Beyond the Basics: Solving ET-8550 Black & White Printing Issues

Comments · 45

• KE

  @KeithCooper · 5 months ago (edited) · pinned

  This technique can also be applied to optimising the ABW [B&amp;W] print option for Epson printers. Get my custom ICC profiles for the ET-8550: <a href="https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/keith-cooper-printer-profiles/">https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/keith-cooper-printer-profiles/</a> Black and white test image <a href="https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/test-image-for-black-and-white-printing/">https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/test-image-for-black-and-white-printing/</a><br>My full Epson ET-8550 Review: <a href="https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-8550-printer-review/">https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-8550-printer-review/</a><br>Includes all my 8550 videos.

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• PA

  @paologramigna · 13 days ago

  Thanks, Keith. I bought the ET-8550 after looking at your review. When I installed my ET-8550 on my Mac running OS Tahoe 26.6.2, it installed AirPrint by default. I found that Epson Print Layout wasn&apos;t working, so I uninstalled and reinstalled it via the IP connection, and this time I got the correct driver, 13.50. I am bringing this to your attention.

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• DI

  @diyenthusiastebe8745 · 5 months ago

  Very, very interesting ! Thanks for your effort, Keith!

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• LE

  @lesladbrook4508 · 5 months ago

  Very interesting thank you Keith 🙂

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• SN

  @SnelIT · 5 months ago

  Thank you Keith. This is immensely interesting for me. Going to buy Archival Matte for myself, B&amp;W being my preferred mode

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• PH

  @photonsonpixels · 5 months ago

  What a fantastic tutorial, Keith! Thank you so much for making it. I shall be experimenting with the EpsonArchivalMatte paper using your profiles, which I got late last year (Thank you again). And, by the way, I really like your photo with the big clouds, I think it is brilliant!

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• WH

  @whafrog · 5 months ago

  Wrt to printing from Lightroom, from what I have learned (only today!) is I can create a &quot;soft proof&quot; with the relevant profile, which can then be edited with whatever tools Lightroom has (basics, curves, etc). &nbsp;When in the Develop module, hit &quot;S&quot; to toggle the soft proof. &nbsp;Select your ICC profile and &quot;Create Proof Copy&quot;. &nbsp;The image should then appear &quot;approximately&quot; as it would appear on that paper (it&apos;s fairly close imho). &nbsp;Then edit as desired. &nbsp;These edits are kept separate from your original edits of the RAW file, which is nice. &nbsp;You can then export normally from your proof copy, which I&apos;ve set up to load into Epson Print Layout. &nbsp;You can make as many proof copies from your original as you like, each with their own edits.<br>Hope that&apos;s useful to anyone...

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• TH

  @theshortlist · 5 months ago

  After years of trouble with the Epson Driver, I&apos;ve just bought the Mirage APP... expensive but a game changer for me !

• CH

  @chromagraphphotoart · 5 months ago

  50 sheets of A4 archival matte arrive tomorrow. Time to start printing!

• JI

  @jimwhite1760 · 5 months ago

  I print BW almost exclusively on my ET-8550. Mostly matte but also luster and for small prints glossy. For each of the paper types I select either VFA or luster or glossy for Print Media. Mode is always set to ABW. My prints - A3+, A4 or 5x7 - look fabulous. Color images use paper specific ICCs.

• FO

  @fotticelli · 5 months ago

  The subject of maximum dmax in printing is like the sharpest sharp in lenses, it doesn&apos;t always matter. The prints the tree on A4 is a good example that there are other factors which are more important than technical specs of the paper. Some pictures look good when printed washed out with gray shadows and gray highlights, some depend on the nuances of the details and then even the viewing conditions of the final print can ruin the impact. That&apos;s what I&apos;m struggling with right now. I have prints that look just as good in window light and artificial lighting and some that look good only when it&apos;s sunny outside and only between noon and 3 pm.

• G.

  @G.McCurdy-r2m · 5 months ago

  Keith, I&apos;d like to see an update to your process of profiling for B&amp;W as some of the software is no longer available per x-rite. &nbsp;Some do not work on Windows 11 either and the screen can be really small in 4K with old software. &nbsp;Even the i1 Photo hand-held spectrometer has been abolished in the version i1 Photo 2 for the newer version 3 in their software (and their promise to abandon and lock out the old version i1 Photo 2 in the upcoming update to i1Proofiler. &nbsp;The Calibrite software removed the ability to spot-read a color with the Colormunki Photo or their own Design Studio spectrometer copy of fit even after paying $75 to use it on the newer software. &nbsp;Then the issue of where the files go since Microsoft assigned different storage names on their versions. &nbsp;QTR seems deficient in some of its operations too since its introduction. &nbsp;And Argyll is another mess when it takes over the computer&apos;s USB ports while killing off other&apos;s software that uses it. &nbsp;It&apos;s a mess to dig through, imho, since much of what is out there is 5-15 years old or older.