Thread: Today I bought an A3 printer

I've wanted to get an A3 printer for years, but every time I look at one I look at the price and tell myself "don't be ridiculous, you will never use it enough to justify the cost!".

Good on you!

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I've wanted to get an A3 printer for years, but every time I look at one I look at the price and tell myself "don't be ridiculous, you will never use it enough to justify the cost!".

Good on you!

John

I did the sums and with paper stocks and ink supplies it was cheaper to get photos printed by a lab.

That said if you need a printer a bargain is always good.

Yes that's the thing Derek it is cheaper but now I'm in a photography exhibition group and having to print more than I have ever done. I figured why not and at least this way I can learn a lot more and have complete control over my images. Plus Time is the issue with me. As I often have to produce stuff to a deadline sometimes getting out to print stuff or send stuff away is not always practical because I might have only had the time a day or two before to actually get the photos I was actually after.

This is a 4mth old printer that has only printed 4 that's right 4 photographs on 6x4 and the 4th one was printed of me the day I picked it up so I could see it working.

I got it for $500 and it still has 18mths warranty have the original purchase receipt it's a $900 printer

Also inks are all 3/4 full as they were the factory shipped ones.

Nice find Lou

So I haven't used it yet because of course none of the leads where long enough! So had to buy extensions leads for power can printer cables to fit. Let's hope it works as I understand that some printers won't work with a lead over a certain length.

If the power from you USB port is insufficient or borderline you might get issues with a really long cable. Easiest way to fix is to put a powered USB hub near the printer.

In general terms you should be fine unless it's a ridiculous length.

So printed my first picture tonight and considering I have limited knowledge I was quite happy with what came out

One picture came out a touch dark but I hadn't put the correct paper setting in and did not find the turn off switch to the colour management in the printer to turn off until afterwards.

Now I bought some cheap arse Kodak gloss photo paper to just do a bit of practice printing.

However there is a slight wrinkle in the paper. Can anyone who know about printing confirm is this because of the weight of the paper is too low? Or is it just the quality of paper full stop.

On one A4 print I did have some small marks as if the printer nozzle was blocked he rest of the print was perfect. It was not quite at the beginning of the print but shortly after and was in a line about 1cm wide and doesn't quite extend the length of the picture if you look closely. But there are two areas that are noticeable and it effectively ruined the print.

Did a nozzle clean just in case and a pattern check, all seemed okay so I'm also wondering if this might also relate to the cheaper paper and perhaps the paper was beginning to wrinkle effecting the print or the roll maybe.

I used to own an EPSON 4800. It was certainly a nice piece of kit! As with what other's have said... Expensive to run. A set of inks cost about $800 the last time I bought some.

That said... Paper stock makes a big difference in the final print. I found quality paper was always a must. I never had paper get wrinkled during print though, that shouldn't happen even with a thinner stock...

You may also need to calibrate your monitor (If you haven't already - I used Spyder pro). This will give you a much more accurate colour representation from screen to print.

All printers are different, so there's always a bit of trial and error involved too...

Good luck!