Color reversal with an Epson 2200?

[Robert]

I have an Epson 2200 that changes magenta to pale lime green on some images.
Before you ask, yes the ink refills are in the right places and the magenta
one is not filled with green (nor cyan) ink. Is there some magic start-up
button combination that will reset the printer back to defaults?
rtm

 

[Chuck]

Details, details?
Application?
Is a color compensation scheme in effect?
Are the pictures in the srgb gamut?
Have you tried updating the printer drivers?
Are you using the default printer settings?
Can you describe any differences between the pictures that print correctly
vs. those that don't?

Do you have any "reference standard" image files?
Such as those at http://www.inkjetart.com/custom/
or http://home.att.net/~arwomack01/images/CMYKRGB-TEST-GRADIENT.jpg
How well do these print?
It is quite common to have the printed test gradient file be saturated for
the last few most intense color blocks, assuming default settings and
"normal" paper.

 

[CWatters]

I have an Epson 2200 that changes magenta to pale lime green on some images.
Before you ask, yes the ink refills are in the right places and the magenta
one is not filled with green (nor cyan) ink. Is there some magic start-up
button combination that will reset the printer back to defaults?

I suspect the color you are trying to print needs a mix of cyan, yellow and
magenta. If the magenta is partly blocked then you get green. It's
surprising but what looks like a pure colour frequently needs small amounts
of the others to get the required result.

Run the nozzle check several times and check to see if the magenta is
missing?

 

[Shooter]

Need more detail, What are the nozzle checks like, are there any missing
nozzles in the test, on the 2200/2100 there should be seven colours in the
nozzle test. From what you say, I would suggest there are some nozzles
misfiring.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I agree with you, most people don't realize the complexity of color
mixes create a color. Those CMYK and CcMmYK printers have a pretty tiny
pallet to start with, from which they need to make thousands of color.

Many people pull their hair out trying to find the cause of banding in
middle density colors, wondering why it only occurs there while all the
other colors seem have no, or very limited banding, for instance.

Quite often this problem is the black head. Many mid-density colors use
black to grey and deepen them, and if that black is not being
distributed evenly, subtle banding occurs. Printers using a lighter
black (gray) often find it even harder to diagnose.

Art