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Beyond the Basics: Solving ET-8550 Black & White Printing Issues

Keith Cooper

6,247 views

Is your Epson ET-8550 crushing shadow detail in Black & White prints? In this deep-dive walkthrough, I move beyond basic settings to show you how to achieve professional-grade monochrome results. The technique also applies to optimising prints made with the Epson ABW B&W print mode.

Achieving truly professional black and white prints on the Epson ET-8550 [and et-8500] requires more than just standard settings. In this technical deep dive, Keith Cooper explores how to maximise B&W performance using custom ICC printer profiles and precise Photoshop adjustments. Getting the best from Keith's highest quality ICC profiles.

Using detailed test images and spectrophotometer data, we look at the 'why' and 'how' behind neutral monochrome printing. Keith shares his findings on shadow compression (crunching), the impact of optical brighteners (OBA), and how to use custom Photoshop curves/levels to 'uncrunch' your blacks for ultimate detail.

What’s covered in this session:
The benefits of using 16-bit images for precision curve adjustments.
How to identify and fix 'crunched' shadow detail in your prints.
Technical analysis of Dmax, linearity, and the impact of the VFA (Velvet Fine Art) media setting.
Why ICC profiles can be the key to professional neutrality on the ET-8550.
How Epson Archival Matte paper can give excellent B&W prints

Making the best black and white prints on the Epson ET-8550. How profiles differ and optimising your images for the best B&W prints.Tested using Epson archival matte paper and high quality ICC Profiles. Fine tuning your B&W print setup for linearity and neutrality, with a special test image

Resources:
Get my custom ICC profiles for the ET-8550:
https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/k...
Black and white test image
https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/t...

My full Epson ET-8550 Review:
https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
Includes all my 8550 videos.

00:00 Introduction: Making Great B&W Prints on the ET-8550
02:12 Printing Setup: Epson Print Layout vs. Photoshop
04:20 Analysing Gamut Volume and Profile Versions
07:50 Why Use the Velvet Fine Art (VFA) Media Setting?
09:30 Measuring Results: Optical Brighteners and UV Data
11:45 The Dmax Trap: Why the Numbers Don't Tell the Whole Story
13:30 Technical Graphs: Analysing Linearity and Tint Drift
17:15 Identifying Shadow Compression (Shadow Crunching)
19:10 Using the B&W Test Image to Diagnose Your Printing
22:00 The Fix: Applying Photoshop Curves and Levels Adjustments
27:02 Real-Life Testing: The tree photo - darkness and print size
27:44 How my curve changes the image before printing
29:25 Contrast Challenges: Printing Industrial and Low-Key Scenes
31:25 How much adjustment should you do - an example
33:45 Final Verdict: Is it Worth the Technical Effort?

#epsonprinter #et8550 #epsonecotank #iccprofile #monochrome

For a full categorised index of all my videos, see:
https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/k...
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"Buy me a coffee" https://ko-fi.com/keithcooper
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Any help with running this channel is gratefully received.
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B&H Photo: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/?BI=2008...
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18 Comments

@KeithCooper Creator 6 months ago (edited) Pinned

This technique can also be applied to optimising the ABW [B&W] print option for Epson printers. Get my custom ICC profiles for the ET-8550: https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/keith-cooper-printer-profiles/ Black and white test image https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/test-image-for-black-and-white-printing/
My full Epson ET-8550 Review: https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-8550-printer-review/
Includes all my 8550 videos.

@paologramigna 3 weeks ago

Thanks, Keith. I bought the ET-8550 after looking at your review. When I installed my ET-8550 on my Mac running OS Tahoe 26.6.2, it installed AirPrint by default. I found that Epson Print Layout wasn't working, so I uninstalled and reinstalled it via the IP connection, and this time I got the correct driver, 13.50. I am bringing this to your attention.

@diyenthusiastebe8745 5 months ago

Very, very interesting ! Thanks for your effort, Keith!

@photonsonpixels 5 months ago

What a fantastic tutorial, Keith! Thank you so much for making it. I shall be experimenting with the EpsonArchivalMatte paper using your profiles, which I got late last year (Thank you again). And, by the way, I really like your photo with the big clouds, I think it is brilliant!

