Proper Epson Gap setting: Heavy Watercolor paper?

[disneytoy]

Hi Guys,

This is for a 9890. I have been using Exhibition WC paper 320gsm.  I had trouble with ink drops out of the image area on the border. Even in the image.


I print large so a F'd up print is pretty expensive. So I tried the WIDEST GAP setting. And so far no ink drops.

But, at the same time i have had some trouble post print with light touching brushing a fiver or two way leaving an unsalable whit mark.

I know the ink can start to dry very fast. What is the best Gap for thick paper? i also started to up the vacuum suction, when I saw some lines from the head in darkest black.

I want to dial things in.

Widest should be good up to 1.4mm? I doubt the WC paper is 1mm..

Just fishing here in the knowledge pool:-)

Thanks

Maxi

PS I thought with the proper media settings, the printer would set the GAP accordinginly?

[howardm]

I have found having a digital vernier caliper to be a good investment.  They are not (dont have to be) expensive

[disneytoy]

Do you mean to check the thickness of the paper? Or the Gap of the head? I guess you can use a feeler gauge, but i don't know the proper gap (normal gap)

[howardm]

paper thickness.  the thickness setting and the gap interact w/ each other.  Get the thickness right (or actually +0.1 or 2) and test downward from widest to normal gap

[Wayne Fox]

paper thickness.  the thickness setting and the gap interact w/ each other.  Get the thickness right (or actually +0.1 or 2) and test downward from widest to normal gap

Exactly.  Thickness is often overlooked.

I couldn’t see the paper described by the OP, closest thing I see on Epsons site is Exhibition Watercolor Paper textured (310 gsm).  I didn’t look long so maybe it’s a non U.S. paper or an older paper, but the procedure for any paper is the same.  Find the specifications of the paper which should give the thickness in mil’s.  In my case, the paper is stated as 22mils thick which is .558 mm, so the paper width setting should be 6 in the Advanced Media Control window.

Sometimes the Epson driver will select the correct width based on the paper choice, but for example in this case, when I choose the EWC textured choice, the default of 3 is set in the width, meaning I need to manually correct it.  You can save it in a preset if printing from Photoshop.  If using Lightroom, save it in a LR template, and do not use the OS preset option (in LR you should always leave the OS/Printer preset box set to default, as Lightroom can remember everything set in the printer settings dialog except a preset).

The most important setting with the Epson is the paper thickness, as this widens the gap for the entire transport mechanism including rollers, head etc.  The platen gap basically moves the head mechanism closer or further.  Setting it to widest while not having the correct paper width setting may work but isn’t the best practice. If the paper width is correctly set, widening the gap is usually only necessary with papers which curl at the edges..  Setting to a wider gap can adversely affect the quality of the image, as the droplets can spread and are not as accurately placed. 

[disneytoy]

Hew Wayne,

It is the same Epson 44" Exhibition Watercolor you refer to. I didn't understand the width of the paper comes in to play?

I went with the widest gap to try and avoid the unwanted ink droplets. I couldn't trian and error to a lower gap because these were rather expensive 30x40 prints for a client.

[howardm]

you misinterpreted that.  Wayne meant the width of the area between the printhead and the bottom roller.  He didn't mean the width of the paper or anything like that.  Ultimately, you have to get thickness setting right and then fine tune w/ the platen gap

[disneytoy]

True,

But technically this is an Epson printer using epson paper and their media settings. and left at that, something causes ink droplets.

[hugowolf]

Strangely, I had this problem twice this week and never before. I did a couple of 14" by something sheets with no problem. Did a somewhat longer 14" print with a lot of cyan background and then another print which didn't have the problem. I only notice the drips after. I reprinted and the same problem occurred. I eventually reprinted on the 3880 with no problem.

There were small drips on the leading edge and another in the image. They looked like light cyan. The cyan looks bluer than the LC.

I then had the same problem, yesterday, with a 24 x 36 inch print from a 24" roll. I managed to abort the print after a couple of inches, I reprinted from the same roll but increased the leading edge to about three inches, just in case. No drops.

These were all on Canson Rag Photographique 310 and the 9890.

Brian A

[disneytoy]

The drops are definitely gap related. I saw no drops running 50' of 44" paper with the gap set to widest. Just want to determine If I should be on a lower gap. But so far these prints I've run are too $$ to mess with experiments.

[Wayne Fox]

True,

But technically this is an Epson printer using epson paper and their media settings. and left at that, something causes ink droplets.

nice logic, but things don't always work out perfect.  In fact if you are using the paper I described, the epson driver will not set the paper thickness correctly and you will need to manually enter it as I described above.

Changing the paper  thickness changes the distance of then entire transport mechanism including the head, rollers etc.  It does just what is  says, makes a wider opening to allow for a thicker paper through the paper path. changing the platen gap changes the distance of the head in relation to that gap.  If paper thickness is set correctly then the head itself will be positioned correctly in relation to the surface of the paper.  If the paper thickness is too small, the head may be too close to the surface of the paper.  in addition the paper may be stressed or damaged because it is being squeezed through a gap that is too narrow for it.  You can increase the platen gap to move the head away to sort of try and fix this, but setting correct thickness first is best practice.

With all papers (including epson other than the standard luster/glossy papers) you should confirm the mm thickness and make sure that setting is correct in the driver, especially thick art papers.  If you still have problems, then the platen gap adjustment may help.

However, droplet issues are often cause by excess ink building up on surfaces of the printer, especially if you print borderless prints frequently.  May want to check to make sure there isn't some build up somewhere.

[disneytoy]

Very Interesting Wayne,

So there is an adjustment related to the tickness of the paper, sepoerate from the "platen" gap.

I'll have to look into that.I do set the paper as FINE ART> WATERCOLOR RADIANT as per the instructions.

Luckily, at the widest gap I had no ink droplets on some 120 square feet of printing.

And I'd watch over each print with a flashlight looking for any problems. Pain in the butt:-)

thanks!

[Wayne Fox]

So there is an adjustment related to the tickness of the paper, sepoerate from the "platen" gap.

Here's where you enter it.  for the paper you are using this should be set to 6. (this is on a Mac, not sure where it is on Windows, but it's in the printer dialog somewhere)
)

[huguito]

I print on the Epson Exhibition Watercolor Textured paper with my 9600 with the following settings

1440 dpi
High Speed off
Platten gap STANDARD
Paper thickness 0.5 mm
Ink density  -10%
My own profile made on color munki

No marks, no drips, nice blacks.

I always make the point to test on small sheets how narrow of a platten gap I can get away with to improve sharpness, this paper took Standard Platten gap with no head scratching anywhere.

I hope this help

Hugo

[disneytoy]

Thanks Wayne. The windows setting are in a strange place but I found them.

There are 2 other setting:

Paper Suction (on the printer I raised the suction to keep things flat)

&

ROLL PAPER BACK TENSION (Not sure what this does?) Similar to Suction?