# Epson 1400 - what settings for transparency printing?



## buck8 (Jun 13, 2007)

Those of you that use an Epson 1400 with no RIP - what settings do you use to print transparency film? I use Ulano Waterproof film that has no 'reading strip' on the end of the sheet. It's all film.

thanks.


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## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

This what I use :

Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy

Photo RPM

High Speed - OFF

Grayscale - ON

Edge Smoothing - ON

Brightness - 0

Contrast +25

So far I have good results, but to each his own, at least you have something to start with.

Good luck


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## micromaui-closed (Mar 9, 2010)

I have the same settings except MATTE instead of glossy. It may not make a difference- but I feel safe.


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## poker (May 27, 2009)

What exposure technique or device do you use for your Epson 1400 positives?

I'll be using an Epson as well and plan to bulid my own exposure unit. I'll like to know what bulb you all use.


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## buck8 (Jun 13, 2007)

It just seems amazing to me that Epson doesn't have a 'Transparency' setting on board; or allow you to make a custom setting. My HP All-In-One does...as all my other HP printers. That's LAME!


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## tgoeltz (Aug 7, 2007)

Best Photo
Matte
Go into Advanced: Crank up Saturation


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## gerryppg (Jan 29, 2010)

I got an all black ink cartridge set from filmdirectonline.com ,
I dont run a RIP but the 6 cartridges of black come in handy when printing films. The ink is dye based so it helps block out light. I have had good results with it.


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## poker (May 27, 2009)

gerryppg said:


> I got an all black ink cartridge set from filmdirectonline.com ,
> I dont run a RIP but the 6 cartridges of black come in handy when printing films. The ink is dye based so it helps block out light. I have had good results with it.


How does the software know to print with the other carts of black if you don't have RIP software?


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## gerryppg (Jan 29, 2010)

poker said:


> How does the software know to print with the other carts of black if you don't have RIP software?


The Epson Printer is a CMYK printer with Black, it does have a black cartridge but it also uses a little bit of each color to actually make black. In other words when you print black it will actually pull a little bit of ink from the other cartridges as well. So with 6 Black cartridges the printer is pulling nothing but black.

If you dont have the all black cartridges what will end up happening is that your printer will eventually use up the other colors in head cleanings and you will have to replace those cartridges as well, you are better off with getting all black refillable cartridges, some dye based ink and a syringe to fill them, much cheaper in the long run.


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## buck8 (Jun 13, 2007)

You should have an option to print just with black.


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## gerryppg (Jan 29, 2010)

You can just print black but you will still waste ink with head cleanings and the printer still uses a small amount of ink from all the other cartridges for black so having all 6 black ink cartridges would be more cost effective and with dye based ink would produce a more dense film output.


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## micromaui-closed (Mar 9, 2010)

I just went and compared the 'matte' with the glossy setting. I printed both then held them up to the computer monitor. the 'Matte' is definitely better and darker. I couldn't see any light.


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## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

micromaui said:


> I have the same settings except MATTE instead of glossy. It may not make a difference- but I feel safe.


Went to check your suggestion and I don't have a Ultra Premium Photo Paper Matte, do you use Ultra Premium Presentation Matte ?

Let me know when you have a chance
thanks


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## tgoeltz (Aug 7, 2007)

Presentation Matte.


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## Rexx (Aug 13, 2009)

poker said:


> How does the software know to print with the other carts of black if you don't have RIP software?


I use a ciss system with all black ink and when i go to print my image i pick it to be a dark color like a deep red or brown


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## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

tgoeltz said:


> Presentation Matte.



Thank you, will try it on my next positive.


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## tgoeltz (Aug 7, 2007)

Also go to "advanced" and crank up the saturation. You will lay down a lot of ink this way.


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## micromaui-closed (Mar 9, 2010)

Sorry for the confusion- I'm using the 1100 epson. The settings are not exactly the same. But remember matte.


