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Perplexing Printing Problem with Epson 3800 and new Mac

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Simplicity:
I have an Epson 3800 which I have been printing on for years with very consistent results. The computer I have been using has been a 2009 imac. I got a 2017 imac, and I am now unable to get my prints to come out the same using that computer. When I open up the Photoshop file, the image looks almost the same as on my 2009 imac (sure, a little better given the 4k Retina). But when I go to print it, the preview image looks weak, and this is pretty much how it ends up printing! I am using the same settings as best I can (the Epson driver for the 2009 imac is slightly different from the 2017)-- Epson controls printing, Epson controls color, matte ultra premium presentation paper. I still have my 2009 imac, (thankfully!), and so I can repeatedly verify with numerous images that the issue is NOT with the printer. I suspect the Epson driver, as my prints come out the same whether opened in Photoshop, or saved as a jpeg and opened and printed through preview. I have tried numerous minor changes to my printing settings, (like Epson standard vs Epson vivid) and the only thing that produces anything close is changing the paper setting to (non-ultra-premium) presentation paper matte, which prints at 720 instead of 1440. Still, this isn’t the solution I am looking for, since it is still not right. Any ideas?

Farmer:
Are you sure you're using the driver downloaded from Epson and not the one automatically supplied by Apple (which is basically the devil incarnate)?

Mark D Segal:
Also if you are using the real Epson driver, are you using the Airprint one (bad) or the Series one (good).

AND - any reason why you aren't printing using an ICC profile for that paper with Photoshop Manages Color?

Simplicity:
I believe that I am using the Epson driver that I downloaded from their site. I am pretty sure that I wasn’t able to print without doing this, but I started on this headache over a month ago, so I might not be clear on this. I don’t know how to make sure I’m not using the devil incarnate. I don’t think that I am, but let me know how to verify. I also am not sure how to verify which Epson driver I (think I) am using, but there was only one option from their site that I saw, and I am connected to the printer via USB. As for why I am not using Photoshop to manage the colors, the surmountable hurdles are that I don’t really remember how to add icc profiles and I don’t have an icc profile for the ultra-premium matte. I have also (previously, at least) been under the impression that it was best to let Epson handle things, and I have always been satisfied with the results. If I have to go the Photoshop Manages route, I am willing to look into it and possibly ask for advice. But I am perplexed as to why I can’t carry on as usual with my new mac. Is anyone else out there still using an Epson 3800 with a 2017 imac, or macOS 10.13.x?

Wayne Fox:
Pretty easy to tell if you are using the Epson driver.  Select print from the PS menu, then click Print Settings ...

From there click the popup labeled Layout and you should see Printer Settings. Once you select that you should see all of the choices for your printer, especially all the Epson Paper types.  The AirPrint driver looks quite a bit different.

Letting Photoshop manage colors is not difficult, the ICC profiles are all loaded into your computer when you install the driver.  Just select Photoshop Manges Colors, click the profile menu and scroll to the one for your paper.  If it's not there another clue the driver  hasn't been installed correctly.

It's not uncommon for someone not implementing a full color managed workflow to have things break when they switch computers.  Something about your old system didn't move across.

the 3800 driver is fully compatible with Mac OS High Sierra.

Not sure how you migrated, but you might need to clean things up, Andrew Rodney describes it as an "Epson enema"   

-Download and run the Epson  Uninstaller Utility from Epson
-Open Library>Printers and toss the Epson folder thats in there (this deletes anything epson related)
-Open the Mac Printers and Scanners preference panel (on older versions of Mac OS it's called Printers and Fax I believe) , and control click in the box with your list of printers.  Select reset printing system
-Restart the Mac
-Optional: Open disk utility and run Disk First Aid
-Download the current Epson Driver from Epson and re-install the Driver.

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