Epson 1400 + fotospeed + what paper?

ianmarsh

ianmarsh

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Does anyone here use an Epson 1400 printer with the Fotospeed Klarifine dye ink CIS system? If so, what papers do you use? I marginally prefer matt but I just want something that works to be honest.

I switched to Fotospeed on the assumption that I could use their papers and inks but their custom profiling doesn't do a great job (PF Lustre paper) and the technician said the printer is the problem. I have asked him to suggest a reliable paper for my combination of ink and printer but no answer yet.

Fotospeed will do me profiles with papers they sell but I don't want to buy more paper only to find out I cannot get a decent print. POAH here has offered to do profiles having sorted me out with my previous CIS. I'll probably take him up on the offer eventually, but don't want to waste his time and mine trying incompatible combinations.

So, if you have an Epson 1400 and Fotospeed Klarifine inks and can get decent prints (colour and/or B&W) please let me know.

Thanks

Ian
 
I'm not using Fotospeed cis or papers but I have an Epson 1400 with InkTec Midlands cis and use Innova Fibraprint Smooth Cotton High White and White Gloss (F Type) also download their icc profiles for the papers.
http://www.innovaart.com/ If you use their Contact Us form they will send you a sample pack.
Also use Ilford Galerie Smooth Gloss which is good.
hope this helps
Dave
 
Thanks Dave. I used to use InkTec CIS but switched to Fotospeed hoping the papers would combine well. I don't see much difference in the inks and POAH's profiles based on InkTec seem to work pretty well with Fotospeed ink. I can get close with Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl which is my fave paper. Worth another iteration to see if I can get rid of the magentas in the shadows...
 
hi Ian, remember not all ink paper combos work well.

if you still have the colour and B&W targets print them out and send them. you're not wasting my time.

my fotopseed ink and Harman paper don't work well in the Red gamut area
 
Hi Ross,

I am testing out combos of paper and profiles to see if I can get close. As before, your matt profile works well but I am struggling with pearl/glossy finishes. Shadows are very purple with Ilford smooth pearl or fotospeed lustre. They look fine fresh out of the printer but go purple once the ink settles. What bugs me most is that cheap eBay refills seem to work out of the box with ilfords own profiles. I don't see why CISS has to be so different.

Anyway, I'll try your targets again and be in touch.

Cheers

Ian
 
it could be a result of the way the paper works. have you tried using the classic paper rather smooth type as the classic is made for dye inks.

could also explain why the Matt papers are ok.

how long after the print do they look different?
 
The print seems to go through three phases (though I might be overanalysing this!).
Straight out of the printer everything looks fine, there might be a slight difference small enough to live with.
After a couple of minutes, using CIS inks on pearl-type papers the shadows and blacks turn visibly purple
Then, leaving them overnight, the purple recedes and to be honest the last batch I did don't look too bad. But I'll try a range of shots as low key are usually not great

Trying the classic-style sounds sensible. Might it also make a difference which paper type I choose in Lightroom or the printer driver? I understand that affects the amount of ink being output.
 
yes that makes a huge difference

send me an email and I'll send you some info about it.
 
Ian,
I have been using an Epson 1400 with Fotospeed Klarifine Inks, Fotospeed papers and Fotospeed custom profiles for the last two years and am still having problems.

I am at this very moment trying to print off a black and white photo and it has a purple cast.

Friends at my camera club also use the Epson 1400 but with Crystal dye inks which were originally supplied with the 1400. Fotospeed changed around 2 years ago to Klarifine. I'm waiting for my current batch of ink to run out and then I'm going to change to another brand.

I've been in contact with Fotospeed several times and all they offer is another profile.

I have problems with all of the paper ink combos, PF Matt, PF Gloss and PF satin but the Matt is worst of all.
 
When Photo-i did a review of the 1400 some time ago they found a colour cast and recommended the following - go to Image> Selective Colour > Select Neutral then add +8 Magenta and -4 Yellow.
Also take a look at this recommendation http://www.photosnowdonia.co.uk/ZPS/epson1400-B&W.htm

Hope it helps
Dave
 
Thanks Dave.
I've just tried the photosnowdonia method and although it produces a print with no cast it's a bit too dotty. I've checked out the Photo-i review and have made selective adjustment patches. -5 magenta has removed the magenta cast but a touch of green is starting to appear so a bit more tweaking is needed. Don't know why I bother with ICC profiles.
Poah - camera club friends using crystal dye inks on the 1400 haven't had a problem, 3 of us using Klarifine are tearing our hair out.
 
Don't get a cast with b&w you mean? Seems odd that they don't. How much discussion have you had with fotospeed over this issue? If there is a problem then send the ink back as its clearly not doing what it should. A good profile should sort out most of the colour issues. If you want I can do one for you like Indus for Ian.


What other papers have you tried ?
 
The ones using crystal dye inks have had very few problems even with b&w. (Some of them are international exhibiters.)

I've been back to fotospeed a few times and have had profiles done for the three fotospeed papers twice over.

I haven't tried any other papers.

I've done/repeated/rechecked all of the colour management things like calibration of my monitor checked colour space, made sure I'm not double profiling, cleaned the nozzles, latest drivers and so on but am not getting anywhere.
It could be the printer, it could be the profiles, it could be the ink but as I'm going round in circles I'm going to give up on it for a few days.

PS I'm on CS5 which shouldn't make a difference but doesn't get a very good write up for printing.
 
Being on cs5 actually does make a huge difference when printing profile targets as you can't do it. This is due to CS5 not having the option to print with no colour management anymore. If you used CS5 to print your targets I'm not surprised they don't work.
 
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