Install procedures for Epson® Pro 7800, 7880, 9800, 9880 or 7890/9890* printer

*As of this writing, QuadTone RIP has not yet been updated by Roy Harrington. It will appear that it does not support the 7890/9890. If this is the case, please download the curves here and follow this instruction for updating QuadTone RIP on your own - but please follow the rest of the instructions on this page for setting up your printer:

7890/9890-K7 curves click here.

Instructions for installation of above curves:

(MAC) Uncompress the Quad7890-9890-K7 folder, drag and drop it into your QuadToneRIP> Profiles folder, then install the 7890-K7 or 9890-K7 printer model by double clicking the K7install.command specific to your printer model. Now, when you go to print you should have a 7890-K7 or 9890-K7 printer model to select, which should show the list of curves in the QTR curve pull down list.

(WINDOWS) Drag and drop the Quad 7890-9890-K7 folder to your C\ProgramFiles\QuadToneRIP\QuadTone folder. Now, when you open QTR you should have a 7890-K7 or 9890-K7 printer model listed and the curves available to select.

 

Summary

Use these procedures to convert your color printer to a Piezography printer. If you are installing user refillable cartridges, please refer to the installation instructions provided with the refillable cartridges. Whether you use refillable cartridges, or pre-filled cartridges, the placement of the shades of Piezography ink are critical and not arbitrary. You must refer to the shade location table provided here on this document. A Piezography system depends upon software with which to control the ink shades. Installation instructions and support of that software is provided by the manufacturers of those software. We provide our own guides to our suggested use of QuadTone RIP, so that you can get the best results from that product.

Printer Testing

Please test your printer with Epson inks prior to installing Piezography inks. This holds true whether your printer is brand new, or has been in use with a different ink set. Testing your printer with Epson inks is important, because it allows you to evaluate your printer for any potential problems due to missing nozzles or unfixable banding issues, which you will determine by printing and examining nozzle check patterns and test images. While such problems are unlikely to occur with a new printer, they do occur from time to time. If you install third party ink in a new printer before testing it with Epson inks, and you do encounter printing problems, it becomes more difficult to evaluate the cause of the problem.

Use of flush cartridges with the 7800 / 9800 printer

The use of flush cartridges is suggested when switching to Piezography Neutral K7 inks from a non-Epson or non-Piezography ink set, or if you have been experiencing clogging problems with your current ink set. Otherwise, the actual Piezography K7 inks can be used to "flush" out the pre-existing color inks from your printer. If you do not use flush carts, you may need to print some additional media before all traces of color ink have been removed.

Items needed to have on hand when changing inks

A set of ink cartridges; a set of flush cartridges (if used); an eighth cartridge, either ink or flush fluid for the Photo Black slot; a spare maintenance tank (available through Epson), or a large format cartridge and waste tank chip resetter; The black position “draining” cartridge that came with your printer may be needed, depending on your situation (see below).

Note about the maintenance tank: Instead of replacing a full maintenance tank, you may use a large format chip resetter to reset your maintenance tank chip to read empty. It is safe to reset the maintenance tank chip one time; if you wish to do it more than once, periodically check the waste ink level in the tank, to ensure that it does not overfill with waste ink. It is possible to dis-assemble the maintenance tank and replace the filling with some absorbent material. Chip resetters are available on-line. Be sure to purchase one specifically for large format Epson printers

Changing inks in your printer.

Depending on whether the black position cartridge of your installed Epson ink set is Matte Black or Photo Black, you will need to follow different procedures for switching the printer over to Piezography K7 inks, as described below:

 

Steps to changing ink in your printer. Determine which ink change sequence you will need to follow:

Ink Change Procedure A: Initial Fill cycle. Use this cycle when either:

Your printer initially has a Photo Black Epson cartridge in it, or you have just completed the "Black Ink Change" cycle, outlined in Procedure B, below, and your printer now has the Piezography Shade #1 cartridge installed in the black cartridge slot, and Epson cartridges installed in all other slots.

