I use darktable under Linux. It has a printing module very similar to Lightroom, but the prints don't look any good.
I tried using the Turboprint trial, it's great, results just like Windows printing, but the licence is quite expensive. Currently, I export from Ubuntu as jpgs, boot up windows and print from LR. No problem, it works fine. But I'd like to be able to get good results straight from darktable.
The existence of a good print module in dt implies it is meant to be possible, but the prints produced have weird tones and colours. I've tried reading up on Linux printing and it wasn't encouraging. Anyone managing to get high quality prints straight out of Linux?
Yes, it is "expensive", but I use Turboprint. They offer good support for the variou sprinters I have owned, for as long as I remember using Linux and printers. I don't mind paying for Linux software, I even donate to Mageia. I just won't spend money on Windows.
The price I was quoted was more than I paid for perpetual licence LR and a copy of Windows combined.
I get that it solves a problem, but it is only one very narrow problem, not quite the scope of a whole operating system and a major raw editor product. It's also a problem you wouldn't expect to exist. Printing is hardly new and innovative tech as far as operating systems are concerned. An expensive proprietary product solving a minor issue, is not really in the spirit of the open source world. I'd pay £50 to fix printing, not 5x that. And rapidly scaling up the price in line with the print size smells of taking advantage. Very entrepreneurial I'm sure. It's a good product, works well, but too expensive for what it does. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the option exists for those who want it, but not for me when I can print for free merely by booting into windows.
I'm looking for advice on getting the native Linux printing system working properly for quality photo printing (with profiles and a range of papers). What I'm not sure about is whether that is all about learning how to do a geeky Linux set up process, or whether there is some kind of technical road block in Linux that makes it simply not possible. I'm told the printing subsystem is the same as Apple's, which if true, sounds like it should be capable of working properly.
It's not an urgent problem for me, my current method is fine. It's more a "neatness, elegance and tidying up" of my workflow thing.
Oh dear. I'm guessing this is the SC-P900. Sadly it looks like Epson stopped producing linux drivers around the SC-600.
Based on www.zedonet.com/en_shop_turboprint.phtml it doesn't seem hugely expensive.
Apple and Linux (and ChromeOS) base their printing around CUPS.
Looking at printer-driver-escpr I can see the SC-800 and when that is installed there are a lot of print options in terms of colour, output control etc.
This would seem to suggest that the SC-900 may not be too far behind but that's really all one can say.
I can print from my P900 just fine, that's not the problem. It's ok for text. But the tones and colours are all wrong. In fact my previous printers were just the same through Linux. Turboprint is a good product, but I'm not paying £275 for a basic printer driver!
Usually, one would expect the hardware manufacturer to produce drivers for their hardware. They will do so if it is viable to them. Maybe I am not looking at the right location, but from the Turboprint online shop, I see EUR 49.95 for the basic licence. To me, This is not too much if I get to keep my old printer.
And it is not too much to stay "MS Free".
