How to set MK as the default black for Epson 3800 with a mac (not Windows)

[wannaby]

I would like to permanently set MK Matte as the default black to avoid inadvertently printing with PK Photo Black. By default, the 3800 driver always selects Photo Luster.

Someone on another forum was able to choose MK as the default via the computer's control panel on a Windows machine. I cannot find a similar setting on the mac (Mojave). I have Epson driver v10.9 which is the latest (albeit old) driver available.

Would appreciate if someone would provide directions on how this is done on the mac. Thanks.

 

[The Hat]

Would appreciate if someone would provide directions on how this is done on the mac. Thanks.

It shouldn’t make any difference to your printer, whether your running on Windows or Mac, the settings are in the print driver itself.

Just open your Printing properties from the Epson 3800 driver and set your preferences for your Matte paper choice, print quality and any other setting that your required.

Now what you need to do is click on the Apply button First and then the OK button to close the preference tab, that will save the MK setting for every print thereafter, you can revert for single use by using new setting in your photo editing App...

Remember only change the setting in the printer Preference itself to make the MK changes Default..
click to enlarge..
These are Windows setting.

 

[wannaby]

It shouldn’t make any difference to your printer, whether your running on Windows or Mac, the settings are in the print driver itself.

Just open your Printing properties from the Epson 3800 driver and set your preferences for your Matte paper choice, print quality and any other setting that your required.

Now what you need to do is click on the Apply button First and then the OK button to close the preference tab, that will save the MK setting for every print thereafter, you can revert for single use by using new setting in your photo editing App...

Remember only change the setting in the printer Preference itself to make the MK changes Default..
View attachment 12039click to enlarge..
These are Windows setting.

The Hat, You are 100% correct when you say "It shouldn’t make any difference to your printer, whether your running on Windows or Mac, the settings are in the print driver itself.".

I've been doing what you recommend 99% of the time, but that 1% when I forgot to select MK was "disasterous" for my printer which has the faulty PK/MK black ink switching. I say disasterous because inadvertent switching to PK completely drains the PK cart and introduces air bubbles to the lines/damper/printhead.

Furthermore, the last used settings don't stick as one would expect. I thought they would stick and have been stung by this before. I don't know if it's the particular version of OS I'm on, but I had been only printing on Matte for years on this printer, and yet when I print a new document, it wants to print with PK on Luster paper. There's more examples, but...

On the Mac, setting the default setting is a different story. It cannot be changed (as any reasonable person would expect) the way it's done on Windows. I've found other posts of Mac owners searching for the solution to no avail. Originally, I searched for how to change Epson 3800 default settings.

When I finally realized this was a Mac OS problem, I removed "Epson 3800" from the search criteria and found the solution. With Macs, there is a hidden application called CUPS.

So if there is any other living soul out there in the universe with a Mac and is still running their 3800 with the infamous failed ink switch valve, take a look at this excellent video on Youtube:

Change Printing defaults on a MAC OSX Driver​

Thanks again, The Hat, for taking the time to reply.