Epson printer options lost after upgrading drivers because of Mac Operating system

So you're seeing some paper types and not others? That seems a problem with the printer, printer drivers, or with the printer configuration.

There are lots of folks using macOS Big Sur and Monterey with lots of printers with lots of different paper types, too. There'd be lots of posts around here referencing paper-selecting issues too, if that wasn't working.

From one of the local printers from a Mac running Big Sur, and this obviously not a photo printer, but with lots of printer-specific formats available....

Here are links to the full printing reset mentioned earlier:

Remove a printer from your printer list when you don’t use it on Mac - Apple Support

Reset the printing system on your Mac to solve a problem - Apple Support

Add a printer to your printer list so you can use it on Mac - Apple Support

Remove the printer, reset everything, and re-add the printer.

As a different path to the printer from what you're probably using, here is how to connect via AirPrint:

Print wirelessly from your Mac to your printer - Apple Support

Whether or not Epson supports this printer, the docs they have posted for this printer do not show recent versions of macOS.

Are you saying it no longer shows the standard Epson paper types in the Print dialog under Print Settings > Media Type?

Also, responding to your comment : "I upgraded the drivers on my own, assuming that having the more current

drivers (just released yesterday) would lead to an improvement in the printing experience."

It is rarely the case that these printer/scanner updates provide any meaningful improvements in functionality or experience; they are almost always bug fixes or compatibility fixes for new versions of the operating system.

My suggestion is for you to remove the printer & reset the printing system as described by MrHoffman, then uninstall the Epson drivers; empty the Trash; reboot; and then reinstall the printer from scratch. The Uninstaller is available on the Epson support page for the XP-970; under Downloads, select your version of macOS, click GO, then on the resulting drivers/utilities page look under Utilities.

FYI the Epson XP-970 Support page has drivers for all releases of OS X/macOS from 10.5 (Leopard) to 11.x (BigSur) and 12.x (Monterey). https://epson.com/Support/Printers/All-In-Ones/XP-Series/Epson-XP-970/s/SPT_C11CH45201

MartinR wrote:

FYI the Epson XP-970 Support page has drivers for all releases of OS X/macOS from 10.5 (Leopard) to 11.x (BigSur) and 12.x (Monterey). https://epson.com/Support/Printers/All-In-Ones/XP-Series/Epson-XP-970/s/SPT_C11CH45201

Hence:

Given the list of macOS versions shown in the web manual platform requirements, it is not entirely clear that Epson still supports this printer. They do seem to have drivers though, so inconsistencies do exist in the Epson docs.

AirPrint and IPP/IPPS provide drivers sourced directly from within the printer firmware, and are intended to avoid some of this driver mess.

Some vendors have had website messes (to the extent that with some major vendors, it’s actually unclear which is a vendor website and which is not), and have had driver messes, and have had comparatively early printer retirements, which doesn’t help anyone hat has purchased from those vendors—put slightly differently, some vendors seem to consider their printers as being quickly if not near immediately disposable.

Some background on choosing a (new) printer: Which Printer Should I Buy? - Apple Community

I appreciate how frustrating this is for you. I can no longer choose the type of paper, print quality or select any form of double-sided printing on my Epson WF-7720. The EPSON printer menu has been reduced to the bare minimum- basically number of prints, B&W or colour. Tried updating the drivers and no difference. Guess I will have to follow the advice you have received and uninstall everything. Pity the amount of time and inconvenience this causes is never recognised by the developers.

Could you explain in a little more detail the now-missing features? Did some of the paper types disappear, and others did not, for instance? Are there some paper feed options, and not others?

Either those features disappeared everywhere across all printers and all printer vendors with Big Sur and Monterey, or maybe you’ve (also) switched printing paths and those with different printer features available on different paths, or maybe there’s some other explanation here.

This printer does support AirPrint, which has whatever options available that the printer vendor offers via that path—AirPrint uses drivers directly from the printer itself, not separately installed. Did you possibly your switch printing paths to AirPrint?

What has already been tried here? Did Epson have you remove their drivers, reset the Mac printing system, and reload the drivers?

Given the list of macOS versions shown in the web manual platform requirements, it is not entirely clear that Epson still supports this printer. They do seem to have drivers though, so inconsistencies do exist in the Epson docs.