Getting better at printing, Materials, finishes, brands

[loomitz]

hi guys, i want to tell my story about my first year printing.

on January, i bought an Epson P9000 and a i1 pro 2  i was nervous because I had read many horror stories about the clog heads in the 9900, i decided to enter this business because where I live there are not many places where to print with good quality.

to not make the story longer, i love the quality of the p9000, maybe luck to me in the first year i didnt have any stubborn nozzle clog my way to try keep it that way , i became a little obsessed about the humity and i almost print every day, when i go on vacation i turn it off, cover it with plastic and put some bucket with water under the printer this make the humidity go to 45% -55%.

when i start in this bussines i was only printing Epson Luster Rolls and Enhaced Mate, right now i print more art papers like Hahnemühle and Moab, been the Photo Rag Satin one of my favorites.

the problems that I had this year were:

- The MK tint, Its Super fragile when i print some 100% black backgrounds, i have to be really really carefull to not scratch it or mark it. Does anyone know if sprays improve handling or make black less fragile?

- For Canvas which is the best matt finish varnish, the material i use is the Canson Infinity Museum mate (really nice canvas) Again delicate blacks.

- almost every time I change the ink I need to do a cleaning and sometimes aligning the heads when I go from matte to bright, i use a chep bond paper for this task, and i run first the bidirectional aligning, then the uni directional.

- which is the best method to cut prints by hand when using thick paper, i have like a low table just under the printer and use the down to roll down the paper.

 to finish I have some doubts more, someone knows a page where I can buy a wiper blade with international shipping (i live in mexico, here epson dont have the best service I have called two companies and they have left me in sight or the technician has not come), im pretty handy and read a lot before trying anything, in October clean the blade wipper following the inkjetmall instructions and all went perfectly i think.

at the end and luckily I have had a lot of work and I have thought about acquiring a laminator, one that you recommend? sounds like a good step to follow?

Thanks for reading and an apology if my English is not the best.

[robertDthomas]

hi guys, i want to tell my story about my first year printing.

on January, i bought an Epson P9000 and a i1 pro 2  i was nervous because I had read many horror stories about the clog heads in the 9900, i decided to enter this business because where I live there are not many places where to print with good quality.

That is quite a printer you have there.  I have the same and purchased mine in August of 2016

to not make the story longer, i love the quality of the p9000, maybe luck to me in the first year i didnt have any stubborn nozzle clog my way to try keep it that way , i became a little obsessed about the humity and i almost print every day, when i go on vacation i turn it off, cover it with plastic and put some bucket with water under the printer this make the humidity go to 45% -55%.

I live on the north east coast of the US so we get the full spectrum of weather except for the dry heat and low humidity of the US southwest.  In my time with the P9000 I have not had significant clogs but like you after using Photo or Matte black for awhile and then switching over and doing a nozzle check I find I need to do a cleaning of that nozzle pair.  Only once and nothing more.

when i start in this bussines i was only printing Epson Luster Rolls and Enhaced Mate, right now i print more art papers like Hahnemühle and Moab, been the Photo Rag Satin one of my favorites.

the problems that I had this year were:

- The MK tint, Its Super fragile when i print some 100% black backgrounds, i have to be really really carefull to not scratch it or mark it. Does anyone know if sprays improve handling or make black less fragile?

I agree the matte black on fine art matte papers is quite fragile.  Need to frame it of spray it to protect.  I have found the best spray is from Hahnemule.  There are probably others but I have never had a problem with this spray on fine art papers.  The spray head on the Hahnemuhle gives a very good distribution of the varnish.  Some others I have tried are more narrow and caused problems if not careful.

- For Canvas which is the best matt finish varnish, the material i use is the Canson Infinity Museum mate (really nice canvas) Again delicate blacks.

I use Breathing Color Lyve canvas located here in the US in Texas.  They also make varnishes that I use for the canvas and they come in Matte, Satin, and Gloss and work quite well.  There are others but I have not tried.

- almost every time I change the ink I need to do a cleaning and sometimes aligning the heads when I go from matte to bright, i use a chep bond paper for this task, and i run first the bidirectional aligning, then the uni directional.

