One thing to note: The inks included are dye based inks, not pigments; dyes are more susceptible to fading compared to pigment inks, and this was a big sticking point for me. Should I spend extra money to get a printer with pigment inks? After much overthinking the answer is no:
If the prints fade I could just print them again. In addition, fading is caused by exposure to UV light; the prints are going to be displayed indoors, with minimal direct light so it won't be an issue. The cost for printers with pigment inks are pretty pricey, and the inks themselves are also more expensive. In addition, inkjet printers - supposedly - can have their ink lines dry up and jam if you don't use the printer much. This is me, I don't expect to use the printer that much once I'm done with my fursuit. I'd rather a cheaper printer get jammed up then an expensive one.
I also wanted to print sewing patterns, and pondered if this printer's A3 equivalent, the L18050 would be a better option. It seems like most sewing patterns come in A4/letter paper sizes, so having the A3 printer won't make it easier. It is also pretty big, and I don't have much space in my room.
Thus, the L8050 was chosen.
Thus far, this printer has been excellent; for printing patterns its fast and accurate. For photos the colours are great, and it can handle pretty thick media (interfacing fabric on paper). It can also print labels on CDs and id cards.
This page is about how I got optimal results with this printer using Affinity Photo 2.
First up, the choice of paper you use is very important. Originally I got some RC (Resin Coated) Satin paper and the print results were very warm - this is because the paper itself is pretty warm. I tried adjusting the image by making it cooler, and while the results were better, they were still "off".
Later, I got some Glossy Photo Paper (Quaff 250gsm Waterproof Glossy Photo Paper) and side by side with the RC Satin paper, it was distinctively bluer/cooler, aka whiter.
Print results with this paper was very good, and I was pretty satisfied. It was then that I tried enlarging the commissions I got - instead of printing on one sheet of A4 paper, I split them up so they printed on 3 sheets instead of one. When I did this however, I noted that each section of print had very different shadow densities.
The following image shows the mismatch in shadows across prints, followed my an image where the shadows match (using ICM + assigning a colour profile).
I tried several things but finally figured out how to get the prints to match:
What I usually do is open up a standard A4 sized page:
After which, I paste in the image I want to print. Say, this lovely piece by Una Pantera.
Next, I convert it to Epson sRGB colour space, using the Perceptual Rendering Intent and enabling Black point compensation.
I assume if you have the exact kind of Epson Paper, converting to that format would work better but since I'm using a generic photo paper, I'm just using Epson's sRGB.
The Rendering Intent as well as Blackpoint Compensation are topics that I am ill equipped to comment on; it is better if you looked it up to see which one would work best for you. In my (limited) tests, I couldn't tell the difference between Perceptual and Relative Colorimetric.
We are now ready for printing!!!
Next go to More Options Tab.
What I think was causing the differences in colours between prints is the Color Correction - it's set to Automatic. I assume this optimizes each print, and obviously doesn't take into account what has been printed and what is to be printed. As such, there is no guarantee an image printed across multiple print will have the same colours or brightness levels.
Set it to Custom, then press on the Advanced button.
By default, it's set to PhotoEnhance - set it to ICM.
That's the most important. Of course, you need to set the paper size, paper type and quality in the Main panel.
When you return to Affinity Photo's print dialogue, you'll note that on the Color Management tab, the rendering intend and colour profile should be set to what you've chosen earlier.
That's it! I got fabulous printed results that matched between panels and look amazing!
That said, if you use the Automatic Color Correction setting, I've got prints that are more contrasty and saturated - these could work if you're just printing individual pages. But I find using ICM with Epson sRGB/Perceptual gives me print results that are very close to what I get onscreen. Obviously, you cannot compare a medium that emits light (screen) versus a reflective medium (print) but thus far, I found the print results stellar.
One other thing to note: I did not use any colorimeters/spectrometers to calibrate my screen. My screen has a sRGB mode that reviews say are pretty accurate, and that's what I'm using. When I was dabbling with printing photos back in the day (like... 2010) a colorimeter was definitely required but it seems this screen's default sRGB calibration is on-point.
Finally, the monitor I use is an IPS display, which does not have deep blacks. This is a limitation of the technology - the blacks on my screen display more grey, so if you print images that are mostly dark (like the commission I got above) - the actual print will be much darker than what's on screen. I assume an oled monitor which is able to display proper blacks would be a better representation of such prints.
Anyways, that's me done with procrastinating by writing this article. I just love seeing all my commissions up on my wall :3