Van Gogh and Solux
Even masterpieces look better in good light!
Find out more about Solux here.
Get my free Review here.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing DVD here.
Try Solux in my Fine Art Digital Printing workshops.
Epson Inksets / Printer Models – What's in a number?
The numbers of Epson’s printer models mean something.
The first number (2 – 3 – 4 – 7 – 9 – 11) indicates the maximum size.
The second number (800 – 880 – 900) indicates the ink used.
Find out more about Epson’s ProImaging printers here.
Get my free printing resources here.
Learn more in my The Fine Art Digital Print workshop series.
Epson 3880
New Epson 3880!
Price
$1,295
Size
17×22″. No roll attachment.
Ink
UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta (8 inks) not UltraChrome HDR (7900/9900)(10 inks)
Autoswapping Photo and Matte Black ink.
Further reduced ink waste.
Print Head
Fast.
One-inch wide, high performance print head.
Even fewer clogs.
Ink specially formulated. Nozzle specially coated. Auto nozzle check and head align.
Fine.
Maximum resolution of 2880 x 1440 with variable sized droplets as small as a 3.5 picoliters.
New MicroPiezo® AMC™ Print Head Technology (like 7900/9900).
AccuPhoto™ HD2 Screening Technology (like 7900/9900).
Among the very best printers for resolving detail and smooth gradients.
Profiles and LUTs
Epson PreciseColor™ makes unit variability is extremely low.
Epson’s ICC profiles and LUTs lead the industry.
Green
It’s built from identified plastic for easier recycling and uses smaller ink packaging.
Should you buy the Epson 3880?
Ask these questions.
What printer are you currently using?
Do you need roll fed paper?
Do you need a prints size larger than 17″?
How much physical space can you make for a printer?
Do you need the extended gamut of Epson UltraChrome HDR?
How much are you willing to spend?
Note! The optional ColorBurst® RIP Software is for PostScript and prepress proofing. Most photographers don’t need this feature.
Find out more about the Epson 3880 here.
See the entire Epson ProImaging product line here.
Get my free printing resources here.
Learn more in my The Fine Art Digital Print workshop series.
NEC Monitors
How much time do you spend looking at a monitor? A lot. Right? So investing in a high quality monitor makes good sense, even for everyday use. If you work with digital images on a regular basis and want to produce great color you know just how important using a high quality monitor is for getting the best results. NEC’s new LCD 90 series are exceptionally high quality monitors. I hesitated to recommend any LCD monitor – until I used these. Now my NEC monitors are the ones I trust most in my studio.
Will Hollingworth (Senior Manager – Product Development for NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc. www.necdisplay.com) offers a number of insightful answers about NEC and monitors.
JP I hear the average digital photographer spends thousands (or even tens of thousands) of dollars on cameras and lenses but only a few hundred dollars on monitors. And they spend an average of 15-40% of their time behind the lens and 40-80% of their time in front of a monitor. So, how important is a monitor?
WH It doesn’t make much sense to make a huge investment in camera hardware and then skimp on a monitor of questionable performance … Read More
Ink Comparisons – Epson / HP / Canon
Epson Ultrachrome HDR Ink offers the widest color gamut of any Epson inkset to date.
How much bigger than Epson UltraChrome K3 is it? Check the graph above.
Where is it wider than Canon’s and HP’s inks is it? Check the graph above.
Find out more about the new Epson printers here.
See the printers in action in my workshops.
Epson R2880 Printer – Equipment
Epson announced it’s newest 13″ photo quality printer, the R2880 (list $799), May 27. It began shipping June 2. Epson’s Patrick Chen calls it, “The world’s best 13″ printer.” And he’s right.
The 2880 is a step up from the 2400.
1 It’s fast.
2 It handles diverse media types, both cut sheet and roll, up to 1.3mm thick, and can print directly on CD/DVDs.
3 It uses Epson’s most advanced ink available today – Epson Ultrachrome K3 with Vivid Magenta. This is the same ink available in the 4880, 7880, 9880, and 11880. Three black inks deliver superior exhibition quality black and white printing. Vivid Magenta extends color gamut, particularly in reds, purples, and blues.
4 It has an improved print head (similar to the 4880/7880/9880) that creates extremely fine ink droplets and is specially coated to dramatically reduce nozzle clogs.
5 The new 16 bit compatible driver gives users more control with one screen setup and customizable menus. Not only can you save presets but you can also eliminate paper settings.
6 It incorporates radiance technology, a new mathematical architecture, developed at Munsell Color Science Laboratories at Rochester Institute of Technology, to improve ink selection and dot placement, maximizing color gamut, producing smoother gradation, and reducing metamerism.
7 Its mist collection system sweeps up stray ink droplets, reducing the number of nozzle checks and cleaning cycles necessary, and prolonging the life of the printer. This technology was actually inspired by printers on the space shuttle where stray droplets in zero g can become a significant problem.
It’s rocket science for your desktop.
Read more about the Epson R2880 here.