Printing panoramic photos on Epson printers

[AYC Nee]

Hi Tim

Many thanks for the important hint. Could I disturb you again as to where I can get hold of a roll of 13" wide Epson paper? How much would that cost? I guess the paper will have to be quite a bit thinner than the premium glossy paper (68 lb) in order for it to come in a roll form.

Your great help much appreciated.

AYC Nee

 

[AYC Nee]

Hi Tim

Please ignore my question on where to get the roll paper as I have found a useful thread in ClubSNAP. It was mentioned that both Sim Lim or Fu Nam could have this.

Thanks to TME and James Ong on their contributions in this thread.

James, if you happen to read this, could you share your experience using the 13" Epson roll paper as you mentioned that you had actually wasted one roll on the 1390 printer which is the one that I am using right now. You also mentioned feeding and warping problem and cutting some corners out, etc. Grateful if you could advise how to go about this.

Many thanks in advance.


AYC Nee

 

[tim]

I know TME personally, the last he mentioned could buy from the Epson SG online store but
they have closed it quite awhile.

However if you can pre-order from the local vendors, they will be able to sell you. The 13"
roll papers are hard to find locally, next alternative buy online or cut from a 24" or 44" roll.

You need to make a small stand to hold the roll paper or cut it according to size. Next, you
have to worry is feeding the paper as the 1390 are not made to take long length paper.

Hope this helps.

 

[AYC Nee]

Hi Tim

Many thanks again for your reply. Cutting a piece of 13" width from either 24" or 44" width squarely will be quite a daunting task.

I searched the web and found some overseas suppliers but the shipping cost is quite high. Advisable to order from overseas?

Tim, I believe you must have printed many panoramic photos on 1390. I am hoping to print 13" width and maybe 26" length prints from pictures taken on a 612 camera, so if I cut a piece to the length of 26"+, will that work? Instead of building a stand, I can stand behind the printer and manually hold the cut piece while it is being fed into the printer, will it be feasible?

Many thanks in advance.

AYC Nee

 

[tim]

It's quite easy to cut, tape it down tightly at one end and at the length end you want with
masking tape. Find a very fine and thin saw blade, draw a line on the masking tape and cut it.
You will only wasted 1 circumference of the top layer of paper.

Alternatively, ask the vendor to help if you are buying their paper. As Bits & Bytes Co., did
not carry any 17" Innova roll paper for my 4000, they will help me cut from the 36" roll IF
I am buying.

As buying from oversea, do your homework first, check locally of the same brand/paper first
then compare to the online stores. IF the selling price including shipping charges are still
cheaper then buy oversea

I don't print any panorama or color prints with the 1390, it's b&w only. My ex. epson pro 4000
does that, currently I am using the 7800 :embrass:

I think manually holding a cut sheet of 26+" length paper is better cos' how are you going
to retract the roll paper after cutting off the printed side? If you eject then the whole roll
will go in till the end of the paper end! Unless you want it to be permanent there. However
if other CSers have better ways please help AYC Nee.

Hope this helps.

 

[AYC Nee]

Hi Tim

Many thanks for your very useful advice as usual. There is so much to learn from you Sorry to have taken up so much of your time.

I am quite worried in using other brands of paper. I had tried using HP colour fast photo paper previously and there was an obvious incompatibility problem as the ink never seems to get dry, it remains kind of sticky and gets onto your finger when you touch it and it feels really terrible. Is Innova and other brands of paper fully compatible with Epson ink?

I did comtemplate of getting a higher end printer such as the PRO 3859, but the cost is quite prohibitive. 7800! that is my dream printer in the next 5 years. Tim, you must be a real pro.

Thank you for your kind advice.

AYC Nee

 

[tim]

I just realized you can't really use the whole roll paper on 1390, after printing that custom
size e.g. 12" X 24" or 32" panorama prints, the 1390 WILL eject the whole roll of paper!

You are better off using customized cut sheets. The 1390 is not mean to be a roll paper
printer like the R1800 etc.

The HP colorfast photo paper is a swellable, gel-coated paper. The top coating trapped the
dye ink and protect it from UV etc for the colorfast longevity. They tends to take a long time
to dry and very sensitive to water, a cough or little water on your hand touching the prints
will be ruined.

The 3850 is a good A2 pigment ink printer. Another CSer, NS Ng owned this printer, like Ng
which I know him personally, we are just serious amateur who like to print all the photos
taken with our camera instead of just having it in the hard-disk. But friends did asked me
to print for others to recoup the capital investment, maybe in the near future.

But seriously, you may or may not surprised to know there are many serious amateur who
own A2 or A1 printers out there.

Happy printing!
Tim

p.s. I am not a Pro, a Sales Manager in the IT industry.

 

[AYC Nee]

Hi Tim

Many thanks. Must save hard to be a serious amateur!

I always think that the current state-of-the-art DSLR is not good enough to print A1 or even A2 size. Maybe I am totally wrong since I have never even dreamed of printing such a size. The largest size I have printed is only A3+ :embrass:


AYC Nee

 

[tim]

With interpolation, most DSLR camera are able to do that.

Using your quote; "the current state-of-the-art DSLR" like D3X, 1DsMKIII, A900 and 5DMKII
with 21.1 to 24.5 MP could easily print A2, A1 without any interpolation. With proper interpolation,
the four mentioned DSLR can print to the size of the Canon's 5DMKII billboard sized prints that
hung at Bugis Junction few month ago.

Of course garbage in, garbage out. If the image is not properly exposed, not sharp OOF, etc etc,
no any amount of up-size or interpolation, PS skills or any good ABCD brand of printers can do magic
with a A1 or bigger prints.

One day you will have a big solo photo exhibition, you need to print A1, A0 or bigger. You will
also need A1 sized or bigger prints in the spacious living room of your big house and in your
big office's entrant, all corridors, conference rooms and your big personal room

Happy printing!

P.S. It's worth remembering too, that in making bigger prints you need better quality image files.

 

[jamesong]

Hi Tim

Please ignore my question on where to get the roll paper as I have found a useful thread in ClubSNAP. It was mentioned that both Sim Lim or Fu Nam could have this.

Thanks to TME and James Ong on their contributions in this thread.

James, if you happen to read this, could you share your experience using the 13" Epson roll paper as you mentioned that you had actually wasted one roll on the 1390 printer which is the one that I am using right now. You also mentioned feeding and warping problem and cutting some corners out, etc. Grateful if you could advise how to go about this.

Many thanks in advance.


AYC Nee

Epson has stopped ordering the roll paper that's what they told me. I was trying to find out if they can supply me with flat paper 13" x 42", they cannot do it.

Don't waste your time with the roll paper, the paper curled inward so much that you will have difficulty straightening it and you will have a hard time loading it into the 1390, in the end you will be wasting good $$ with damaged roll paper. In the end I paid $189 to print a length of 36" from pix & pixels.

 

[AYC Nee]

Hi James

Many thanks for the useful advice as I was just about going to hunt for the roll paper this coming weekend.

The conclusion is therefore, if one wants to go for longer and larger prints, the higher end printer is the only way to go.

Thank you Tim, James and others who have helped out in the past week. I have learned much from this thread.


AYC Nee