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Author Topic: Epson 9900: Can't select some Fine Art Papers (Hot Press; Cold Press)  (Read 13754 times)

KirbyKrieger

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Printing.  Sigh.
 
I can't get the "Fine Art" Epson papers "Hot Press" or "Cold Press" to show up in the printer dialog box.  (I pay by the hour and the square foot to use the 9900 to print works for a show that opens in two weeks, so this is both pressing and costly.)  I have tried everything I could think of (details below).  As a work-around, I exported 16-bit TIFFs, opened them on another machine in PS-CS6, and printed them.  The Epson Hot Press paper can be selected in the PS print dialog on that machine.  The print looks excellent.

I'd rather print from Aperture as I am familiar with it.  I'm worried there are some small settings in PS printing that I don't know about (e.g.: sharpening).  The prints are going straight to the framer.
 
OS 10.8.5 on an Intel 2.7 GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro w. 16 GB RAM.
Aperture 3.4.5
(No beta-ware installed.)
PS-CC (14.1.2 x64) on this machine.  (Do not have the version number of PS-CS6 that is installed on the other machine.)
 
My studio printer is an Epson 3880.  On that printer, I have to select one of the print dialog "Paper Size" presets with "(Manual - Rear)" in the name in order for the full complement of Epson Fine Art papers to show in the "Printer Settings➞Basic➞Media Type➞Fine Art Paper" drop-down of the printer dialog box.  (I am using "print dialog box" to refer to Aperture's print dialog, and "printer dialog box" to refore to the OS print dialog box that comes up after clicking "print" at the bottom right of Aperture's print dialog box.)
 
The 3880 does not accept roll paper.  One of my reasons for using the 9900 is that it does accept roll paper.  There are no "(Manual - Rear)" presets that I could find for the 9900.
 
Oddly, in PS-CC (this machine), I cannot specify "Hot Press" either.  Only on the other machine (which is at the community arts center lab where I print) does "Hot Press" show in the fine art paper types.  That machine does not have Aperture installed.
 
I have updated my 9900 driver, and downloaded the most recent ICC profiles for the paper.  I installed the profiles in both the system library and my user library.  I can select the profiles.
 
The current driver listed on Epson's site is 9.04.  The version which shows in "System Prefs➞Print and Scan➞Epson Stylus Pro 9900➞Options and Supplies➞General➞Driver Version" is 8.64.  I have re-downloaded and re-installed.  Twice.  My system consistantly reports 8.64.
 
I have rebooted, hard and soft.

I am using only Epson ICC profiles, only for matte papers ("Mk").
 
Any suggestions?
 
Thanks.
 
Cross-posted at the Apple Aperture Support Community.
 
Kirby.

RobSaecker

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Re: Epson 9900: Can't select some Fine Art Papers (Hot Press; Cold Press)
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2013, 09:43:38 pm »

Kirby,

I'll be surprised if I can be of any help, but: is this the Aperture print dialog, or the printer dialog that comes up after you hit print in the Aperture dialog?

And, are the MIA profiles installed in the System/Library or in the user Library? Edit -> never mind, you said that already.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2013, 09:50:40 pm by RobSaecker »
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KirbyKrieger

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Re: Epson 9900: Can't select some Fine Art Papers (Hot Press; Cold Press)
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2013, 10:14:58 pm »

Hi Rob -- I appreciate you reading through and replying  :) .

The paper selection is done in the second printer dialog -- the one that come up after hitting "Print" at the bottom right of Aperture print dialog.  In Aperture's print dialog, one specifies the printer, the paper size (from a drop-down with many specific items; it seems apparent that one's choice selects more than simply the paper size), the color profile, and more.

IME -- with the 3880 -- one has to select an item from the Paper Size drop-down that allows one to select "Hot Press" from the printer dialog.  With the 9900 I tried about twenty different combinations but none brought up the missing papers.

The papers are selected in the second print dialog -- the one I am calling the "printer dialog".  This selection is made on the "Basic" tab of the dialog box, via "Media Type➞Fine Art Paper".

It's (obviously) over my head, but although I can't seem to get the most up-to-date ICC profiles to load, I don't think that's the problem  My hunch is that the problem is with the paper selection in the first print dialog.

I deleted the installed drivers for the 9900 tonight, so I can't check anything until I re-install them once I have the printer attached again (I don't know how to install printers in OS X without having them mounted.)  I have "rented" access to the 9900 from 10-2 tomorrow.

I'm happy to report that I have since taken the time to examine the one print I made by exporting a 16-bit TIFF from Aperture and printing from PS-CS6.  It is excellent.  I'll confirm the color under controlled lights tomorrow, but I don't see anything wrong with it.

RobSaecker

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Re: Epson 9900: Can't select some Fine Art Papers (Hot Press; Cold Press)
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2013, 11:04:34 pm »

Kirby,

this is a shot-in-the-dark, as I don't have an Epson much less a 9900, so FWIW: on my system there are profiles in /Library/Printers/Canon/BJPrinter/Resources/ICCProfiles. IIRC, I had to put aliases to profiles in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles into that folder, in order to get them to show up in the printer dialog. Assuming there is a something similar for Epson, you might try that.
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langier

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Re: Epson 9900: Can't select some Fine Art Papers (Hot Press; Cold Press)
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2013, 09:15:25 am »

Some of the papers may not have been included (brayed out) because they may be optimized for th MK ink only. You may need to change over the ink from the Photoblack to get them to display.

One quick workaround is to select a regular matte paper and PK combo and override the selection limitations the choose your paper profile and print away.

HTH,

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