry.

Stick with the Epson R800 or 1800 for home use (if buying new models).
Color matching is a snap (when you understand the workflow).
These printers also use what is basically a clearcoat to eliminate ink/paper layering issues. Oh and not to forget that images are crisper and have a color gamut just as wide as any lab you can find. Archival quality varies, but it's not too hard to find 80-100 year paper, oh and both these printers do ROLLS. What else do you need???

I do finishing work for several studios in my area in addition to servicing their pc's and hardware. Right now the workhorse machine is the Epson4000 "pro-pro". Too bad it can't print lunch!

If you like quality the way i do, and are as picky as me, you'll soon learn that you can't trust anyone else but yourself, just as long as you can understand a little of color theory. Wal-Mart just throws that out the window for the sake of effeciency. Plus they don't pay squat to those who actually know what they are doing and care about what they produce in thier labs. Did you know that CD scanning services (aside from density issues) is capable of scanning 8x14 at 300ppi? AND retouching can be done at the lab! Don't ever let your managers know that you can retouch on their machines, you will become exploited quickly. I'm trying hard not to be biased but as for absolute quality, all i can honestly say is that Wal-Mart is adequate for exposure proofs or just those of us who don't work around pro's all the time. I will never frame anything printed at wal-mart again.

[drdesigns]

Hi everyone! New person here. I am really happy to have found this forum.

I print a couple of different ways. If I am designing a greeting card; I run my blank card with the *art* I created through my HP Color Laser Printer (HP2550). For photos to look like photos, I use smugmug or lately I have sent a few to Costco on-line and then picked them up at the store.

[fpellerin]

I bring everything I print to the Photo lab near my place. Their low cost and great service have rendered it useless for me to replace/maintain a good color printer in my home office.

[vidanse]

At our studio we have the Epson 7600 and use an Onyx rip with Ilford paper. Have had wonderful results. At home I just got the R1800. Fantanstic printer.
In a pinch we sometimes use Costco for quick wedding proofs, otherwise we send our sports stuff to Sports America. Wedding stuff to Burell and everything else we do in house.

ciao Vicki

[twinkissed]

I'm trying out a professional lab service, just bought first print last night so we'll see how that goes. I'll be trying a different company tonight for the canvas thanks to the nice tips in a different topic.

[twinkissed]

Just letting you know that I got my first print from Mpix. Paper quality was fantastic and I'll tell you this thing was packaged so well it could have made it through pretty much anything but a fire. Not too sure about the color quality compared to others but overall I would say I'd give it a 9 out of 10. The service was quick and they were extremely fast answering one of my questions and there is no minimum order required. I'll let you know how the other ones I try fair.