Tag: printer

Bizarre Printer Problem (resolved)

I was going through a sample pack of paper, printing the same test pictures over and over (being very careful to use the right profile and driver settings for each particular sample sheet of paper).  When I got something like this.

wonky test print
Wonky Test Print

It wasn’t instantly obvious to me what the problem was.  I tried another paper.  I tried a nozzle check.

Bad nozzle check
Bad nozzle check

That wasn’t obviously bad.  The black printing was weirdly faint, but this was maybe the second time ever I’d done a nozzle check on this printer and I didn’t remember the last one that well. (Of course, they look nearly identical to all the other Epson printers, so arguably I should have caught on sooner).

So I resorted to calling service.  They said do a head cleaning anyway, so I did a head cleaning.

And got this nozzle check.

Good Nozzle Check
Good Nozzle Check

Well whaddya know!  I’ve never had an entire color go out 100% suddenly like that.   And the arrangement of check squares was a better layout with the dark black missing.

The actual test print looks much better too.

Good test print
Good test print

So the new Epson 3880 is still my friend.

New Photo Printer

So I finally broke down and replaced the (broken) 8.5″ Epson R800 (which doesn’t do B&W at all well) with something a bit better—an Epson 3880, which prints up to 17″ wide and does gorgeous B&W (they both do quite good color).

Epson 3880 printer waiting
Epson 3880 printer waiting

There is, however, one other slight problem—where to put it. I’ve let the office get a little, um, cluttered, and this printer is a lot more than twice the size of the last one so I can’t just replace it in place.

ddb 20140725 020-002
Definitely a bit cluttered
ddb 20140725 020-007
That’s the Epson 1160 set up for quadtone B&W, not the R800
Dealing with this of course takes space to sort through things (plus frequent emptying of the trash and recycling). It’s going to take long enough that the normal workspace (the bed) isn’t a viable choice, though.  So…new shelves! The theory is that the bottom two shelves will hold the stuff sitting on the floor where the shelves will go, leaving three more shelves per unit for other stuff.
First unit
First unit
First unit in use, second half assembled
First unit in use, second half assembled
Two shelf units!
Two shelf units!

And significant progress has been made.  I need to settle some power and data connectivity issues, and carry that big box down into the basement, which may be a bit interesting.  But I should be printing tomorrow.

Over half the desk cleared
Over half the desk cleared

The stuff on the shelves can now be sorted in smaller groups, and the stuff behind the shelves integrated, and stuff on the computer shelf.  And eventually a lot of the stuff on the other shelves where the second closet is supposed to be can be moved and sorted, and the closet built, and some of the stuff moved into it.  And, in the end, these new shelves removed again to open up that floor space.  But they give me space to do the sorting needed now, which is a big win.

Master Printer Voja Mitrovic

The Online Photographer (a web-based photo magazine edited by Mike Johnston) has just published a lovely two-part article by Peter Turnley on Voja, who has during his career printed for Cartier-Bresson, Koudelka, Sebastiao Salgado, Werner Bischof, René Burri, Marc Riboud, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat, Man Ray, Helmut Newton, Raymond Depardon, Bruno Barbey, Jean Gaumy, Frederic Brenner, Max Vadukul, and Peter Lindbergh.

Voja Mitrovic at the Coupole, Montparnasse, Paris, 1993. Photo by Peter Turnley.

Go read it!