How can I preview the exact color on the monitor before printing?

[Clever.Joey]

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a common issue and has a very obvious soliution
but I am pretty new to printing photographs...


I saved an image in my photo editor (Ulead Photoimpact) as 'true' black
and white, but when I printed it on my Epson Stylus RX620 the image was
not totally grayscale - there is a
slight purplish tint of it. This printer is brand new, ink supplies
full, and color pictures seem to be ok.


Do I have to find an Epson color profile file or something? Because
Photoimpact allows you to choose 'proofing' printer profiles and stuff
(again, I am quite clueless) Basically, what do I have to do so that I
can preview the actual color on the monitor before printing?


Thanks in advance,


Jo

 

[Jim]

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a common issue and has a very obvious soliution
but I am pretty new to printing photographs...


I saved an image in my photo editor (Ulead Photoimpact) as 'true' black
and white, but when I printed it on my Epson Stylus RX620 the image was
not totally grayscale - there is a
slight purplish tint of it. This printer is brand new, ink supplies
full, and color pictures seem to be ok.


Do I have to find an Epson color profile file or something? Because
Photoimpact allows you to choose 'proofing' printer profiles and stuff
(again, I am quite clueless) Basically, what do I have to do so that I
can preview the actual color on the monitor before printing?


Thanks in advance,


Jo

You should disable use of the color inks in the print driver. Left to
themselves, CMY inks will never get black consistently correct.

This is just a starting point.

Most of the time, the blacks look more like murking brown.
Jim

 

[Clever.Joey]

Believe me, I've tried that by now. Since posting this I have tried 4
different things, one of which included the using 'grayscale' printing
option within the printer properties which disables the other color
cartridges from being accessed at all. I've also tried saving the
image as grayscale, turning off color management in my photo editor,
and even printing directly from Windows Explorer to bypass the photo
editor in case it was the culprit - but all the images are exactly the
same dark purple color.
This leaves me to wonder: is it the black ink itself which is of a
purple tint?? This doesn't seem to make sense though because I've
researched this online and so many people have this 'magenta' problem
when printing grayscale, not only with Epson printers.

I'm truly baffled!

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a common issue and has a very obvious soliution
but I am pretty new to printing photographs...


I saved an image in my photo editor (Ulead Photoimpact) as 'true' black
and white, but when I printed it on my Epson Stylus RX620 the image was
not totally grayscale - there is a
slight purplish tint of it. This printer is brand new, ink supplies
full, and color pictures seem to be ok.


Do I have to find an Epson color profile file or something? Because
Photoimpact allows you to choose 'proofing' printer profiles and stuff
(again, I am quite clueless) Basically, what do I have to do so that I
can preview the actual color on the monitor before printing?


Thanks in advance,


Jo

I believe this is something that can't entirely be gotten rid of. Most
inkjets, and even some lasers, have severe issues with 'greyscale'
colors. While the printer will use the black cartridge for solid
blacks, 'grey' is usually a mixture of the black and color tanks. My
HP 1100D has two options for "Greyscale", 'High Print Quality' and
'Use black cartridge only'. Using only the black cartridge produces a
stippled dot effect like old dot matrix printers used to use for
'grey'. With the color tanks, grey comes out with a blue tint. I tried
grey on a commercial laser copier, the Xerox DocuColor 12, printing
from Illustrator, and grey came out as light blue, and not grey at
all.

My Epson R340 seems to print 'grey' a /lot/ better than the HP, but
with that reddish tint at times. It's barely enough to be noticeable,
and I'm satisfied with the results - you'd really need to look hard to
see it. I think the inability to print a true grey is simply an issue
with printing technology as a whole, and some printers do it better
than others.

High end Epsons have two grey ink tanks. Most HP photo printers that
work with the 96/97 tanks can also take the 100/101 series of
cartridges, which have two types of grey ink, in place of the
tri-color photo tank. They specifically note in the documentation for
the printers that this is the only way to get true greys with inkjet
technology.

If you think this is bad, think back to the days when printers only
took one cartridge. You'd either have only black, or CMY, with black =
muddy green/brown from the attempt to mix the three colors.

---

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.

 

[Joey]

Well I found a sort of workaround - which I'm not totally satisfied with.

Researching this problem I read a lot of advice from forums telling people
that this problem happens when your printer uses one color profile and your
photo editor uses another- that one should be turned off. Since I prefer to
see what I print on screen before I print it, I opted to turn off the Epson
color management (Epson - set to use ICM > (Off) No Color Adjustment) and
set up my color management in my photo editor to use the monitor profile
both for 'monitor' and 'printing'. When I tried this the first time, the
prints were less magenta (although they had a slight hint of brown, but I
find this easier to live with) but they turned out really dark.
This took me to the final adjustment - I had to reduce the photo editor's
gamma to make the images within its workspace as dark as my prints (so that
I could accurately predict what my prints would be like when lookng at the
photos within my photo editor).

This is an acceptable compromise for printing, but it means that I have to
discard this setting if I want to email photos or post them to the web,
because the default photo-editor gamma seems to display my images properly -
ie, whatever they look like in the photo editor, they look the same on other
people's computers.

I am quite concerned about what you say about this general grayscale
printing problem because the majority of my pictures will actually be
grayscale - I bought this printer mainly to print old restored photographs.

Stupidly I haven't researched my printer enough, but for the money I paid
for it I would expect that there should be an option to use black-only
cartridges.. maybe I'm wrong?? The Epson Stylus RX620 is advertised as a
'digtal darkroom', which can also process film negatives - it's pretty
shocking if there is an unacceptable black and white printing quality. If
the problems continue I will definitely ask for my money back.