Important Notes: In order to run an initial fill cycle, your new cartridges must each be at least 30% full. If they are less than 30% full, the printer will not allow you to continue until you replace those cartridges determined to be too empty to proceed. Once beginning an initial fill cycle, there is no way to abort it, and so your printer will be waiting for you to replace those cartridges it instructs you to install. If your Piezography K7 and PiezoFlush cartridges are new, they will be full, but if they have been used in the past, removed, and you are now in the process of reinstalling them, you need to know how full they are before you go forward with the procedure. If you are not sure how full your Piezography cartridges are, install them and turn the printer on normally. The ink status monitor will display the ink levels. If they are not all at least 30% full, turn off the printer, and order the replacement cartridges you will need.

Additionally, during this procedure, your maintenance tank may fill up, requiring you to replace it. If your maintenance tank is partially filled, it is a good idea to have a spare on hand. Maintenance tanks are available from Epson ink retailers

  1. Test your printer with Epson ink: print and evaluate nozzle check patterns and test images. Look for missing or misplaced lines in the nozzle check pattern, and examine your prints for potential banding problems, which will appear as unintended light or dark lines running through parts of your image. Fix any printer problems you may find, before you proceed to the next step. Note that if you have a brand new printer, you must install your Epson ink cartridges, including a Photo Black cartridge, in order to run these tests. Please follow the instructions in your printer manual for information on how to do this.

  2. Turn the printer off, remove the Epson ink cartridges and install the Piezography K7 ink and the PiezoFlush cartridges into the slots of the printer matching the color name on each cartridge. If your printer already contains a Piezography Shade #1 cartridge, from a Black Ink Change cycle you just ran, leave that cartridge in place, but replace all the others. Close the ink levers.

  3. While the printer is off, press the Enter, Down arrow and Right arrow buttons on the printer’s control panel. Turn the printer on and continue holding these buttons until the printer starts in "Self Testing" mode. Release the three buttons.

  4. Press the Down arrow button several times until the word "Cleaning" appears on the LCD screen on the printer. Press the Right arrow button to display "Std. CL1" shows on the screen. Press the Down arrow button until "Init Fill" (initial fill) is displayed. Press the Enter button as directed on the printer, to begin the initial fill process.

  5. Follow the instructions on the LCD screen to complete the Initial Fill cycle. After it completes, turn the printer off and back on, to exit the "Self Testing" mode.

  6. Print a nozzle check pattern, in "Manual" mode. (Do not use the automatic nozzle check pattern utility). A correctly printed nozzle check pattern will contain seven gray sections and one pink-colored section. The lightest shades of the K7 inks are very faint, and their nozzle check patterns may be difficult to see. However, if you can see them, then they are correct.

Ink Change Procedure B: Black Ink Change Cycle. Use this cycle if your printer initially has an Epson Matte Black ink cartridge installed. This is the first part of a two part procedure.

Important Notes: each of the Epson cartridges in your printer must be at least 30% full in order to run the Black Ink Change Cycle. If any of your cartridges are less than 30% full, you will be instructed to replace those cartridges during the process. If necessary, you may substitute a Piezography cartridge for any of cartridges except for the Black position cartridge. Be advised, however, that this will cause you to use additional Piezography ink from those cartridges you use during this step. Additionally, during this procedure, your maintenance tank may fill up, requiring you to replace it. If your maintenance tank is partially full before you begin, have a spare maintenance tank on hand. Maintenance tanks are available from Epson ink retailers.
  1. Test your printer with Epson ink: print and evaluate nozzle check patterns and test images. Look for missing or misplaced lines in the nozzle check pattern, and examine your prints for potential banding problems, which will appear as unintended light or dark lines running through parts of your image. Fix any printer problems you may find, before you proceed to the next step. Note that if you have a brand new printer, you must install your Epson ink cartridges, including a Matte Black cartridge, in order to run these tests. Please follow the instructions in your printer manual for information on how to do this.

