Harman Gloss FB AL looks foggy

[ChrisS]

I had this with the old HP 9180 - prints were pretty much unusable as they were so foggy/ washed out - both colour and tonal range. But I'm getting just the same with the Epson 3880. I've double checked the settings as I worked through PS and they match Harman's guide for using the 3880 profile.

I did the same print on the 3880 with HP Pro Satin using the Epson Glossy profile, and it looks really close to what's on screen. I've attached a photo of both prints below for comparison (not sure what you can tell from the image!), and the original file.

The real problem seems to be that the blacks are rendered as mid-grays - black doesn't register at all.

I'm obviously doing something wrong - any advice would be much appreciated.

Chris

ps I'm printing on the correct side of the paper - or, at least, the side that sticks to my finger...

[ChrisS]

Thanks for your reply, Sharon.

The title is: HARMANGlossFBAlEpson3880_1109.icm

That should be correct, shouldn't it?

[ChrisS]

I'm getting decent prints on other papers, so the nozzle should be fine to my understanding. But I must be doign something wrong - unless I've just got a bad lot of paper? Does that ever happen? Strange I had this same problem with the same box of paper on my HP9180 (which also printed just fine on everything else) and now the 3880, isn't it? I'm loath to give up, though - I have about 20 A2+ sheets.

[narikin]

which media setting are you using. double check that you have the right one for 3880.
having said that Harman does not make great profiles.
I have used this paper/profile on a 3880 and found it basically ok-to-good, but not great.

[ChrisS]

I'm pretty sure I have the setting as per guides from Harman.

BUT - and this is perhaps the answer to my question - what would a print look like if you used the profile for Glossy, and it turned out that the boxes got switched a couple of years ago, and what's in the box is in fact Matte? (It certainly doesn't look glossy to me, but then, nor do some of the Hahnemuhle 'Glossy Fine Art' papers I have in a sample pack.)

I just had a long conversation with the friend I got the paper from all that time ago, and he seems to remember something of this sort!

Would that have the effect of the blacks not registering as proper blacks? Maybe someone can confirm that this is the case - I'll then try the printer on matte black for the first time and hopefully, that will be it. I can then stop wasting your time on this one.

Thanks

Chris