OCP pigment black question

[Lucas28]

On my Epson Workforce WF-7525 printer, the photo printing is pretty good, but it lacks that extra punch compared to prints made with my Epson Pro 3880 or R3000, both using a special dedicated photo black cartridge to increase the contrast.

I noticed that on a Durabrite+ printer the black ink is used too if the paper is set to matte.
It must be the case on a workforce model as well.

So you can print with CMYK just by setting the paper to matte. You dont like matte paper? Then fill the black cartridge with photo black and the paper setting to matte. Now you can print CMYK on glossy papers.

Its even possible to print with black ink only with the matte setting. For b/w photos.
Ive tried photo black in my Office B40W and the result is fine.

 

[Tin Ho]

Its even possible to print with black ink only with the matte setting. For b/w photos.
Ive tried photo black in my Office B40W and the result is fine.

This is a good idea. I guess you can mix the CMY ink with equal amount of each color to make your own photo black ink. This is easier than having to buy a photo black ink.

 

[pharmacist]

Dag Lucas28,

Bedankt voor de tip van de papierinstelling op matte te zetten om de printer te forceren om de zwarte inktpatroon te gebruiken bij fotoprinten. I am going to give it a try now and see how the results are and hopefully the resolution is good enough compared to the setting: glossy photo paper.

 

[pharmacist]

Just to report back about Lucas28' tip to use photo black in the black cartridge, set paper setting to Epson Matte (quality: High Quality) works just great. Because I used OCP Photo Black the resulting prints are significantly better in gloss in the dark/black area. Not only superior gloss compared to the CMY printing method, but also deeper blacks and increased contrast (That's why Canon calls its printers having a dedicated photo black "Contrast Plus").

Actually I could hardly notice any difference between a print now, whether is has been produced by my Epson Pro 3880, Epson Photo R3000 or from this simple CMYK-printing Epson WF-7525. Now I understand why the Epson R1800, R1900 and R2000 do not have the light versions of cyan, magenta (or grey) to produce equally looking pictures compared to the K2 or K3 printers.

 

[Lucas28]

Thanks for the feedback, Pharmacist. I'm glad the K3 type of ink works well in your workforce printer too. The K3 can also be used in the colour section of my printer, for more gloss in the lighter shades of the photo.