Large Format Printing - Epson 7600

[Garry Thorburn]

Hi
I am new here and new to large format printing, in fact just bought a second hand Epson 7600 A1 printer and need help to get the best from it.

I create artwork in photoshop and then print it onto cards etc using A4/A3 printers.
I have decided to have a go at A1 canvases and posters but am a bit unsure of the quality output.
I have tried printing an A3 artwork on the 7600 on photographic paper, but it isn't as good as my canon A3. Is there anything I can do to better the quality?
My A3 is on it's last legs too, so I need to try and get a good quality print from the 7600 or bite the bullet and buy a new A3 printer.
Anyone got any advice for me?
Anyone used a 7600, how good can it really print?
What are the best materials to use?
Etc!!!
Any Help Would Be Most Appreciated
Thanks
Garry

[Jack Flesher]

If you're going to be printing primarily on canvas or matte papers, the 7600 is an excellent choice. (For photo papers, quality is still very good, but you should know the x800's have wider-gamut K3 inks and slightly improved dithering pattern. Basically, K3 gives you better blues, brighter yellows, and more neutral grays, and the x800 printers have an improved dithering for a sharper look on the print -- FWIW.)

If you are running a PC, I would recommend you buy Q-Image -- it is an excellent printing program.

Cheers,

[Greg Lockrey]

I have 9600's, which is similar to your 7600, and I like using profiles made by Bill Atkison , you can find these at http://homepage.mac.com/billatkinson/FileSharing2.html . They are free. ;) The colors are a tad more intense, but sometimes the blacks are too much, but you can tweek that too. I personnaly prefer using Epson's Enhanced Matte, but the Fine Art papers are nice too. Yes the K3 inks on the x800's are better but you have the x600 to deal with for now.

[Garry Thorburn]

Thanks for the advise...and the link!
Any advice on paper type for the 7600, am I best sticking to Epson paper or will any photographic paper print well?
I am looking to print artwork onto good quality thick paper or card and canvas.
Thanks Again

[Greg Lockrey]

Like I said before, the Epson Enhanced Matte to me looks the best, but for archival purposes the Epson Fine Art (Smooth and Textured) are good choices too. A lot of guys here like Hammamuel (sp?) brand too. I like both Epsons Canvases and Fredrix. There are a lot of good choices.;)

[Garry Thorburn]

Thanks Greg
Regards
Garry

[Jack Flesher]

Hi Gary:

My two favorite papers on the 7600/9600 were Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art (Mk ink) and Premium Semi-Matte (Pk ink). However both are only available in limited sizes. Also, on the Ultra-smooth, I used the 300 Gm sheets to avoid curls, which the roll did excessively. Epson's premium luster was also very good with a custom profile. I'd stay away from Glossy due to excessive gloss differential and moderate bronzing.

Best,

[Rob Hare]

HI , Epson paper is so expensive , for equal quality and much better prices I suggest Fuji paper , they have a disc with all icc profiles , their uk office is very helpful

[Don Boyd]

Gary, I have been printing with a 7600 for about 4 years. I print in color and do cards as gifts for family members and friends and have tried Inkjet Art's duo matte as a way of saving money over the Epson Enhanced Matte. This paper has a coating on both sides which you may not need and comes in 3 grades. Ultimately, I couldn't get a profile for it from Inkjet Art and was dissatisfied with the outcome, so I went back to Enhanced Matte (now called Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte). There are some Yahoo groups that focus on Art Fair needs and when I use to visit it they talked a lot about papers. You might want to look for that user group on Yahoo. I do recall several people saying that they liked some of the Moab papers.

Finally, there is someone at Inkjetart.com (Kevin is his name, I think) that seems to know a lot about papers and they carry a wide selection. You may want to talk with him. You are welcome to contact me directly if you want to talk more about other papers - I have used other Epson papers and Breathing Color canvas.

[Danny Vaughn]

On the subject of Epson 7600, I just bought a imac 20" itel core 2 duo 2gb ram, Trying to print from cs2, but it doesn't print correctly, epson says they are not going to update drivers for the 7600 to run on the itel mac,I downloaded 12467.dmg but it prints too dark, anybody how to make this work.

[Lenny Eiger]

Anyone used a 7600, how good can it really print?
What are the best materials to use?
Etc!!!
Any Help Would Be Most Appreciated
Thanks
Garry

I print on more expensive printers than these because I am in the business of scanning and printing for others. However, the increase in expense is from the quality of the hardware and manufacturing. There isn't much of a quality difference in the printing. This is a long winded way of saying there is nothing wrong with a 7600. They print very well!

That said, for any top quality printing, one needs to have the right materials to print on, and a color managed system. That means a calibrated monitor, and a good profile that matches the substrate you are printing on. You also have to know how to tell PhotoShop, or whatever you're printing with, how to use the profile you've acquired - if you don't already. I would highly suggest you get a custom profile made just for your printer. Chromix does this for $100. You may also want to consider a RIP, depending on what you are printing.

The substrate is important. The experienced printers like Hahnemuhle PhotoRag. I print on the stuff for about 90% of what I do, including my own work. If you like a shinier surface, you might look at Crane's Silver Rag. I like the Frederix canvas, altho' I've heard some good things about IJ lately, and will likely check them out soon.

