Looking for Tips - Getting a 3800

[spherop]

i am planning to purchase an epson 3800.
i shoot/create very pictural images, often abstract and highly textured. so the printer will be used for printing my own works of art.

i prefer matte looks generally. i'd appreciate any tips from people who have gone through the process of finding papers they like and certainly any papers they have had success with that might work for my stated style.

where do you get your papers? did you get some sample packs? where?

newbie here this may be obvious - will i be needing to buy profiles?

so as far as the printer goes i was planning to buy at calumet - locally. pricewise this is probably a bit more than ordering online ~+$100. but it might be worth it to have local support - in case.

what size paper do you use for proofing?

thanks for any experiences shared with someone new to the print process.

[Lisa Nikodym]

where do you get your papers? did you get some sample packs? where?

inkjetart.com has a variety of sample packs.  Either they or atlex.com are good sources for papers (with good prices).

newbie here this may be obvious - will i be needing to buy profiles?

For a lot of people, the Epson canned profiles are good enough (excellent, actually).  Give them a try first; if you're not happy with them, you can buy profiles then.  I use a couple of third-party papers, and they come either with suggestions as to what Epson canned profile to use with them or with profiles provided by the paper manufacturer.

Lisa

[spherop]

inkjetart.com has a variety of sample packs.  Either they or atlex.com are good sources for papers (with good prices).
For a lot of people, the Epson canned profiles are good enough (excellent, actually).  Give them a try first; if you're not happy with them, you can buy profiles then.  I use a couple of third-party papers, and they come either with suggestions as to what Epson canned profile to use with them or with profiles provided by the paper manufacturer.

Lisa
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very helpful - thanks!

[colinm]

newbie here this may be obvious - will i be needing to buy profiles?

As Lisa said, Epson's provided profiles are of excellent quality. If you stick with Epson papers, you may be quite satisfied with the results.

Where things get more hit-or-miss is with third-party papers. Most of the manufacturers provide good profiles most of the time. Out of personal experience, the only papers I'd see an immediate need to have custom profiled are Moab's. They make their profiles using lower-end hardware and software than most (all?) of their competitors, and the results really show it (which does Moab no favors, as the papers themselves are quite good).

On the other hand, you may never see the shortcomings with your particular images, so it's worth at least trying any available profiles first. The cost of wasted ink and paper is still less than the cost of a custom profile.

what size paper do you use for proofing?

I like letter, as it's ridiculously inexpensive and easy to find locally if I need it right away.

[theophilus]

Ilford provided some nice profiles for their Smooth Pearl paper.