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Thread: 8x10 prints at home?

  1. #1
    3d Visual Effects artist
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    8x10 prints at home?

    I have been tossing around the idea of getting a printer to print 8x10 black and whites, from my 4x5 scans. I have a few questions and concerns.

    #1: paper. Are there any printers (and paper!) that can print an 8x10 that does not require any cutting after the print has been made? Or would I have to step up (and crop a bit) to the standard letter size of 8.5x11?

    #2: cost per print. I have been using Mpix.com printing for a while now, and I'm fairly satisfied with their quality. an 8x10 runs me $2.50 if I 'splurge' and go for the ilford 'special' B&W paper. After the initial cost of the printer, about how much does each print cost, if I count ink and paper alone, for B&W prints? Will it be anywhere close to the 2-2.50 that Mpix costs?

    #3: sharpness. One thing I have not been to particularly happy about with the mpix printing with has been the sharpness of the print. However, for the very modest price of a few dollars per print, I have overlooked the lack of fine detail in the prints. They have told me that their printers accept dpi up to 260. With something like the Epson 3800 with a possible print ppi of "SuperPhoto - 2880 dpi" will there be a noticable bump in image sharpness? Or is this something that I am not going to archive with digital prints?

    #4: the actual hardware. I've read alot of great things about the Epson 3800. I see the price, and if the results are going to blow me away then I don't mind paying for it. However, I'm wondering if there is an alternative that would suit me and my 8x10 B&W prints at a cheaper price? (it's much larger, and does color printing)

    Thanks for any direction!
    Daniel Buck - 3d VFX artist
    3d work: DanielBuck.net
    photography: 404Photography.net - BuckshotsBlog.com

  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    Daniel,
    You ask very good questions and I imagine that you will receive a lot of subjective answers to them. The best thing, if possible, would be to visit an Epson dealer and have them show you what the printer is capable of.

    I purchased two of the smaller 2400 printers this past year. One is relegated to BW only with a inkset set up for just that purpose. The other is relegated to color only with an inkset for just that purpose. I use 3rd party inks throughout because the Epson inks for this printer are costly.

    I don't like the Ilford paper. I prefer a couple of others that are more costly and I can justify the cost on the basis of results obtained.

    I use QTR as the printer control and I like the results a lot.

    The paper sizes in digital printing are not the same as traditional wet darkroom and one can either adjust the output or if they wish trim the paper.

    Good luck to you.

  3. #3

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    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    I don't know of an 8x10 printing paper. Kind of odd to me that companies like Entrada, Hahnemuhle, et al don't make one but I've never seen one(though I've never searched). I trim my letter size paper to 8x10 when necessary.

    I've used Epson 1160, 1280, 2200 printers and now a 3800 printer. All have done excellent jobs. You should be able to find a used or refurbished 2200 for very little money. To me it does as good a job as the 3800, the only difference is it's limited to 13" wide while the 3800 goes to 17". But if all you do is 8x10 that's unimportant. I've read about other Epson printers that go no larger than 8x10 and supposedly do an excellent job but since I print larger than that I haven't paid attention. If you don't get an answer here I'd suggest going to the Yahoo digital black and white printing group (Google "digitalblackandwhite:theprint") and ask there.

    Like Donald, I use QTR (www.harrington.com) for b&w printing. I used to use MIS Ultratone 7 b&w inks when I did no color work at all. I now do both and I've found that with QTR I can get excellent b&w prints using the Epson inks without the quality control problems that MIS has historically had. However, if you do only b&w you could either use Epson color inks with QTR (which costs only $50) or one of the dedicated b&w inks from MIS or Cone though Cone inks are pretty expensive.

