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Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 7:01 am
by sdumbliauskas
Hi,

Epson SCP800 print blurry images on lower than 2880 dpi resolutions(check out attached image).
How this problem can be solved?

PrintFab 2.8.3

Thank you
Saulius

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 9:34 am
by zedonet
Hello,

it looks like there was a problem with the print head alignment. As with 1440dpi a different print mode (higher speed of head movement) is active the alignment problem might be stronger visible that with 2880dpi. Please try printing with "unidirectional" setting in the print settings dialog. If this helps, you can try to realign the print head via the printer lcd panel menu.

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:46 pm
by sdumbliauskas
Hi,

Thank you for your message.
I have aligned printhead twice (on photo paper), but can't get same result what I have with unidirectional mode. Well... should I print only with unidirectional mode? Its much slower.

Thank you
Saulius

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:05 pm
by zedonet
Strange... did alignment improve quality or is it still as blurry as before?

Your image looks as if alignment at the left & right edge of the page is different, i.e. at the left edge the print is more blurred than at the right edge (or vice versa) - is this true?

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:01 am
by sdumbliauskas
Quality of print improved with realigned printhead, but its still not same (ideal) result which I have by using unidirectional mode.
Check out attached image, printed big letters are about 3 mm high.

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:31 am
by zedonet
I assume that this is hardware related and cannot be improved any more from software side. You could try producing the same prints with the drivers supplied by Epson to check if you get the same results then.

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 2:43 pm
by sdumbliauskas
Hi,

Finally I have aligned printhead and with native Epson driver I have no problems, it prints bidirectionally really nice and clean.
With Printfab driver I have quite good result by using Unidirectional mode, but even Unidirectional Printfab result is worse if compare to Epson Bidirectional print (check out this image https://www.flickr.com/gp/2trip/237H68).

Well...Printing Bidirectionally with Prinfab driver is real nightmare. Even after 6 attempts of printhead alignment impossible to get clean crisp image by using bidirectional mode.

I bought this driver because I like how it works with colors, I invested in ICC profiles, but still unable to use your product.
It's really disappointing.

Please can you do printing tests with Epson SCP800 and make driver which would work in bidirectional mode?

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:54 am
by zedonet
Thank you for the information - we will investigate this and try to solve the problem.
The problem might be specific to thicker (FineArt) paper - can you please make a test print on plain paper?

And please send the Epson driver settings (screenshots of the relevant print dialog options would be perfect):

- Media type (e.g. Velvet Fineart Paper)
- Quality option (1440dpi)
- color setting - I think the Epson driver offers Color (AccuPhoto HD) and Advanced b&w photo, no "black only" mode
- any other options that might be relevant, e.g. paper thickness, platen gap

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:13 am
by sdumbliauskas
Hi,

- Here is test image https://cl.ly/3s2R11080W3S
- Here https://www.flickr.com/gp/2trip/61T55G you can see Grayscale image printed on Canson Velin Museum Rag 315 gsm paper with Epson driver in 720 dpi bidirectional mode, black ink only.
- Here https://flic.kr/s/aHskUBETf7 you can see test images printed with different settings of Printfab driver. In comments you will find media and driver settings.

I can say that on plain paper Printfab driver works almost perfect in bidirectional mode, but I guess that people, which own more expensive printers, would like to print on professional media and I found that even after lots of tests its impossible to get really sharp and clean printout with Printfab driver, and that's not printer problem.

I hope that my tests will let you improve your driver.

Best regards
Saulius

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:04 am
by zedonet
Thank you for performing the test prints and sending the images & screenshots!

I think we have all the relevant information to solve the problem, I will perform some tests and get back to you in the next few days.

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:47 am
by zedonet
Ooops, one more question: What was your "Media" setting and "Paper Thickness" setting in PrintFab?

When I look at your filenames, I guess that you experimented with different paper thickness settings and had the best results with 0.3mm?

For sharp prints, it is important that the correct paper thickness is chosen.
The printer selects the default paper depending on the "Media" setting:

Epson Photo Quality Inkjet Paper = 0.1mm
Epson Archival Matte Paper = 0.2mm
Fineart Media = 0.3mm..0.5mm

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:11 am
by zedonet
...I found your screenshots with the PrintFab settings dialogs in the mean time.

However, you are using a custom paper profile and I don't know which settings you used:

When creating a new custom paper profile in PrintFab, you can choose from "Plain paper", "Matte inkjet paper", "Glossy paper" , "Transparency" and "FineArt paper", "CD printable" and "Other paper". For the Canson paper, "FineArt paper" should be the right choice.

Re: Epson SCP800 blurry prints on lower than 2880 dpi

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:15 am
by sdumbliauskas
Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

In Printfab profile setting I have chosen Fineart paper (check out attached image). Whit Default paper thickness setting in print dialog I get bad result.
When 0.3 mm thickness set in print dialog I get much more better result. So I guess that setting different media type in Printfab toolbox does not effects quality of printing.