Epson 3880 driver setting for Canson paper

[juice]

G'day guys,

great forum, nearly finished reading the 3rd party inks mega-thread

I've just got an Epson 3880 yesterday, having printed for years on an R230 which replaced an R210 when it died.

One quick question - I want to try printing on some Canson paper (been using cheapo Epson Archival Matte A4 to test it on) but I'm not sure what to set the Epson driver to for it. I've downloaded and installed the Canson 3880 profiles, and they show up in Lightroom no issues, but just wondering about the Epson driver that pops up after I hit print in LR. Given that I'm starting with printing on matte paper, should I just tell the driver that it's matte paper and leave the colour adjustment off (as it is currently) or is there some voodoo I need to perform? Also, what if I'm printing on glossy or pearl finishes, how does this affect the settings I should enter?

I have googled it extensively but must be using the wrong terms, or something. Apologies for being a halfwit in this area

TIA, juice

 

[jtoolman]

OK here are the basics.

So you have an ICC profile for a given paper.
When that profile was downloaded from the manufacturer, they should have provided a "Paper" setting such as Presentation Matte or Premium Luster and a quality level.

It basically matches the setting they used when they printed out their test prints to be scanned during the profile creation process.

So now you have your profile installed.
You have CALIBRATED your minitor right?????
Otherwise all that follows will be useless.

Anyway, edit your image in PS or LR ( I do not use LR so I will comment on PS )
You hit print and the PS printing dialog opens up.
On the right panel you chose to let PS control color
You then choose your ICC profile on the right drop down menu
Choose your rendering intent and click on Black Compensation.
Now you open the printer driver's properties
There you choose the PAPER TYPE that the profile was originally made with - They should have told you that info with the ICC download.
Choose the quality level that was originally used ( For best results ) and chose the paper size
Now I believe on the 3880 you choose COLOR and CUSTOM???? and the choose NONE to turn off color management.

So now you have a situation where PS is fully controlling the COLOR MANAGEMENT through the ICC profile for you paper.
The printer driver has ZERO control over COLOR MANAGEMENT and is just following the instructions sent to it by PS.

That's it in a nut shell.

BUT!!! If your monitor is not already calibrated with a calibrating device ($$$), none of the above will guarantee that you get prints that match your screen.

 

[juice]

Thanks for that, much appreciated.

I've been calibrating my screen for so long it's a total habit, so I forgot to mention it

The "They should have told you that info with the ICC download" was the key - the Canson site isn't all that well designed, but I found it, and got it sorted.

Thanks again, printing like a madman now