Setting up your new printer. Best free print software and what should be the first thing to print

[@KeithCooper]

For all my printer reviews, going back over 15 years see www.northlight-images.co.uk/photography-articles-and-reviews/printing-paper-reviews-articles/ For my collection of FREE test images see www.northlight-images.co.uk/printer-test-images/ If you'd like to make a small donation, I have a Kofi page: "Buy me a coffee" ko-fi.com/keithcooper

[@keithbrown454]

Hello Keith. After numerous readings of on-line articles of the best photo printers in 2024 in addition to looking at countess videos on-line including yours, the selection was make to purchase the Epson Ecotank ET-8550. Opened it up last night and did all the alignment stuff. I must give credit to where credit is due, thank you Keith Cooper. What a hell of a printer. I looked at the Canon Pixma 200 and 300, even the 1000 model. You get way more bang for your bucks with the ET-8550. The cartridge costs with the Canons in my opinion can't be justified unless I just have to have that tad bit of overall color gamut and tonality, which most people would probably not noticed. Your videos have been instrumental in my purchase decision making. You are blessing to many with your findings and relentless dedication to testing printers and their output quality. Thank you!

[@Cliff117]

I wholeheartedly agree.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad to have helped!

[@filmic1]

Thank you for sharing your expertise. I may start using my Epson Stylus Ph R1800 with my Piezography pigments again. I'm used/using Epson and Moab papers. I'm running an old Mac mini 2010/ 10.13.6/ High Sierra. I'll check your monitor calibration blog.

[@KeithCooper]

Yes, lot of stuff for that wil run well n that machine

[@MrPhillipgraham]

Hi Keith, I just tried printing a couple of my photos using LR and then using the Canon PPL plugin in LR to compare the two. Well, what can I say! The difference is massive! The prints using Canon PPL software are so much better and match the image on my monitor! The colours, tones and contrast are pretty much identical. The LR print colours and brightness are all way out. This is incredible.

[@KeithCooper]

Excellent - although that suggests an issue somewhere with the LR print setup - much as I personally dislike it, it should be capable of reasonable printing ;-)

[@Cliff117]

Another great video, and timely for me having just purchased the 8550 a few days ago. I will most definitely tweet and post links on KZbin and FaceBook. I’m not new to printing, I have owned a 44” HP Z3100 GP Photo with the built in spectrometer (no longer working) since 2007, but I think experienced and novices alike could benefit from your careful analysis and thoughtful and clear comments. I like your style. Thanks again Keith.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - that's really appreciated!

[@lightbox617]

The replacement 200 printer I bought last year included the /cannon PPL. The pervious item (same model) I had to go and find and install it. The best part of PPL was its BW conversions. Photoshop has a great infra red bit that used to be a plug in. now, it's "plugged in" already. Have a care about using the Canon 2000 with MAC2. you need to (I needed to) beg Canon for the corrected drivers

[@KeithCooper]

The install process has been improved in some areas. What is 'MAC2' referring to? Do you mean the 2015 Canon PRO-2000?

[@CheeringOwls]

Such great advice and explained so simply, the idea of printing the test image is something I have done since seeing the videos on this channel. I use those test images myself and recommend them to friends regardless of the cost of their printers, it is a great way to get started. Excellent video.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad to have helped!

[@mosfear]

Thanks for posting. I've recently had an opportunity to try your test print on three older Epson low-end domestic printers; a Stylus DX4400, an XP215 and a Stylus Photo RX425. Each had its own problem. Although the RX425 printed the best grey and best overall image, a problem with some blocked print head jets that show up on the rudimentary print check meant the black and white frames presented a variable quality in the mid tones. The grey image borders from the DX4400 (no apparent head problems) had an almost grey/brown hue and from the XP215 (again, no apparent head problems), a blue/purple hue. Much as I'd like to purchase a good printer, I'm simply not producing enough output to justify the investment, but trying to obtain even an acceptable print from a low-end printer seems unachieveable. For the experiment, I used Koala Double Sided Glossy Inkjet Photo Paper A4. Maybe I'm simply reaping the results to be expected for such low-end printers and supplies, although I had hoped for something marginally better. I'd be interested in your comments Keith.

