Overides on the 3880

[douvidl]

Is there a way to tell the printer to print with PB when it wants to print with Matte, given the profile selected?  In other words, can the user direct the printer as to which black to use regardless of the profile selected?
Thanks
David

[Randy Carone]

The PK vs. MK is based on the 'media type' chosen in the Epson driver, so if you want to use PK, choose a media that has some sheen, but is the closest to the media you are using. The profile choice does not dictate the ink type, so you can choose the profile that is built for your media. Keep in mind that the 'media type' choice also dictates the feed calibration and total ink limits to the printer so make certain that the media you choose is not wildly different than the actual media you wish to print to or you may get banding due to incorrect feed info sent to the printer.

[howardm]

you can override PK vs MK on the printer control panel but as noted, using the wrong black will most likely yield less-than-optimal output

[Alan Goldhammer]

The other thing to remember is that the profile you select in the case of such an override will be useless to you.  The profile is absolutely dependent on the ink/paper setting for that paper.  I would ask the question, what are you trying to achieve by altering the setting?  There are ways of using the print driver to change drying time and ink laydown during the printing process but even then, if you are using more ink you would need to reprofile the paper.

[Rick Popham]

Is there a way to tell the printer to print with PB when it wants to print with Matte, given the profile selected?  In other words, can the user direct the printer as to which black to use regardless of the profile selected?
Thanks
David

I don't think so.  The black ink will be set according to the media type selected in the driver.  You can set the PK/MK selection on the printer control panel to, say, PK, but if you then select Enhanced Matte in the printer driver, it will initiate an ink change to MK. 

I've run into this a few times when installing the printer on a new computer.  I test the connection by printing a test print from the Print Properties tab.  My printer is usually set to use MK, but the test print is set to use Premium Luster paper.  I always forget about this, and the printer always changes the black ink to PK.

You can, of course, set the driver to use a PK paper, but use whatever paper you want.  You can try tweaking the ink and paper settings in the "Advanced" portion of the printer driver, and save those settings if you get something you're happy with.  Be prepared to use a lot of ink and paper in the experiment...