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Recently I've bought an Epson SC800 to make some prints of my photography. The first few prints were (semi)glossy and turned out extremely well. Now I've also bought some Epson Hot Press Bright fineart paper and just printed my first photo on it.

From afar it looks like it went fine but close up I see some wheel tracks/smudges over the entire print (in two places). I'm not sure what could have caused this since I'm new at printing, I'm sure it printed on the correct side and all my print settings in Photoshop had the "Hot Press Bright" paper selected as it's profile and print media.

Here are my print settings and a photo of the issue, I hope someone can point out to me what I did wrong or what the issue could have been.

The issue, notice the "wheel track" going through the print

Photoshop print settings

Epson print settings

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about printer design & operation, not photography. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 19:33
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    \$\begingroup\$ Printing a photo is part of the process of producing a photo that can be viewed by others. It's just as on topic as asking about dust in front of the sensor. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael C
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 19:37

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I agree with you that the marks appear to be from the transport mechanism in the printer.

Hot press board (vs cold-press board) is so named due to the manufacturing process of the paper. Hot press board is quite smooth and flat due to extra calendar rollers being used under heat and pressure by the Fourdrinier (paper making) machine. (I'm showing off that I know the name and I can pronounce it too.)

This makes the paper surface less absorbent than a rougher surface would be. The ink will take longer to set and dry which leaves the surface more susceptible to friction damage.

What is the relative humidity of the room and how long has the paper been able to acclimatize to the room conditions? If the room relative humidity is too high, the drying time will be longer. Lowering the room humidity can help to speed the drying time of the ink to minimize the possibility of the problem recurring.

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