Please confirm my purchase(s) before I spend.

[mrsgreencar]

Aloha,

I'm getting ready to make a sizable investment in new equipment. Just to make sure , would some of you mind confirming for me that the following equipment is what's best for my situation. I'm wanting to create fine art reproductions of my watercolor art on archival quality paper and possibly canvas up to a 16" x 20" size. I paint in watercolor with lots of detail. (You can see what I'm trying to reproduce at http://www.lynnmarielara.com.) Here's my equipment list, please let me know if any of this is over kill before I take the jump. I would be ok considering the Epson 3800 but if I want to possibly use canvas I've heard that it's a bit tricky which is why I'm looking at the 4880. However, I'm really not wanting to spend more than necessary and at the same time I want room to grow without being over kill. Also does anyone know if the 4880 printer will have any trouble printing on small precut and scored card stock in A2 and A6 (6.25 x 9) sizes? Thanks so.....much!

Apple MacPro - dual quad core 4GB with 2 - 2.8Ghz, memory - 320G in Bay 1 and 500G in Bay 2, 24" HD Cinema Mat display, iWork installed
Photoshop CS3
Epson V750 scanner
Epson 4880 pro printer
ImagePrint 7.0 rip software
24" Rotatrim cutter

[Costas L]

dual quad core

Is that 2 quad core processors your looking at ? seems a bit OTT unless your getting an exceptionaly good price on it !

[NielsN]

Hi
It looks really great.
Questions:
Why the RIP ?
The scanner might be overkill for what You want to do ?
But otherwise You are surely set to go for a long time !

[bez]

Lynn
I hope you’re going to print almost exclusively on matt paper, because if you switch to gloss with the 4880 you’ll lose a LOT of ink.
The 3800 is much better in this respect, although it doesn’t have roll support.
I’ve never tried canvas in the 3800 but haven’t heard of particular problems.

You may have trouble printing smaller than A4 on certain paper types; with the 3800 minimum paper size is dependent on paper choice and I assume the 4880 will be similar.

And yes - why the RIP?

[Ulalia]

I am new to the forum but have come here because I too am considering either the 3800 or 4880 but am also concerned about whether the large price difference here £825 v £1475 is justified for what I need to do. I will be using the printer commercially for mainly photo prints but some canvas and need to be able to print up to 40" x 16" occasionally. This led me to the roll feeder on the 4880 but is there any reason the 3800 couldn't print this size paper if introduced to one of its paper feeds? I presume both printers are comparable in terms of ink type and longevity and ink usage. Any views would be appreciated. Thanks.

[bez]

Welcome Ulalia
The 4880 is a more robust ‘professional’ printer, has a vacuum paper feed like the larger ones, and is designed for a heavier work load.
It also of course has roll paper support, whereas the longest you can print with the 3800 native drivers is 37.4”, unless you buy a RIP.
You would also have to devise some method of supporting the cut length off a roll but this is not difficult. You could feed a whole roll (held on a broom handle for example) into the rear manual slot except there’s no automatic paper cutter which would be slightly awkward.

As I pointed out above the one area where the 3800 has a big advantage is in black ink swapping, using far less when changing from matt to gloss.
The 4880 has larger ink tanks (110 or 220mls, as opposed to 80mls) and is consequently cheaper to run - approximately half the price per ml if you buy 220ml tanks, although this is quite a lot of ink to get through in 6 to 12 months.

Print quality and ink type is the same in both machines, however the 4880 has the new Vivid Magenta which increases the gamut slightly in the red/blue/purple area; probably not something you’d notice in 95% of prints..

[mrsgreencar]

Aloha,

Thanks for all of the input regarding this purchase list. Actually with some prayerful waiting and additional research I've decided to change my printer selection and go with the R3800 as I have a need to be able to print on card stock and smaller sheets as well, and this is not possible with the R4800. In additional to the size and weight of the machine that was giving me some hesitation.

For those who commented on the RIP software it was something that was recommended to me by DGT.com and is also recommended by luminous landscape. But, as several of you questioned why I needed it, I will be researching that a bit more to find out if I really do or not. My current understanding is that I'll be able to do better placement of multiple print jobs on one sheet and get better quality prints rather than using the standard printer driver. I would welcome more input regarding this issue so I can make a more informed decision.

Thanks again for the comments. I'll keep checking back.

[bez]

As you say the main reason for using a RIP is for nesting multiple images to maximise paper usage, and being able to set it up and leave it running while you do something else. If you’re happy to sit at the screen printing one image at a time on various sheet sizes (or setting up two or more in Photoshop) there’s no need for a RIP.
So far as I know print quality wont necessarily be any better.

Most (but not all) RIPs would allow you to exceed the maximum print length of the 3800 drivers, however you would still have to devise some method of supporting a roll, but with a little ingenuity this shouldn’t be difficult.

RIPs also require their own profiles although whoever supplies the software should also give you these, hopefully at no extra cost.

[bez]

I'll keep checking back.

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