Linda Lee Loc: New England

Well the Epson 4900 arrived. I live a mile up a dirt road in the woods. The trucker opened the back door of his 18 wheeler and there it was all alone in the furthest corner of the truck. "A bit of over kill," I commented. "It's big but..." I gave him an over sized tip, then he muscled it into the garage down the 125 foot driveway he insisted he couldn't back into. With the pallet it weighs 135lbs. Then he had to back the truck all the way down to the main road. Map Quest led him to believe it wasn't a dead end. I apologized profusely. If he had called me...

I stood staring at it wondering how the heck I was going to get that big thing up two flights of stairs? I'm 5'2", I used to be 5'3 3/4", but I digress, not that the extra inch would be of any help.

Three weeks later four of my close women friends from NYC stayed overnight as my place is half way between NYC and their kyacking destination. Hmmm, could we? Yes we did... Don't let me miss lead you, we laughed a lot but it wasn't easy, especially when we are all a strong minded bunch. Everyone had an idea and we all listened politely to each winded suggestion, then did it my way. 8) Hey!

Anyway, it's now sitting behind me on a rolling table that's much too small for it. It stares at me every minute of the day asking 'Now?' "How about now?" "Hey, ya ready now?" NO... I"M NOT READY.

I don't want to print yet; the monitor needs to be calibrated and I don't have that ability yet... I need paper, BIG paper, or do I want canvas, oh yeah... but then I have to make the stick thingys that hold the canvas tightly, then do I spray, what kind of spray do I need? I heard Rag paper is in, what the hell is Rag paper, I'll have to research that too. Then the cost of the ink; OMG if it all runs out at the same time it will cost $1000 to replace it... Retirement is supposed to be fun not agonizing... Maybe I should sell it but then I'd loose 4 friends.

And then there's the burning question, what if finally after all this procrastination I do print something and it's not as good as I thought and I force these pictures on my four kyacking friends and they have to take them out of the closet hang them when I visit and curse the day they made all this possible.

Ya see where I'm going with this...

RFranko Loc: Albuquerque, NM

Well to spend over 2K for a printer you have to love 16x20 prints! Torture your friends and if they complain, tell them you love them or you wouldn't spend $50 (cough,cough) for every print you made for them. Paper? Try some glossy, then go to matt, and finally canvas. Not only do you need a calibrated monitor, you will need to calibrate your printer unless you like wasting paper and tons of ink on test prints trying to get the colors right. Figure on a Munki or DataColor to get the job done. Now that you have gone this far, think about a high-end monitor. Your standard laptop or desktop monitor ain't going to give you the gamut of colors you need, sorry. Sounds like there is art in the blood. Try Coral's Painter 12 and print out some real artsy stuff your friends might appreciate. Oh, you'll also need a Wacom digital art pad to paint with. Don't worry you won't get any paint spilled as its all digital. I've done a little and its really fun stuff. I began feeling like a Rembrant making art prints from my images. You better hurry though, fall is here, and a long cold winter is just ahead. Not knowing how to print your art work will probably put you in a real pisssy mood come February, say nothing for the winter duldrums! Quite frankly, I have a 13" printer by Epson and love it, but before I go out for the 4900 or so, I'm going to get a new Canon 5D Mark III. Yes, Mark III. I have been waiting for 3 years now for them to up grade the wow, wow, 5D mark II. Finally its coming out, but will probably be after January before B&H has any in stock; about the time cabin fever is setting in up there.. Oh, by the way, with regard to your new printer, there was a saying I heard recently. This guy walks into a pro-shop after a bad day on the links. He grabs this $200.00 putter and says to the guy at the counter, "If I buy this, do you think it will make my game better?" The guy at the counter look at him with a little disgust and said, "Sir, it ain't the arrows, it's the indian." Enjoy!

Linda Lee Loc: New England

Thank you for your advise and encouragement... And you were a brave person to read your way through my post. Now I have to research monitors too? oi vay! What a long winding road to a print. I'll keep you 'posted'. 8D

RFranko Loc: Albuquerque, NM

Ha! Must be Jewish. Oi vay! I haven't heard that in over 24 years since I moved out here from Michigan! That is a real old country expression. As my ex-scottish wife would say, "missy, ya wormed the cockles of me heart with that one, ya did!" Thanks

Linda Lee Loc: New England

Not Jewish... originally from NYC, lots of Jewish friends, it does rub off. 8)

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

Your in for a lot of fun.

And people say Digital is cheap!

Dennis

my concern is the warrenty. I would suggest you hook the printer up, use any paper you have handy and print anything to be sure the printer works. I'm not talking quality print, you want to know if all the wheels turn, the print heads deliver ink and the paper feeds, feed paper.

Once you're up and running keep an eye on your ink supplies, if one runs out of ink your printer stops working until you replace it. At least that's the way it works on my Epsoa 3800. The complete set of ink for my printer is only $540.00 hearing about your $1000.00 cost is the first time I don't feel bad about buying ink or should I say pigments.

Strubbles

Well, many of the Masters group in my local photography club have their photos printed at Costco... the prints are marvelous and not very costly. A 20x30 costs $8.99. Try it. You might like it.

I assume that Linda Lee must be a professional who sells a lot of photographs to have a printer like that. Wow!

Linda Lee Loc: New England

Absolutely not... I'm not a pro, I don't sell photos. It was a gift, believe it or not... And, the thing scares me.

Linda Lee Loc: New England

Thanks for the tip.

DB Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

I love the story.....you go girl.

Strubbles

What a gift! Maybe next occasion the gift giver will give more ink.

RFranko Loc: Albuquerque, NM

Gift???? For friends or family like that! Was it a gift or a conspiracy to head you on your way to the poor house? Don't be afraid of running it. It will be music to your ears when you hear that print head zipping back and forth across that BIG paper. You'll hear it long before you see the print starting to creep out its mouth. Once you get your screen and printer calibrated you are going to go nuts printing stuff. You'll just love it, and so will your friends. If you start doing a LOT of printing you can buy ink in bulk that goes in tanks and is fed to the print head by little I.V. tubes, the same kind it will use to drain your blood and pocket book. If you thought there were bats in your belfry you now have a vampire sitting on your table.

Linda Lee Loc: New England

You have quite the sense of humor... well you have me researching monItors for two days now, thank you very much. So I think I need a monitor with IPS, LED and preferably RGB, which doesn't seem to have hit our shores yet (the RGB LED). They seem to be available in the UK but not here. Do you have any suggestions along the lines of brand names. Better yet what are you using?

Bobbee

Can I politely ask a question which goes a few posts back. Before I ask, enjoy the printer and good luck. Enjoy your toy, don't let it frighten you.

Now, monitors. Yes ou are right. Laptop and or crappy desktop monitors are not good. I have read several articles about calibrating your monitors. I can see how bad mine is as it cannot be adjusted. Or have not figured out how. My next purchase may be a monitor. Some suggestions in a price range would be appreciated.