[@KeithCooper]

Those are not printers I've tried. I've tested a few lower end printers, but there, almost as a challenge, I created custom paper profiles and sometimes manages to get quite reasonable results - with reasonable papers [that brand is unknown to me - but I only ever hear of it when people are not getting great prints] Of course, to do that work requires kit and software I'd not expect people to have... Sorry not to have a reasonable fix...

[@Slave-Of-Christ]

Appreciate this, Keith! I have a Pro 1000 on the way. I've never used a high end Canon, so it is a good idea to print a known entity.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - my pro-1000 review long predates my making videos, and has a bit more specific info. www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pro-1000-printer-review/

[@brucemichelotti4887]

Thanks for another great video. I have a Canon PRO 10 printer, but that is not listed on the Canon site. Just Prograf printers. Will this work for my printer? Thanks.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks I don't recall - I reviewed the PRO-10 in 2013, where it did support the PSP plugin, but I don't know if PPL is supported. www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pixma-pro-10-printer-review/ Try it and see - I always ignore what Canon/Epson says about compatibility ;-)

[@galesaunders4120]

Thank you so much Keith, thats the homework for tonight sorted!

[@KeithCooper]

Excellent, but note that it's mark your own homework time!

[@cameroni7798]

I'm really enjoying the depth of information here. In fact, I just purchased an et-8500 based in these vids...but for some reason, I can't get the EPL software to recognize my new printer. I don't have a cd drive on my laptop, so I'm loading the drivers from the Epson website. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm in Canada.

[@KeithCooper]

Mac or PC If Mac then read the bit in the review about not accidentally installing the AirPrint driver. I've several videos discussing the airport problem...

[@cameroni7798]

@KeithCooper Oh hi, Keith. Thanks for your reply. It's a Windows 11 laptop. I've ordered a cd/DVD drive and will load the Epson software via their CD. I read somewhere there may be a way to get the EPL program to work that way. I'll update when I have any results.

[@KeithCooper]

The software on the CDs is generally out of date - I always just go to an Epson site to download. but if it works...

[@cameroni7798]

@@KeithCooper Update: I spent several hours on the phone with Epson and none of the techies had seen this issue before where the driver wouldn't load/be recognized by the computer. They actually gave up. I'm guessing the issue must be on the computer side, so I'll keep checking that out.

[@pedro_couto]

Very good advice. I have the Epson ET-8550 and I love it. I use the Epson Print Layout every time, however it lacks batch printing. I need to print lots of 10x15cm photos on several occasions and it is a tedious process. I've tried printing from Capture One and the results are bad in terms of image quality. The Windows printing process is also getting each time more simplified, and that complicates things even more...

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks Yes - batch ideally needs software designed for it. I've used the ImageNest RIP in the past - but that's Mac only [and I'm not sure it's still available]

[@martingibbs1179]

Managed to install EPL after realising it was silently downloading, so I download several copies in the end but after installing EPL wouldn't recognise my epson xp-960 printer which I know is quite old but works for me. I have previously been using the epson easy photo print which works however it doesn't do a good job printing star scapes, but maybe that's just me not setting it up right or using the right paper.

[@KeithCooper]

I'm not sure it works with the 960 - I just checked and I reviewed that printer over 8 years ago. It's likely just a bit too old for EPL www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-expression-photo-xp-960-printer-review/ For better quality printing it needs icc paper profiles and printing directly from an application like Photoshop

[@Schmambo]

Just an FYI, the UK Epson link no longer exists for EPL. I just downloaded the US one that you have in your description. Thank you, excited to set up my 8550! :D

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - It's partly why I'd now suggest just doing a search on "Epson Print Layout download" - Not quite as bad as the so called 'compatibility' lists ;-)

[@lynsmith1096]

Good video Keith

[@4augustus18]

I've enjoyed your presentations! Question, I've seen the examples for the print layout via Lightroom, Photoshop, and Capture 1 but nothing regarding ON1 Raw. Please advise if possible, thanks.