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## buck8 (Jun 13, 2007)

you folks all use transparency film with no reading strips? Is that what I'm hearing? The 1400 can read a sheet of film with no prob? If that's the case I'll get the 1400, but I'm not gonna put a piece of #@%! tape on each piece of film. I just want to run the GD thing thru!


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## buck8 (Jun 13, 2007)

all black printing doesn't use the other carts. It only uses K.


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## tgoeltz (Aug 7, 2007)

buck8 said:


> you folks all use transparency film with no reading strips? Is that what I'm hearing? The 1400 can read a sheet of film with no prob? If that's the case I'll get the 1400, but I'm not gonna put a piece of #@%! tape on each piece of film. I just want to run the GD thing thru!


Regular ink jet film. No tape needed.


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## TshirtLover929 (Jan 20, 2010)

I am using a Epson 1400 with refillable cartridges and Dye Based ink from Cobrainks. (Not The All Black Inks)
Waterproof Film/Transparency from Fixxons and all I can say is WOW.
Nice Dark Image

Here are the settings I used -
Best Photo
Ultra Premium Presentation Matte
Photo RPM
High Speed - OFF
Grayscale - ON
Edge Smoothing - ON
Brightness - 0
Contrast +25
Saturation +25
Color Controls - Gamma 1.8

Happy Printing


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## mrteak (Oct 19, 2007)

TshirtLover929 said:


> I am using a Epson 1400 with refillable cartridges and Dye Based ink from Cobrainks. (Not The All Black Inks)
> Waterproof Film/Transparency from Fixxons and all I can say is WOW.
> Nice Dark Image
> 
> ...



Trying to setup my printer with your settings, only thing is that if i have grayscale on i cant crank up saturation because it is grayed out..if i uncheck grayscale then i can crank up saturation..which way do i go with..i have the cobrainks all black on epson 1400..any other settings need to be changed for all black inks..


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## TshirtLover929 (Jan 20, 2010)

mrteak,
I turn off greyscale then crank up the Contrast and Saturation.
Then turn greyscale back on and it will keep your settings for the Contrast and Saturation.
Then I saved my settings as SP Film Positive.


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## mrteak (Oct 19, 2007)

Great thanks..i had tried that but did not now if it would work since saturation was grayed out...


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## jasonsmith (Mar 30, 2011)

I'll have to check out these settings when I get my Epson 1400. Thanks.

I'm probably going to stick with black and colors instead of all black. That way I can still have the option to print color if I want to print something other than positives.

Though, I'm looking at going with refillable cartridges. Are there any bulk dye based black that comes out darker than the other? I'm looking at going with Cobraink.


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

I use a lower end printer but I believe these settings are universal. 

A matte paper settings will instruct the printer to print more ink. Also up contrast and saturation as suggested above. But some people pull the sliders all the way up and the brightness down. Increase the dpi just for printing. I was unable to print all black(without inkless white streaks) and it is these settings, among a few others, that enabled me to print transparencies with reasonable opacity. BTW, I can print all black now(via GIMP) and it is a thing of "black" beauty.

Color printers with any "photo" quality setting, even if grayscale or "use black ink only" option is enabled, will draw inks from the CMY cartidges as well. Text quality settings with grayscale or black ink only options checked will draw ink exclusively from the black cartridges.


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## dplr (May 15, 2011)

OK, I know this is probably a very lame question but I'm just getting started. Why does Epson 1400 say on their website that they don't support transparency? Also, what type should I buy. I want to use it to print nature photographs and then use a process that transfer to canvas using medium. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Deb



buck8 said:


> Those of you that use an Epson 1400 with no RIP - what settings do you use to print transparency film? I use Ulano Waterproof film that has no 'reading strip' on the end of the sheet. It's all film.
> 
> thanks.


