pictorico film and inkjet paper

[JeffD]

I have a particularly troublesome Epson 1280, and it seems I am always having to fiddle with the Epson calibration routines, and cleaning acrobatics to get a perfect nozzle check, and alignment print.

My question-

If I can get a good nozzle check, and then a good alignment calibration using standard inkjet paper, can I be reasonably sure that this will carry over and print correctly on the expensive Pictorico film?

In a perfect world (one where I have unlimited money), I would do all nozzle checks, and alignment exercises on the film, but, alas, my world is not perfect yet....

[Dave Miller]

I do nozzle & alignment checks on plain paper and don't have any problems with a change of media. I always do a print check with a small sized image on the chosen media, say about A6, before printing full size, this allows me to do 4 test prints on an A4 sheet, which cuts down on wastage. This is exactly the same method as I would us in a darkroom.

[sanking]

I do nozzle & alignment checks on plain paper and don't have any problems with a change of media. I always do a print check with a small sized image on the chosen media, say about A6, before printing full size, this allows me to do 4 test prints on an A4 sheet, which cuts down on wastage. This is exactly the same method as I would us in a darkroom.

My working procedures as very similar to those of Dave. I generally start with image files that have enough detail to print at around 16X24" at 360 dpi.

1. Once the image file has been cleaned up and all tonal corrections applied I temporarily down-size the file and make a small print of about 7X10" on paper, usually on enhanced matte or luster surface, to make sure that what I am seeing on screen is really what I want. The paper print often leads to a few small corrections of the file as I am able to see things on paper that don't show up on the monitor.

2. Next I make a negative on Pictorico or some other OHP material of the same size as the paper print.

3. I use the negative to make a print on the process, usually kallitype or palladium as a first draft, leading perhaps finally to a carbon print. Sometimes the first print on process suggests minor changes in
processing, such as slightly longer exposure or some contrast control.

4. The last step would be determine if the image is one that would look good larger, say 10X16 or 14X20. If so, I then make the larger negative. Unless you make some kind of mistake in preparing the file the larger negative should print exactly like the smaller one.

This working procedure has advantage of saving money since good photo paper is less expensive than Pictorico OHP, and the print on paper may reveal changes that need to be made. It is also interesting to work this way because it allows one to see how a particular image looks on different media. From a purely visual perspective some images, at least to my eyes, look better in one media than another. Carbon, kallitype, Pt./Pd, inkjet and AZO as media all have individual qualities that result in significant visual differences in the final print.

Sandy

[donbga]

I have a particularly troublesome Epson 1280, and it seems I am always having to fiddle with the Epson calibration routines, and cleaning acrobatics to get a perfect nozzle check, and alignment print.

My question-

If I can get a good nozzle check, and then a good alignment calibration using standard inkjet paper, can I be reasonably sure that this will carry over and print correctly on the expensive Pictorico film?

In a perfect world (one where I have unlimited money), I would do all nozzle checks, and alignment exercises on the film, but, alas, my world is not perfect yet....

Hi Jeff,

FWIW, I do all of my nozzle checks on the back of waste prints. In addition to that I can get 4 nozzle checks on 1 Letter size sheet by triming off the old nozzle checks. There is sort of a trick to doing this. Start by printing your first nozzle check; for the second nozzle check print from the other end. On the thrid trim the 1st or 2nd NC as closely as possible and feed from that end and for the last trim the other end and feed from that direction. This may seem very anal but when you can utilize expensive material like this it makes sense (cents). Even cheap EEM isn't that cheap. BTW, I purchase all of my Epson ink and paper from Atlantic Exchange - www.atlex.com. They seem to have the best prices on the web for Epson ink and paper.

I've also cut and pasted several different images that have been downsized to a new blank document allowing me to print 4 images at a time on one sheet of transparency material. This way you test different adjustment curves all at once.

I did this a lot last year testing with an Epson C80 and it worked fine, be sure to label each image so you can associate each variation with each image curve or file.

You can also do alignment checks using the back of prints as well but you may get more accurate checks using the front of regular inkjet paper.

Before commiting an image to transparency material I proof it with an inkjet print. I do this with my 1160 which is loaded with quad tone inks. I also have been using Roy Harrington's Quad Tone Rip with my 2200 using Epson Ultrachrome inks. It's a pretty nice package.

Good luck,

Don Bryant