Dull and low contrast with the Epson 3880

[DanK]

While I often say "I don't print", I've been thinking about replacing some store-bought 8 by 10s in the house. By coincidence I did have a go this week on office paper with the Canon MG-8120 all-in-one using blind guesswork in the output department. Came out quite well:



Quick snap under cheap warm LED lighting. SOOC JPEG and color-balanced on the gray** in post - no other adjustments.

** Interesting how the paper borders have a blue cast - can't imagine why ...

That was how I started. I had a relatively high-quality multipurpose Canon printer and started printing with it while I was still buying prints from a lab. I was surprised by how good they looked. I then got a dedicated dye-ink photo printer bundled with a camera, and I was quickly hooked. I bought my 5D III about 9 years ago during another Canon special and got the replacement dye printer, the Pro 100, for free. Even better. I printed with that for years on a variety of papers until I started displaying and offering prints for sale, at which point I switched to a pigment printer. The prints don't look appreciably better, despite a very large difference in price, but they last much longer.

[RyanWalker77]

1. is your monitor calibrated?
2. Have you installed the paper profile for your paper?
3. Do you have "Printer manages color" turned off in PS?
4. Do you have "Printer manages color" turned off in the printer driver?
You need to answer yes to all those before you will get prints that match the screen.
I believe your 'whites printing as gray' may be because you have "simulate paper color" turned on

[davidedric]

Hi Ryan,

I know you are a fairly new member, and maybe haven't learned your way around the website, but the points you raised have all been covered earlier in the thread, so it's a good idead to read all of them before making your contribution. (I know there are other forums that don't seem to work that way).

Regards, Dave

1. is your monitor calibrated?
2. Have you installed the paper profile for your paper?
3. Do you have "Printer manages color" turned off in PS?
4. Do you have "Printer manages color" turned off in the printer driver?
You need to answer yes to all those before you will get prints that match the screen.
I believe your 'whites printing as gray' may be because you have "simulate paper color" turned on