Printers

JR
Posted By
James_Roussos
Jul 4, 2004
Views
271
Replies
9
Status
Closed
In your collective experiences, what are the best photo printer choices to achieve accurate monitor view to print accuracy- Under $300.

I know that my monitor shows the photo faithfully because it compares well ith scanned originals. But when I print with my current printer, it often prints darker or differnt shades of color.

I am assuming that some printers will work better with Photoshop 7 than others. Thanks
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Burton_Ogden
Jul 4, 2004
James,

But when I print with my current printer, it often prints darker or different shades of color.

Just out of curiosity, what is your current printer?

I imagine the consensus will be that you should get an Epson printer.

Although the printer driver is an important part of your color management chain, the printer does not have sole responsibility for your color management’s color fidelity. With defective color management, you can get bad color with any printer. And with good color management you can get decent color from a lot of printers.

Before you buy a new printer, let’s make sure you can’t get good color from your present printer.

— Burton —
HK
Harron_K._Appleman
Jul 4, 2004
James,

I know that my monitor shows the photo faithfully because it compares well ith scanned originals.

That could just be a lucky coincidence. Here’s an oversimplified example: Your scanner settings may be creating a "dark" image that appears "correct" on your uncalibrated monitor, which shows everything too "light." Your luck runs out at print-time as your printer correctly outputs the darkish scan.

Burton is right. Before buying a new printer, get a grip on color management.

=-= Harron =-=
JR
James_Roussos
Jul 4, 2004
This is new ground for me. I am not sure what you mean by color management. My current printer is: HP 952C DeskJet.

And how do you go about calibrating a monitor?

–JR
BB
brent_bertram
Jul 4, 2004
James,
Start with this tutorial on Adobe Gamma, <http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7-colour/ps7_2.htm> at Ian Lyons’ site. Then look at the essays and start reading, <http://www.computer-darkroom.com/> . You’ll learn at lot and have some more questions ( we all do ), but Ian is lurking around ( and others , too <G> ) to answer the tough ones. There’s no tutorial as good as "doing it", though .
As to your printer, be aware that it requires sRGB data for HP’s proprietary color printing system. It’s not a good printer for learning about printing color management. The Epson Photo printers lead the pack in being color management friendly. You will get decent results from the HP if you send it a good looking sRGB image, so don’t despair <G> .

🙂

Brent
RM
Rick Moore
Jul 5, 2004
For half that price I just got a Canon i860 and I’m very impressed – much faster than my Epson C80 and far better color quality. The Epson also was horrible in terms of ink usage, but I haven’t had the Canon long enough to gauge the ink usage. Something else I’ll look for is how it performs after sitting for awhile – the Epson’s cartridges seem to atrophy if you didn’t use it often. Just my opinion, but I took the advice of people here to get the C80 and it was nothing but trouble

—

Rick Moore
Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects
512 476 7133
www.bgkarchitects.com
B
bmoag
Jul 5, 2004
At that price point avoid Epson like the plague: slow (as in unbelievably slow) printing and a mix of ink and pigment based printers and paper incompatibilities. Not to mention mediocre text printing.

At your price point the best option is probably the Canon 960. Fast, great quality, goregeous color, less expensive ink than Epson. Canon makes a limited number of papers with ready profiles. However with a very little experimentation settings for using Epson papers become clear.
JR
James_Roussos
Jul 5, 2004
Thanks to all who answered my dilemma. I got enourmously better results once I toyed with my monitor calibration and then reworking photographs accordingly in photoshop 7. (Kudos to Burton and Harron).

I still don’t think, however that this HP is my best (affordable) choice for printing pictures. I had been looking at the Canon i950, and am encouraged by what Rick shared. I also has an Epson and quickly became disenchanted with it; I forget all the details but ink usage was one.

Brent I am going to your suggested website now; thanks.

Anyone else have printers that they love or hate?
–JR
TI
Thomas_Ireland
Jul 6, 2004
James,

I own a Canon i860. It’s great. It produces fantastic prints, and is very thrift on the ink.

I agree with Mr. Moore. Epsons can be very thirsty with regards to ink consumption. Furthermore, people who are interested in refilling the ink tanks can do so more easily with the Canon line because the tanks don’t have chips in them. I suggest you give the Canon line a serious look.

Tom Ireland
JH
Jake_Hannam
Jul 6, 2004
James,

Whichever printer model you select, I strongly suggest one with individual ink cartridges. Any of those 4-in-1 cartridges are useless as soon as you run out of just the one color. Individual cartridge printers might seem more expensive up front but you will save money over the long run on reduced ink replacement costs.

FYI – I have always had good luck with Epson printers.

Jake

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