Optimum resolution for Epson C82 printer

[Jack]

I just purchased an Epson C82 printer that uses the DuraBrite pigmented inks
and am trying to find the best combination of paper and file resolution. My
old HP printer seems to work best when fed files at 600 PPI resolution. I
have been told that Epson printers like 320 PPI resolution files. Does
anyone know if that is correct? I always use the highest quality printer
settings. Thanks, JackM

 

[Safetymom123]

The file you send it should be at 300 dpi but anywhere from 240 to 360 dpi
will give great results. You will also find on the printer side that 1440
or 2880 will be all that you need. It is capable of 5760 but it takes
longer and uses more ink. For most projects you won't need all that.
Almost everything that I print is at 1440 dpi and I get raves over the
photos.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

The file you send it should be at 300 dpi but anywhere from 240 to 360 dpi
will give great results. You will also find on the printer side that 1440
or 2880 will be all that you need. It is capable of 5760 but it takes
longer and uses more ink. For most projects you won't need all that.
Almost everything that I print is at 1440 dpi and I get raves over the
photos.

No. All Epson desktop printer drivers resample the image to 720ppi -
irrespective of the ink dot resolution. Incidentally, this is also why
they are limited to 44.1" prints from Photoshop and many other imaging
applications. However, since 720ppi is the fixed sampling density of
the printer it makes sense to send it data at a resolution which is an
integer divisor of this. Hence, ideal print resolutions are 720ppi,
320ppi (720/2), 240ppi (720/3) or 160ppi (720/4) although the latter is
rather low resolution and will give generally poor results.

These resolutions ensure that any resampling aliasing at the driver is
truncated within a single pixel rather than giving rise to lower spatial
frequencies in the image which are readily visible. For most continuous
tone images however the exact resolution of the image is not critical,
but for fine detail or restricted tonal range images (eg. lineart) this
is much more important.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

320ppi (720/2), 240ppi (720/3) or 160ppi (720/4) although the latter is
rather low res

Oops! Obviously that should be:
360ppi (720/2), 240ppi (720/3) or 180ppi (720/4)!

The keener readers will have noticed that a first mistake led directly
to the second. ;-)