Gloss Optimizer - Epson

[Ink stained Fingers]

While searching for the ultimate gloss - ink, paper, enhancer/optimizer I came again across the rarely discussed problems with yellow pigment inks that they fade more quickly than other colors, tested as such by Aardenburg with Epson Ultrachrome inks. Testing of the new HD ink of the P600/800 shows a significant improvement in that respect. But none of the suppliers of compatible HD inks - Lyson, Vermont ink, Rihac and others loose so far a word whether their inks would yield the same improvement of their yellow inks. The yellow pigment fading problem is known since a long time as a publication of Konica by 2004 shows

http://www.konicaminolta.com/inkjet/technology/report/pdf/icis_200205_tomotake.pdf
I didn't know that Konica was/is involved in inkjet printing, but laser toner is as well pigment based which may
create the link.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I tested various inks and semiglossy papers , I got a sample pack of papers of the Farbenwerk selection and the Tecco variations and a Sihl semimatte. I gave up semiglossy/luster/silk/semimatte papers long time ago with pigment inks, they all showed pretty strong bronzing, with different inks which effectively rendered those in combination with these papers as pretty useless. I tried them again with the gloss optimizer on the R800, either directly or in a 2nd print pass which show quite some difference and improvement, the bronzing is gone, the gloss is slightly increased and very much uniform, the blacks are better and there is a surface protection effect. Sliding your flat fingernail without pressure over a print on a sglossy paper will leave a visible trace but not if it is protected with GO. I'm still waiting for some inks to test, but this is an interim status I'm quite happy with.
I'm using the Sihl/Aldi semimatte paper, this has the same problem as with dye inks, the ink limit is pretty low, The R800 leaves wet spots on the paper , even more with GO. It works out better with the R265 which has different glossy paper settings - glossy - premium glossy - ultra glossy. Profiling and printing with the standard glossy paper setting , and adding the Go with the R800 in a 2nd pass gives the best results. The Sihl/Aldi paper runs at 5€/50 sheets (1,99€/15 sheets corrected) which is a real bargain for this performance. Papers with a slightly more appealing surface - by pure personal judgement - are the Farbenwerk semimatte 260 at 40€/100 sheets and the Tecco Pearl Gloss Super PPG250 at 30€/50 sheets, these papers are in a different pricing range , but that's papers I can print directly in one go with the R800 - no ink puddles on the paper when leaving the printer.
I'll do some more testing with glossy papers in the next time and have to find a way how to use the gloss optimizer on my old 24" Pro 7600, here I cannot afford to install a 2nd one just for that purpose.

 

[martin0reg]

With my R800 I don't remember a big difference using GO or not, but I will try it next time.
How did you get the improved gloss:
- which ink (photochrome?) and which GO, octopus/OCP or the expensive photochrome?
- together with the inks (set by driver) or with a second pass? If the latter - what are your settings and image file to print an extra pass of pure GO with the r800?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I tested several ink sets on the semiglossy/semimatte/luster/silk type papers and earlier on glossy papers - Sihl and Tecco PG250 - Coloration ED by Farbenwerk as a Durabrite substitute, a mix of pigment inks from last year . OCP, Inktec powerchrome, Farbenwerk AQ880 and some more, some sheets with the Inktec Powerchrome ink, Pigmera Higloss, Fotorite pigment ink.
I used used both the Full and Auto settings for the GO option on the R800, all those inks show quite some gloss difference and some degree of bronzing on the glossy papers which is the disappointing part of the tests so far.
I'm using either a GO by Farbenwerk or octopus-office , but they don't make much difference , only the smell varies somewhat. All this let me stop using pigment inks on glossy A4 papers since quite a while on a R265.
So I was looking for other options - the semiglossy type papers, I did some of the testing already last year but found back those test sheets , and I printed them over with GO in the R800 - with interesting results - the blacks got darker, the bronzing is gone, and virtually no gloss difference between different colors. The GO is barely increasing the glossy look.
How do I do the GO overprint with the R800 - I'm printing a white image stretched to full format A4, borderless, Glossy paper Foto setting, minimal expansion, GO option on 'full', so it covers the complete sheet with GO.

