----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Sullivan"
Subject: Epson Papers II (for us poor folk without a 2400 or 4800 printer)
So what's the recommendation for those of us using older, cheaper
Epson printers.
I've an old 870 Photo and I've ordered a MacBeth Color Checker card.
I'm going to try calibrating my monitor by eye (?!?) to the card, and
then calibrating the resultant print to the card.
If you have Photoshop,from (I believe) version 6.0 (possibly 5.5) or later,
there is a visual monitor calibrator installed on your control panel called
Adobe Gamma.
It works quite well.
I can't be bothered with trying to match my printer to my monitor. My
experience with doing this with the lab is that it is not really worthwhile.
Calibrate your monitor, then get a nice colourful subject that includes some
neutrals (your MacBeth chart is good, though a street scene with a stone
building and a couple of cars would do as well). Get it nice looking on your
screen, and adjust your printer driver until you have a nice looking print.
They may not match, but they are both nice, and thats really all that
matters.
My new Epson is pretty good out of the box, I haven't had to customize the
profiles for the paper I am using much at all.
What I've experienced so far is big color variations by type of paper
used.
I went out yesterday and bought some Epson Heavyweight Matte and some
Epson Archival Matte paper, but looking at the prior thread, I'm not
so sure I shouldn't have gotten glossy or semi-gloss paper. Any
advice?
The Epson Premium Lustre is quite nice.
William Robb
