Having Problems with Paper selection..

The Hat

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
15,616
Reaction score
8,689
Points
453
Location
Residing in Wicklow Ireland
Printer Model
Canon/3D, CR-10, CR-10S, KP-3
This is an area the totally confuses some guys when it comes to choosing the correct Media Type and other setting on any printer regardless of make.

How do I set the best Media Type for the paper I am using when it’s not in the Media Menu ?

Again you are faced with the Commonly Used Setting like Photo Printing, Business Documents, Standard and Paper Saving, so which one do I choose ?

Next you have the Media Type like Plain Paper, Photo Paper Pro ll, Photo Platinum Pro, Photo Plus Semi-Gloss and so on etc etc.

Then there is the Print Quality to select from, but again which one do I choose to use, and finally the dreaded One inch Print Margins, it’s enough to drive the average guy to give up drink.

But you’ll have to make sure that all the Automatic (Default) Settings in the Print Driver have been turned off first like, Detect Paper width and Identify Paper Type, not all printers have these setting, (Most do) they can be found in Maintenance / (Custom Settings).

Let’s start with the type of paper YOU want to print on and to hell with what the printer wants to choose, this is what YOU have chosen so there is no reason why you can’t just print on it, RIGHT.

Just set the Media selection to whatever paper type you want (Guess or try all of them) and with the Print quality the same, it doesn’t matter a jot at this stage, all you want to do is get it down on paper, so Click Print !

To find the most suitable settings for your chosen paper will be a matter of trial and error so at this stage only use small sizes like A6 / 4 x6, just crop your image to fit. (Don't waste good Paper)

Just because you not printing onto Glossy Paper doesn’t mean you can’t choose that setting, you can in fact print on say “Canvas Linen” with the Glossy Paper selected, the same applies you can print on Glossy Paper using Plain Paper Settings, your printer doesn’t know.

So try and take back control of YOUR printer setting by selecting your own personal setting, so when you come across the compulsory One inch margin problem, here again just select another paper type to get round it, it’s east try it out !

So to finish, all of the Default setting on your printer can be manipulated to do what you want it to do, barring just a few, like borderless and Panorama prints, if you can get it into the printer you can print on it.

Have some fun trying out some or all of these setting on various paper types and you might even save on ink by not using the Highest Print setting for everything.

Inkjet Printing ain't rocket science but the technician’s think it is, so let’s surprise them..
 

Paul Verizzo

Print Addict
Joined
Apr 16, 2011
Messages
424
Reaction score
88
Points
173
Location
Sarasota, FL, USA
Printer Model
Canon ip4500, 9000 MK II, PRO-
Yes, given time, ink, and paper to spare, one should experiment. Especially since a given printer's selections usually only offer up the papers for sale by the same company at that time. I think that one would rarely find an alternative setting for Brand X printer using Brand X paper better, but I guess it could happen.

The biggest gains to be had by experimenting are to be had in paper brands not of the printer's house, and perhaps newer house papers that aren't listed on your older printer.

Just today I tried a Photo Paper Plus setting for a matte paper that was decidedly ruddy on Matte. Definitely better.
 

Roy Sletcher

Indolent contrarian
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
978
Reaction score
1,007
Points
233
Location
Ottawa, CANADA
Printer Model
Canon Pro-100, and Epson 3880
Interesting comments.

Whilst making profiles for my Pro-100 earlier in the year on a glossy paper

Made one profile using the media selection "Photo paper glossy 11"
Made another profile using the media selection "Other paper glossy"

Here's the interesting part:
A colour image printed from "Photo paper glossy 11" profile was better, but a B&W image printed from "Other paper glossy" profile was better.

I had forgotten about this until The Hat`s original post triggered some brain cells.
My notes indicate I need to do more testing. Won`t get a chance till after the New year.

Your mileage may vary.

RS
 

Paul Verizzo

Print Addict
Joined
Apr 16, 2011
Messages
424
Reaction score
88
Points
173
Location
Sarasota, FL, USA
Printer Model
Canon ip4500, 9000 MK II, PRO-
@Roy: Indeed. Even with same brand printer, inks, and papers, there is no guarantee that default is best..........although usually it is.

And as soon as you "go off the reservation," one is absolutely compelled to "waste" some time, ink, and paper to find what is best in your own eyes.

It's too bad that printer companies don't even hint at what some of the differences are. Just look at all the Canon paper options, not even counting surfaces. Paper Pro, Plus, Plus II, etc. And since each printer era goes out the software door, later papers aren't addressed. I re-noticed that my Canon (whatever it is!) has a small sheet in it telling one the best setting and then Plan B and Plan C. OK, I can live with that.
 

Smile

Printer Master
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
1,914
Reaction score
417
Points
253
Location
Europe EU
Printer Model
Canon, Brother, HP, Ricoh etc.
As I said ZedoNet, the makers of PrintFAB is going about to make linearization possible with their RIP.

So I suggest contacting them by their contact form and letting them know you are interested in linearization feature too. The more inquiries the better.
http://zedonet.com/en_contact_form.phtml
 

rodonisle

Print Lurker
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Printer Model
epson 1400
It would be nice to have someone post exactly what is done by the printer on each of the various medias - i.e. does glossy call from more or less ink than mat? Does Presentation paper get more or less than Regular? There must be a scale of ink saturation that each type of paper causes to be selected.
 

The Hat

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
15,616
Reaction score
8,689
Points
453
Location
Residing in Wicklow Ireland
Printer Model
Canon/3D, CR-10, CR-10S, KP-3
@rodonisle, the amount of ink that your printer puts down on the paper surface is not determined by the paper Media Type, like Glossy, Matte, Plain or Canvas.

You can decide that for yourself when your selecting the print quality as to which one you wish to use, for example, Custom, Fast, Standard or High quality, that equates to not much ink output to lots of ink, try some of the setting yourself to find the quality that suites you best.
ink.PNG
 

Ink stained Fingers

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
5,838
Reaction score
6,965
Points
363
Location
Germany
Printer Model
L805, WF2010, ET8550
the paper types you can select in the driver refer specifically to the papers Epson - or Canon - are actually selling. The amount of ink may vary or not, and is specifically adjusted to print optimally on those, and even more the driver settings must be able to separate these papers because they come with separate and different ICM-profiles which are installed with the driver, and activated with the ICM option. These quality settings vary the ink output much more - and the printing speed - much more than the paper selection. The papers are different - their profiles are different - the ink volume is most likely not. And sometimes there are other (hidden) parameters changing with the paper selection - e.g. an envelope setting , if available would increase the platen gap, the distance between the paper and the printhead by a fraction of a millimeter, as well a canvas setting since canvas is typically thicker than regular photo paper.
I forgot to mention that Epson, or Canon , or... are definitely not interested to give you any technical information or support to enable you to better use non OEM inks or papers, that's all proprietary information hidden in the drivers and firmware, so only actual testing can reveal some of that.
 
Last edited:
Top