Tuesday, December 13, 2011

First Print

Okay, so I finally unboxed and install the printer last night. Although after going through my picture collection again and again, I realized that I have little to print, I need to print something personal as a gift. A friend was leaving the country soon so I want to give her something nice.

So I print something from one of our dinner outings..
And....


The print was too dark...

At first I thought it was because my monitor setting was too dark. Then I recalibrate it using i1Display 2. Few problems arose. The calibrator said that green level is not high enough. The problem is that RGB setting was at their maximum value, I can't gauge it higher. The secret is that the value is all relative to each other. So I tweak down the red and blue a little bit, and voila! I also decrease the monitor brightness waaayy down. But the print result I had still too dark compared to the monitor, and the colors are somewhat muted.

Then I search for clues in the paper manufacturer websites and forums for some clue. I had a hunch that the paper setting in the print dialog is the key. But it doesn't have any custom paper option, while I'm using third party paper. After some searching, I set the printer to use Matte Black with Epson Fine Art paper.

I print the image once again, and... voila! Nice colors. I managed to improve the print only after one failed attempt. Not too bad eh?

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Ok.. since I submitted my enigmatic cat picture for a print sale. I've been thinking a lot about what makes a good print. More so when I finally bought a large fine-art printer. I think now I have a grasp of what makes a good print and what is not, in terms of subject and composition. I had gone through around five thousand pictures from my collection, and found just a handful print-worthy photos. I haven't even set up the printer since I bought it last week.

I pulled the trigger

and budget....