  2. Turn on the printer, and allow it to start up. When the LCD panel displays "Ready" press the Right arrow button. 3.      

  3. Press the Down arrow button until you see "Maintenance" and then press the Right Arrow button. 4.      

  4. Press the Right arrow button until "Bk Ink Change" (Black Ink Change) is displayed. Press the Right Arrow button. 5.      

  5. Press the Enter  button to execute the Black Ink Change cycle. Follow the instructions in the Epson printer manual, and on the LCD display of the printer, with one modification: when the printer asks for the new black cartridge, insert the Piezography K7 Shade #1 ink cartridge. During the Black Ink Change procedure you will also be asked to remove four cartridges and place Epson "conversion" cartridges in three of the slots. When the printer instructs you to remove the conversion cartridges and replace them with their original cartridges, DO SO. Do not yet install the Piezography K7 cartridges in any of the slots except for the Shade #1 (black) slot. 6.      

  6. After the Black Ink Change cycle completes, your printer will be converted to a Photo Black printer. Your printer will have the Shade #1 Piezography cartridge installed in the black slot, but Epson cartridges will still occupy all other slots. You must now run the "Initial Fill" cycle, described above, to complete the ink conversion, starting with step number 2 in the process (in other words, do not re-test your printer with Epson inks).

 

Shade location table:
"Color" ink cartridge position in printer, from left to right Piezography Ink Shade used in this position
Light Light Black Flush cartridge or Piezography Gloss Optimizer *
Light Magenta Shade #5
Light Cyan Shade #3
Light Black Shade #6
Black Shade #1
Cyan Shade #2
Magenta Shade #4
Yellow Shade #7

* Gloss Optimizer is supported with only Selenium or WarmNeutral inks and the use of MPS Shade 1 (Photo Black)

Printing images with Piezography inks and QuadTone RIP software

In order to use these inks correctly, you must print your images through QuadTone RIP shareware. QuadTone RIP contains pre made curves (profiles) to use the correct shades of ink in different regions of a print. It is not possible to achieve good results without using QuadTone RIP We provide the pre made curves that are included in the download of QuadTone RIP software. Our pre made curves follow this format: K6-2880-HahnGermEtch where K6 is the inkset, 2880 is the dpi setting in the printer, and HahnGermEtch is the paper. A complete list of provided media curves is located below.

Troubleshooting guide, and additional information

Have enough ink and flush fluid in your cartridges and enough empty space in your maintenance tank, before you begin. As mentioned above, you cannot terminate a procedure once you begin it, and the printer will stop until you replace empty cartridges or a full maintenance tank.

Color Cast in your prints. If you continue to see a color cast in your prints after installing the new inks, particularly a yellow or magenta tint to your prints’ highlights, try cleaning your printer’s capping station, which will help to remove all traces of color from your printer. This link describes how to clean your capping station, and it explains what the capping station is: www.piezography.com/support/printhead_cleaning_tips.htm#capping. If this procedure does not fix the color problem, run one or two normal print head cleaning cycles to push out any remaining color ink in the print head or capping station. In most cases, cleaning the capping station fixes this problem.

Problems printing a perfect nozzle check pattern. You should be seeing a perfect nozzle check pattern, but if you are not, again consider cleaning your capping station, to help remove the buildup of waste ink that may be preventing your print head from working perfectly. Cleaning your capping station is definitely important if you see that your nozzle check pattern gets worse, as you run more and more print head cleaning cycles. www.piezography.com/support/printhead_cleaning_tips.htm#capping.

Note about the nozzle check pattern printing utility: your printer offers both automatic and a manual nozzle check pattern capabilities. Do not use the automatic feature, because the printer will reject the pattern, even when it is perfect. This is because the printer is designed to measure specific colors in these patches, and now that you have removed the color ink from your printer, it will no longer work. Use the manual nozzle check pattern utility instead.

