[macmiller]

Does anyone know of a way to modify an Epson printer that uses CMYK + LC & LM to run just the CMYK for normal printing? I bought an Artisan 1430 and Accurip recently after my Screenwriter 4 died. Now that I can print color, I kinda want to keep that option and not run all black. Accurip will let you choose which printhead you load black into. I bought a bulk CISS kit and was thinking I could run black in the LC and LM along with the normal black slot. I could theoretically print color images thru the normal print driver, and use 3 black printheads when printing films. But then it dawned on me that if you can't turn off the LC and LM heads in the driver, it will not know any different that you have black in those slots and will ruin the prints.

Just thinking out loud, I could of course just use the one black head with the bulk system and keep all the colors, but it would print films faster with 3 heads. (or buy dedicated color printer! ...and then another for sublimation!!)

thanks in advance for any info!

 

[Greatzky]

If you set your printer settings for normal paper and fine quality you will only print CMYK, but you wont' get amazing prints like you would if you set your paper for photo glossy and Photo RPM..
That's the only way that I know to do that.

Get a 2nd printer for color prints. you can get a refurbished 1100 on epson's online store for $109.

 

[macmiller]

Ok, cool! I don't really need photo prints off of this, so that is good to know!

 

[sben763]

+1 to Greatzky. Not many people know that about the 6 channels. The artisan 1430 is suppose to be the exact printer as the 1400 but with wireless capability. Hopefully something is not changed in the print driver that would cause this to print from all 6 channels as printer evolve they may have done this to prevent head clogging from unused channels lm and lc which was common for every day printer use with these printers(non photo printing). I am praying 1 of my 3 1400 dies so I can justify to my wife for buying a new printer. I know she would just throw a fit if I added an 8th printer. I have been wanting to test since this printer came out just to see if their were any enhancement besides the wireless.

 

[Greatzky]

I have heard from a few people that they don't like the 1430 at all. that they changed the way it prints/printheads/droplet size/etc.. I have no idea though. I haven't researched it yet.

I definitely want to try the 1100 though. faster and pigment ink. sounds interesting... Now that the 1400 is discontinued I want to have at least 1 back up printer and/or have a printer for films and one for prints/everyday printing.

 

[sben763]

The 1100 faster mainly because it will print at lower resoultion. When I print with rip filmmaker I can choose 720x720 get the same quality as 1400 printing at 1400x720 and the 1100 finishes min ahead of the 1400. If I choose 1400x1400 on both the 1100 will finish about 20-30 seconds faster. Time is money so a 6 color job you save 3 min. My WF100 I now use for heat transfers because it will print them much faster than 1400 uses less ink and very close quality. I have only tested printing films side by side though photos would be a different story.

 

[Greatzky]

mac when I get a chance I will dig through my older hard drive and see if i can find all the links and files I had when I first got my 1400.
I had links to sites that explain more about the epson printers and how to maintain them better. There were also specific files to print out daily or every other day so that the print heads stayed very clean and you didn't lose as much ink as you would with a head cleaning.

I definitely have to add a waste tank to my 1400 though. Doing all these films (was busting them out like crazy because I am on a trial of Filmmaker) at once definitely created a bit of a mess in the printer from me refilling the carts a few times.

 

[macmiller]

Well, for those wanting to know, even on just the "text" setting, it prints from all 6 heads. Oh well, it will print films faster as a 6 head black!

 

[sben763]

Well, for those wanting to know, even on just the "text" setting, it prints from all 6 heads. Oh well, it will print films faster as a 6 head black!

Now I really want one as from what I read that thing prints faster than the 1400. Now to get the RIP companies to start supporting a driver. Yes it does have an updated print engine. I am going to do some research tomorrow. I will look into the droplet size and hopefully they didn't take the variable dot out of the printer and I wonder if I can Trick it to use the 1430 port since with filmmaker you can choose any installed port. I may have to accidentally knock 1 of the 1400 off the shelf while cleaning tomorrow. Or maybe office max will have the trade in deal going and since the 1400 is discontinued I could flush it out and put it up as a back up.

 

[macmiller]

Not sure how quick it is compared to a 1400 since I never had one.

Accurip supports the 1430. From what I can tell, this printer has only been out a couple of months. When my xante died, I looked for a 1400 locally, and found one, but that's another story about terrible customer service. I returned it and found a 1430 just a few miles from me at Staples. $220 after rebate. I might buy another and start doing sublimation for use on poly jerseys, etc.

I did a trial of Accurip and Filmmaker to try each before I purchased. Filmmaker does support it, but I never got it to print, must have been a glitch somewhere that could have been fixed, but since Accurip printed out of the box w/o a hitch, I bought it and like it so far.

 

[sben763]

I just looked and in the V3 it is supported YES. Filmmaker is a little hard to setup. They should have better setup instructions. After setting up you have to go into the queue and change the port from null to your port where your printer resides. Also t-rip is a rebranded rip which is exactly the same thing as filmmaker and has a great setup instructions. I know you already bought accurip but I thought might add info for others reading thread. I test drove each RIP and both are very good but where filmmaker beat all others was in gradients, color transitions and multi tones. It takes advantage of the variable dot technology in the printer where it prints 3 different sizes where accurip and the other for that fact only print 1 size. This and the fact I bought a shop out and the had fastrip, so I only had to pay $195 to upgrade to filmmaker DTP V3 and sometime in mid 2011 they started supporting all black 6 channel printing. Again there is nothing wrong with accurip and will work for most but I was looking for a little extra something to help me out shine my competitors there is like 10-14 shops around me. I am in a collage town and get a lot of pre made designs for print. I was able to print some designs that a competitor had been printing for a event the last few years, was given a chance to print a sample of same design last year. I got the job was .50 higher and was just contacted on Friday to print this years job not to mention the 10 other jobs they have sent me over the past year and word is starting to spread so much that I am going from printing in a garage to getting a shop in town. I can't give all the credit to the rip I would hope customer service and some other factors on my end helped but I think in the high end designs it gave me the confidence I needed.

Thanks for the info Mac. I am going to buy one soon as office max puts them on sale and has their trade in deal I keep a old junk printer around for this. This will get the printer down to about $169 + tax