Epson P600 - how to create negatives?

Hi team -

I'm struggling with a new-to-me Epson P600 printer which I bought to mainly do digital negatives for contact printing with Cyanotype.

The issue is that the printer is looking for the white edge of paper and wont print on blank transparency sheets alone. I've tried taping paper to the back but thats created its own set of problems with gumming up and jamming.

Can someone suggest a make of 8x10-ish transparency sheets that will work out of the box? I read some have a trailing paper edge for this, but couldn't find the brand name.

Thanks!

What software are you printing from? I have a 3880 and have no problems making digital negatives. Try downloading the profile for the transparency for example Pictorico Transparency Film. Another thing you can try is to select luster as the type of paper. I have used Pictorico for many years for enlarged negatives for pt/pd printing. Remember to reverse the horizontal before printing because you will be turning it over when contact printing.

syncros said:

blank transparency

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What kind of sheets are you using?
My 3880 sometimes (rarely) 'rejects' an empty sheet of OHP film. Most of the time it'll eat it, though.
Over hear of people taping a sheet of OHP film to a paper leader or even onto a sheet of regular paper in order to fool the printer. You might give that a try.

I should add if you get the profile and are using Photoshop have Photoshop control the printer and select that profile.

thanks for the replies, the problem mainly is I've only been able to make one or two actual negatives successfully so far, and to get to that stage its frustration with trying to tape a sheet of paper behind and it jamming or warping - I'm using standard inkjet transparency sheets (which are just clear) and in my research trying to find a solution before posting, I've read the main fix for this particular printer (and others that use the same internals) is to use transparency sheets that have an edge of white paper on them, but I haven't been able to find what brands people are using successfully, or a tutorial video about taping paper behind the transparency, each attempt I've tried so far with either green painters tape or clear packing tape failed.

The issue I'm running into seems to be specific to a few of the Epson wide-carriage models and how they detect the edge of , unlike other printer brands.

syncros said:

- I'm using standard inkjet transparency sheets (which are just clear)

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Try the material that's sold for making transparencies for screen printing. This is generic and quite affordable inkjet film, which generally performs very well. It's slightly milky.

koraks said:

Try the material that's sold for making transparencies for screen printing. This is generic and quite affordable inkjet film, which generally performs very well. It's slightly milky.

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Agreed!

No direct experience with the P600 but much experience with the 3880 and the P800. I have not had trouble with feeding either Pictorico or generic film meant for silk screen printing.

Are you feeding the film from the regular tray? In the winter (low humidity) I can feed from the regular tray. However, in the warmer months, with higher humidity and thus slower drying times I find that I need to feed film via the front 'fine art' paper mechanism.

Is the P600 all that different from a P700? I make digital negatives for pt/pd printing on Pictorico and Fixxons film on my P700 without issue. I do usually put a few sheets of plain paper into the feed tray with the film on top, but the film feeds into the printer all by itself. Sorry, I know this isn't any help to you...

I use an Epson SureColor SC-P600 for DNs. I now print on Fixxons DN film ( https://www.fixxons.com/negativefilm) with no problem and before it I have used Pictorico films which are supposed to be even a little better (you'll hardly see any difference, IMO, with the exception of a bit longer exposure for the Pictorico DNs). Neither had any problem with the white edge and both can be used out of the box.

I have tested some generic cheap clear screen printing inkjet film, but I needed to stick adhesive paper tape on the down edge of the film sheets. They worked nicely, needed very small exposure times, but with some major precautions - they needed an increase in the color density (for no tiny transparent dots in the DN) and to spray some painter glossy varnish on the printed side after printing the DN (otherwise often the DN couldn't be reused).

With Epson SureColor SC-P600 take care with the danger of print head clogging if not in use for longer times. My first P600 died for this reason and now, with my second P600, I take care to keep a humidifier inside the printer when it's not in use.

Dan Pavel said:

I have tested some generic cheap clear screen printing inkjet film, but I needed to stick adhesive paper tape on the down edge of the film sheets.

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What did this material look like? I'm asking because I've tested Fixxons and generic screen printing sheet film, and it looks, feels and behaves virtually identically. I've also in the distant past used inkjet transparencies that were colorless instead of milky white, and that stuff was utter garbage (although the printer ate it up just fine).

Sorry, my mistake, they were generic inkjet transparencies, not generic screen printing sheet film.

Many years ago I have used for a while some clear STAEDTLER transparency film that worked OK for DNs (at least for the color DNs I used back then), but they stopped selling it. They had a paper margin and the printer accepted it without problems.

Dan Pavel said:

Many years ago I have used for a while some clear STAEDTLER transparency film that worked OK for DNs (at least for the color DNs I used back then), but they stopped selling it. They had a paper margin and the printer accepted it without problems.

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I'm familiar with that type of film; it behaved a lot worse than the cheap screen printing film, Fixxons and Pictorico materials. It was OK for e.g. cyanotype, but the modern milky film can take a massive amount more ink, which makes a real difference for processes that require more UV density.

I have a P600 and it has no trouble with Pictorico Ultra. The stuff is definitely on the milky side so I guess the P600 finds that easily.

One trick I just figured out is to put a small piece of frosted tape or even masking tape on the back of the right hand leading edge. Give the printer a target to find the sheet.

Now my P600 gets spastic with the Pictorico. Sometimes prints, sometimes just feeds it through without print. Tried the tape trick and it still fed through so I took a felt tip and drew a line on the lead edge of the tape and it worked right away. Afterwards peeled the tape off.