 

Pre-made media curves provided by Piezography for 7800 - 9800 printer model

Abbreviated Profile Name Actual Paper Name
BradfordRBrightW Bradford Rag Bright White
BradfordRBrilliantWD Bradford Rag Brilliant White Duo
BradfordRNaturalW Bradford Rag Natural White
EpEnhancedMatte Epson Enhanced Matte (a.k.a. Epson Archival Matte)
EpMatteHW Epson Heavyweight Matte
HanAlbrechtDurer Hahnemuhle Albrecht Durer
HanArtProof Hahnemuhle Art Proof
HanEtching Hahnemuhle Etching
HanPhotoRag Hahnemuhle Photo Rag
HanPhotoRagBrtW Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bright White
HanPhotoRagSatin Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Smooth Satin
HanWhiteVelvet Hahnemuhle White Velvet
HanWilliamTurner Hahnemuhle William Turner
InnovaColdPressArt Innova Cold Press Art
InnovaPhotoFibaP Innova Photo Fiba Print
InnovaPhotoSmoothC Innova Photo Smooth Cotton
InnovaSoftTexArt Innova Soft Textured Art
IPCanvas InkPress Waterproof Canvas
IPPictRagCool InkPress Picture Rag Cool
IPPictRagWarm InkPress Picture Rag Warm
IPPrintPlusM InkPress Print Plus Matte
IPVelvet InkPress Velvet
LgnSomsersetPEnhVel Legion Somerset Photo Enhanced Velvet
MoabEntradaFABW Moab Entrada Fine Art Bright White
MoabEntradaFANat Moab Entrada Fine Art Natural
MoabKayentaPhotoM Moab Kayenta Photo Matte

Pre-made media curves provided by Piezography for 7880 - 9880 printer model

Abbreviated Profile Name Actual Paper Name

K7-2880-BergerPN32
K7-2880-BergerPN33
K7-2880-BergerPN61
K7-2880-BergerPN62
K7-2880-EpUltraPresMatte

Berger PN32
Berger PN33
Berger PN61
Berger PN62
Epson Ultra Presentation Matte (was:Enhanced Matte)
K7-2880-EpVelvFineArt Epson Velvet Fine Art
K7-2880-HahnBamboo
K7-2880-HahnGermEtch
Hahnemuhle Bamboo
Hahnemuhle German Etching
K7-2880-HahnMuseumEtch Hahnemuhle Musuem Etching
K7-2880-HahnNatArDuo Hahnemuhle Natural Art Duo
K7-2880-HahnPhotoRag Hahnemuhle Photo Rag
K7-2880-HanPhotoRagBrtW Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bright White
K7-2880-HanWhiteVelvet
K7-2880-HanWilliamTurner
Hahnemuhle White Velvet
Hahnemuhle WIlliam Turner
K7-2880-IlfordSmoothHWMatte
K7-2880-InnovaCPRTNW
Ilford Smooth Heavy Weight Matte
Innova Cold Press Rought Texture Natural White
K7-2880-InnovaFIbaPWM Innova Fiba Print White Matte
K7-2880-InnovaSCHW Innova Smooth Cotton High White
K7-2880-InnovaSTNW100 Innova Smooth Texture Natural White
K7-2880-JonConeStudioType1 JonCone Studio Type 1
K7-2880-JonConeStudioType2 JonCone Studio Type 2
K7-2880-JonConeStudioType3 JonCone Studio Type 3
K7-2880-MoabEntradaBrt Moab Entrada Bright White
K7-2880-MoabEntradaNat
K7-2880-MoabLasalPM
Moab Entrada Natural White
Moab Lasal Photo Matte

 

Additional Custom media curves are available here: InkjetMall custom K6 and K7 curves

Glossy Curves are available for download here: Piezography Glossy Curves Library

Copyright 2010 Cone Editions Press, Ltd.