I just bought an EPSON Printer, because I wanted to switch to an EcoTank model (ET-2711). I previously used and HP printer (HP ENVY 5032) and had no problem printing on noname generic photo paper such as these :
By using the HP profile “HP photo papers” I get totally satisfactory results. Colors are OK to me, even when printing on A4 photo paper that is not of the HP brand. No need to get into printer profile with Argyll, it’s fine.
No I want to reproduce this with the EPSON printer, by picking the good generic photo paper profile. After installing the driver (this one : epson-inkjet-printer-escpr 1.8.6-1 ) , I find myself with a lot of options to choose from (sorry it’s in french):
I made a first printing test with “Papier photo Glacé -Standard” (in english “glossy photo paper -standard”) and the result is very cold, very blue, so not the right one.
I obviously don’t want to waste too much paper by testing everything.
Does anyone here have experience to share about these EPSON paper profiles ?
I own an ET-7750. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much success with the original Linux Epson driver (tried it with Ubuntu). The Turboprint Linux driver worked better (see https://www.turboprint.info/). You can use the trial version for a month without having to pay. I don’t know how it is today, but in the past, the trial version had no functional limitations.
However, because even that never worked to my complete satisfaction, I switched back to the Epson Windows driver in a Windows VM.
For two Hahnemühle papers there are profiles. I profiled another one in the past but please don’t ask me if it was easy or not. It’s been years ago and I have no clue anymore how the process was. I don’t print that much and I’m sure I will not have to profile further papers in future. Hahnemühle is by the way offering icc profiles for their papers as well.
Probably the Glossy Photo paper will give you the best result.
Having worked at Epson for a while, what they say about the paper is true. If you want to use 3rd party paper, at least find a brand that gives you driver setting to use, this means they cared enough to test things. Red River paper does this, for example.
Thanks everyone for their input. Here’s my experience, I guess it could useful to somebody.
So, I tried Turboprint.
If you’re like me on Arch, don’t instal from aur (AUR (en) - turboprint) except if you already have a license, because it will install a version that doesn’t consider the 30 day trial => It will add a logo to your print works. Pick the software from the Turboprint website. Installation from the downloaded .tgz was very easy.
As other people said it before, yes Turboprint do provide better results, indisputable. It’s not magic though, the prints are OK, but not stellar. BUT this is, in my opinion, due in part to the printer quality. Apparently the EPSON ET-2711 is no Ferrari (plus it’s a 3 colours + black model). With the EPSON driver picking “EPSON Glossy” gives me very blue/cold results whereas with Turboprint choosing “Epson Photo Glossy” gives more neutral results with my noname brand 10x15cm paper.
For info this is the paper profiles available with Turboprint :
And sometimes it even starts to print before the paper is even here! I have no idea if there’s a setting to correct that. With regular paper it prints fine, but not with photo paper.
The scanner is awful (nothing to do with Turboprint of course!). Barely useful to print black and white invoices.
Even with Turboprint I can get awful banding issues. Here’s an excerpt from a A4 print :
Even with the awful scanning you can see it. I guess I should play with the “quality” settings to correct this. But should I pick immediately 2880dpi because it says “photo” or is it overkill for my needs ? The manual does not give a lot of info to make the right choice.
My issue with the manual is that I wished it was more detailed so that I could avoid wasting photo paper making tests. And boy did I already waste some sheets!
Turboprint gives access to options that are non-existent with the regular driver. But for 50€ I wish the manual was richer.
Also, the EPSON ET-2711 doesn’t appear to be some “hidden gem” cheap and good photo printer.
EDIT : It seems impossible to connect this printer via WIFI. It should be easy, there is the WPS mode… but the printer never connects. (again, absolutely no relation with Turboprint)
Sorry to hear you’re having issues, printing can be very frustrating.
I suggest definitely exploring all the printer settings available and choosing a standard set you use all the time, this makes for more predictability. Try the highest quality, like the 2880 you mentioned maybe. It may slow down the printing but do you mind when you’ve already invested time in an image. The banding you show may simply be due to using a lower quality print setting. Presumably the print heads are not slightly clogged?
Thanks for your answer Andrew. I have no problem if it’s going slower, of course. It’s more about being able to make the right choice while fully understanding that choice. Is a high dpi always the right way, or, I don’t know is it useless for lower quality printer ? Is it overkill ?
Trying 2880dpi is on my test list, but first I have to see about the image being printed correctly in the middle of the sheet.
Hello, is that with TurboPrint or with other printing software? I’ve seen that as well sometimes when printing on an Epson ET-8550 via gThumb on Linux. That might have to do with scaling options.
The banding you showed comes from two sources: or your print heads are clogged as Andrew already suggested (do a nozzle check and clean if necessary) or you print with low quality settings. I suppose you use original Epson inks.
I think 2880 is the high end and you might find 1440 is fine, if that’s a setting your printer has. I’ve never had misalignment like your example. I know this is obvious, but you have adjusted the paper guides haven’t you! Otherwise maybe return the printer as faulty.