[@KeithCooper]

As far as I know you can just export the image and drop it into EPL? Not software I've ever tried or tested though...

[@AZJack]

Thanks again, Keith, good information. I love my et-8550 and EPL, but have not been able to get it to recognize other non Epson paper profiles. Should I it? If it should I guess I am the problem. Wouldn’t be the first time.😀

[@KeithCooper]

Works fine with all the profiles I created for the review - loaded into the default place for icc profiles on my Mac. In EPL you need to specify the profile and the media setting. Just selecting a media setting, won't automatically select a third party profile.

[@Pehaba1961]

Thanks Keith for the factual and well-founded tips. What always bothers me is that the DIN paper formats have an aspect ratio of 1:1.41 and the camera sensor 2:3, so 1:1.5. Either something is missing from the photo or I have white borders at the top and bottom. That's why I would like to use paper from the roll because then I can set the format myself. However, the Epson EP-8550 automatically prints a white border for individual formats, which I find very unfortunate. Is there a photo printer that can print 30cm * 45cm borderless, for example?

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks No printer I've ever tested prints borderless custom sizes - not one Even worse for some formats, my GFX100S is 4:3 ratio... Learn to embrace the creative opportunities of cropping! ;-)

[@DanDill]

Such good advice. Thank you.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks!

[@befo1968]

I started with an Epson ET-2850 which is my downstairs allround office-printer and a P700 for photography at the attic. Regrettibly the ET-2850 does not work with EPL and that's why I started using QImage Ultimate. Now I do all my experimenting/preparation with QImage on the ET-2850 and print the finals on the P700. In the beginning I found QImage hard to learn but now I more and more appreciate it and enjoy things like printing to file or user defined contact sheets (not in EPL). I have a shared QImage directory on Dropbox, so all my settings and projects are synced. It's not cheap, $89.99, but I don't want to live without it ;-).

[@KeithCooper]

I'd just note that the 2850 does work with EPL - see my review? www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-2850-printer-review/

[@befo1968]

@@KeithCooper I (re)read your review and re-installed EPL, but it only 'sees' the P700. I'm on Windows, maybe that's a thing.

[@KeithCooper]

@@befo1968 Possibly - I'd suggest asking on the printing forum at dpreview. I don't test things on windows I'm afraid

Keith, first of all, I'm grateful to you for sharing wonderful information and experiences in these videos. I'd like to ask you a question on a different topic. For a while now, I've been framing prints with many different combinations: Photo Rag, baryta papers, metallic papers, museum glass, matte glass, standard glass, etc. Yes, papers like Photo Rag feel the most like a work of art when I hold them in my hands, but when I hang them on the wall and turn on the spotlight, they seem to absorb light rather than reflect it, unlike glossy or semi-glossy finish papers, which makes me feel like they lose contrast even more. Do you have any thoughts on this? Thank you 🙏🏻

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks That's a tricky one - so much depends on the environment and what control you have over the lighting, both of the print and the ambient conditions. In the prints I have at home, they rarely have their own lighting so I'll often add a slight curve to lighten the print. In a show, ideally I want the prints to be the brightest parts of the room - like windows... It's one reason I ask people where big prints are going to be shown

[@stevehassall6862]

Hello Keith, I need advice regarding ecotank printers and with your expert knowledge I can't think of anyone better, I'm looking for an ecotank printer for home use and to be able to print off my photos, not to a gallery standard just to frame for home, however I haven't got £££££'s, what could you recommend, Many thanks Steve H

[@KeithCooper]

Size? ET-8500 or ET-8550 Any others? How long is a piece of string? See my actual [written] reviews for what might meet your needs [although you'll have to actually define them - I don't take any notice of price for instance, since I don't sell printers or ink ;-) ] www.northlight-images.co.uk/photography-articles-and-reviews/printing-paper-reviews-articles/

