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Epson 3880 Question

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tonyroth

Guest
Hi All -- I am planning on purchasing this printer as soon as I can find one in stock (hopefully this week). Question, do I want to purchase the standard one or the graphic arts version that costs $200 more and includes "color burst" software? I will be using the printer exclusively to print color and b&w photos and will not be using it to print text or other overlays, designs, etc. But I read somewhere this evening that said that even for just photos, the graphics arts version would render better results because it offers better drivers and profiles, etc. This is all chinese to me, any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, tony.
 
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tetsrfun

Guest
Question, do I want to purchase the standard one ?
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Yes....forget the RIP unless you have a very specialized need for it. BTW what software will you be using for printing? Also if you haven't done "fine art" printing, I would start with one or perhaps two papers. When I bought my first "real" printer a few years ago, (3800) now 4880, I had read about all the different types of papers and bought about 6. I ended up using Epson Premium Luster as my learning paper..the Epson profiles are said to be quite good for their papers. There may be a better choice but stick with one starting out, IMHO.

Steve
Steve

Steve
 
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tonyroth

Guest
I have no idea what software I will be using for printing. I use C1 almost exclusively for pp. I occasionally export tiff's to lightroom when i need to smooth over rough spots (usually skin), but that's about it. So I have a significant log of photos ready to print (albeit i never calibrated my monitor so I may have to reprocessing everything after doing so, we'll see).

What are my options? Can I print effectively from C1 or do I need to import processed tiff's into some other program, like lightroom?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks, tony.
 
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tonyroth

Guest
Would really appreciate any guidance on what software to use to print. I know this is a very basic question. Should I just use LR, given that I cannot use C1? I was also thinking of purchasing PS for other reasons, but are there any advantages to printing through PS as opposed to LR? Are there any other options I should consider? I will printing on an epson 3880. Thanks, tony.
 
LR is very flexible and does a very good job in printing, furthermore, given the posssibility to save as preset your favorite setting, will help to avoid mistakes. PS is more difficult to use.
Cheers,
Ario
 

fotografz

Well-known member
For God's sake get the Colorburst 3880 RIP!!!!!! For $200. more, it's worth its weight in Gold.

ColorBurst X-Photo cost $700. to $1,500. if you buy it alone. Unless you plan on using SpectraVision Pro to make your own ICC Profiles it's a waste of money. The recent up-graded Colorburst RIP for Epson now even has Print Certification.

Contrary to what has been said, the ColorBurst that comes with the Epson is designed specifically for your printer and is amazing.

I print thousands of images a year from 8 X10 to 17 X 22, and if it were not for the RIP, I'd have gone crazy. It is simply fool proof ... and you can work in C1 or any other processing program ... then Queue up as many photo images you want in Colorburst and go do something else. Select your paper type, paper size, image orientation, and then as many images, from any file or any amount of files as you want to print without opening the damned things in PS one at a time ... I print 50 images at a crack with one click of a button.

When I first got mine, I ran a test by printing out of Photoshop, then the same image using the RIP ... the RIP image was visibly better. I never used PS to send to the printer again. Besides what a PITA sending images through PS.

Adding paper profiles is a no brainer ... but there are so many profiles already in the menu it's unlikely you'll need to.

All the above is especially true if you've never done much printing before. A child can make a great print with this RIP ... even I could :ROTFL:

-Marc
 
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tonyroth

Guest
Great. So I went ahead and purchased the 3880 without the colorburst rip. I haven't even set up the printer yet (it arrived friday just before I left for a week's vacation). So am I screwed now, or is there I way I can pay the difference to upgrade to the 3880 that would have included the rip? thanks!
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Great. So I went ahead and purchased the 3880 without the colorburst rip. I haven't even set up the printer yet (it arrived friday just before I left for a week's vacation). So am I screwed now, or is there I way I can pay the difference to upgrade to the 3880 that would have included the rip? thanks!
Despite the enthusiasm for the RIP by one person, I would strongly suspect you will find, as have most, the RIP isn't necessary and you probably wouldn't end up using it. Search around the net and you will find the RIP is rarely recommended. Print quality for the 3880 using standard printer drivers is outstanding, printing from LR provides you a great many of the nesting options of a rip and will get better with LR 3. I currently use a combination of C1/LR/CS4. I purchased one of my 3800's with the RIP and tried it for about a month.
 

