So, after many thousands of prints, my Epson 2200 gave out last fall.  Have had the Epson 3000 now for about 3 months and there is a lot about it that I love.  I could write a long list of the good, the bad and the ugly of it if anyone cares, but right now, I need a little advice.  What I have noticed is that with my QU settings that I have been using, the prints from the new printer are generally over sharpened.  What I want to do is experiment now, and would just like a little advice maybe on some starting points.  For some reason, the problem seems worse with jpegs than for raw, where I am more likely to let the auto settings go unaltered.

Mel - Columbia, Md.

Thanks Fred - I think I am OK on all of those - those settings the same as I used on the 2200 - and I can't see why the results would not be the same.  So now I am fooling with the USM settings.

Fred -

Well you zoned in right on the issue - it is matte printing.  I almost never printed glossy or luster with the 2200 for reasons you state - just did not like the results.  Even with the 3000, I don't like the real glossy papers, but love the results I get on Luster or any of the F type gloss papers. 

Anyway, for the matte papers - and my normal paper is the Moab Entrada double sided - I always printed with the default smart sharpening at 5 - and have let that setting alone with the 3000.  Maybe I shhould try cranking it down to 4 or 3?  I got some improvement by reducing my normal USM settings which were mild anyway.

I also think what I need to do next is a side by side of the same print, with same settings.  This may not be that easy since I can no longer print on the 2200, and I can't be absolutely sure what settings were used in some of the prints I have - but I think I may have enough "controlled examples" - after I do that - probably over this weekend - I'll see what other suggestions you may have.

Thanks Again

OK Fred - I finally got back to this issue.  Smart sharpen is not the problem.  The short answer appears to be - Mel is an idiot.  The longer answer is I realized I really was not having a problem with raw, only with some jpegs.  Appears to go back to some saved USM settings that I have been using forever on jpegs only - specifically, settings that go back to when the slider was there only as a sharpness equalizer (I use it now mainly on portraits to sharpen everything except skin tone) and even before there was a slider.  I'm still not sure how these translate into what's happening.  What I do know is that if I forget about reusing settings from 3 or 4 years ago, and take any picture through an appropriate workflow, I can get the result I want.  I also need to get used to this printer.  My sense is that on matter papers, the 3000 may be very slightly inferior to the 2200.  But now for the first time in years, I am creating luster and type F glossy prints that are super. I'll update once I have run a few more comparisons; thanks much for the help; your mention of the slider was the tip-off I needed.