Matte Paper Print Jobs

A few days ago I made a baker's dozen prints on a Epson-branded matte paper. These were printed on letter size sheets. The prints will go into 11 x 14 inch mats, then into clear bags. These sell quite well, perhaps because I select images of local landscapes (including Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks) and the kinds of charismatic wildlife people see there, or hope to see there. I also display a lot of bird photos this way.

I didn't buy the 7900 to make small prints, but it's a necessary part of my business.

As luck would have it, while set up with MK loaded, I got a call from a client for whom I've printed before. She wanted a large number of prints on her preferred paper, Epson Enhanced Matte. I print most of these from a 17 inch roll.

Her jobs are the easiest work I do. She had several of her watercolor paintings scanned by a service that's no longer in business. The scans are prefect. I only need open the Photoshop files and print, and then package the lot  for delivery. Since the client is local, I deliver the work, so there are no shipping costs. As friend Dean has said, this is like printing money.

When the printer cut the job's last print from the roll, the ink status on the LCD showed the LK ink with a red X, along with a message indicating the ink must be replaced. I replaced that original, 90ml LK with a 150ml cartridge I've had on-hand for a while. I've installed that LK temporarily several times for cleanings.

Also at the end of that print job I found my G and LC inks at 2%. That's adequate for many more prints, but the machine will not clean either of those channels with only 2%. I ordered both, and received the G today. The expiration date is 5/2013.

I've got a new 24 inch roll of Epson Luster, on which I want to make a few prints for an outdoor show coming up in August. I have not used this paper before. I'll be switching from MK to PK soon, and printing a profile evaluation image.

Last comment for today: the weather here in western Montana has been strange. It's been quite humid, and we've had much more rain than normal (whatever "normal" is these days) for this time of year. Relative humidity percentages have been in the sixties, even the seventies, in the mornings. But the printer has shown no more clogs than I've seen when the RH has been much lower. It appears humidity isn't affecting the machine in any obvious way. I'll continue to record the room temperature and RH on each nozzle print, so I'll have the data if the clog situation changes.

  --Jay