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JPS
July 30th, 2004, 07:56 AM
...Smooth Pearl Paper on my brand new Epson 2100 !!!

It's scandalously fantastic ! I get the same kick as I had 3 years ago when I first got my "old" Epson 870 ! ...the difference is that now my prints are twice as big and even looking at the same distance, I dont see more "grain" on the same pic, printed once with both printers...

BTW, the Ilford paper is 30% cheaper than Epson's same quality !!!

I'm in Heaven ! ...next step will be shooting panoramas and getting a roll of 13' wide paper !!!
:cheers:
Bill C
July 30th, 2004, 08:13 AM
Jeane-Pierre - Yes, the smooth pearl is very nice paper with that printer. I found the MicroCeramic Lustre paper from inkjetart.com to be a fantastic alternative ... less expensive, and I really like the results...this is my 'everyday' lustre paper .... for 'glossy' (which, can be difficult to achieve great results with that printer), I highly recommend Pictorico PRO Hi-Gloss White Film - it's really more like a thin plastic than paper ..... I find myself using the microceramic paper from inkjetart 90% of the time. (I believe they still have sample packs you can try)

http://www.inkjetart.com/photo_papers/ceramic_luster.html

Bill
JPS
July 30th, 2004, 08:20 AM
Jeane-Pierre - Yes, the smooth pearl is very nice paper with that printer. I found the MicroCeramic Lustre paper from inkjetart.com to be a fantastic alternative ... less expensive, and I really like the results...this is my 'everyday' lustre paper .... for 'glossy' (which, can be difficult to achieve great results with that printer), I highly recommend Pictorico PRO Hi-Gloss White Film - it's really more like a thin plastic than paper ..... I find myself using the microceramic paper from inkjetart 90% of the time. (I believe they still have sample packs you can try)

http://www.inkjetart.com/photo_papers/ceramic_luster.html

Bill
Hi Bill ! thanks for the tips, but don't forget that here in Europe, we don't have all these papers manufacturers... unfortunatly, we only have in stores Epson, Canon, HP, Ilford and 2 or 3 other makes that I've nevere heard of, so I keep on those that proved to be best... I had a stock of HP paper, but never used it, as I find it real crap... Too bad !
:cheers:
Bill C
July 30th, 2004, 08:47 AM
Hi Bill ! thanks for the tips, but don't forget that here in Europe, we don't have all these papers manufacturers... unfortunatly, we only have in stores Epson, Canon, HP, Ilford and 2 or 3 other makes that I've nevere heard of, so I keep on those that proved to be best... I had a stock of HP paper, but never used it, as I find it real crap... Too bad !
:cheers:

Good point! Also, I fell into a vicious cycle of trying all kinds of papers .... after much time and $$$, I settled on 3 main papers ....so, if you get good results with what you have - stick with it!
Bill
Carlton
July 30th, 2004, 10:33 AM
Jeane-Pierre,
Glad you discovered the beauty of the Smooth Pearl. I use alot of this paper. What profile do you use? I recently downloaded the current Epson profiles and use the Epson Luster profile with very good results.
ballroom_boy
July 30th, 2004, 11:49 AM
Hey JPS,

For the price, this is an excellent paper. My favourite is still Epson Professional Semi-Gloss, however, it is about 40% more here in Canada. Most of my portfolio I show to clients is printed on Ilford Smooth Pearl.
Print away and enjoy!
nikonuser1968
August 3rd, 2004, 09:18 AM
Hey JPS,

Given that you are using the 2100 and this paper, what is the archival capability?

Cheers,
Wayne
JPS
August 3rd, 2004, 09:54 AM
Hey JPS,

Given that you are using the 2100 and this paper, what is the archival capability?

Cheers,
Wayne
Hi Wayne ! not really trusting "publicity", I guess I'll wait until 2104 and THEN I'll tell you if it lasted that long... :p
:cheers:
JPS
August 3rd, 2004, 09:56 AM
........What profile do you use?........
Hi ! I use the Ilford profile, very simple ! I guess I could get better results with other profiles, but for now, I keep this one !
:cheers:
NRA
August 5th, 2004, 01:59 AM
JP,


At the moment I use my 2100 for all B&W output on to Epson Archival Matt using the Epson inks.

I would like to try other papers and had wondered about Gallerie SP but as we all know there are so many combinations to try the time and cost to discover failure is too high.

Which black cart are you using ? and have you printed any B&W to see if there is a cast.

Regards

Nigel
JPS
August 5th, 2004, 03:34 AM
..........Which black cart are you using ? and have you printed any B&W to see if there is a cast..........
Hi Nigel !
I use the "furnished_with_the_printer" black, wich is the PHOTO-BLACK ! ...and NO, I haven't printed any B&W pic yet ! ...mainly because I seem to be unable to shoot or "find" a photo that would look good in black and white :(
...but I hope someday I'll catch up with KeithM, for example ! :p

PS. Does the 2100 comes in the UK with the automatic paper-cutter ? Mine doesn't seem to have it :confused: ! I plan to order A3+ paper-roll to print some panoramas, and this would be usefull...
:cheers:
Carlton
August 5th, 2004, 04:12 PM
Nigel,
I just recently did a little test between using the photo black and the matte black, using Epson's Enhanced Matte paper. I thought the photo black did a good job until I compared with the matte black....HUGH difference! It made the photo black look grey, the matte black was very black and the greyscale was much more pronounced.

The Ilford SP handles B/W O.K...but Epson Enhanced Matte does it much better.
NRA
August 6th, 2004, 04:42 AM
I use only the matt ink and the results are very good. However the next stage will be to try ImagePrint RIP software.

A demo disk is on its way to me and I look forward to seeing the results.

Has anyone here used RIP ?

Nigel
JPS
August 7th, 2004, 02:24 AM
Has anyone here used RIP ?
Not me, and I don't know what RIP is, except that I've seen it a lot written in graveyards, but I don't think this has anything in commun with "your" RIP ;) !
...but, if this RIP stuff can help/add to the printing quality, I'll be very curious to get some feedback...
:cheers:
NRA
August 9th, 2004, 12:26 AM
JP

I wont try and explain, as I dont know enough about it. (Its a Raster Image Processor)

Have a look at this site and also on Luminous Landscape, where there are a couple of reviews.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/imageprint5-5.shtml

A distributor in the UK is sending me a demo disk. It has got to be really good for me to buy it, just look at the price !!

http://www.colorbytesoftware.com/imageprint.htm


Nigel
Linda G
August 9th, 2004, 04:36 AM
It's my understanding, stated simply for my mind, that RIPs used to be included with printers and that's why they cost so much. The retailers have learned they can sell them separately and make more by fooling people into believing the printer prices have gone down. They just don't include the RIP anymore, you must try to work without it or buy one separately (at a higher cost than if you'd bought it bundled). Go figure.
NRA
August 9th, 2004, 06:03 AM
Ime sure the time will come when printers are free. My little HP laser was less than £100 but a toner is £50.

RIP seems to offer a number of advantages (in theory) although I only got my demo today so havent tried it yet. The first thing you notice is that they have pretty well all the paper profiles you could ever want. This makes trying new papers (free samples) a cheaper experience, as often or not the profile was too costly to give a paper a try out.

If the tonal gradation for my B&W output can be improved then I will give it a try.

Perhaps we should start a new thread for RIP software, weve hijacked JPs thread.

Nigel