[@wiktoriatluvi]

Just turned on my L8180 (et 8550 numer here :)) yesterday and I did all the alignments at first and also quite a lot of prints of my artworks for testing and so far I'm very happy with it ☺️ I'll have to experiment with the computer software for sure as I'm hoping it has more specific options than the two main mobile apps (they are really cool when you want to print smth fast :o I thought they would be lacking almost all of the features, but you can still actually set up the media type, quality etc. One thing I find not liking that much with the VFA media type (though overall getting beautiful blacks ofc 🖤) is that 1. (at least on those mobile apps) you can't set the quality to high, even though they turn out rather sharp, they could probably go a bit further) and 2. the blacks seem to "swallow" the colors they meet in a way 🤔 kind of like if the contrasts was bumped up, gaining some sharpness but loosing some tonal gradients etc. 😂 I was planning on using the regular computer software anyways, but just for starting out I used the apps and I'm hoping there's many more options to set up there as I'm quite eager to dive deep into the settings 😂 I'm pretty sure that some of those art prints come out better on the matte media type (better quality is available to choose and sometimes it shows) but it's obły about the ones without smooth pure blacks of course.... and also not always, sometimes the VFA even with the obły available on those apps "standard" quality ptoduces better colors (although still kinda cloudy, it's often more vibrant and somehow sometimes even also sharper) One more thing I'll need to figure out for now, as I'll be printing on many different types of matte papers, usually unfortunately withouth profiles (yeah, I know it's a bummer, but I'm going to use some papers that will be thinner and some thicker as I'm planning to print an illustrated book, and some art prints, cards etc., I have the Navigator thicker papers on my radar for example) is how to increase the saturation/intensitivity mainly in the dark parts 🤔 as they come out still kinda cloudy/washed out, even on VFA setting (if the black is present it's of course the rich black pigment ink ☺️🖤 it's mainly about the colors). I know that many of the papers I'm trying to use are uncoated and will never małych the special ones but I have a feeling I could still maybe fidget around some settings if they were available 😂 Thanks for all the videos about this printer, you made my decision easier as I'm a beginner to color & inkjet printing (I wanted to use a colorful printer for years now, and only now when I'm finishing my Graphics degree I got myself one, for diploma purposes and then other fun stuff 😂) and I was researching the subject since the beginning of June (at first quite blindly, around the internet, learning a lot, but in a chaotic way, on forums and stuff 😂 it was amazing to finally find videos specifically about this one and the other ones too ✨☺️).

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad it's been of help If you've not seen it, check the main [written] review at: www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-8550-printer-review/ It covers far more about how to get the best out of the mixed ink-set

[@wiktoriatluvi]

@@KeithCooper I've seen it, thanks 🥰 I'll gladly come back to it when in need though 😄

[@killpop8255]

Always amuses me when you finish "thanks for watching". Like a bloke handing out fresh £20 notes saying "thanks for taking one". WE should all be thanking you Keith. (still to buy a printer). 👍

[@KeithCooper]

Ha - just being polite :-) I did say it took quite bit of twisting my arm by someone at Canon to get me to start doing the videos. The channel is vastly more successful than I ever thought it would be ;-)

[@killpop8255]

@@KeithCooper And one reason for that ;-)

[@dwelker3778]

Keith, your videos have really helped me learn how to print my photos. Question: I use EPL, but occasionally I am working with a different editing program and want to print directly from that application. However, I don't find the ICC profiles when it takes me to the driver. Is there a way to get them to show up since I am not usually using Epson papers?

[@KeithCooper]

What software? - what system?? - what printer??? The profiles don't normally appear in the driver - it's usually picked in the software you are printing with, so the driver is carrying out no colour management

[@dwelker3778]

@@KeithCooper Thank you. I think that answers my question.

[@EmsVision1]

Thank you for this encouraging video! However, I note that you do not specify how to print the test print. I have an Epson SC P800 and print from Adobe Photoshop. Do I print the test print without profile, using "the printer manages colours”, or do I apply the profile from my paper producer? If the former, do I use the test print in its JPEG form?

