Epson 3880, lockout, Photoshop Elements and beginner questions, please!

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1

Hi,

I just purchased a second Epson 3880 $300 and it came with papers!) with the high hopes and excitement of exploring Piezography.
After searching the forums and resources, I still have a few questions before I send off an order. Sorry in advance if I missed a posting, and sometimes it’s hard to remember what I read where.

Specifically, is there a way to tell if my two 3880’s (one I just bought today for $300) will be locked out from using your inks? I don’t recall if I have ever done a firmware upgrade, but the one I bought today may have had firmware upgrades in the last two years. I am trying to avoid the process of cleaning/filling/flushing?/switching if the specific printer is just going to lock it out (3rd party use), or is this not an issue with the 3880s?? One printer’s version is P02696-1.03.800E, and the other’s is P0079C-1.03.800E, not sure if that info is pertinent. Can I just put in one new cartridge of yours to see if it will be locked out?

My goal is one printer with your color ink system, and the other printer goes to K series inks. But if one printer is locked out, then the acceptable one for conversion goes to K series inks. The nozzles all check out fine on both printers (Nozzle Check) . Perhaps the cheapest way to find out is to buy one Ultra HD Matte Black cartridge and just see if it takes???

If all the nozzles check out fine on both printers (nothing clogged), for the color set, can I just start swapping in new (your) color cartridges as the OEM cartridges run low? (I thought that was ok).

  1. Do the software plugins that piezography requires work with Photoshop Elements 2020 or Photoshop Elements 2021? I may have my older copy of Photoshop (CS11, I think), but not sure Adobe let’s those work anymore with their subscription service (I would have to reinstall on a new computer…). I am trying to avoid doing a subscription service to Adobe. Or do the plug-ins work in other standalone editors (I have DXO and Affinity) or possibly GIMP? Or are there standalone GUI options?

Lastly, can we request a sample sheet with the different BW inksets printed on them so we may see in person to help decide which ink set to order. That’s a lot of money to plunk down without seeing, if possible.

I will continue reading, downloading the Community Edition, etc, and will order inks when I know the best path to start on. Thank you very much for your patience and any information.

2

It will not be locked.

yes

Yes.

We do proofs here:

I recommend Piezography PRO ink.

best!
Walker

3

Thanks for the quick reply.

I think working with the downloaded soft proofing iccs will be a good start. I was able to get a quick view in Photoshop Elements. Thanks for those.

So, 3rd party use of inks was never a problem for the Epson 3880? I probably confused that issue with the new SureColor series.

CYANOTONE: I love cyanotone prints also. Are there any articles or pointers for producing the best cyanotone prints (without using a historical process which I did try once in the past) using any special profiles or any other suggestions? I think I have just tried silver effects pro in the past.Palouse-Cemetery-D2XIR-4916-cyan-web

I have downloaded the Community Edition and plan on ordering the Pro Ink set for maximum flexibility.

I know how to place .icc profiles to Adobe Elements, but not sure if I can add your Papers to the Paper Type section. If not, how do I choose the best available listed paper type in Photoshop? For example, Red River paper will say to choose Epson Enhanced Matte for their Polar Matte paper (using RR’s .icc).

On the Piezography Manual, is there a more efficient way to print it other than printing individual web pages? I would pay for a downloadable PDF! Hoping I missed that link. Would sure like to have it for offline viewing access.

Is QuadToneRip a separate software I need to download somewhere? I could not tell if it was in the extracted files of the Community Edition, but am under the impression that I need it to start/use the Piezography system. Does QTR (if needed) run as a plug in for Photoshop or is it a standalone?

Thank you.