HELP! Epson Premium Semi-matte 260 on 4800

[Helmut]

Hello,
Need your expert help here.

Trying to run Epson Premium Semi-matte (260) Roll through my 4800. I could not find a profile for this paper specifically, closest one was the PSmP 250 2880 profile. I am assuming this is not the correct profile as the print quality I am achieving is mediocre - shadows are blocked, and colour is off.

I have had exceptional results using the 250 17x22 paper before it was discontinued, and never had any problems in fact with any Epson supplied profiles.

Does someone know which profile is the one to use? Does Epson supply a profile or have they stopped supporting the 4800? Has this paper changed from the cut sheet version? It does appear to have more OBA but it is also possible that the OBA have faded in the older paper.

Any thoughts would be appreciated - I am printing out of CS4 and have even tried an older PSmP 250 profile I had to no avail. FRUSTRATED!
Thank you.

[bill t.]

This seems to be a common problem for both Windows & Mac users.  Formerly printable dark areas collapsing into black is the typical complaint, and the worst examples seem to be with RC and glossy papers.  May be related to CS4 or the Epson drivers, although I think I had this problem back in CS3.

My solution was to carry a global Curves adjustment layer at the top of the stack which caused the dark areas to be squashed down.  It forced me to open up the dark areas in post.  When I went to print, I would first disable this layer.  Really stupid technique but it worked, probably at the cost of some slight loss of print quality.  I also tried adjusting my screen gamma to 2.7, that sorta worked but it was an oppressive looking place to hang out.

Finally I got my own print profiling system (Spyder 3 Print).  Whatever the problem, that either fixed it or worked around it.  In any case I should have done it much sooner.

Edit...I'm sure you've done it, but sometimes when going to a new profile one forgets to adjust the Media type.  The media type setting has a much more profound influence on print quality than the profile, I still don't quite understand why Epson buries the media type selection down in a normally not-visible sub menu.

[Helmut]

I appreciate the response very much. Great points as I was used to CS2 and only recently started to print out of CS4. Maybe I need to try CS2 again and see if that improves things.

Appears to me that Epson is no longer really supporting the 4800 as much as say the newer printers like the 3800.

Could you tell me how much the Spyder 3 goes for approx? maybe this is also a great solution - have you found the results to be superior to the x-rite profiles that are supplied? Any issues with this system?

Thanks again.

This seems to be a common problem for both Windows & Mac users.  Formerly printable dark areas collapsing into black is the typical complaint, and the worst examples seem to be with RC and glossy papers.  May be related to CS4 or the Epson drivers, although I think I had this problem back in CS3.

My solution was to carry a global Curves adjustment layer at the top of the stack which caused the dark areas to be squashed down.  It forced me to open up the dark areas in post.  When I went to print, I would first disable this layer.  Really stupid technique but it worked, probably at the cost of some slight loss of print quality.  I also tried adjusting my screen gamma to 2.7, that sorta worked but it was an oppressive looking place to hang out.

Finally I got my own print profiling system (Spyder 3 Print).  Whatever the problem, that either fixed it or worked around it.  In any case I should have done it much sooner.

Edit...I'm sure you've done it, but sometimes when going to a new profile one forgets to adjust the Media type.  The media type setting has a much more profound influence on print quality than the profile, I still don't quite understand why Epson buries the media type selection down in a normally not-visible sub menu.