Advice: Epson R300 and Upgrading

[zlisik]

This is my first time posting but I have been reading this forum for a little while. It's been very informative, thanks.

I'm an amateur photographer and would like to start experimenting printing at home.

I've had an epson R300 laying around with a paper feed problem for a while. Just recently I've cleaned it of dust and hand fed it some paper and cleaned the rollers with alcohol. It's now feeding paper correctly 99.5% of the time.
Some black text was not printing out quite right but I suspect the printer just needs its heads cleaned. I hadn't used it in about a year. Unfortunetly I'm now out of ink.

I've done some research and thought that the refill kit from MIS (empty easy refill carts, ink, etc) would be suitable for me. its listed for 105$

I've never really used this printer for pictures, it was more of a 'in case I ever have the desire to' type purchases, and of course it was practically given away. So I'm not entirely sure I'll be pleased with the photo printing of this printer.

I'm also concerned about the printing problems that I think a head cleaning will solve. What if its not solved by a head cleaning? I'm not sure how to describe the quality of the printed text but realigning the heads helped.

I'm also thinking that I may not be happy with dye based ink. I'd like to print and frame some pictures. Will I be disapointed with photos fading after a year or two? I've read it can be bad if the photos are displayed in a sunny location.

I suspect the best course of action would be to buy some cheaper ink carts, experiment with photo printing at home and send away photos I want to frame to a lab. And if my photography takes off and I become more involved with printing at home I'll upgrade to a pigment ink, large format printer.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[mikling]

zilsik

If you find that the R300 prints fine after experimenting and using it more. You should know that you can use pigmented inks with the printer and achieve the longevity that you desire. It is best that luster or satin paper be used for printing as that will minimize the gloss differential that will occur when you use pigmented inks on glossy paper. ( the pigmented ink partially sits on top of the paper) . In order to use the R300 properly with pigmented inks you should become knowledgeable in color management and the use of printer profiles. Armed with that knowledge your current printer is truly capable of stunning pictures especially when hung on the wall. I say this because newer printers are more fine grained than the R300 but beyond arms length, the grain in the R300 is undetectable at all.

Do note that pigmented inks are more prone to clogging when the printer is unused. The solids within the ink and the waterproof nature of this kind of ink poses a higher risk of a serious clog versus that of dye ink. Unlike dye ink, the clog is not as easily dissolvable as dye ink. So once converted be prepared to use the printer at least once or twice a week in some capacity. Like all things, there is an upside but a downside as well.

 

[zlisik]

mikling,

Thank you for your informative response. I had read that some epsons could be used with pigments but I didn't know my R300 was.

I have been trying to learn about colour managment, ICC profiles and such. Can you recommend any links for someone just begining to learn?

Since pigment inks were intended for use with my printer do you have any suggestions when buying pigment inks, what to look out for or any specifications? When browsing the MIS website they simply ask for a printer model and tell you what ink you should use. They also make a point of saying that their inks are specially formulated for different printers. As such there mus be differently forumalted pigment inks, can you recommend pigment inks that would work well with my epson R300?

 

[mikling]

The R300 was not specified to be used with pigments. If you use the standard driver you will not get great colors as pigments react differently to dye when it applied to paper. The printer firmware on pigment printers is thus designed to accomodate this in combination with the standard driver. However, this can largely be overcome by applying a good ICC profile matched to the intended paper.

The question of why would Epson not ship R300s with pigment inks is largely one of marketing and product segmentation and pricing. The R300 was meant to compete in the lower price ranges of 6 color dye photo printers. They did not want it to cannibalize sales of its more expensive R800 and up printers. With Epson dropping the R800, only the more expensive R1900 wide carriage and up are shipped with pigment inks.

If you do clog a printer from non usage for a long period with pigment ink, it is much more work to try and clear it.

Try Northlight images as a starter for some tips on color management. You should be warned it can get technical so be prepared. In practice, once you have it set up properly it is not that complicated. There are numerous books and web sites available if you do a search.