My plan to post daily while completing the job described in my last posting went the way of best-laid plans, due in part to a visit by family that took us on several day-trips. But the job got done even if my planned postings didn't; what follows is a wrap-up of what turned out to be a completely uneventful printing project.
As mentioned in the earlier posting, the job consisted of making 40 unique small prints. I'd planned to print ten per day over four sequential days.
Day two: Nozzle check was perfect. In the print studio relative humidity (RH) was 63%, quite high for here, temperature 70°F. Ten prints made, all perfect.
Day three: Due to other commitments the printer sat idle yesterday. Today's nozzle check was perfect, RH 54%, temperature 68°. Ten prints made, all perfect.
Day four: Nozzle check was perfect, RH 55%, temperature 67°. Ten prints made, all perfect.
You might think this proves the "theory" that printing daily prevents clogs or other ink delivery problems. That theory is certainly bandied about the forums and is, I think, widely accepted. I find otherwise, however. There's plenty of evidence that regular printing, while it may make for a less-troublesome life with the x900 printers, does not eliminate clogs. As proof:
I got a job to print four small (26 inch/66cm wide) panoramas. I printed these the day after I completed the movie stills job (that is, the day after "Day four" above). Studio conditions: 56% RH, 68°, right in the middle of the conditions over the days of the movie stills job. The nozzle check showed the lower 1/4 of the LC channel missing. Since standard cleanings rarely solve these problems for me, I did a powerful cleaning of the LC/VLM pair. This improved the LC channel, but still left six small voids in the pattern. I then did a standard cleaning of the same pair, which cleared the problem. The panoramas printed fine.
Two days later, after a thorough inspection of the movie stills prints, I decided to reprint five of those, after making some exposure and color adjustments to the files in Photoshop. Once again the studio conditions were similar to the previous days. Nozzle check was perfect, as were the prints.
I think I've proved only what I've often said: printing with the x900 series Epsons is a completely random experience. You can't know before you start any job whether that job will be smooth, easy, and fast, or require spinning your wheels waiting for cleanings to clear ink delivery problems. One must accept this as a condition of membership in the Stylus Pro x900 club. To make up for that, the prints are outstanding. Each of us must decide whether that's a fair bargain.
--Jay
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