Towards a better printer

What’s missing?

In reviewing a wide range of printers, Keith is often asked what’s new and whether the model is ‘a better printer’?

This short article and video looks at where printers could be improved and how the software driving them plays a part.

Printers covered are typically 13″ width and upwards, since that’s a general starting point for a better printer.

Of course this can include smaller printers, since for example, the Epson ET-8500 is just a smaller version of the 13″ ET-8550

Note that all links are to detailed reviews of the printers, which include links to related articles and videos.

There is a video [~19mins] supplementing this article

What’s wrong with modern printers?

Up front… Not a lot.

We have some of the best print quality ever, and if you can’t make a great print with any current printer of 13″ width and above, the problem is likely not with the printer…

However, just because you can make great prints doesn’t mean the process couldn’t be made easier and aspects of printer function couldn’t be improved.

This article is deliberately not brand specific – all printers I review have foibles and areas I’d like to see change. I’ll address a number of key areas, with suggestions ranging from minor tweaks to ones suggesting more fundamental changes.

Two black printers

The actual inks in a better printer

Modern dye and pigment inks have been improving over the years. We’re at the point where improvements are incremental and barring some new print technology, improvements are getting more difficult to see.

Here, we’re looking at the chemistry of pigments and their encapsulation for inks.  Any new pigment technologies need to be economically and environmentally competitive in a well established industry.

A limit with dyes is that a good black – that’s light absorption across the spectrum – is still not there. his causes a degree of illuminant metamerism which can be seen in B&W reproduction. it’s that problem with some dye prints where the colour tint can change as you take a print somewhere with different lighting.

Clear coating inks?

If you are going to introduce a clear coat ink, then it would be nice if you make sure you offer suitable control over its placement and use. On/off/whole-sheet is not good enough. What about coverage in paper white areas of an image?

Ink storage in a better printer

Ink carts will continue to have a place in many small printers, but ink-tank printers are becoming more popular. Will the waste of small ink carts and their non recyclability hasten the transition?

At the moment, there is a ‘quality ceiling’ for ink-tank printers. At some point, a manufacturer is going to push ink tank use into better quality models, whether by something like a pigment ink version of the ET-8550, ditching the small ink carts of the PRO-200 [dye] or PRO-300 [pigment], or producing larger versions of current ink-tank models.

Ink use and cleaning

More effective use of ink for cleaning and maintenance is a common call. This is, I’m told, steadily being improved, but still, it does seem excessive in some models if not used enough.

In some ways, it’s still a communication problem, in that cleaning is an integral part of how print heads are kept working. ‘Waste’ ink, especially at the price of it for smaller printers just sounds wrong to many.

Whilst on the subject, non replaceable ink pads are never popular when discovered after a printer has been used a while. I can see why they appear in designs, but some more clarity on ‘built-in’ printer life limitations would be welcome.

Paper handling in a better printer

Generally this is an area where improvements have been seen, but more are needed. In many printers I test, it’s probably the weakest area of their performance. I should though reiterate that ‘weakest’ in this context is a relative term – I have very few actual problems, just that a better printer would have fewer…

Several issues spring to mind…

Marking paper

Roller marks on the surface of some media are often caused by parts of the paper feed. Other parts of the mechanism can mark the leading edge of papers, or mark prints as they emerge. The fact that this seems to be very dependent on individual printers, suggests manufacturing tolerances contribute, but paper handling is a persistent complaint I receive.

Roll paper support in a better printer

Perceived as a need by many more than actually need it – if you want a roll paper printer, buy a roll paper printer. Many perceive roll paper as a way of saving money – well, it can be, but often nowhere nearly as much as people think it will be.

Borderless printing

Whilst a great way of messing up the insides of a printer, it is popular. A significant limitation seems to be borderless on custom paper sizes – why the limitation?  If the printer can print arbitrary sizes of paper, then why not borderless?

Paper paths

The lack of a straight through path is an issue with some thicker media. Almost straight is not the same as straight.

Colour management in a better printer

I’d like to see better support for custom media types in better printers. At the moment it seems they are for setting paper thickness/handling, and maybe associating a custom icc profile to a media.

There are no usable selections for anything like ink densities. Come to think of it, actual data on what the differences are between existing media types would be most welcome. Is this really so secret that companies can say nothing about what the difference between say lustre and semi-gloss really means?

Driver options

These are dependent on the computer system, but on Macs AirPrint is of no use – I noted how useless in my G550 review.

Computers are vastly more powerful these days. More than enough to enable resampling/rescaling as a driver feature. I’ve seen aspects of it in the past when I had an iPF8300 here, but it should now be much easier to implement as an option in the driver. In a similar vein – how about print sharpening as an option?

Printing software for a better printer

The print software from companies has been steadily improving, I’m very aware of the problems of feature bloat, and have long believed that useful software, does a few things, but does them well.

Soft proofing could be improved, a smarter gamut check would be a good option. The Photoshop and Lightroom checks seem unchanged for years and rather clunky?  How about resampling and sharpening options – would this be a better place for some of this than the printer driver?

The printer software could also be a place to promote B&W?

Black and White in a better printer

It would be nice if the approach to B&W functions had more input from photographers, not just engineers.

For example, some means of making adjustments for linearity and a more subtle approach to tonality.

I’d like to see a printer, likely a higher end one, which makes a serious pitch for B&W quality.

Someone else’s problem

Only so much can be addressed by printer makers – some areas are up to computer makers and the developers of big software packages.

So, the abject failure of colour management on mobile devices? Does it indicate a lack of interest in print?

Where’s the revolution?

Have inkjet printers plateaued? Up to a point yes, but they are still getting better.

We may see much more attention to environmental concerns and my feeling is that this will, directly or indirectly push change. Of course it may well just make printing more expensive as well…

Your thoughts?

I always welcome people’s suggestions and comments – feel free to email me [or comment on the video] if you spot any interesting new technologies…