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Just Purchased an Epson Stylus Pro 9800. Any Tips?
Hi guys
I purchased an Epson Stylus Pro 9800 today. It came with a lot of roll media, unused Epson inks, a couple of unused maintenance tanks, computer, TFT screen, software & dongle.
I’m hoping to do some canvas printing and it seems the 9800 is a reasonable printer for this.
The seller gave me a demo of the printer before I parted with my ca$h and I have to say, the printed images were exceptional.
I’ve got all the original Epson CDs and a piece of software called Techno Lab. This was the software used to demo the printer but I’ve never heard of it before! Is Techno Lab required or can one simply print using the Epson drivers/ profiles?
The proces to print using Techno Lab seemed reasonably straightforward – simply drag a file (.pdf in the demo print) onto the a Tecno Lab icon and out it came. He printed several pieces of artwork and they all appeared very good after printing.
Always interested to hear comments and receive tips.
I appreciate it’s quite an old printer and of course this was reflected in the price I paid.
Cheers
John
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18 Replies
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First of all, fantastic printer!! I’ve always loved the 9800/9880 and you should be very happy with the results.
I’ve never heard of the software you’re using but you should still be able to download the standard printer driver for it, although it won’t be as good as using a RIP of some description and the colour profiles will more than likely be non existant or poor.
This is a good place to start:
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/supp … =DownloadsGet iin touch if you need any help 😉
Stafford
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Thanks Stafford, it’s good to know I’ve made at least one good decision in my life 😛
It’s a heavy beast! Only managed to unload it from the van yesterday! Got it all setup and fitted a network card, I’ll get the software installed today and hopefully print something 😀
I feel another learning curve coming on!
If you do any canvas printing, which is the canvas of choice – I don’t have any at present and need to order some. I’m guessing 2 rolls – 1 x 24" & 1 x 42".
Thanks
John
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John I would get some samples & print some stuff for yourself. Think most makes of printer are different in one way or another so printing on the media yourself & actually being able to compare the results of different brands works best for me.
If you google inkjet canvas supplier you will get a few companies up & most of them do sample rolls of about a metre you can buy. Enough to get a good idea & also if quality is good enough sell the print :lol1: :lol1: -
Thanks Martin, I did notice some were offering samples. I could of course go with the Epson branded canvas although I’m guessing there’ll be a price differential in the wrong direction 🙂
This is a basic question I know! Why do we use RIP software to print rather than the Epson drivers & profiles?
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Best thing to do is download a free demo version of a RIP software and compare the ease of use and quality of output to the standard printer driver. A RIP will also save ink (ink limiting in the profiles), add features like nesting (multiple jobs across the width of the page, rather than having to design it that way, tiling (so you can spread one image accross multiple drops of media), and just general workflow niceties.
All this sort of thing can be done to a certain extent just using the printer driver and design packages such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel etc, but it’s a whole lot easier using a RIP.
Oh, and RIP’s are bloody expensive too!! 😳
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As for the canvas, Epson stuff is generally more expensive as you’d expect, but they are generally very good quality. I do a small amount of canvas printing myself (allbeit on a Canon iPF rather than an Epson) and I’ve found that you can get cheap but very white (polyester I think it is) or more expensive and slightly off white cotton canvas. The cotton stuff is far nicer in my opinion but my customers actually prefer the cheaper non cotton stuff, presumably because of the brighter whites.
I hope that helps.
Stafford
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Thanks for taking the time Stafford, you’ve been a great help.
Cheers
John
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as stafford says nice bit of kit and will serve you well, keep to the good inks they are not that expencive to run.
have a word with these people they helped me a lot with samples and guidence
enjoy
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Supplier Chris listed do a good range of media as well as canvas so worth speaking to as I am sure you will do more than just canvas printing with it John.
If you are looking to buy a rip make sure that rip fully supports the printer you have. Sure Stafford will be able to offer more advice about that but rips tend to support some makes & models of printers better than others.
I had problems with profiles for my printer because the only rip that supported it properly was onyx which I couldn’t afford. -
Thanks all
With the printer came the computer fully loaded. The RIP they were using was something called Techno Lab – when demo’d to me they just dragged a .pdf file into the queue and out it came. Mistakingly, I thought I’d be able to find some documentation online. I have the installation CDs so there might be a manual on them.
Cheers
John
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quote Martin:but rips tend to support some makes & models of printers better than others.
This is very true. If I can be of any help at all, get in touch.
Stafford
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Thanks again guys for all the advice.
I’ve ordered some sample canvas, should arrive today also some 17" width roll of paper – don’t like wasting the 44" rolls I have!
@Stafford
Would appreciate some pointers on what RIP I should consider.Cheers
John
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We have run a 9800 for the last 6 years, through the ImagePrint Rip (we’re still on V6, and have a G4 dedicated to running it). Nice things about imageprint is that it allows you to run MK and PK without a costly swap over, and comes with a whole raft of first class profiles. Nasty thing is it costs a small fortune (for a 44" printer rip).
All the artists we print for use the Epson Premium Satin canvas – a really nice material, and the most expensive media we print on (and we’ve tried offering them all kinds of options, but they keep going back to the Epson).
WRT http://www.techno-in.com – looks like a solid proofing product, though doesn’t seem to be actively developed any more.
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Thanks for the reply Richard and noted your comments on the Epson canvas. As we’re still in that ‘learning curve’ mode I purchased a less expensive canvas so I won’t shed to many tears when I scre up.
Does the RIP software provide details of ink used for each job or even a costing? The one I have for DTG printing does just that and is very handy.
I found the manual for Techno Lab yesterday and it too refers to ‘proofing tool’. I’m unsure how this differs from a RIP, if indeed it does. Either way, I’ll print it out and have a read.
Thanks
John
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Afraid the first I’d heard of it was today… seems to work with the DTP-20 photospectrometer for creating and validating proofs and profiles (a device that was discontinued 5 years ago).
Depending on which version you have, it may give costings – certainly should allow you to control the ink laydown. Pretty much all the good proofing tools are indeed rips.
Have fun with the manual.One advantage of starting with Epson genuine media (assuming it is loaded with genuine epson carts) is that the basic profiles are not bad, though can be improved upon, so allows you to have a look-see that all the parts of the printer are running properly.
One of the things I’ve found with the 9800 is that it does not like dry air -we did have ours in a room with multiple computers, and air con, and had endless nozzle clogs. Moved it to a non controlled climate, and (touch wood) hasn’t skipped a beat for the last 15 months
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quote Richard Wills:One of the things I’ve found with the 9800 is that it does not like dry air -we did have ours in a room with multiple computers, and air con, and had endless nozzle clogs. Moved it to a non controlled climate, and (touch wood) hasn’t skipped a beat for the last 15 months
Not a worry here in South Wales!!! Rain & more bloody rain 🙂
Thanks
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quote John Cooper:@Stafford
Would appreciate some pointers on what RIP I should consider.Hi John. There are many RIP’s on the market and all have their good and their bad points. I would suggest speaking to all the leading RIP vendors and see what you can get in the way of demo software, but my preference would always be Shiraz which is downloadable from here:
http://www.shiraz-software.com/product/ … signature/
I am a reseller for Shiraz but there must be other RIP vendors that offer a very similar trial, I would recommend you try them all and see which one suits your needs.
(mods, I hope this is objective enough not to be against forum rules?)
Stafford
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How are you getting on now you’ve had a couple of weeks with it John? Great printers aren’t they.
Stafford
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