Epson Velvet Fine Art and the R1800

[woffles]

New to the world of serious printing.  Just got an Epson R1800 a few days ago.  CompUSA had them for $499 with 10% off.  Add the $100 rebate from Epson and it will be $348.  Not bad for a decent printer like this.

I tried my first print last night with Epson Velvet Fine Art type paper 13x19.  Used Epsons' premium icc for velvet best photo.  What printed really looked nice but I had some areas that were almost black and it looks like the printer head dragged across the ink and made lines in the print which ruined the print.  I tried it again today, lightened up the photo, used the standard velvet icc and got a nice print out of it.  Lost some of the richness of the sepia toning though.

Point here is I'm looking for tips on using this paper.  Costs way too much to waste sheets like I did last night.  The print I got today still really looks nice but I want to learn how to get the most out of this paper.

If you have general tips on paper types and when to use them, I'm all ears for that also.

Thanks.

Jeff

[TMcCulley]

Point here is I'm looking for tips on using this paper.  Costs way too much to waste sheets like I did last night.  The print I got today still really looks nice but I want to learn how to get the most out of this paper.

If you have general tips on paper types and when to use them, I'm all ears for that also.

Thanks.

Jeff
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=163071\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I've used this printer for two years and for my limited printing I love it.  I use Epson Enhanced Matte for pictures for me and I use Epson Photo Gloss for friends and family snapshots.  I like both papers but I really like Enhanced Matte.  All my print failures have been caused by not using a color managed work flow.  The R1800 does not have all of the features of an Epson Pro printer and is limited by paper thickness which I think may be what happened with your first print.  Velvet Fine Art has only recently shown up on the Epson US web site as a paper for the R1800 previously it was not one of the listed printers.

Watching that image appear is magic especially if everything went correctly.

Tom

[AlanS]

I tried my first print last night with Epson Velvet Fine Art type paper 13x19.  Used Epsons' premium icc for velvet best photo.  What printed really looked nice but I had some areas that were almost black and it looks like the printer head dragged across the ink and made lines in the print which ruined the print.  [a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=163071\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Epson velvet is really thick - on my 2200 i had to increase the gap to avoid the marking issue. Your printer should have a way to set the gap wider as well to avoid marking.

alan

[pixel wrangler]

Hi Jeff:

I've got an R1800 and am pretty happy with it. Even though your machine is new, I'd be sure to run a nozzle check and head alignment check before I did any serious printing with it. My printer actually had a clogged color and took several cleaning cycles to unclog it.

Also, if the print head is touching the paper, in the print dialog box under extension settings you'll find a thick paper setting.

hth

ron

[woffles]

Thanks everyone.  I didn't know about the thick paper setting.  I'll also do the nozzle and alignment checks.  

I had another question, one of many actually.  I've seen two distinct camps on this printer.  One says leave it off and turn in on only when you are going to print.  The other says leave it on and do a nozzle check periodically, any definite answers on this subject?  Also does it use ink when you power up?

[Farkled]

It has been my experience with several Epson printers that the heads will clog if they are not used periodically, whether turned on or off.  Printing something weekly seems to keep things in order for me.  I leave mine turned on.