Epson Printer Advice?

[TonyH]

I have an Epson R310 colour printer hooked up to a Continuous Ink Supply System.

My prints are coming out very dark and the colours in the black spectrum have a decided green tinge to them.

This can be overcome by over brightening the file in photoshop prior to printing.

Obviously this is a hit and miss affair. I was wondering if anyone has any profiles or advice form my situation.


Cheers

Tony

[Matt. K]

Is this a new setup or have you had it working OK previously?

[TonyH]

Matt,

I've been using it for a while now.

[gstark]

Tony,

Has anything in your workflow been changed? Different brand of ink? New pc?

What about the ink lines from the CIS to the printer? Blockages?

[TonyH]

Hi Gary,

Nothing has changed, in actual fact I'm really quite low on the ink supply (100ml per chamber). The paper has been the same all the way through as well.

The fact is that I'll be shooting the local kindy santa shots for them as a donation / gift to the kids and I'm looking to reduce wastge to a minimum.

So far I've done test prints and adjusted brightness as has been necessary for each print (sometimes taking 3 prints before I'm happy). This is going to be a little difficult as I anticipate 200-300 prints will be necessary for this project so that will be really frustraing and wasteful if they are wrong or inconsistent.

Tony

[shakey]

Have you done a nozzle check?

If nothing in your workflow has changed and the prints look different then clogged nozzles may be the problem.

Oops ..a little bit of an edit..Gary has already put this up as a possibility.

Sorry about that chief!

[gstark]

Nothing has changed, in actual fact I'm really quite low on the ink supply (100ml per chamber).

Could that, perhaps, be the problem? Too much air pressure in the supply tanks?

Or perhaps something like oxidation of the inks?

Based on what's happenning, I'd try topping them up and seeing where it takes you.

Maybe also just try running a few ordinary documents through the printer as well, to get some extra ink flow established, but just using ordinary paper, rather than the expensive stuff.

As an additional thought, while you say you've not changed anything in your workflow, what new software have you installed? Perhaps something that's been installed (away from the workflow) has messed with your profile settings?

[TonyH]

The supplier of the ink has emailed me and has said;

"More importantly it sounds like you have Windows Service Pack 2 and printing using the Windows software. This is a fault with the way windows layers colours and is exactly the same with Genuine Epson cartridges and a fault known to them. Try printing the same picture using third party printing software such as abode or the Epson print software included with your printer. Again it is an Epson issue."

That doesn't make sense to me, does he have a point?

[big pix]

The supplier of the ink has emailed me and has said;

"More importantly it sounds like you have Windows Service Pack 2 and printing using the Windows software. This is a fault with the way windows layers colours and is exactly the same with Genuine Epson cartridges and a fault known to them. Try printing the same picture using third party printing software such as abode or the Epson print software included with your printer. Again it is an Epson issue."

That doesn't make sense to me, does he have a point?

in short ....... seems that you are printing with windows software drivers where you should be printing with the Epson USB drivers that come with your printer....... and it will make a big difference..........

[MATT]

What CIS system do you run????? I have the Sinopis one. I find I get much better results with 3rd part(Qimage) than with windows printing. I do however get horrible results from printing within Photoshop.

I am nearly in need of ink also, as I only run cheaper dye ink I am considering changing over to a pigment ink. Sinopis dont have any profiles for there inks/papers so it has been a bit hit and miss.


Cheers

MATT

[big pix]

What CIS system do you run????? I have the Sinopis one. I find I get much better results with 3rd part(Qimage) than with windows printing. I do however get horrible results from printing within Photoshop.

I am nearly in need of ink also, as I only run cheaper dye ink I am considering changing over to a pigment ink. Sinopis dont have any profiles for there inks/papers so it has been a bit hit and miss.


Cheers

MATT

if you use correct profiles for screen and printer stock you can get good results using a CIS system.......

[gstark]

That doesn't make sense to me, does he have a point?

Perhaps.

I found this which may be of some use. It sounds like it's related.

[MATT]

Sorry for the hijak

if you use correct profiles for screen and printer stock you can get good results using a CIS system.......

Yeah I would need to get it all profiled, may be worth it eventually. Or maybe tempted in getting a A3+ Epson r1800 or similar.

How would I go about getting everything profiled??


edit jsut saw this Thanks http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototip ... iling.html
Cheers

MATT

[big pix]

and more info here.......

http://www.inkjetart.com/forum/index.php


this site will give you the correct set up for PSCS2 Colour Management....

http://www.colourmanagement.co.nz/intro ... colour.php

[radar]

So far I've done test prints and adjusted brightness as has been necessary for each print (sometimes taking 3 prints before I'm happy). This is going to be a little difficult as I anticipate 200-300 prints will be necessary for this project so that will be really frustraing and wasteful if they are wrong or inconsistent.

Just thinking that at that number of prints, wouldn't you be better off getting them printed at a lab? Cost probably would be very close to doing it yourself not to mention the time you have to spend doing it.

From memory, there has been a few labs in Brisbane that came highly recommended, I'm sure a search of the forums would get them.

Cheers,

André

[TonyH]

I've now changed to CS2 print with preview and let photoshop control the colour. It is giving better results. I'm not over the moon but it is better.

Thanks for all of the info so far.

Cheers

Tony

[DiZZ]

I think you're on the right track. I had similar problems when I got my R350.

You need to:

1) Let Photoshop handle colour management (done)

2) Disable any print driver management\enhancements

3) Use the correct paper profiles.

To disable the print drver management, open your printer settings window and make sure you can see the Advanced options. From there, select ICM in the colour management area, then check the "Off" box below it.

Now, if your R310 is anything like my R350, the paper profiles aren't included on the driver CD .
You'll need to download them here, under "ICC Colour Profiles":
http://tech.epson.com.au/downloads/prod ... form=winxp

Make sure the paper profile matches the paper you're printing with.

Try that and let me know how you go

[DiZZ]

Whoops.

I left out an important step.

Assuming you're using Windows XP, you need to manually install the paper profiles before they'll actually do anything.

Go to this folder on your computer:

C:\Windows\system32\spool\drivers\color

Cut and paste your profiles here.

They should now appear in the Printer Profile pull-down menu in Photoshop.

[TonyH]

Thanks Dizz, still waiting on the printer profiles from the supplier, I don't hold much hope as I bought from Ebay...


Tony