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Red River's Polar Matte and Espon 3800

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by ppowers on Wed Aug 24, 2011 5:04 pm

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I just purchased Red River's Polar Matte 7x10 card stock and was pretty excited about printing on it. I've downloaded their profile and unfortunately the prints are coming out horrible. Really kind of smudged looking or like there's an awful lot of noise in the photos, which there are not. I'm working with Red River but I'm wondering if anybody has any bright ideas?

I'm really stumped! Thanks much.

Pat

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by E.J. Peiker on Thu Aug 25, 2011 8:45 am

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I use that paper for 24x16 prints on the 3800 so I know it works and can look great. My first question would be if you are sure that the printer is switching over to the Matte Black ink? And are you printing on the correct side?

These kind of questions are always easiest to diagnose if you post a screen capture of the various printer dialog boxes!

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by Randy Mehoves on Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:23 am

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I use the 7x10 Polar Matte for my card stock with the 3800 and I'm always impressed with the image quality. I'm wondering if you've got a nozzle issue, also do you have high speed printing turned off?

Randy Mehoves
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by Mike Milicia on Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:27 am

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I make all of my note cards on that same paper on a 3800 and get excellent results.
Given how bad your results sound, I'm wondering if there is any chance that you are printing on the wrong side of the paper?

Mike Milicia
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by ppowers on Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:06 pm

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I'm definitely printing on the correct side, the whiter side and I've checked my nozzles AND I've turned high speed printing off. Definitely switching over to the matte black ink as well as I specify Enhanced Matte Paper. I've been printing for a long time so I get the process. I saw another post where someone else had the same problem as me and said they got "grainy" results. That's exactly how I'd describe what I get.

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by E.J. Peiker on Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:11 pm

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Hmm, bad batch of paper perhaps?

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by ppowers on Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:16 pm

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That's what I suggested to Red River but haven't heard back yet on that idea... What I saw from another person is as follows: "I am encountering a graininess effect when printing on Red River Polar Matte with my Epson 3800. The problem is very noticeable in certain colour patches on the profiling target, and has been acknowledged by their technical support. " So it sounds like something Red River is familiar with. My question is, what are they going to do about it? I just bought 100 cards and envelopes and now they're useless to me.

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by redriverpaper on Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:37 pm

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Pat:

I sent you an email last night in our ongoing conversation. Please check it and let me know at your convenience.

Drew Hendrix
RRP

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by ebkw on Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:13 pm

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I'm one of the people who had a terrible time when I first started using the Red River cards and a new 3880 at the same time. Grainy and smudged-looking. I was printing on the wrong side!

Eleanor Kee Wellman, eleanorkeewellman.com, Blog at: keewellman.wordpress.com

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by Ken Kovak on Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:38 pm

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Has there been a resolution to this issue?

Thanks
Ken

Ken Kovak - Lehigh Valley, PA
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by Cynthia Crawford on Wed Sep 28, 2011 7:53 am

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Wish I had an answer for you- have also had good experience with these cards. Got one batch with slightly bent corners which didn't print well- RR replaced them quickly.
Good luck!

Cynthia (Cindy) Crawford-Moderator, Photo & Digital Art
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by ebkw on Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:09 am

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I too, like Cindy, I find that the paper sometimes isn't flat. I fan all the edges forward before placing a stack in the 3880. That seems to eliminate the printing problem I have experienced.

Eleanor Kee Wellman, eleanorkeewellman.com, Blog at: keewellman.wordpress.com

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by jgunning on Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:36 am

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You should fan (riffle is the printer's term) the edges of any stack of paper you are putting in a printer. When paper is cut in a guillotine paper cutter during the manufacturing process it tends to cause small fibers at the edge to stick the sheets together. The fan breaks the grip the fibers have on the adjacent sheet. Also, remember to wash your hands before handling the paper so you don't transfer oils from your skin to the paper.

In another life I was a journeyman printer for a number of years. We always riffled the paper before loading it in a printing press. Same applies to a stack of paper loaded in an inkjet printer.

Jim Gunning

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by Bonnie Block on Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:41 pm

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I print my own notecards and have for years using RR Polar Matte. I have no problem on my 2400--they come out superbly, but I ran out of ink the other day on the 2400 and had to finish up on the 3800 and ran into the problem described. Lots of noise and too much ink.
I thought I was loosing it, so I rechecked everything--but to no avail.
Any answers here?

Bonnie
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by Bonnie Block on Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:42 pm

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by Bonnie Block on Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:42 pm

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by Randy Mehoves on Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:52 am

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Bonnie, did you change your paper profile setting from the 2400 to the 3800?

Randy Mehoves
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by Alan Melle on Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:37 pm

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I also use RR Polar Matte on an Epson 3880 and have no problems with it. I use several sizes from the 7x10 cards to 17x25. Works very well with the RR Polar Matte profile on the 3880. Wish I could help!

Alan Melle
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by Bonnie Block on Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:46 pm

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Randy Mehoves wrote:Bonnie, did you change your paper profile setting from the 2400 to the 3800?

Sorry, Randy--I forgot about this thread.
Oh, yes--I have worked it over a lot and can find no errors in the settings. I do a lot of printing on the Epson and another Ricoh as well, so profiles are easy for me.
I just do not think that printer handles that paper very well. It might do better with a custom profile?

Bonnie
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by Jackie Schuknecht on Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:44 am

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Moab makes really nice cards. Museo Artist cards. I print on them with the 2400 with no problem, although I have to do a lot of tweaking in the soft proof. No experience with RR cards though.

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