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Author Topic: Epson 4900, Breathing Colors Lyve canvas and optimum driver settings  (Read 3983 times)

stefano

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Greetings all.

I have been playing with a test roll of Lyve canvas and got my first prints on it this morning. I am used to print on glossy/baryta type substrates, and obviously Dmax and overall saturation on the canvas are less, but I would like to get an optimum saturation and Dmax. Any suggestions for the printer driver settings to accomplish this? I am looking in particular at the color density slider in the advanced settings panel - I never messed with it in the past and had great results on baryta paper... before I go wasting ink and canvas, I figure I'd ask the experts here!

BTW, I am building my own profiles with a Colormunki, again with good results in general. I have no issues with color casts, just trying to get as much pop as I can from the canvas.

Thanks!

Stefano
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bill t.

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Re: Epson 4900, Breathing Colors Lyve canvas and optimum driver settings
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2011, 02:28:39 pm »

You might try the profile you can download from Breathing Color.  When I was testing Lyve, I noticed the downloaded profile seemed exceptionally "aggressive" in that it was biased towards heavy ink coverage and saturation and deep blacks at any cost.   :)

Be aware that when you increase ink coverage, you will also be closing up the darker areas of the print.  In most cases the best way to get a punchy print is with post processing.

Also remember that canvas has a much narrower gamut than glossy paper, be careful not to push the print too far out of gamut.  If you find yourself making post processing changes that seem to not transfer to the print, you have probably pushed the image out of gamut in some areas.  The trick is to get the best print you can, while staying (mostly) within the media's gamut.  That will always give you the best looking print.

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stefano

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Re: Epson 4900, Breathing Colors Lyve canvas and optimum driver settings
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2011, 02:42:38 pm »

Hi Bill,

I'll give the BC profiles a try - last time I checked the web site they did not yet have Epson 4900 profile, I guess the 7/9900 ones are probably close enough.
Maybe I am expecting too much from canvas... The image I am testing with has some pretty saturated yellows and bright wine colors (a cluster of grapes on the vine in late fall) but no gamut warnings from photoshop when soft proofed with my generated profile.
After varnishing the test print with some krylon gloss (I did not want to set up the HVLP sprayer for this small test) the overall 'pop' seems to visibly improve. I might just have to get used to the canvas look and reprocess my images more aggressively.

Overall I like the results, yust having fun seeing what this printer can do!

Thanks,

Stefano
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bill t.

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Re: Epson 4900, Breathing Colors Lyve canvas and optimum driver settings
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2011, 02:52:34 pm »

Yes coating helps a lot.  I would suggest making a few prints at different densities and contrast to find out what finally looks best to you when all is said and done.  It's nice to have a good DMAX and all, but the overall look of the print on the wall is what counts, and sometimes that favors subtlety over pizazz.  When you look at the print variations tape them up on the wall side by side.  Try to forget all the tech stuff and just think about which print best represents the image.

You might be interested in the new "Crystalline" canvas that BC is offering.  It uses photo black ink and a glossy RC photo media type, and theoretically should make some pretty punchy, wide gamut prints.  They sent me a roll of Satin, which makes nice prints but I don't care for the way the surface texture hazes light coming from behind the viewer.  The glossy version might be a better choice.  Not a recommendation, just something to consider.
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stefano

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Re: Epson 4900, Breathing Colors Lyve canvas and optimum driver settings
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2011, 07:58:37 pm »

I have been thinking of trying Crystalline gloss - the use of Pk would be great for me, as I tend to mostly print with that! I will order a test roll with my next purchase from BC. I also like the idea that spraying should not be necessary with this canvas... More to experiment with! :)

Stefano
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