I change the ink every once and awhile to move from gloss or matte papers.  I don't have a specific time between the changes but probably a few weeks or a month between changes.  As mentioned above I do a nozzle check and I do find some missing sections in the black that I changed to.  All I do is a clean of that nozzle pair once and it clears that up and I am ready to go.  No alignment required.

- which is the best method to cut prints by hand when using thick paper, i have like a low table just under the printer and use the down to roll down the paper.

For large prints I use an Olfa (Razor blade type) cutter on a self-healing mat.  For smaller prints that I cut out of a nested sheet of roll paper I use a Rotatrim cutter.  These are available in a number of sizes but mine is only up to 24"(metric?).  Over that size I use the manual method with a sharp blade and straightedge.

 to finish I have some doubts more, someone knows a page where I can buy a wiper blade with international shipping (i live in mexico, here epson dont have the best service I have called two companies and they have left me in sight or the technician has not come), im pretty handy and read a lot before trying anything, in October clean the blade wipper following the inkjetmall instructions and all went perfectly i think.

I have not done this and another poster will provide input or you can search the forum as I believe I have seen some posting on this

at the end and luckily I have had a lot of work and I have thought about acquiring a laminator, one that you recommend? sounds like a good step to follow?

Great that you are quite busy.  Again not my expertise.  I am sure other poster will give you their suggestions.

Thanks for reading and an apology if my English is not the best.

Your English perfect and is much much better than my Spanish would be

[loomitz]

Robert Thanks for the reply, i will try the hahnemuhle sprays. About Breathing colors papers im talking with a foreign forwarder because im really interested on their products, here in Mexico you can not find much variety of papers or the one you find is very expensive, for example a 44 "Photorag satin can cost $ 530usd

[DougDolde]

I like Timeless matte for finishing canvas but I've dropped BC canvas, it's too expensive.

My current canvas is Simply Elegant Matte Canvas in 100' rolls.

https://www.itsupplies.com/Simply-Elegant-Everyday-Matte-Inkjet-Canvas

[TSJ1927]

Doug.  Simply Elegant Matte Canvas is no longer available through IT Supplies.  They said that company "was out of business".
That was my go to canvas also.  I've been using it for 4 years.  IT Supplies said they were seeking a replacement for a canvas with a similar price point.  Too Bad!

[mearussi]

I also use Canson's Museum Pro because it has the smoothest surface of all the canvases I've tried and I also like the softness and flexibility of its 100% cotton base.

I use Premier Art's Eco Print Shield to coat it as it's the only one that has been tested by Henry Wilhelm and found to significantly extend display life. I've also tried BC's Timeless but could never get a smooth coat from it so quit using it.

You can also apply a spray varnish using either Hahnemuhle, Moab or Premier Art's Print Shield but none of these will give your canvas the protection nor extend display life like a roll-on coating such as the Eco Print Shield will.

Spray varnishes are better for regular paper prints that would warp when water based coatings are applied. They will provide some handling protection to your print and also some water proofing if applied heavily enough.

 

 

[loomitz]

thanks to all for the reaplys, i will try the hanehmuhle spray and the premier's canvas coating.

its worth it to get a HVPL? for the canvas? i have a compressor already.

[mearussi]

thanks to all for the reaplys, i will try the hanehmuhle spray and the premier's canvas coating.

its worth it to get a HVPL? for the canvas? i have a compressor already.

You can if you have the room, but I just use a roller, and if done correctly, it works fine.

[PaulStL]

thanks to all for the reaplys, i will try the hanehmuhle spray and the premier's canvas coating.

its worth it to get a HVPL? for the canvas? i have a compressor already.

If you're looking to spray the coating, I'd highly recommend the HomeRight Finish Max Sprayer.  I've never used it to spray coatings on photos but have used it for painting/staining/varnishing a ton of projects.  It's compact, easy to clean, excellent finish quality and cheaper ($60 US) than a dedicated HVLP gun.  There's also an upgraded model with changeable nozzle tips to accommodate different liquid viscosities.  It's about $100 (US).

[John Nollendorfs]

If you have a compressor that you can regulate the airpressure down to 35, then just get one of these cheap Harbor Freight HVLP guns, many times they have them on sale for $10. https://www.harborfreight.com/20-fl-oz-hvlp-gravity-feed-air-spray-gun-62300.html

With spraying, it's all in the technique. Practice makes perfect.