@SnelIT 6 months ago

Thank you Keith. This is immensely interesting for me. Going to buy Archival Matte for myself, B&W being my preferred mode

@lesladbrook4508 5 months ago

Very interesting thank you Keith 🙂

@whafrog 5 months ago

Wrt to printing from Lightroom, from what I have learned (only today!) is I can create a "soft proof" with the relevant profile, which can then be edited with whatever tools Lightroom has (basics, curves, etc). When in the Develop module, hit "S" to toggle the soft proof. Select your ICC profile and "Create Proof Copy". The image should then appear "approximately" as it would appear on that paper (it's fairly close imho). Then edit as desired. These edits are kept separate from your original edits of the RAW file, which is nice. You can then export normally from your proof copy, which I've set up to load into Epson Print Layout. You can make as many proof copies from your original as you like, each with their own edits.
Hope that's useful to anyone...

@theshortlist 5 months ago

After years of trouble with the Epson Driver, I've just bought the Mirage APP... expensive but a game changer for me !

@chromagraphphotoart 5 months ago

50 sheets of A4 archival matte arrive tomorrow. Time to start printing!

@jimwhite1760 5 months ago

I print BW almost exclusively on my ET-8550. Mostly matte but also luster and for small prints glossy. For each of the paper types I select either VFA or luster or glossy for Print Media. Mode is always set to ABW. My prints - A3+, A4 or 5x7 - look fabulous. Color images use paper specific ICCs.

@ericTrouve-wl3my 5 months ago

hi Keith, very good video so useful. A question, if I use the ICC profile of mat archival paper, provided by Epson, would that make a big difference compared to your profile ? Thanks so much.

@fotticelli 5 months ago

The subject of maximum dmax in printing is like the sharpest sharp in lenses, it doesn't always matter. The prints the tree on A4 is a good example that there are other factors which are more important than technical specs of the paper. Some pictures look good when printed washed out with gray shadows and gray highlights, some depend on the nuances of the details and then even the viewing conditions of the final print can ruin the impact. That's what I'm struggling with right now. I have prints that look just as good in window light and artificial lighting and some that look good only when it's sunny outside and only between noon and 3 pm.

@andrewskillful 5 months ago

A small conundrum is that black and white looks best on semi-gloss (highest contrast), but when used with the Et 8550, you cannot use the best black and white setting that is VFA because it smudges. I have opted for the latter. But I suppose I should try the former as well and then compare? Or do you know that one is almost always better (as defined as higher-contrast ) than the other?

@G.McCurdy-r2m 5 months ago

Keith, I'd like to see an update to your process of profiling for B&W as some of the software is no longer available per x-rite. Some do not work on Windows 11 either and the screen can be really small in 4K with old software. Even the i1 Photo hand-held spectrometer has been abolished in the version i1 Photo 2 for the newer version 3 in their software (and their promise to abandon and lock out the old version i1 Photo 2 in the upcoming update to i1Proofiler. The Calibrite software removed the ability to spot-read a color with the Colormunki Photo or their own Design Studio spectrometer copy of fit even after paying $75 to use it on the newer software. Then the issue of where the files go since Microsoft assigned different storage names on their versions. QTR seems deficient in some of its operations too since its introduction. And Argyll is another mess when it takes over the computer's USB ports while killing off other's software that uses it. It's a mess to dig through, imho, since much of what is out there is 5-15 years old or older.

@videokreatorji 6 months ago

Dear Sir.
When printing on my Epson EcoTank 8550 in black-and-white mode, magenta stains appear within the image as well as along the edges, even though they are not part of the original file. The printer is completely new.
However, when I used the Advanced B&W Photo setting in Epson Print Layout, the stains disappeared.
Do you have any idea what might be causing this issue? I used Ilford Studio Matte paper.
Kind regards,
Rudi

@BreinGames 5 months ago

Have you ever had issues with the 8550 feeding slightly unaligned? I print things with registration marks at the corners/edges, for use in other programs/systems. Similar to your measurements you mentioned at the beginning. What would cause this misalignment? I load from the rear upright feeder.

@dng88 1 month ago

19:30 is a bit confusing. Yes cannot read your name both on screen and printout using epson print layout. As there is nothing to adjust in the software (epl) and it is all just your image, what is wrong with (I use both n0 and just vfa_hq).

Should I use photoshop to change your photo. But is that defeat the point of being a standardised test image?

Btw I find out reverse the Matte under n0 showed not much difference. But the hq icc the front and backend of the matte paper is quite a difference.