Color Proofing HP vs Epson

I need to purchase a printer to do economic proofs of my stuff here at work. The HP laser printer that I current use has a mind of its own when it comes to color even after I tried calibrating my monitor and profiling the printer with ColorMunki. I want to purchase a printer that is reliable for economic in-house proofs that will later go to press.
I came down to two products:
HP DesignJet 130
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Printers/HP-Designjet/C7791C?jumpi d=ex_r11400_us/en/ga/IPG/_ps_g_hpdesignjet130/Designjet130Phrase&k_clickid=AMS|13|2027|424a548e-e822-09e8-9b00-00007586127f
Epson Stylus Pro 3880
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Pro/SeriesStylusPro3880/Overview.do?BV_UseBVCookie= yes
Please let me know which of these will work or not work or if you think both will work fine?
Thanks in advance
Ben

The 3880 does not have a self-calibration, built in photospectrometer. HP does ( if I'm not mistaken ). Epson offers an optional self-calibration photospectrometer on the 4990. The key for the 3880 is to get the "Designer" edition which comes with a dedicated software RIP from Efi. The HP 130 uses a third party RIP ( sold separately ). These "RIP's" can do a decent job on color matching and screening. So, if you are serious about offering a contract proofing solution, you will have to look beyond the printer itself and see what calibration options it has if any and its RIP options. The standalone 3880 and the HP130 are "photographic" printers; for a industry standard graphic arts solution, you will need the ability to calibrate and match color. No options for calibration with the 3880 although the Designer Edition Efi Express RIP does a good job precalibrated for Epson papers. Take a look at extended warrantees for anything you decide, worth the investment.

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I have researched the matter a lot and I,
along with many others, still have problems with this complicated
subject.
Color management is as simple in theory as Honoring a Source Profile and CONVERTING it to a Target Profile (monitor or printer) for Proofing.
But yes, we work at the mercy of the rocket scientists who try to dumb an extremely complicated process down so regular folks (like me) can make it work — trouble is I think their approach needs a bit more distilling and common sense sometimes...but it is very doable once you put in the time to figure it out, just follow the CHAIN in your workflow if you're still having problems.
If you want a "simple button" try staying in sRGB and printing out of Apple Preview app using OEM standard papers matched to your printer and OEM ink set.

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off the VIvid setting on the printer
Hi,
I'm not familiar with the Epson print driver in Windows, but is there a choice for No Color management? If Photoshop runs the color conversion, there should be no CM on the printers part.
In the first Print Dialog (Photoshop's) do you have the correct destination profile chosen? It should be Epson Lustre for that printer. And what is your source space? You should Soft Proof to the Epson Lustre paper to get a better idea of how it will reproduce. (In Photoshop go View>Proof Setup and go Custom and find the device to simulate- Lustre paper for your printer. Now you can work in your editing space like Adobe RGB and soft proof to your destination device)
Can you post a screen shot of the Photoshop Print dialog showing your settings?
And one of the Epson Print settings dialog too?
Thanks!
Also, keep in mind the inexpensive all-in-one print/fax/scan/copy/cappuccino-makers do not necessarily produce the highest quality photos. I love my higher-end Epson printer (R2880) but I will not own an Epson all-in-one again. I have had nothing but trouble with inexpensive Epson inkjet printers. Completely junk IMO. (that said, I have not owned an Artisian 730)
Have you done a nozzle check just to be sure there is no clogging?

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Hello, I never really worked with digital images inside Illustrator, so now that i have to prepare one for printing, I'm struggling with the following problem:
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Document Color Mode - CMYK;
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The strangest thing is that Color Proof in Photoshop (with same profiles) doesn't show this problem; only Illustrator does.
I also tried to convert the whole work into RGB, and even though Color Proof worked fine, printed image was still dusky.
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What am i doing wrong?
Basically, harboring unrealistic expectations when looking at a glowing RGB additive monitor or composite desktop printer to "proof" subtractive process color. Approximation is all you are going to get. It's pretty dang good approximation these days, but true accuracy is a pipedream. Monitors glow. Ink on paper doesn't. Monitors don't have every tiny dot of color surrounded by color diluting white. Ink-on-paper does.
And your eyes constantly adjust when viewing either. So even if you achieve colorimetric accuracy, that doesn't mean you achieve pleasing color. What you're looking for is an entirely different thing.
...huge lack of contrast...
But increase in detail. Look at your two images in post number 4. Look closely. Note the additional detail in the shadow regions (the gym equipment) of the version on the right. That difference is what the "preview" is effectively trying to simulate.
As a matter of course, any colorimetric conversion from RGB to CMYK is going to tend to "dull" (desaturate) and "flatten" (lower contrast). The preview is actually doing a decent job of simulating that. That's what it's supposed to do. (But it's still just an approximation, because you're still converting it back to RGB in order to display it on your monitor.)
Don't think of the preivew as a look at the unavoidable end of how "accurately" the process is going to retain the "good color" of your image. Think of it as a depiction of how the limitations of the process will affect your image as it currently is; think of it as an invaluable clue of what you might need to do to the image toward the goal of achieving a better final reproduction.
I do realize that in perfect world i could simply ask printing office for their printer's profile and make adjustments based on that profile...
And all you would accomplish by that is a measure of device calibration, not of what your image needs, which is color correction.
All the painstaking "color management" (calibration), and tedious conversion profiles, etc., etc. in the world don't know didly about what's important in any given image.
You think the left image in post 4 is "better" because the contrast is greater in the model. But calibration software thinks that image is "worse" because it is less "accurate" in that it contains fewer discrete colors than the process can deliver overall.
(By the way, your mentioning of switching between color modes is a bit unnerving. I hope you're not switching between RGB and CMYK repeatedly in willy-nilly, back-and-forth fashion. If you are, you are irreparably degrading your color as you go.)
Everything in preparing images for CMYK offset repro is a balancing act. One balancing act is that which exists between contrast and detail. Gains in one require sacrifices in the other. Calibration software can't do that for you. It's a value judgement call; and it's different for every image.
So you learn to put the contrast where you need it within the image. You do this by adjusting curves in your raster imaging program. That, in a nutshell, is what your image needs in order for the colorimetric conversion to CMYK to retain some of the contrast and saturation you want to retain in the right half of the image.
....but local companies are far from being perfect and most of the time they don't even know how their printers work...anyway, it's a really sad story.
Just as sad as the even more common story of prima donna designers who want to sweat blood over their erudite artistic sensitivity to ill-defined "good color" and blame printers for failing to maintain it through hair-splitting colorimetric "accuracy," because they think it beneath them (or too painful) to roll up their sleeves and buckle down to learning practical color repro theory. (Not beating you up here; we've all been guilty of this at some point.)
...it became principle for me to understand why this is happening.
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As a good start: Acquire a copy of Professional Photoshop by Dan Margulis. Any edition will do. (There were five or six--get as many as you can find.) Read it. Read it again. And again. Then keep it as an onshelf reference. And use the principles of color correction (as opposed to mere color calibration) it teaches in every image you prepare for offset printing. You'll get better at it as you go, but you'll never achieve a single set of adjustments or settings that work for every image.
JET

