Recently was advised for printing a portfolio to use Epson Professional Glossy Paper…So I tracked some down through Amazon – waited the two weeks for delivery – which never came…called to find out what happened and was told they are out of stock. I grimaced. (termed lightly)
anyway looking elsewhere I have found that Epson has discontinued this paper.
Can anyone give me alternatives for the epson 2200 – given that I want to print out pages for a portfolio? portfolio is websites and print.
I can’t spend huge amouts of money – but am sweating profusely now!
In my opinion, glossy papers try to emulate photos. I prefer Archival Matte Heavyweight, but I used to print serigraphic editions, so I may be biased and I don’t use inkjets very often. If I were you, I’d try an Internet service that uses "real" photo paper and wet processing.
Search on dpreview.com and see what wedding photo pros use. (they’re a frugal bunch : )
I also prefer Matte Enhanced Paper myself, but when I’m asked specifically for glossy prints by someone I can’t say no to, I have obtained superior results with Pictorico’s Photo Gallery Glossy Paper (CLICK HERE < http://www.pictorico.com/Secure/eCommerce/Catalog.asp?prdc=7>), which virtually eliminates the bronzing effect you sometimes get on the Epson paper. Pictorico (part of Olympus) has some pretty good specific profiles for this paper on the Epson 2200 that you can download from that site.
The "Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper," #SO41286, is widely available and is capable of good prints. "Epson Glossy Photo Paper," #SO41141, is widely available cheap (US$20/120 8.5×11 sheets at Costco) but the prints are very flat.
In my experience, Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper has a normal drying time. I have never experienced a single smudge or any other problems from fresh ink. I do like Pictorico’s Photo Gallery Glossy Paper much better and it comes out practically dry from the printer.
On my 1270, I use the Print Settings for the ordinary Photo Paper when printing on "Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper"
I have only seen the slow-drying issue when I once used Kodak’s abominable paper with Epson inks. I had to dry those in a photographic hot air print dryer.
chopping down the last few forests we have left seems even more wasteful. Why doesn’t the paper industry start using hemp for paper instead of trees. Its a crop that can be regrown every year.
Oh that’s right we hate forests and need to clear cut everything. If we don’t have forests we can eliminate forest fires.
Actually, paper manufacturers do have reforestation programs. Trees are just like any other crop if properly managed. They’ll eventually die and rot if not harvested, except for the few species that live for thousands of years.
Tom: I don’t have a 2200 (only the 1270 — so that I can continue to use Pressready for proofing) but I chimed in anyway because you said that you hoped that I would!
Absolutely Ann! – I have come to trust and respect you, Ramon, and a handful of others. (you can explain Pressready to me when you get a second!)
Ramon – I get overwhelmed with the number of options available to me when I click print – you know exactly what i mean – it all regards color management. So, what i meant was – with the Epson premium Glossy(which just arrived at my doorstep BTW) – is there anything in the settings aside from picking the paper type that i should be keenly aware.
NOW – I know I may be opening up a can of worms – but remember – I’m not trying to recreate the Mona Lisa – just make some nice prints for the portfolio – so I can learn the intricacies along the way. (Ramon i just didn’t want you to have to write too much!)
These are screen shots of websites that i sized in Illustrator. Should I crank up the resolution to 720 or greater -> those kind of basic guidelines.
Anyway let me know or tell me to figure it out for myself (just remember – I’ve got 20 sheets of $60 paper – so be kind!!!)
It was an amazingly accurate proofing tool but was only ever configured to work with a small selected group of printers — of which the 1270 (but not the 1280 or later) was one.
Well, you certainly want to make sure you have the specific profile for that particular printer/paper/ink combination selected in Print with Preview and in Soft Proof View, as well as selecting it in the appropriate printer driver dialog that comes up once you click on Print.
Make sure you have the Epson Photo Black ink installed (not Matte Black).
On the other hand, I can’t even begin to fathom what "screen shots of websites sized in Illustrator" are going to look like at 13×19 ! (Are you sure?) I just have no experience in that regard at all.
Yes, 13×19 has to be fed into the 2200 from the back of the printer. Make sure you have plenty of room back there to feed it flat and in a straight path..
All I print on my 2200 are photographs, either at 1440 or 2880 dpi. I really can’t advise you in that regard. Ann and the others are a lot more qualified to give you guidance there.
I was more curious about press ready than anything.
As if you guys need to hear it again–> you all rule!
It promises to be a long night tonight as I have a meeting in the mornning with my first new client.
Thanks Scott for the heads up on the paper – I’ll check it out in addition to Ramon’s suggestion.
Guess what Buko – I forgot I had InDesign (is that bad to admit?) – I had got it with CS Studio when I upgraded.
Ramon – I laughed at your comment regarding what they will look like…well – I’m sorta crossing my fingers, I sized them down for tabloid size so, worse comes to worse, I use 2 pieces of my papeer to experiment – I’m grimacing!
Okay – after staying up all nite and printing (8 prints, assembling multiple screen shots, masks, and drop shadows in Illustrator(one print could have 4 such screens)) – making my meeting and coming home to get a good 3 hours sleep (not good, really, with folgers pulsating through my body) I have a review on the Epson Premium Glossy Paper:
WOW…
Jeez – I was blown away. And with one setting – picking the PGP profile and setting the ‘Quality’ to high (or whatever the slider said)…it took about 20 minutes to do each print.
Here are the caveats: 1 – the color didn’t have to be ‘spot-on" but was damn close anyway – too close to tell 2 – and it was screenshots – not the high quality stuff most of you do. 3 – the blues in one file were still a tad bit saturated – but maybe I was dealing with a blue that the gamut just had trouble with.(a previous cooderbrown post that I think ann answered)
A previous post weeks ago suggested I use Illustrator since I was having trouble scaling in PS and retaining clarity. The 13"x19" size paper was perfect for keeping the main screen shots original size and retaining as much clarity as possible considering it’s a sceen capture.
The smaller screen captures I made sure not to size below 60% to not blow them out – again at the suggestion of a previous post.
the only thing I would consider from now on is to do my website comps in print resolution to gain absolute picture clarity.
I will now try some of the papers suggested as alternatives to see how they act.
1000 thanks to all who helped, I’m always amazed and grateful at the generosity an knowledge sharing on this forum.