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## battletross (Jul 16, 2012)

TshirtLover929 said:


> I am using a Epson 1400 with refillable cartridges and Dye Based ink from Cobrainks. (Not The All Black Inks)
> Waterproof Film/Transparency from Fixxons and all I can say is WOW.
> Nice Dark Image
> 
> ...


Old thread, but just want to confirm that these settings work VERY well. I'm running the stock colors+black setup. The transparencies are super dark and get hardly any light through when holding them directly up to a light bulb.


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## EthanLLK (May 26, 2009)

battletross said:


> Old thread, but just want to confirm that these settings work VERY well. I'm running the stock colors+black setup. The transparencies are super dark and get hardly any light through when holding them directly up to a light bulb.


Also just set these as my settings after installing my new 1400 and it works GREAT!!! Just remember to uncheck "Greyscale" then bump up the saturation to +25 and then click greyscale again.


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## mrvixx (Jan 13, 2009)

buck8 said:


> It just seems amazing to me that Epson doesn't have a 'Transparency' setting on board; or allow you to make a custom setting. My HP All-In-One does...as all my other HP printers. That's LAME!


Transparency mode would be transparent sort of like backlit film. Most color transparencies have to be able to show the color through the light.

I use photo premium gloss. high speed off. Photo RPM is kind of brown but still works. thats it. just make sure your heads are clean


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## tgoeltz (Aug 7, 2007)

Usually transparencies are very glossy and would require a very light amount of ink else it will smear (like printing on the wrong side of your ink-jet film - not that I have every done that!). Ink-jet film is actually very absorbent and that is why the "matte" setting should be used for the darkest print.


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## nattapon (Sep 28, 2011)

Now I get it no wonder my Epson 1400 never print any color just black for film but program detect color inks empty, and I tried to set printing to document just to get print in black I doesn't print


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## team first inc (Apr 24, 2013)

So I know this is a little old, but I wan't to confirm something I read here:

When printing my proofs, I use a C100 M100 Y100 K100 black in all of my Corel files after separation. Does this mean that the printer IS in fact pulling from all 6 cartridges, but not EVENLY and only pulling a little bit from the colors, and majority of it from the black?

Reason I ask is because I have a CISS system with the 6 stock colors, and I've had to refill the black once since buying the system (full when I bought it, and noticed that now my black is back down to where the color tanks are at (about 1/3 full at this point) meaning it is using much more black than colors. I'd like to keep the colors for printing on transfers for one off things, but I also would like it to pull from all the cartridges for the darkest richest black.

I'm going to try out the settings above as well to see how that works.

Thanks for any insight!

PS: Not using RIP software. I use SimpleSeps for my harder jobs, but the rest I just do manual seps and as stated above, convert it to C100 M100 Y100 K100 black.


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

team first inc said:


> So I know this is a little old, but I wan't to confirm something I read here:
> 
> When printing my proofs, I use a C100 M100 Y100 K100 black in all of my Corel files after separation. Does this mean that the printer IS in fact pulling from all 6 cartridges, but not EVENLY and only pulling a little bit from the colors, and majority of it from the black?
> 
> ...


 
What printer and what Corel Version There have been some changes to Corel that makes more setting changes needed. I have a large job that I have to complete tonight. Ill try to do current screen shots later or tomorrow


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## team first inc (Apr 24, 2013)

sben763 said:


> What printer and what Corel Version There have been some changes to Corel that makes more setting changes needed. I have a large job that I have to complete tonight. Ill try to do current screen shots later or tomorrow


My fault, Corel X7 and an Epson Photo Stylus 1400 with CISS ink setup.

Thanks! No rush, make that money first!