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Hallo!
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In and of itself, synching settings in bridge won't have an effect on output, and won't affect existing docs unless your policy settings are to convert to the working space or you do it manually (neither of which are necessarily a good idea in all situations). Nor do we have any indication that this is a profile mismatch problem.
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Hi
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I've got the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 and Color Handling > Color Mode is grayed-out in CS2 and CS3 using the Mac driver 6.6 on OSX10.5.8. I'm not sure why that part of the driver's print dialog is disabled, but no matter. Take a look at my screens below ( note: these are from Tiger OSX10.4.11 via CS2, but should apply to your arrangement:
Above just use the RGB from your PS Color Settings, here I set it for Adobe RGB and whatever paper you are using...
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Message was edited by: John Danek

Elements 12 print color dark, dull. Epson R3000 Mac OS

Wise Adobe Community folks I need your advice. Mac. running Yosemite, Version 10.10.1, Elements 12. Prints from Epson R3000 dark, dull. Formerly this printer/Elements combination worked fine before Yosemite upgrade. Monitor calibrated and (formerly) was accurate representation of print. Printer heads, ink checked OK. Paper Epson Premium Glossy.
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Here are a couple of links. No idea when some of them were last updated so your mileage may vary:
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Epson Stylus Photo R2400, News & Alerts - Technical Support - Epson America, Inc.

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Just checking, was this the driver you downloaded?
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Adobe CS3, Mac & Epson 1400 Printing Color Issues

So I've been reading the forums for some help on getting my new Epson 1400 to print colors properly and my attempts to send just PDF's to the printer also fail on color matching. Stuff sent to an actual press come out fine with the colors I'm working with through Illustrator, In Design and Acrobat, but when I try to print at home, I can't get a setting that works consistently from attempt to attempt. I have downloaded and updated the latest drives from Epson's site (but they are gibberish to me, GPHW? PSPP?) to no avail. It was suggested to print from Acrobat when all else fails, but I'm still having a heck of a time getting anything to remotely match a print done a week ago or more if the pantone colors are used.
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I believe I've tried every possible combination of settings on Acrobat and InDesign to try to get correct color with the supplied Epson printer profiles. What's funny is I used to have a low-end epson installed, like a 380 or something, and when I used those profiles, it got better color. I accidentally deleted them and can't figure out what might work better. I'm guessing some other printer's profiles might just work more effectively... And it sounds like upgrading to CS4 won't help (and might make things worse) .... is this a CS problem, or an Epson problem, or a mac problem???
Help!

I have been rather fortunate, I have been getting excellent color matching on my Epson.
I am wondering about your settings when printing to the Epson, since that can make a difference in how the color is translated when printing.
You say the prints come out accurately when sent to the printer - BUT, you have also stated that this is from an actual press. Pantone colors do not always look the same when printed out in process, there can be a HUGE color shift. If your printer has one, look at his Pantone solid to process book so you can see the differences in your chosen colors.
I did look at yours and there is only a slight color shift, have you checked your CMYK settings for your spot colors on your computer? I remember having that issue before. The CMYK value I have for 3155 in my Pantone Solid to process is C:100 M:0 Y:24 K:38 and 397 is C:10 M:0 Y:100 K:11. If your printer has these settings, then their colors will be more accurate if they are double checking to make sure the correct pantone formula is being used.
In your print settings, are you printing a proof? what are you choosing for the Color Handling? I have been using Document RGB - sRGB IEC61966-2.1 with good luck. You may need to try those and see which profile works best for you.
Hopefully this helps some.
Message was edited by: macgurl_70 I forgot to ask, it reads like you are having them printed on an offset press - the pantone colors will always be more vivid and correct since they are using a specially formulated ink and not a cmyk (or rgb) mix of colors. Also, when they are printing - the plates will print the spot color as one plate for that specific ink - and NOT four plates for the CMYK, giving them the most accurate color. No matter what printer you choose, it will not print EXACT pantone colors, so check on the shift in that pantone guide (I didn't see much of one, but they were definitely not as vivid).
Update: I just installed the Gutenprint drivers for my Epson, so my InDesign would print out correctly on large sheets of paper. I am working on color calibrating the output with that driver now.

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