    I don't think anyone can give you a fixed cost per print. It varies widely depending on the paper used, the paper size, the printer, the inks, etc. However, while the 2200 is an excellent printer it's not the most economical printer when it comes to inks. The cartridges are small and the printer seems to use a lot of ink. The 3800 seems to be much better, the cartridges are larger but also more expensive (about $50 each) than the 2200 cartridges. I don't do a whole lot of printing - I average maybe 10 - 15 a month unless I've taken a photography trip - and about 70% of mine are around 8x10. But FWIW I bought my 3800 in March and I've still got plenty of ink left in the cartridges that come with the 3800 when it's bought new.

    Obviously no one can tell you that you'd be blown away by something from the 3800 printer or any other printer. However, I've never used the 2880 setting for any printing I've done. 1440 works just as well and in fact is the recommended setting with QTR.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  4. #4
    3d Visual Effects artist
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    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    I think what I need to do is first find out if the quality of the 2200 or 3800 is noticeably better than what I'm getting right now. I see that Epson can send you a sample print, I wonder if I go to a store location would they be able to print out one of my images so that I could directly compare them with my ordered prints? or if they would give me the digital file that they are using for their test prints so I could send that file to mpix and compare the prints that way.

    I looked on the epson website and I could only find one 8x10 paper (Premium Photo Paper Glossy), is this really true? If 8x10 is not going to be easy to find (in something other than glossy) what paper would yall suggest for B&W printing? I see that I'm going to have to do alot of searching and asking around before I make a purchase, so many things to consider!

    Thanks for your replies so far!
    Daniel Buck - 3d VFX artist
    3d work: DanielBuck.net
    photography: 404Photography.net - BuckshotsBlog.com

  5. #5

    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    Daniel,

    Check out this website:
    http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

    I scan my FP4+ 4x5s on an Epson 4990 and make the necessary adjustments in CS3, including capture sharpening and output sharpening with PhotoKit Sharpener. I then print 8x10s on 8 1/2 x 11 Epson Enhanced Matt paper (actually the name of the paper changed but I can't remember it) with a lowly Epson R220 and black only printing with Eboni ink from inksupply.com. This is a very inexpensive way to get started and the prints look quite nice but they don't look at all like a traditional silver print. I'm about to splurge and get a more archival paper, probably Hahnemuhle Photo Rag.

    Check out Clayton Jones web site listed above and take a look at the MIS black and white inksets available from inksupply.com

    If money is no object research the Epson 2400 and the HP9180, a lot of good things have been said about both printers.

    Scott

  6. #6

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    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel_Buck View Post
    I think what I need to do is first find out if the quality of the 2200 or 3800 is noticeably better than what I'm getting right now.
    You are talking about similar technologies. The quality of printing is based on the skill of the operator - and to some extent your criteria of what a good print is. Anyone who cares about your work and knows your criteria (including yourself) should be able to outprint someone to whom you are faceless and nameless.

    Some of the materials are also a factor, such as using better paper, such as Hahnemuhle, etc. These papers are expensive.

    Lenny
    EigerStudios

  7. #7

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    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel_Buck View Post
    I have been tossing around the idea of getting a printer to print 8x10 black and whites, from my 4x5 scans. I have a few questions and concerns.

    #1: paper. Are there any printers (and paper!) that can print an 8x10 that does not require any cutting after the print has been made? Or would I have to step up (and crop a bit) to the standard letter size of 8.5x11?
    If you plan to frame or mat your images, printing on letter is actually really nice. It gives a little more breathing room for centering the image on the cutout in the mat. If you are planning a floating mount then a borderless print would be better. But you can either trim with a nice paper trimmer or print to the full letter sheet size. I've seen very few floating mounted prints.

    I don't know of any printers smaller than Super B (13") that are configured for dedicated B&W, but you might be able to do an after market conversion.

    Mel-

  8. #8

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    Re: 8x10 prints at home?

    The resolution settings you mention are two different things. The 2800 dpi has to do with how the printer prints the droplets of ink. The picture resolution is the lower number of 260 dpi etc. I use 360 dpi for epson prints as this is the standard for epson, and can be evenly divided for lower quality, such as 180. Many use 300 as a standard.

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