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Before we take a look at what the Epson Stylus Pro 3800 can do with colours, I want to explain how I scan in the test prints.
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The monitor is calibrated and a new profile is created using the ColorVision Datacolor Spyder with Spyder Pro 2.2. software. This is performed before every printer test.
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The first print is created by simply pressing the print button and the settings are set to Auto, there is no other intervention.
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The print is allowed to dry for 30 minutes (as are all subsequent prints) before scanning.
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A Kodak Grey scale patch is attached for the initial scan, the White and Mid Grey patches are sampled using the Highlight, Shadow, Midtone tool in SilverFast. The settings are saved and used for all the scans in the test.
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Prints are made using both the sRGB and Adobe 1998 colour space.
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Prints are evaluated under daylight - this is how the majority of readers will look at their prints.
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I would like to remind you that in this review you are looking at scans of the prints, therefore there will always be a loss in quality. However, all effort is made to keep any loss in quality to a minimum.
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Setting up the scans for the photo-i test. |
I have already established in previous reviews that most printers are reproducing colours that match the screen display. The Pro 3800 is no exception, the colours are every bit as accurate as those displayed on my monitor. This verifies that the EPSON profiles are very accurate, which has to be good news for the end user.
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Kodak colour patches and photo-i cotton reels (reels imported from the original digital file) |
The cotton reels were chosen for a visually more interesting 3D interpretation of colours. I took the Kodak chart to our department store and spent a considerable amount of time matching the colours. The colours are as close as I could find before the security guards asked me to leave the haberdashery department on the grounds of loitering.
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Epson Pro 3800 reels |
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HP B9180 |
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Canon Pro 9000 |
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Epson R2400 |
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Epson R1800 |
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HP 8750 |
The colours on the Pro 3800 print are excellent and closely match the original file. The dark blue is perhaps not as accurate as it could be, the EPSON R1800 produced the best blue.
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