Diane B

New member
Despite the enthusiasm for the RIP by one person, I would strongly suspect you will find, as have most, the RIP isn't necessary and you probably wouldn't end up using it. Search around the net and you will find the RIP is rarely recommended. Print quality for the 3880 using standard printer drivers is outstanding, printing from LR provides you a great many of the nesting options of a rip and will get better with LR 3. I currently use a combination of C1/LR/CS4. I purchased one of my 3800's with the RIP and tried it for about a month.
I remember when I got my 3800--the month it came out. There was a lot of discussion about the RIP and the general consensus from many who seemed to have some good knowledge of printing with/without it was that it wasn't worth it. I didn't buy it--maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but I haven't read anything much over the years about anyone using it.

Diane
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
The profiles are so good now that the RIP is less needed than it once was. The biggest advantage now is layout help -- like how to get three 5x7's and 16 wallets all on one 11x17 sheet -- but that usually isn't an issue for the typical 3800 user...
 

fotografz

Well-known member
The profiles are so good now that the RIP is less needed than it once was. The biggest advantage now is layout help -- like how to get three 5x7's and 16 wallets all on one 11x17 sheet -- but that usually isn't an issue for the typical 3800 user...
That's probably very true Jack. Profiles have gotten better.

My enthusaism for the colorburst RIP is mostly for workflow speed. You do not have to input the printer one image at a time. I can load 50 prints that use the same sized paper to the Epson in 5 seconds and walk away. If Lightroom has that one button print batch feature, I cannot find it in any of the dialog boxes (which doesn't necessarily mean it isn't there : -)

The difference may well be in production work flow demands verses doing one print at a time.

-Marc
 

donbga

Member
I remember when I got my 3800--the month it came out. There was a lot of discussion about the RIP and the general consensus from many who seemed to have some good knowledge of printing with/without it was that it wasn't worth it. I didn't buy it--maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but I haven't read anything much over the years about anyone using it.

Diane
If you need to make a print longer than 37.4 inches then you will need to use a RIP.

The Color Burst RIP offering bundled with the 3800 was limited to Epson papers only (at least that is what I recall reading when the printer was introduced) so it's utility was quite limited. The full version CB RIP didn't have this limitation, but did cost more.

Don Bryant
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
My enthusaism for the colorburst RIP is mostly for workflow speed. You do not have to input the printer one image at a time. I can load 50 prints that use the same sized paper to the Epson in 5 seconds and walk away. If Lightroom has that one button print batch feature, I cannot find it in any of the dialog boxes (which doesn't necessarily mean it isn't there : -)

The difference may well be in production work flow demands verses doing one print at a time.

-Marc
Lightroom prints all selected images using the current layout, so you can create a collection or shift click on the desired images in the filmstrip. What you describe is very simple to do, using complex multiple image package layouts or simple one print layouts. You can also create "contact" sheet layouts, so for example a selection of 50 5x7's will all be printed on 25 8x10 sheets of paper. Lightroom 3 adds more flexible options, and includes better output sharpening than lightroom 2.

If you need advanced nesting a RIP might be useful, but I'm not sure this is of much use to a small 3880 printer. LR 3 is still in beta, and since you can print multiple images in multiple sizes on the same page now, adding a way to automate the layout would be quite similar to a RIP nesting functionality.
 
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zzyzx

Guest
Is Epson out(still) because they are getting ready to replace it with a newer model?
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Is Epson out(still) because they are getting ready to replace it with a newer model?
Doubtful -- I suspect it is more likely Epson under-estimated initial demand. It's an outstanding printer at that price-point and print size. IMO the only things better are the larger Epson x900's, or the big HP 3200's.

Cheers,
 

bensonga

Well-known member
B&H Photo has the 3880 in stock. Mine is supposed to ship in the next day or two.....I sure hope so.

Gary
 
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