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## jswhipple (Aug 15, 2014)

I was curious also about settings. I have all black cartridges from Cobra Ink in my 1430. I set my color to 100 on all four CYMK paper set to Premium Photo Glossy (Have tried them all) and also played with the advanced settings. Preserve Pure Black, Saturation, Contrast and what not. I went as far as printing 1" solid squares and printing them off with different printer settings onto the same transparency. I can burn a screen without much issue but from time to time seem to lose a little detail especially with fine half tones. When I hold up my film to a 60 watt equivalent CFL from about 10 feet I can still make out the bulb quite easily. It is a medium to dark reddish tan color. It seems that there should be a way to get them considerably darker. I have double printed a film (so dark I can hardly make out anything) and exposed with that. The screen washed out so much better than the standard process we have been using. Am I expecting too much without out a RIP or am I still missing a setting. I also use simple seps 4 and raster. Corel X6 Thanks Jason


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## savvytees3 (Dec 26, 2013)

I have a Epson 1430 with all black cobra ink. My black channel is clogged up and I need to print a few transparencies last night before I had time to mess with the printer. I changed the color to a deep blue color (I dont recall the exact cmyk settings)and got a really dark black transparency which I have not been able to get when printing with c-100 m-100 y-100 k-100. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

savvytees3 said:


> I have a Epson 1430 with all black cobra ink. My black channel is clogged up and I need to print a few transparencies last night before I had time to mess with the printer. I changed the color to a deep blue color (I dont recall the exact cmyk settings)and got a really dark black transparency which I have not been able to get when printing with c-100 m-100 y-100 k-100.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk


That is because when printing black it wont over print unless your settings are correct. I will have time tomorrow evening Just got home heading to bed, printed till 4am went to bed at 5am back up at 9 worked 12+ hrs. Gotta get some sleep work at 9am but not as much to do tomorrow


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Still haven't had a chance to take screen shots. In Corel in the print dialog box the second or 3rd tab has settings for overprinting. Depending on your file, it's settings there will be 2-3 options. Ignore, this will only print black, simulate. This will use some from all channels. The other is retain I think. It will use a bunch of ink and can actually use too much with older print drivers. The 1430 does limit the max amount of ink so unless using cheap fil will not use enough to run on film. 

Another option is to copy all black objects. Then make a CMY copy and paste. Move you black to the front of page. In the same tab as the overprints in Corel there is a box Always overprint black. Click that and it will print from all channels. I'll try to do a video and screen shot this weekend.


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## angus439 (Feb 25, 2015)

Hi, I know this is an old post but hope someone can help.

I have a 1400 to print films, the film I use is the one that has the rough side and a paper strip at the top.

Until today I was able to print perfect black images, very sharp with no bleeding.

I've gone to print some this morning and they are all bleeding, some worse than others. But all have small dots and bleeds around the edges.

I use the settings as described in the previous posts and they have not changed. 

What could be the problem I'm having ?

Thanks


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

angus439 said:


> Hi, I know this is an old post but hope someone can help.
> 
> I have a 1400 to print films, the film I use is the one that has the rough side and a paper strip at the top.
> 
> ...


A few things. It could be build up in the bottom of the print head, there are video on line showing how to clean this with paper towel and warm water. If the humidity is up in your work area and your film aren't stored in a bag can be that you films are saturated with humidity. run a dehumidifier and the films will dry out. if you can print on plain paper with no bleed the this is a likely culprit. 

If using bulk ink its always possible the ink is going bad.

You have done a nozzle check and verified you don't have clogged nozzle correct?. Also if printing in high speed make sure your head alignment is good. It make take several aligning attempts to get it right. you can see if this is the issue by simply turning off high speed printing


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## angus439 (Feb 25, 2015)

Thanks for your reply, I've tested on plain paper with no bleed

Nozzles say they are fine

I do store the film in a clear bag and a box but it's very cold and damp at the moment here

I've attached a picture of the difference between films


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## nattapon (Sep 28, 2011)

printed on wrong side


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

looks like wrong side or poor quality films. Wet you finger and touch both sides. The side that sticks is the print side. if that's the side your printing on get new film. Fixxon films. any quality waterproof film will work. I have seen some cheap film that claims to be the "waterproof" type. Not sure why the call it that cause its definitely not water proof.


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