Joey

 

[Stuart]

This took me to the final adjustment - I had to reduce the photo
editor's gamma to make the images within its workspace as dark as my
prints (so that I could accurately predict what my prints would be like
when lookng at the photos within my photo editor).

Monitors vary hugely in how they display things. It depends what type,
CRT, TFT, etc, their age and how they are set up. Many have settings for
contrast, brightness and colour which will dramatically affect what you
see; never mind how the internal adjustments were set up in the factory.

I used to have a copy of "Photoshop for photographers" (recommend you get
a copy if you can) which spent about the first half of the book explaining
colour matching and calibrating in relation to monitors, printers and
professional imagesetters.

The paper used makes a huge difference. It is worth experimenting with
different brands and qualities to see which gives you the best result.
Also make sure you always use the same source for your ink. Print drivers
supplied with a printer will assume you use the printer manufactures own
ink. Other inks may have slight shade differences.

This is an acceptable compromise for printing, but it means that I have
to discard this setting if I want to email photos or post them to the
web, because the default photo-editor gamma seems to display my images
properly - ie, whatever they look like in the photo editor, they look
the same on other people's computers.

Unlikely unless they have the same monitor as you and it is set up exactly
the same and is the same age.

I am quite concerned about what you say about this general grayscale
printing problem because the majority of my pictures will actually be
grayscale - I bought this printer mainly to print old restored
photographs.

A black cartridge can only print black or nothing. A greyscale is produced
by varying the number of dots or, in some cases, the size of the dots. By
using the colour cartridges, especially the photo ones, you can actually
put down something resembling grey ink. This can give a smoother greyscale
and higher apparant resolution.

--
Stuart Winsor

From is valid but subject to change without notice if it gets spammed.

For Barn dances and folk evenings in the Coventry and Warwickshire area
See: http://www.barndance.org.uk

 

[Safetymom123]

If you are managing color within a program you want to turn off color
management in the printer driver.

You would have to do this every time you go to print photos.

Have you calibrated your monitor to see color correctly? Nine times out of
10 if your photo doesn't match what you see on the screen it is because you
aren't seeing it correctly.

You didn't mention what printer you are using but most Epsons will give a
better print if you use color to print black and white. The Epson 2400 has
more black inks to give a better black and white images. It also has an
advanced black and white control panel.

 

[Tesco News]

Believe me, I've tried that by now. Since posting this I have tried 4
different things, one of which included the using 'grayscale' printing
option within the printer properties which disables the other color
cartridges from being accessed at all. I've also tried saving the
image as grayscale, turning off color management in my photo editor,
and even printing directly from Windows Explorer to bypass the photo
editor in case it was the culprit - but all the images are exactly the
same dark purple color.
This leaves me to wonder: is it the black ink itself which is of a
purple tint?? This doesn't seem to make sense though because I've
researched this online and so many people have this 'magenta' problem
when printing grayscale, not only with Epson printers.

I'm truly baffled!

Hi.

Someone mentioned turning off Colour Management in the Printer or the Photo
Program.

That is the correct procedure. Failing to do so causes double profiling,
and it is equally a fault even when both are using the same Profile.

That poster set up his system to use the Monitor Profile for both the
Monitor and the Printer. That is also incorrect.

The Program should be set to use the Monitor Profile for the Monitor, and
the Printer Profile for the Printer. Any other way of doing it is less than
logical.

I do not know Ulead Photoimpact, but if it has a "Soft Proof" then all you
do is select the same Printer Profile there as you are about to use in the
Print dialogue.

The program should then use that Profile to modify the "On Screen" Image, so
that it becomes much closer to what the Printer will produce.

By the way, on Win XP all Profiles should be in the same Folder ---- C: /
windows / system 32 / Spool / Drivers / Colour.

If the RX 620 is retaining its Printer Profiles somewhere in its Drivers,
they should be found and copied to the Windows Colour folder.

It may be of no help whatsoever, but the very best Monochrome images I have
ever seen were produced on an Epson R1800 which is the bigger version of the
R800.

Roy G

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I am quite concerned about what you say about this general grayscale
printing problem because the majority of my pictures will actually be
grayscale - I bought this printer mainly to print old restored photographs.

Stupidly I haven't researched my printer enough, but for the money I paid
for it I would expect that there should be an option to use black-only
cartridges.. maybe I'm wrong?? The Epson Stylus RX620 is advertised as a
'digtal darkroom', which can also process film negatives - it's pretty
shocking if there is an unacceptable black and white printing quality. If
the problems continue I will definitely ask for my money back.


Joey

If I were you I would look into a printer that uses grey ink.
Depending on what you want to spend, this could mean either a $100-300
HP that takes the 100/101 Grey tanks, or a very expensive Epson (2200,
I think) . There are also aftermarket grey ink sets for the lower end
Epsons, such as the R200/220, that have the capability to do a wide
range of greyscale printing. They require special color profiles to
work properly. You may want to look into something like this.

---

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.

 

[Burt]

MIS has black/gray inksets for the low end Epsons. You can select warm or
cold tone sets. They also provide profiles for these sets. You would need
to have a dedicated printer for black and white prints to have this work
efficiently.

 

[WM]

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a common issue and has a very obvious soliution
but I am pretty new to printing photographs...


I saved an image in my photo editor (Ulead Photoimpact) as 'true' black
and white, but when I printed it on my Epson Stylus RX620 the image was
not totally grayscale - there is a
slight purplish tint of it. This printer is brand new, ink supplies
full, and color pictures seem to be ok.

As to the purple.

I've been refilling for ages and when I finish refilling a black
cartridtge, I squirt the remaining ink in the sink of water and it
comes out purple. Don't know why or really care, but it matches
what you say.