Budget Digital Negative Printer

[sanking]

Thanks Sandy, that was the answer I was looking for. I do not intend to try digital negatives (yet) at this time, but I am keeping an eye on the process and like to read about it.

Clay, would it be possible to cross-post those profiles here as well? If not, which section on the hybrid photo should I look at?

Thanks,

Marko

I should add that when I tested the 1400 QTR was not yet available for the printer so my comments about low UV blocking are based on use of the Epson driver. For making digital negatives QTR adds a lot of versatility to all of the Epson printers.

Sandy

[Professional]

I have Epson 3800 which is really amazing printer, and if i can have a heavy budget in the future then i will add a 44" Epson printer as well, but should i look for something else like Epson 1400 or 1900?

[sanking]

Sandy, is the 3880 the best bang for the buck in the current market for max print size of 16x20 (primarily for B&W output)?

Thanks!

Not sure if the 3800/3880 is the best bang for the buck, but it is a nice printer. Makes great digital negatives.

Sandy King

[clay harmon]

Here are the QTR profiles for the 1400. One is for palladium, the other for polymer photogravure positives. Probably not perfect, but they seem to work very well for me.

[Marko]

Clay, thank you!

[Sylvester Graham]

Epson R280 or its replacement for $99 and under. 8x10 negs and smaller or 8x20 and smaller. Got a nice R280 for $90 and two months got the money back in rebates. Prints nicer than the 2400 or 3800 as long as you don't need negs wider than 8 1/2 inches on the short dimension.

Wow this is the answer I was looking for. Then again I shouldn't be jumping to take just the answer I want. What process were you printing these negatives for? I was hoping to do kallitypes. I would say "why not" since it's only $99, yikes, but it seems to have been discontinued and unavailable anywhere I'd want to get it.

The r800 (discontinued?) seems to be about $400 new, though it looks like at one time it was $139 refurbished, sigh, and the r1800 near $400 also. Looks like the 1400 for kallitypes with QTR is the best bet, lest someone might persuade me otherwise. I suppose I could also take a stab in the dark and go down to staples and pick up a $35 printer and see what happens.

Do you think there will ever again be a good quality 8X10 or letter size inkjet? I never print over 8X10 so that would be great for me, Dig neg or not.

-Alex

[bc_the_path]

I thought it would be fair to revive this thread in 2020 rather than starting a new one exactly on the same subject.

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I had been using an Epson 2880 photo-printer some years ago for printing transparencies as digital negatives. Unfortunately, I ruined it by a long neglect, which killed the head. Its inks were rather expensive but I could afford them, then.

Now, I am a retiree.

Recently, I purchased a simpler Epson photo-printer (L805) which satisfies all my photo printing needs at home. To my surprise, it simply can not print transparencies (due to its printing technology&inks, I guess). I had no doubts, while buying it, that it could print digital negatives like my earlier printer without problem. I did not check. A costly mistake.

Now, I do need to print digital negatives for cyanotype and perhaps for van Dykes (and, perhaps kallitypes). My budget is very low and I will be using the printer "only" for this particular purpose. The printer has to live happily with Linux, by the way.

Locally, I can get a printer like HP Smart Tank 515 (or, 530) or Epson Ecotank L3160 for example.

Unfortunately, and to my surprise again, none of the current inkjet printers I can afford list "transparency" as a media they can print on (including the ones above). I have boxes full of inkjet transparencies waiting to be printed.

I guess that "some" inexpensive inkjet printers "can" print nicely on transparencies even when their specs fail to list it. But, I am not in a position to handle that risk.

I should be most happy to hear some advice from people with more experience on printing digital negatives with current inkjets.
It must be evident that I am NOT looking for best quality.
I have the chemicals, I have the papers and transparencies and, most importantly, I have time.
I only need an affordable printer for home use that can print acceptable digital negatives.

Any suggestions?