Using Photoshop for printing with an Epson 3880 rather than Lightroom

[tonysiciliano1]

I've been using LR to print with my Epson 3880 for years, but finding the process increasingly buggy. My latest snag: the prints don't print the size I put in; I'm not talking about small margin issues, but big differences, like trying to print 12x18 on 13x19 paper and having it cut off the bottom two inches. I've reset LR preferences, trashed the printer driver and reinstalled a new (the latest) driver, and rebooted my computer. About every year or so it does something weird like this and I have to waste many pieces of paper and much ink, and spend hours online finding the fix. So, I'm thinking of switching to printing via Photoshop. I haven't used it for printing for over six years, so I'd love some feedback about this idea. Is it less buggy? What are the disadvantages? Specific questions: LR makes output sharpening easy, how to you do this in Photoshop? LR makes up-sizing easy (just put in the dimensions and the resolution you want, and LR does it), how do you do this using Photoshop?

Any other suggestions for software for easy printing that would have a reasonably seamless workflow using LR as the catalogue?

I'm using a 2013 MacPro with Mac OS 10.13.2, the latest LR Classic verison, and the latest Epson 3880 printer driver.

Thanks!!

[unesco]

Unfortunately, you need to control resolution and output sharpening manually in PS. No automation like in LR.
If you do not resize your picture to 360 ppi, the driver will do it by itself with nearest neighbor algorithm...

[Wayne Fox]

You can try this but I'll be honest, I don't think there is anything inherently buggy in LR that would cause your problems.  there are just too many people that print with no issues from LR. If it's a printer driver corruption issue or an incorrect setting in one of the dialog boxes such as setting up a custom paper size, I would guess PS would have the same problem. Hopefully it isn't a sensor in the printer that is having issues.

[gkroeger]

I print frequently from PS and find that I have more direct control on printing parameters with it than in LR. As was pointed out, you will need to manually resample to 360 ppi for best results. I use PixelGenius PhotoKit Sharpener plugins to do my sharpening. As of a few weeks ago, these are now available for free from the PixelGenius web site.

Glenn