[@KeithCooper]

You print it exactly as you would any other image. If you normally print without a profile, print without a profile... The whole idea is that it is a 'good' image - if it comes out wrong, you are doing something wrong somewhere. It's there to reduce variables and make it easy to see if something is wrong. See the more detailed explanation on the download page - it can be used for more.

[@howardthompson7661]

Help you convince me that the ET8550 is the printer for me BUT I would printing a lot of 12x12 for a photo book. Would I feed through the top or feeding it through the back the only option? Also if I get the EPL software, can I make the 12x12 borderless?

[@KeithCooper]

Top is supported for custom media sizes Custom size+borderless is not supported on ANY printer I've tested with ANY software Print on 13x19 and cut...

[@MrPhillipgraham]

Sorry Keith another question! When printing the test photo do I need to use perceptual or relative c? And what about black point compensation? I printed the test page on Canon Pro Platinum paper which looks fine although it is slightly dark compared to the image on my monitor? Cheers

[@KeithCooper]

You print the test image, as you would any of your own images - I normally do rel-col, but perceptual or even saturation shows how the profile is working. BPC is only usually needed for matt papers [usually just with rel-col, but with others should make little difference for BPC] Ah - your monitor is also slightly too bright... or you need a brighter light for print viewing...

[@MrPhillipgraham]

@@KeithCooper Ok thanks Keith. My monitor is at 120 candela so I will try it at 100 or so. Much appreciated.

[@nickgoogle4525]

Screen brightness should be adjusted to feel right. White should look white and not greyish and you should not feel that the monitor too bright. That means that in the night with lower lighting levels it is good to decrease the luminance. My Eizo even shows the luminance values -- the calibration/ profile is not affected by that and one should not fear to adjust the backlight brightness to the ambient lighting. That is an important point to make IMO.

[@KeithCooper]

That does of course assume one's eyesight and judgement is up to the task ;-) I'll take a consistent approach with a constant work environment and colorimeter, but yes for general use...

[@nickgoogle4525]

@@KeithCooper I challenge your thinking a measured instrument would be better than our eyes. By definition it never can be, because with the instrument we try to mimic the vision, the first part in the visulal chain, that a stimulus is received by our eyes (applying the color matching functions and getting the relvant XYZ values). The second part, the image processing part in our brain needs to be taken care of by applying color appearance models, which I guess you did not take the time to scientifically determine the adaption state you have, background and surround luminance (btw. your surround will not be evenly lit, what value will you choose as the reference value....)? So in practice it is better to rely on your vision to adjust the monitor luminance to the average luminance of your print. I fully agree it can be convenient to measure the monitor luminance and the illumination level in your lightbox (or similar setup) and note the values for future reference, to be able to quickly recreate. But the visual experience is all what counts in the end and why we use instruments and color management. :-) P.S. You find the complete softproof setup explained in much detail in the Fogra Softproof Handbook, including the iterative visual approach to match the monitor luminance to the print (see page 30). This part is the same in English and German. The latter has a V2 version, with some updates compared to the English version. So for anyone speaking German the extended German version is to be preferred. Finally when you do not have normal color vision all bets are off anyway and you are in your own world. Btw, everybody is in some way in "his" world, alone because of the large age dependence of the human vision (see the work from Mark Fairchild, Yuta Asano, of course your compatriot Andrew Stockman and others), not considering the variation you already find in the same age group and not taking into account that neither the 2 or 10 degree observer will be able to describe the variation in practical viewing angles (do you look at the part of the picture where you see a large blue sky or are you looking at minute details in the same photo...), different adaption states, absolute luminance levels, surrounds and backgrounds and so on. One fact you might never have thought of is that CIELAB can be seen as a simplified color appearance model, because it describes a bit of the second part of the vision (image processing in our brain), that we perceive red/ green and blue/ yellow as opposing colors, which is not described by the XYZ tristimulus values. A long answer, but hopefully not too longwinded and somehow helpful. :-)

