Just picked up a new printer and need a new monitor as well.

[TheDrake]

There was a really good deal on staples.com for the printer this week that I couldnt pass up. They had a $100 instant discount already on the printer and today there was a $75 off $290 coupon that was released so with the already $100 off instant savings and then the $150 rebate on top of it, I was able to grab the printer for $250 after rebate and taxes.

In my compulsion to buy the printer I really haven't done any research on what kind of photo paper to get. Should I stick with the epson brand paper or go with another brand? Also what kind of paper should I be looking at? I am mostly going to be printing for myself, family and friends, nothing professional by any means.

Another question I had as well was should I get another monitor since I now have a decent printer for photos? I was reading in the "LCD thread" that a wide gamut would be good for photo prints so I was seriously looking at the HP LP2475w since it stays within my budget. I have a Westinghouse L2410NM that I am currently using. Or should I save up some more and get something better? Any advice is most appreciated, thanks!

 

[shocksyde]

Wow, you scored an awesome deal!

I'll buy it off ya for $251!

 

[bobdole369]

hOLY crap! Epson paper is quite good. At least the "Premium Photo paper glossy" and "Ultra Premium photo paper glossy" are. Have a peek at some pro matte stuff too:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/S...rofessional&oid=-10381

 

[TheDrake]

Thanks for the advice on paper! Any monitor advice?

 

[TheDrake]

I got the printer on Friday and got a chance to pick up some 4x6 ultra premium photo glossy paper to test it out. I downloaded the latest drivers and color profiles from epson but for some reason i cant get the pictures to look right for the life of me. They are all way too dark compared to what I am seeing in lightroom/photoshop. I have tried the correct paper profile and made sure I only used printer OR application profile and not both. I use the 'printer preview' option and its clearly different than the original picture, I have tried different profiles as well with different settings, I cant really think of what else to do.

I am pretty frustrated at this point so any suggestions would be most appreciated!

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: TheDrake
I got the printer on Friday and got a chance to pick up some 4x6 ultra premium photo glossy paper to test it out. I downloaded the latest drivers and color profiles from epson but for some reason i cant get the pictures to look right for the life of me. They are all way too dark compared to what I am seeing in lightroom/photoshop. I have tried the correct paper profile and made sure I only used printer OR application profile and not both. I use the 'printer preview' option and its clearly different than the original picture, I have tried different profiles as well with different settings, I cant really think of what else to do.

I am pretty frustrated at this point so any suggestions would be most appreciated!

Is your monitor calibrated?

 

[TheDrake]

Well, I am just using my laptop screen right now, but as I said before, even the print preview isnt matching the original, Much darker and colors not vibrant at all, very dull.

 

[dnuggett]

Laptop LCDs are the worst to be looking at. Especially when trying to match prints. I use the HP2475W (calibrated) and am very happy with it.

 

[TheDrake]

Originally posted by: dnuggett
Laptop LCDs are the worst to be looking at. Especially when trying to match prints. I use the HP2475W (calibrated) and am very happy with it.

I Completely agree, but it shouldnt matter if the print preview is the same dark dull picture I get with the prints, right?

At this point I am not even printing anything anymore. I am just choosing a profile and then looking at the print preview and for some reason I cant even get the print preview screen to look like the photo.

Even if I Completely overexaggerate the colors and brightness of the photo it wont look nearly the same.

 

[TheDrake]

I treid to take a picture of the screen and the printed picture together to show but dark the printed picture turned out. This was just using lightroom with correct profile through lightroom and printer color profile turned off. Its obviously better in direct sunlight but still nowhere near the brightness it needs to be.

Here is the picture:

http://drakedavid.com/pictures/DSC_0045.JPG

UPDATE: Ok I just did something for experimentation and was in light room, turned the color profile on AND turned the color profile on in printer settings as well and sure enough that fixed the issue. I thought you wanted only one color profile on and not two? Why is it the case when turning them both on here corrects my issue?