I printed profile patches with the Sihl/Aldi/semimatte on the R800, that delivers too much liquid onto the paper - inks + GO, so I reprinted the profile patches with an R265 with pigment inks - Glossy paper, Photo setting, that delivers enough ink to the paper, and the GO as a 2nd pass in the R800, that gives pleasant results.
I created an ICM-profile with that printout, the gamut volume is about 10% less in volume units than the gamut with the DL inks onto the Sihl glossy paper on a L800.

And I tested a Farbenwerk Semiglossy 260 and a Tecco Pearl 260 with the Coloration ED inks in the R800, with and without GO, these papers can take the ink+GO, no wet ink stains visible on the papers leaving the printer.
The surface appearance is somewhat finer compared to the Sihl semimatte, but they are much more expensive.
The results are very similar - visible bronzing and some gloss difference without GO, and all of that gone with GO, in this case in a 1-pass print with the GO option on/full.
These types of semiglossy/Pearl/Luster etc papers are a matter of look, taste and personal preference, not all people like these papers, but at this time they deliver better looking prints (with GO) than with pigment inks on real glossy papers.

 

[martin0reg]

Regarding the ink pooling, I have the same problem with DL ink, particular black, on Aldi-Sihl. With an old stylus photo 950/960 (7 channels with two same black carts) this ink on this paper was almost unuseable... until I tried paper choice "glossy film": less ink spray on the paper, finally a working setting. In the driver menu of the r800 there is no glossy film but "transparencies"... which I haven't tried yet. Matte paper setting means less ink spray, but unfortunately this means MK...and no GO option..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I printed this sheet last year with the Inktec Powerchrome inks, onto the Sihl silk/smatte paper, and the top part shows strong bronzing on the cyan, magenta and light C and M patches, and strong reflections on the black patch. I overprinted the bottom part today with GO, the black looks much better, the bronzing effects are gone.


Prints with other inks look quite similar, the GO effect on this and other s-glossy/silk papers is comparable.

The Sihl smatte is for the only budget paper at this time, I need to correct the pricing above slightly, the last time this paper was sold at 1,99€/15 sheets. but still very good.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

the issues with the yellow pigment ink fading has been discussed some more here, with the impact onto the overall Aardenburg ratings

https://luminous-landscape.com/the-weakest-link/

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Yes, it is a pity that the Sihl/Aldi glossy paper does not have the same ink absorption capacity as the Netbit paper does, that's the reason I'm not using it anymore since quite a while - the glossy one. I still have some silk/semimatte packages from some time ago (it may look like paper hoarding....) which I can use as described above in combination with the R265 and R800 for the GO in a 2-pass print run.

 

[palombian]

Yes, it is a pity that the Sihl/Aldi glossy paper does not have the same ink absorption capacity as the Netbit paper does, that's the reason I'm not using it anymore since quite a while - the glossy one. I still have some silk/semimatte packages from some time ago (it may look like paper hoarding....) which I can use as described above in combination with the R265 and R800 for the GO in a 2-pass print run.

Strange, I use the Aldi glossy on the Canon PRO 9500 II (with the new set of Precision Colors pigment ink) in high quality setting and never observed wet spots.
Overprinting with GO (for Pro-10) egalises the gloss the same way as you describe.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

drivers for different printers, even the settings for different papers for the same printer vary the max. ink limit . I'm always printing with the ICM off setting since I'm using my own profiles. Already the settings for color adjustments use less ink with the normal settings since you can turn up the ink density by color. Just to give an example - the Epson R265 offers settings for Epsong glossy - premium glossy and ultra glossy papers, the first one is o.k. for the Sihl/Aldi paper, the other two print with too much ink for the darker colors , brown etc.
The L800 offers the same settings, the R800 only has one glossy paper option which is most likely o.k. for Epson papers, is o.k. for lots of other papers including the Netbit/Aldi, but it's too much ink for the Sihl/Aldi paper .
Canon driver settings will most likely fall into the same range. Just enjoy the Sihl glossy paper in this case.