Inkjet notecard printing help

I'm trying to help an artist friend of mine (amazing Southwest artist Ed Posa) print note cards with his Epson 4880 printer using Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte. We're getting less than satisfactory results with that paper stock on the 4880. For comparison purposes I brought one of his files home with me and, using the same paper stock, printed cards out with my Epson R1800. They look awesome! Can anyone here tell me why that might be? I haven't found a decent paper profile within the 4880's printer settings, so I'm guessing whatever I've tried isn't a good match. I suspect this paper is beneath the dignity of the 4880, and it's determined to point that out to me at every opportunity. Anybody here use a matte paper stock for inkjet cards on one of these mondo printers? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Todd, does the 4880 have a platen gap setting you can adjust in the menu?

or....

The Epson paper you have may be included a later driver that you can download...

For what it's worth, I've printed and sold a ton of note cards using the Avery Matte White half sheet card paper. I use my Epson R1900 and get tremendous results. They are pre-scored so it makes it easy to get a perfect fold each time. I sell em for $4.00 a card and can't make them fast enough. The heavier weight papers have the look and feel of a store bought card.

Check out Red River Papers. They have wonderful papers, and have made a series of profiles for both printers you have mentioned. A phone call to this company will answer your question and get you the paper you want.

You can find them via Google>

Jennifer

4880 standard profiles

Definitely reinstall the 4880 driver, see if the profile reappears.

From all indications, and especially based on that link (thanks Jesse!), the paper we used is not supported. Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte (formerly Enhanced Matte Paper) is available, as is Presentation Paper Matte (formerly Photo Quality Ink Jet Paper), but not Premium Presentation Paper Matte (formerly Matte Paper - Heavyweight). I guess the next step is to do a test with some Ultra Premium Lustre that I have on hand, and if that looks good, we'll know it's just a profile issue and move on to a paper listed as compatible with the printer. Thanks for the suggestions, gang.

Another item that I've noticed with my old R1800 versus my 3800 is that the R1800 did a much better job with red and orange tones (like cadmium red) due to its red ink cartridge. The 3800 is better overall, and especially in its ability to hold detail in dark areas, but the R1800 has distinct strengths.

Mel-

I have an Epson 1280 and I use Red River Paper. The card come folded and come in a variety of surfaces. I use glossy and they look great! Hope this helps.

Dan, do you use the suggested (by Red River) Epson profile, or do you download the specific profile from Red River?

I just use the Epson Profile. I just select the Photo quality inkjet paper and it prints great.