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Author Topic: HP DesignJet 1055CM Plus  (Read 4202 times)

Janne Aavasalo

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HP DesignJet 1055CM Plus
« on: April 19, 2010, 04:45:51 pm »

Hey all,

I've been visiting the forums here from time to time, but finally decided to join the ranks here at LL.

One thing that made me join was the incredibly useful tutorial video that I purchased two days ago (From camera to print). So if Michael Reichmann or Jeff Schewe are browsing the forums, thank you for the most informative 6+ hours of my life.

A few things about me that could be relevant to this thread are that photography for me is still only a hobby, but that might be changing in the future. At the moment I'm shooting with Olympus E-3 and have been doing so about 3 years now. I'm from Finland, so if you see a typo here or a typo there, that might have something to do with it. Hopefully I'll be able to produce text that is readable in spite of that. Since this is a hobby for me, I haven't restricted myself into any specified type of shooting, so I (try to) do it all. I'm doing product shots with studio flashes for a few websites, portraits, landscape etc, but mostly I end up shooting nature and wildlife.


Okay, once that's out of the way, I could get to the issue that I'd like to have a bit of help with.

My shooting is quite all right, post processing is nothing special, but I think I've got that down. The real problem for me is that I'm in a point (about 20k photos in Lightroom catalog) in which I'd like to start putting my work into ink and paper.

This far my printer has been the Canon iP6700D. Not a bad printer, but it's only A4 and well, that's the biggest problem with it.

I've also looked into getting an Epson 3880, but haven't bit the bullet on that one yet (too much other stuff to pay for   ).

But about a week ago I got the HP DesignJet 1055CM Plus (36") with the 3 roll autofeeder system (+some paper, ink tanks, printheads etc.). This wasn't planned in any way, but here's the catch. I got it for free (couldn't say no to having about 16kā‚¬ worth of stuff for free).

So, I know that this printer/plotter isn't the most optimal choice for photographic printing mainly because:

-It has only four colors (CMYK)
-The colors are dye-based instead of pigment-based
-The printer isn't a printer so much as it is a plotter, so it's designed for CAD drawings, but not for photographs
-The output resolution isn't that great (600x600DPI for color, 1200x600 for B/W)

A few good things about the printer:

-It was free
-It seems to be a real "workhorse"
-The ink tanks are huge (350ml)
-It's A0 or 36", which is great
-Accessories, spare parts and papers seem to be quite reasonably priced

I set up the printer a few days ago and printed a few test prints out of it. To my surprise they weren't bad at all (when the setup was done right and right kind of paper was used).

So I'm quite confident that I'm able to get this printer to produce photos that would be good enough for me for now. And if I don't, at least I'll get some good experience which I can then take and use with a better printer in the future.

Now the big question remains; How can I get the most out of this printer/plotter?

-What kind of paper would you recommend (and if you could explain why, that would be appreciated)?
-Would you recommend HP - branded papers at all?
-What would the optimal print settings be for this printer?
-All the stuff that I didn't know (or forgot) to ask is very much appreciated.

I can make custom profiles for papers, so that should not be a worry here, since I'm pretty sure there aren't any canned profiles for photographic papers for this printer.

As you can see I'm still learning this stuff and have started pretty much from the bottom of the barrel here, so every bit of information is well appreciated.

Also hopefully I'll be able to return the favor by contributing to this forum and maybe answer questions about computer problems, since I do computer maintenance for a living.

Thank you in advance,

Janne Aavasalo
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Scott Martin

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HP DesignJet 1055CM Plus
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2010, 05:34:42 pm »

Quote from: JanneAavasalo
Now the big question remains; How can I get the most out of this printer/plotter?

-What kind of paper would you recommend (and if you could explain why, that would be appreciated)?
-Would you recommend HP - branded papers at all?
-What would the optimal print settings be for this printer?
-All the stuff that I didn't know (or forgot) to ask is very much appreciated.

I can make custom profiles for papers, so that should not be a worry here, since I'm pretty sure there aren't any canned profiles for photographic papers for this printer.
I see a lot of those printers at architects' offices and reprographics shops. Use the dye compatible papers you prefer (matte, satin, glossy, etc) without concern for brand. As paper is a matter of preference you'll have to do some experimentation.

As for profiling, it's harder than you might think on that particular printer. When printing your profiling targets you'll want to choose DeviceOptions>PrinterColorManagement>ColorOptions>NoEmulation in the Windows PS driver. For the Mac driver, choose "Native, without blackĀ replacement". HP's drivers change so yours could have slightly different terminology than what I've just described. You'll also need to use some unusual separation parameters when generating the CMYK profiles that that printer requires. I've spent ALOT of time tweaking and finding the perfect separation parameters for those particular printers so free to email me at scott@on-sight.com for more details.


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Scott Martin
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Janne Aavasalo

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HP DesignJet 1055CM Plus
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2010, 12:55:52 pm »

Hey again,

Thanks for your answer and input Onsight.

In your answer there were a lot of things I didn't know, though I had a feeling that being a CMYK - printer, it might be more difficult to adjust and profile than so called photo printers. I'll email you for the details as soon as I can.

Other comments are of course still welcomed, so if you know something about this plotter/printer, I'd appreciate it if you could post it here.

Sincerely,

Janne Aavasalo
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