[@KeithCooper]

I do have to note that you used the word 'better', not me ;-) All valid points but I'm still using my colorimeter to profile my monitor and set an initial luminance. I'll take what hardware/software offers as a _starting point_ for my ongoing considerations. I'd also posit that anyone who quotes 2 or 10 degree observer is way out of my intended audience for videos like this

[@nickgoogle4525]

@@KeithCooper I am well aware that you did not say 'better', but expressed that measuring is your preferred way. I know that I am not the target audience for your videos. My original comment was meant to invite people to adjust the backlight brightness as needed, which is not a less good choice or a workaround, but the best way to take the complex relationships of the different parameters I listed into account automatically (in regards of finding the best luminance setting only of course). And for sure you will want your monitor profiled first, with an instrument! :-) Reason is that it is almost impossible for us to adjust a multi-parameter system by eye. But adjusting the single parameter luminance (via backlight brightness) is super easy to do and does not have (relevant) influence on the profile, because we are using a to white normalized approach for color management via L*. The to the current lighting situation matching monitor luminance is crucial and many are not aware of it _and_ how easy that part is to achieve. :-D

[@axelb423]

Hello what is the best printer for stickers?

[@KeithCooper]

Now that I don't know... The real difficulty is finding media which works well and the ink doesn't wipe off.

[@Original_Old_Farmer]

This may be beyond your horizon; if so, I understand. What would you recommend to Linux Mint? I know there are printers out there that will work, but the folks who recommend the printers are not into photography. Be safe.

[@KeithCooper]

I've no idea I'm afraid - it's been many years since I last used UNIX or a derivative [other than Mac OSX] My last such printer installation was on a SUN Sparcstation...

[@bruceatkinson932]

If you shouldn't compare the printed test image with same image on your screen how can you tell if the image is printing darker than it should be?

[@KeithCooper]

That's not quite so... It's how you make the comparison. The very worst way is to put the two next to each other. Far better is to have the print well lit off to one side. You look at the screen and then turn your head to look at the print, Does the print look too dark? Not how does it compare to the screen but does the print itself look too dark This is also one of my reasons for using known good test images - if it prints OK, but my images look too dark, then I know it is something about my editing or photography which is wrong. Hope this helps - I've quite a bit in various printing videos looking at aspects of this Remember, [in a print workflow] it is what the print looks like which matters.

[@bruceatkinson932]

@@KeithCooper Thanks Keith. That helps a lot.

[@tyren51]

I don’t know what I might be doing wrong. I’m trying to get good color representation printing on an Epson 8550 from an iPhone 15 where photos are shot in HDR. If I print directly from the Apple Photos app they come out decent enough, but using any other software such as EPL the colors are extremely muted?

[@KeithCooper]

Nothing wrong - just that Phone _and_ HDR - that's a recipe for prints looking nothing like the screen I'm afraid. Getting any good quality photo print out of a phone has an element of luck, HDR loads the dice against you even more - it would be difficult doing this even from Photoshop on a Mac If 'Photos' does a reasonable job, take the win ;-) Phones - great for phone screens, but still a challenge for print.

[@tyren51]

@@KeithCooper Thank you 😃 Was driving me 🥜

[@mickbidewell6481]

When i press print on my Epson XP15000 a message comes up saying my Canon Pro300 is offline even when the Epson is set as the default printer. Any advice would be hugely appreciated. Thanks

[@KeithCooper]

Connected to what? Unlikely to be the printer.

[@hannamunt]

I can't get PPL software to work for my canon ip8760

[@KeithCooper]

I fear it's too old a model to be supported. It's one of their longer lasting printer models and they are not good at 'backdating' support in some areas.

[@hannamunt]

Dam it so annoying

[@hannamunt]

I'm keen to get good results from other paper stocks

[@KeithCooper]

Look for a supplier [Fotospeed or PermaJet in the UK for example] who offer custom profiles with media,