These kinds of papers are far superior to anything from Epson, in my opinion. Or Harman and Ilford, which are really consumer level offerings.

When I was getting started, I went to someone I thought could really print and paid him $100 an hour to show me how he did it. Cost me 2 hours worth and I was on my way...

You can do amazing things with that printer. You just have to get all the little pieces in line....

Good luck.

Lenny

EigerStudios

[Michael T. Murphy]

I have an Epson 7600. I just bought an Epson 7880, but have not set it up yet.

Many folks I have talked to, including the dealer that sold me the 7880, have said that on matte paper the 7600 is almost as good as the 7880. The bigger improvements are with the photo black. There still are some limts to the older ink set though (metamerism mostly.)

I am going to keep my 7600 for matte printing and use the 7880 for photo black.

I am also going to try to install the newer K3 inks in the 7600 using some empty carts. One photog in Chicago has upgraded his 9600 and 7600 that way (leaving out the light light black) with success.

But, with the 7800 on sale now for $1,895, probably easier to just buy one of those if you really want to go that route. The carts cost, profilews, etc. I just wanted to goof around with the 7600, don't want top mess with the 7880. :D

The Atkinson profiles are a great start, probably a good reason in themselves to buy a 7600 or 7800.

The Epson media is very good also. It is easiest to start with that and the profiles. Branch out from there once you get everything running well. There are enough ways to get off track with all the variables to start.

Have fun!

[pureclassvinyls]

Like I said before, the Epson Enhanced Matte to me looks the best, but for archival purposes the Epson Fine Art (Smooth and Textured) are good choices too. A lot of guys here like Hammamuel (sp?) brand too. I like both Epsons Canvases and Fredrix. There are a lot of good choices.;)

Hi Greg,

I am wondering if you could help me, i have been reading through the thread which is quite old i know.
However we have just bought a 7600 espon printer and i really need help. we are looking to start up business soon supplying vinyl wall stickers which we have a cutting maching for. i have mastered that now lol but i still need major help with the digital printer i have not even switched it on yet :(
I am looking to start doing digitially printed stickers, and banners and such things.
I am wondering what kind of printing materials i need to be able to do this, i have canvas rolls and such that came with the printer.
Would you be able to advise?

Thank you in advance :)

[bob carnie]

you are kidding .... you want to go into the printing business as a startup and you are asking what materials are available?

but just in case you are not... you can phone the manufacturers like Epson, Cannon or HP and they will send around a rep to give you more
info on the products than you probably need.



Hi Greg,

I am wondering if you could help me, i have been reading through the thread which is quite old i know.
However we have just bought a 7600 espon printer and i really need help. we are looking to start up business soon supplying vinyl wall stickers which we have a cutting maching for. i have mastered that now lol but i still need major help with the digital printer i have not even switched it on yet :(
I am looking to start doing digitially printed stickers, and banners and such things.
I am wondering what kind of printing materials i need to be able to do this, i have canvas rolls and such that came with the printer.
Would you be able to advise?

Thank you in advance :)

[pureclassvinyls]

you are kidding .... you want to go into the printing business as a startup and you are asking what materials are available?

but just in case you are not... you can phone the manufacturers like Epson, Cannon or HP and they will send around a rep to give you more
info on the products than you probably need.

Hi Bob,

No im not kidding,
Thanks for your reply, We currently work with vinyl supplying car/van stickers. wall decals things like that.
But everyone's gotta start somewhere right?
I had no graphic design knowledge before i started with the vinyl machine and everything i know up to this date has been through trial and error.
I just thought with you guys having extensive knowledge someone would know.

Thanks Amy

[bob carnie]

Amy

tough business to get into, good luck.
we use different types of material on our Cannon that is readily available through a Vendor , if you were in Canada I would suggest Mondrian Hall/Unisource.
You will find a lot of this is being done on flatbed equipment with a different ink sets and much larger/faster machines.
The epson 7600 though a good machine would be very slow for the potential demand and will do the job for some applications but will fall short when you get
into larger projects. You will find yourself very quickly taking a lease on a different machine for this purpose.
We have considered a solvent machine for the kind of work you are describing, the width is much wider to allow for less strips.
It is an area of our business that I really do not like and am not an expert by any stretch and do not intend to become one but if you can
get the right client base a potential solid venture.**we have been commissioned to do a 15 ft by 54 ft wall graphic and the ink set for the cannon is not correct so we are sending it out to another supplier, which we really do not like doing.**
If we got a few more of these types of commissions over the next quarter we would be looking at leasing the right gear.
I will say that the Epson 7600 is not the right machine for your application, it will work but you will have issues really fast.
A bit of research in you working area will tell you quickly what your potential competition are using to produce the work and you would be
wise to take note and source out the same or better equipment.
not preaching just my 2cents.

Bob


Hi Bob,

No im not kidding,
Thanks for your reply, We currently work with vinyl supplying car/van stickers. wall decals things like that.
But everyone's gotta start somewhere right?
I had no graphic design knowledge before i started with the vinyl machine and everything i know up to this date has been through trial and error.
I just thought with you guys having extensive knowledge someone would know.

Thanks Amy