[ErikMM]

I used to print straight from Illustrator on a PC through a Epson 1400.

I could make very dark films because I had total control of the printing: increasing saturation (if I recall correctly) being the main benefit on the pc to give dark films. There may have been another variable of control on the pc as well, but its been several months...

On the Mac, the films are terrible, and I have no control, or very little compared to my (broken) pc.

One thing I do is create/set all film art to this black: C 63, M 52, Y 51, K 100...this uses the ink more evenly and provided excellent results on my pc, plus it allows me to do other color printing when I need colors.

I tried to print through photoshop and reader on the MAc as well to see if I could get better printing, but no luck. I miss my PC, and now I'm screwed with some jobs backed up and no money for a RIP program!

Suggestions?

 

[red514]

is it possible you are using a different driver on the pc then the mac? their should be no difference between the two if you are using the same driver, all features should be the same.

 

[ErikMM]

don't know...the pc is gone


using whatever the mac came with....1400 is listed in the dropdown, and works, but not anything close to what the pc did

 

[red514]

i would check on the manufacturers web site for the latest driver, That maybe the issue.

 

[sben763]

This method will work Mac, pc, any inkjet. After your separations in your graphics program change your black to a rich black 100C 100M 100Y 100K. Then when printing choose photo setting and premium photo glossy paper. You films will be dark. Print from all channels. You may even need to dry films for a while. If you get too much ink you can cut back on the Y or choose a cheaper grade photo paper.

 

[organica]

Drivers?
We output on both mac and pc and they turn out the same film quality.

 

[rogerholien]

I agree with the advice about printing on your Mac. But if you feel more comfortable with your PC, just download virtulization program like Parallels or VMWare fusion. Of course you have to buy them but your able to able to use Windows on you Mac. Of course it has to be an Intel based Mac. This is what I do and I use Corel Draw and get very dark separations. You can also just use bootcamp that is free on the Mac.

 

[sben763]

I print the way i reccomend on my PC also I perfer this a turning up saturation only uses more black ink when printing 100K. Where as using other method prints all channels and if you use refillable and put all black in they dark as if not darker than when I print with rip

 

[ErikMM]

Thank you all.

My fear of the "do not leave printer dialog box to adjust settings" scared me. I found what I shought, saturation and all!

Thank YOU!

I also tried 100 for CYM and K.

FILM CAME OUT GREAT! No RIP NEEDED!

 

[ErikMM]

Mac HOW TO:

1. file/print
2. click printer tab in printer dialog
-ignore warning heeding you to stay in printer dialog window you are about to leave
3. check layout, color matching, paper handling etc.
4. print settings: choose photo paper glossy
(don't know if selecting ultra premium matters...figure the ink jet film is close to regular photo paper?)
4b. I choose automatic mode and moved slider to "quality"
4c. could try advanced mode then photo rpm or photo (don't know that this is necessary)
5. color management: I kept saturation at 0, but perhaps bumping up to 1 or 2 would help, but it could start to run


burn them screens...

 

[BroJames]

premium photo glossy paper.
photo paper glossy
matte (what I use)

Has anyone compared them to see which lays down more ink?

 

[ErikMM]

premium photo glossy paper.
photo paper glossy
matte (what I use)

Has anyone compared them to see which lays down more ink?

found this: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing/t141868.html

I have been playing w/ saturation and boosting CMY sliders as well

I was told some time ago to do C 63 M 52 Y 51 K 100. Forgot why. Changed them all to 100, but don't know that that helped.

 

[jfish]

Also get Refillable cartridges and buy some DYE black ink most epson ink is pigment now and isnt near the opacity of a DYE based ink. Fill the carts or just black with the dye black ink and you will get amazing results. The R1400 is a dye based ink but there's much darker black dyes out there.

Ink saturation/density and drying time per print pass settings can be found on macs too just crank it up to 5-10 or even 20 but shouldnt need to go over 5 or 10 for a DARK deposit. Waterproof film and dye ink and youll never have a problem again also dye ink doesn't clog nozzles like pigment ink because pigment is what clogs the nozzles dye is dye. Best of luck!

 

[sben763]

ErikMM. The less CMYK is used when going to the ultra premium photo paper it was believed that the mixture was darker

Pigment ink although not as dark as dye when printing in rich black will block out as much UV light as stock dye inks. Your film doesn't have to be as opaque as you might think. I had a salesman bring in clear ink printed a film you could barely see where it printed but burned films perfect. They didn't sell clear ink but was for demonstration

Using dye ink formulated for films does produce the best results.

 

[ErikMM]

Epson 1400 - what settings for transparency printing?

basics: Epson America, Inc. - Support - Highlights


photo rpm: Epson Stylus Photo RX580, FAQ - Technical Support - Epson America, Inc.

thanks again everyone...just finished some films, I'll let you know

I found the darkest/and smoothest to be:
printer/printer settings/premium photo glossy/photo rpm
+
printer/color management/epson standard/gamma 1.8

I also boosted contrast and saturation to 5 each-- don't know that this changed anything 'significantly'

I have to say that there was little change when I tried various setting combos, and I printed a lot of films. Some settings were noticeably lighter, or bumpier, and some were smooth. I had two different desk jet films (don't know brands, one was cloudy, and the other more transparent). I like the cloudier one better.