Anyone using an Epson Pro 3880 printer?

Spie

Spie

Spie

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I'm in the process of upgrading my monitor and printer to take advantage of the fabulous image quality produced by the M9.

I've posted a query regarding suitable monitors here but I'm a bit short of information regarding the Epson Pro 3880 printer. I have read 1 very favourable review but I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has one.
 
I've not used the 3880, but I do run 5 3800's as well as a 4000, 7600, 9600, 7800 and 9800 printer at work. All great printers if set up and used properly. The main difference between the 3800 and 3880 is that the 3880 has an additional 'vivid magenta' cartridge that helps to slightly increase the gamut. I have no doubt that it is a great printer.

One thing to consider thought is that to get it to run correctly you will need to set it up correctly. Do some reading on colour management (I warn you it is a very deep minefield of information and confusion.). But essentially, buy a monitor and paper calibrator. Get your monitor calibrated to a target similar to your viewing conditions (say 65k, 100lumins), then make a paper profile for your paper of choice.

Do you want glossy, lustre or matte images? Personally I'm not a fan of super glossy papers, so I would look at something like the Illford smooth pearl (Lustre) or Hahnemuhle photo rag (matte). I would also seriously look at getting a decent third party RIP. I use Colorbyte Imageprint, which although does have it's quirks is a good and intuitive piece of software. It not only makes it easier to print images, but will improve image quality and ink efficiency of the printer.

Anyway, enough of the rant, if you have any questions please ask. :)
 
Messiah Khan said:
One thing to consider thought is that to get it to run correctly you will need to set it up correctly. Do some reading on colour management (I warn you it is a very deep minefield of information and confusion.). But essentially, buy a monitor and paper calibrator. Get your monitor calibrated to a target similar to your viewing conditions (say 65k, 100lumins), then make a paper profile for your paper of choice.

Do you want glossy, lustre or matte images? Personally I'm not a fan of super glossy papers, so I would look at something like the Illford smooth pearl (Lustre) or Hahnemuhle photo rag (matte). I would also seriously look at getting a decent third party RIP. I use Colorbyte Imageprint, which although does have it's quirks is a good and intuitive piece of software. It not only makes it easier to print images, but will improve image quality and ink efficiency of the printer.
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When you talk about "viewing conditions" my study does get direct sunlight making viewing conditions variable throughout the day. Is this a problem?

I have no idea what a RIP is. Please explain.
 
I have an HP Designjet 120 which is an equivalent to the 3800 maybe a little older, I don't think you would be disappointed with the 3880. I use my HP 120 for printing both graphics and photo's it is a bit ink heavy if you want super fine quality but that could be down to its age.

Is there a paper roll kit available for the 3880 you might find it handy for big prints? If I was to replace my HP id be very much considering the 3880!
 
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Spie said:
When you talk about "viewing conditions" my study does get direct sunlight making viewing conditions variable throughout the day. Is this a problem?

I have no idea what a RIP is. Please explain.
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The main problem with viewing conditions is the variable colour temperature you get. Daylight is very cold, whereas artificial lighting varies from orange to green. This change in colour temperature results in metamerism which is a slight colour shift of the inks in the different viewing conditions. Newer inks are pretty good at reducing metamerism, but they do still suffer from it. Varying brightness may also be a problem. One option is to use a calibrated viewing booth (maybe a bit overkill, but an option non the less) such as the GTI PDV-1e. One of the benefits of using a calibrated viewing booth is that you can calibrate your monitor to the same temperature as the viewing booth, allowing for much more accurate soft proofing.

A RIP(Raster Image Processor) is a third party piece of software that effectively replace the drivers. You would do your image editing in say Photoshop or Lightroom, then save the image as a tiff. You would then load this tiff into the RIP to do the printing. Again if set up correctly, the RIP can improve IQ and ink efficiency over the standard drivers. Some RIPs (Such as Imageprint) also allow you to place as many images as you want on a piece of paper and position them accurately, allowing efficient use of paper.

ichabod crane said:
Is there a paper roll kit available for the 3880 you might find it handy for big prints? If I was to replace my HP id be very much considering the 3880!
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Don't think there is. It does go up to A2 cut sheet though. You need to go up to the 4880/4450 if you want to take rolls (up to 17").

BTW Spie, if you do have plenty of space in your study and are serious about your own printing, I would seriously consider looking at a second hand Epson 7800. It takes 24" paper rolls and although initially more expensive, works out much cheaper to run over time.
 
I've decided to go for the 3880. It has excellent reviews, is fairly compact and can print on small paper sizes.

Which leads me to my next question. It doesn't have a roll option, which doesn't bother me, so I'll be using cut sheets. Probably A2, A4 and some small sizes. So what paper should I use for the most faithful reproduction?
 
I use Ilford Galerie Pearl A3 with the 3880. It's good value paper producing very nice results. It's also the only paper I have a very trustworthy profile for (The canned ones are good and I have nothing to profile paper with myself). Obviously i've not tried them all, there are some very nice heavyweight exhibition papers about.

You may also want to look into a viewing booth set-up with 5000K lights. Calibrating your monitor, soft proofing your images and carefully printing them is worthless without an equally controlled environment to asses them in. You can use different lights to replicate different viewing conditions (Obviously your average interior house lights are much warmer than 5000k - Same for most galleries etc)

Be careful, colour management is addictive and just as expensive as photography! :p
 
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I agree with Adrianr, the Ilford Smooth Pearl is a good option. Also maybe look at the Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Baryta Paper. If you want matte paper then look at the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Paper. Really nice heavy paper that feels expensive, but beware as it is very brittle.
 
Are any of the Epson papers worth a look? I can buy them at a reasonable price ;)
 
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