#ESC & Studio II Pro
14 messages in this thread
Just got my Epson Stylus Color Printer, after having bought Studio II Pro. It
and Studio are working great! Studio is a really nice piece of software.
I have noticed that the Windows ESC software provided by Epson offers a
calibrate program. Evidently, this prints a test pattern on the printer, and
the user tells the software which vertical lines are didn't match up and the
software makes some kind of adjustment. This process seems to be for obtaining
the best quality from bi-directional printing.
Does this software merely make an adjustment in the printer driver output, or
does it actually send data to the printer telling it how to adjust itself for
best alignment and calibration? (The accompanying manuals say that "all
printers are calibrated at the factory, but shipping may cause them to lose
calibration." This sounds to me like something is written to the printer ROMS
to describe the needed adjustments.)
Is this calibration process needed on the Amiga?
Second, as an enhancement request, how about a font downloader for ESC? IE, I
would like to download CG or PostScript fonts in various sizes to the ESC
printer.
Thanks for a fine product!
Joe,
The is a preferences driver for the Epson Color which is sold
commercially. It has a calibration program that does the same thing as the IBM
side. I did have to adjust mine a little according to the calibration program.
The program is sold under the cryptic name of Epson Sytlus Color printer
driver. Go figure.
Dege
Pop quiz: Two biggest crooks in modern history? (o\_/o)
Answer: Gould & Ali {-I-}
I can only backup Jeff's message. Yes, I will definitly look into writing a
similar tool for the Studio II package. Any yes, the tool does adjust the
printer itself as the gfx command used for 720dpi printing on the stylus is
single-line by single-line. The driver doesn't know when the printer actually
performs a print pass so it's not possible to use a vertical movement command.
However, from tests and reports from other users using the Windows driver, it
seems there are more problems with the Stylus and often the calibration tool
doesn't solve the stripe problem of the printer.
Now, I had some chats with Epson in the past. I can't say I'm impressed by
their performance supporting developers.
As Jeff noted, I finaly got away (just had 5 minutes for packing… uff) for an
urgent needed vacation. I didn't upload the Studio V2.07 update disk to CIS as
I had problems with CIS doing so. Maybe Jeff can upload the disk? It really
speeds up printing on the Stylus 2×3 times. Don't expect more major speed
increases as this is pretty fast now considering the tasks performed. Once I
got back, I'm planning to increase the Stylus Color support further (more
profiles and calibration tool). I also have to write a new driver for the new
HP Deskjet 850. This printer will require a totaly new driver for Studio in
order to make full use of the printer. People considering buying an Epson
Stylus should have a look at the new HP DJ850 too (do not look at the dpi
values – they are usualy not what you get).
Wolf-
I've got a quick question for you from a friend. He's got an HP550C, and right
now he's using some driver called SuperDJ or something and getting lousy color,
without much control over brightness or anything.
If he gets StudioII, will he get better performance from the printer, or is the
printer just a loser?
Mr. Zombie
As Wolf probably won't be back on for a week or so, I'll tell you that Studio
II will get the best out the 550C that it is possible to get. And that's a lot
more than your friend is currently getting. There's nothing wrong with the
550C, it just needs better software.
Jeff Walker.
While I'm asking, will StudioII give me any particular enhancements on an HP
LaserJet II? It doesn't handle color, postscript, or much of anything else,
but I've never seen a thorough review of Wolf's package, so I've been kind of
wondering what it can do for low end types like me.
Mr. Zombie
Yes, I use Studio with a LaserJet II emulation printer. It will give you better
greyscale printouts of graphics.
You've got Wordworth 3, yes? You got Digita Print Manager as well? (It comes
with it in the UK.) That is a version of Studio V1 (without the special picture
printing app) that works only with Wordworth.
Studio II will be even better, but it will work with everything, not just
Wordworth.
Jeff Walker.
Sure. You can adjust the colors of the driver and the printing program that
comes with Studio yourself in case they don't work for you. The Studio drivers
allow you to adjust the colors as you like. The default DJ adjustment is made
for normal paper (actually NeuSiedlers ColorCopy paper… recommended by many
printer manufacturers in Europe) and 300dpi printing. As the dithering is done
by the driver rather than the printer device, you are also able to control the
colors very precise.
But as you surely already noticed, changing the paper often results in major
color changes in the output of an ink jet printer.
The Color Management System of Studio was actually developed to solve the color
output problems that existed on the Amiga. Many profiles for the Dj are
included so you don't need to adjust the colors yourself in most cases. Just
select a proper profile. In case you have color scanner, you can print a
calibration page and than scan the page using a color scanner. The scanned
image is than read by the Studio calibration software and the system
automaticly adjust the color output to your used paper, print resolution and
dither method (Studio offers more than 54 dither methods). But this kind of
advanced system is only offered by the printing program that comes with the
Studio software. The drivers included use a different and more simple method
wich can also be fully controlled by the user. However, the adjustments are not
as easy to make as with the automated scanning calibration (next version of
Studio will actually come with the CMS also build into the drivers).
Before trashing you with the various options available, let me know exacty of
your problem and the kind of program you use for printing. Also, don't forget
to mention the kind of printing you do and the paper used. Next time I'm able
to find a telephone, I'll give you and answer (on vacation in Oz).
Hmm… reminds me… SuperDJ is just a bit older than Studio. They haven't done
much during the past 2-3 years. What are they doing now?
Tsk, oh all right, I'll upload it then. (Grumble moan all right for some jet
setting around the globe grumble moan.)
😉
Jeff Walker.
The PC/Mac calibration program adjusts the printer itself. You can run the PC
version on the Amiga with the shareware PC-Task program. Wolf will try to write
an simlar tool to go with Studio for the next update, which won't be for a
while as he is on holiday in Australia until the end of June.
You can reset the Stylus Color to its factory defaults by holding down the top
two buttons and the bottom two buttons while the printer is switched off, and
then (still holding down the buttons) switching the printer on.
Jeff Walker.
The calibration tool adjusts the printer. There is no known way to do alignment
by software when printing graphics. The way the calibration tool works is
unkown to me and not described in the confidential developer info I got from
Epson. So I'm a bit angry and once I'm back from vacation I will have a look at
their tool and reenginer (wich is allowed in Europe). So far, in some cases
adjusting the printer may help and you can actually do this on a PC and than
get back to the Amiga with the printer. no problem. You can also use the PC
Emulator PC Task on the Amiga and run the tool on the Amiga without getting a
PC. However, in most cases you shouldn't expect any improvement as Epson
already did the job. So, it mainly is up to your printer. There are also
problems reported with print head kludged on the Epson. So if stripes appear,
clean the head twice (my pritner always required 2 cleanings after printing 7
pages -grmbl…)
Download tool? Sorry, but there are no plans doing such a tool yet. I know how
to do such a tool and so far did such tools for the Canon BJ and CaPSL
printers. The job took 6-8 months and so far, these two Canon drivers are the
only drivers on the Amiga doing such a job right… But there is simply no time
for such a job available yet as other jobs are more important.
Ok, understand. Unfortunately, I don't have PcTask on my Amiga, and hooking up
an IBM to my ESC would imply transporting either printer to my office, or
office PC to home. Probably not worth it.
Well, just consider my enhancement request for a font downloader as a mark on
your undoubtedly very long wish list. It would be really nice if such a tool
would support PostScript fonts too…
Thanks!