p.1 #1 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
Let's see if we can discuss this without the epson fanbois. I would simply like to know if anyone else has experienced magenta color casts using the RR paper and appropriate ICC Profiles?
Please no chest pounding about supporting epson or you get what you pay for.
p.1 #2 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
I've actually found RR Arctic Polar Luster a good match for Epson Luster, and I like the extra weight and greater variety of sizes. So if anything, I guess I've become something of a Red River fanboy. FWIW, I haven't noticed a magenta cast with either the 3800 or 3880. I may not be as sensitive or picky about this as others; can only speak for myself. I'm satisfied with the RR profiles, and my customers are happy.
p.1 #4 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
I've used a lot of RR Arctic Satin on Epson 3800 using the RR profiles and have never seen a color cast. Media was set to whatever the RR recommendation was which is I think PPLP
p.1 #7 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
no, display is not calibrated with hardware but matches perfectly with the epson paper and profiles so a screen calibration is not going to help here.
Also, the reviews of many of the calibration devices (i.e. colormunki) indicate that many of them yield extremely inconsistent results even when used 10 minutes apart. What hardware calibration tool would you recommend?
p.1 #8 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
rddelliott wrote:
My Red River papers work great with their profiles. So well that I have not ran custom profiles.
Epson2200 and all RR ICC profiles..no problems at all with or without monitor calibration. I use RR Satin,Luster,Matte and APL and other RR papers.
My calibrated monitors are NEC's with SpectraViewII calibration.
Dan
p.1 #9 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
Somewhere, once upon a time, I read a discussion about using third party papers and profiles on the Espon 3800/3880 in which the author claimed there was a significant difference (color cast) depending on whether you let Photoshop manage colors or the Epson print driver manage colors.
The claim was that when the Epson print driver managed colors using third party profiles an unwanted color cast occured. I don't remember if it was RedRiver or some other third party. I found the discussion when researching the Epson 3880 before purchase. I bought the 3880, but have used only Epson papers and profiles, so I have no personal experience.
I don't seen any difference in prints on Epson papers depending on who I let manage colors in the workflow. But it's something you might test.
p.1 #10 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
Thanks redcrown. I will change my workflow and disable the profile in the printer settings and let qimage manage the profile and see if I get better results. I'll report back tonight.
p.1 #11 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
what they may have been seeing, esp on newer profiles for newer printers like the 3880 is that hte profiles are 'V4' and that creates a bunch of issues. Older profiles are ICC V2 and do not cause casting issues. I've seen any number of issues like that and it always goes back to that root cause
p.1 #12 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
It's always a problem using third party papers with Epson (or any other) printers. The problem is, is that you can't count on Epson's profiles to work with someone else's paper unless it happens to be the same paper under a different name, and secondly, profiles provided by manufacturers tend to be all over the map in quality. Really, the only way to get reliable and repeatable results is to do hardware monitor calibration (you guys who say you don't calibrate and have good results are temporarily lucky) AND to have custom paper profiles for your third party media.
Of course, there are other factors like what application and version of app you are printing from and what OS and version as well. Unfortunately, on the Mac, there are too many combinations that don't work reliably and you need to follow very strict data paths in order to avoid the bugs. Version 4 profiles are only a small part of the problem. And if you don't know the conditions (not just the printer) that the manufacturer's profile were made under, they may or may not be valid for your setup.
For not much more than the less expensive monitor calibrators, you can get a really good one - the X-Rite i1Display Pro for about $250. It's a great investment that will more than pay for itself in less waste coming out of your printer. The BasicColor Discus is marginally better, but over five times the price.
p.1 #14 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
I use the i1 Pro Photo which is quite expensive but does a great job of calibrating your monitor and creating profiles for each paper you use. It really depends if you want to make the investment. My monitor makes a dramatic change from uncalibrated to calibrated and if I profile the paper, colors are dead on with my 3880 and my 9000 II.
p.1 #15 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
Update:
I disabled color management in the epson driver. Configured QImage to utilize the correct profile for the 3880 RR Paper. Printed a portrait on the RR Paper. Then switched to the Epson Premium Luster and its profile. Absolutely no comparison. The epson paper is much better. The prints on the RR arctic polar luster paper are muddy and unsharp by comparison.
p.1 #17 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
Please note re my reply, I always use the RR profiles for RR papers, and Epson profiles for Epson papers. Yes, my monitor is calibrated, and I get a very good print/screen match. Whenever you have PS or LR control the color and use ICC profiles, you need to disable the printer's color controls.
p.1 #18 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
i'm not sure who you're replying to photon but as I've stated several times, I've never had icc profiles turned on for both the printing program and the printer driver.
Secondly, I've never tried to use the RR paper with the epson ICC profile or vice versa.
I've only used the RR profiles with the RR paper or the Epson profiles with the Epson paper.
Furthermore, I've only had profiles configured for
1) Printer but not Qimage (color management disabled in qimage)
2) Qimage but not Printer (color management disabled in printer)
In both (1) & (2), results were the same. Epson luster paper is extremely close to my monitor's output with no color cast. Arctic Polar Luster exhibits slight magenta cast and less dynamic range (more contrasty). Particularly noticeable on portraits.
Furthermore, the prints in both (1) & (2) look exactly the same. IOW, there is no difference between color management being in the host printing software or the printer driver config.
For me the epson paper is clearly the better choice.
p.1 #19 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
"For me the epson paper is clearly the better choice"
I'm using RR papers with fantastic results that are impossible with Epson papers because they, Epson, don't offer the variety of papers that RR does, so better choice is relative to given that you have not figured out how to configure to print correctly with RR, then Epson is the better choice. I think once you are set up to print correctly on RR paper you will enjoy the new opportunities they provide.
p.1 #20 · Color cast with Red River paper Arctic Polar Luster and Epson 3880
dadagallery wrote:
"For me the epson paper is clearly the better choice"
I'm using RR papers with fantastic results that are impossible with Epson papers because they, Epson, don't offer the variety of papers that RR does, so better choice is relative to given that you have not figured out how to configure to print correctly with RR, then Epson is the better choice. I think once you are set up to print correctly on RR paper you will enjoy the new opportunities they provide.
I'm using the profile and printer correctly. Not saying that it's not going to work for others. Just saying that comparing the two, the epson clearly has a better dynamic range and produces more accurate colors.
