Strange prob with Epson 1290 under OSX

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

Hi all,

been using Epson Photo printers for many years. Started with a 1200,
then a 1270. Never any problem.

Usually printed from Photoshop, using Photoshop colour management and
the original Epson printer/media profiles with the colour management in
the printer driver switched off, as suggested e.g. on Ian Lyons' great
website.

Now, after replacing the 1270 by a 1290, the exact same settings produce
prints which are way too dark and without any detail in the darker
areas.

I first suspected a hardware problem, but letting the Epson driver do
the colour management produces correct prints - within the limits of
this technique, of course.

I'm at a complete loss on how to solve this. Re-installing of the
printer driver doesn't help, either.

Ralf

 

[Dave Balderstone]

I'm at a complete loss on how to solve this. Re-installing of the
printer driver doesn't help, either.

You need to create a custom profile of the printer. Do you have a
scanner? Look at Monaco EZ Color for profiling software. It's very easy
to use and produces good results. You (probably) need a profile for
each type of paper you use.

 

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

You need to create a custom profile of the printer.

The Epson profiles have worked perfectly well for years.

Ralf

 

[Dave Balderstone]

The Epson profiles have worked perfectly well for years.

But you said you just changed printers. That means new profile.

If you don't want to, that doesn't hurt my feelings, but you *were*
asking for advice...

I've recently invested some time creating profiles for our Canon i9900.
The difference in reproduction quality is significant, to the point
where I can now match (and therefore replace) the high res proofs
provided by our contract printer for our magazines. This will save me
an average of $400 per magazine, and we do approximately 20 a year.

djb

 

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

But you said you just changed printers. That means new profile.

Of course, when I changed the printer I installed the corresponding
Epson driver and the installer automatically added the correct Epson
media/printer profiles.

And yes, I've made sure to select the correct profile in Photoshop.

If you don't want to, that doesn't hurt my feelings, but you *were*
asking for advice...

I do beg your pardon?

I've recently invested some time creating profiles for our Canon i9900.

Sure, fine. I've had great results with the original Epson profiles, for
many years.

Still, I've bought ColorVison's PrintFix in order to get more neutral
b/w prints. The trouble is that the problem I'm having also prevents me
from getting a useable print-out of the calibration sheet needed for
making a printer profile.

So...?

Ralf

 

[Dave Balderstone]

Of course, when I changed the printer I installed the corresponding
Epson driver and the installer automatically added the correct Epson
media/printer profiles.

Which fail to give you the results you want.

Sure, fine. I've had great results with the original Epson profiles, for
many years.

But now you're *not* getting great results with the original Epson
profiles.

Still, I've bought ColorVison's PrintFix in order to get more neutral
b/w prints. The trouble is that the problem I'm having also prevents me
from getting a useable print-out of the calibration sheet needed for
making a printer profile.

I'm not familiar with it, but the idea of profiling is that you disable
all color management and print a target. Then you scan the printed
target along with a known value target (supplied by the calibration
software company), load a file of values that corresponds to that
particular known value target, and the software compares the two then
builds a profile that compensates for the differences in color/tonal
values. Monaco EZ Color, for instance, will also build a scanner
profile at the same time it builds a printer profile.

Is that what PrintFix does?

A further thought is that your printer is simply broken in some way...
If it's still under warranty, contact your vendor or Epson.

 

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

But now you're *not* getting great results with the original Epson
profiles.

Because there's something awfully wrong. Mind you, I'm not getting
prints that looks just a tad odd. They're *way* off the mark.

Then again, things improve markedly if I disable Photoshop's colour
management.

If it's still under warranty, contact your vendor or Epson.

They claim Photoshop is the culprit. Three guesses what I'd hear from
Adobe.

Never mind. Thanks for your effort.

Ralf

 

[bmoag]

Do you calibrate your monitor?
Are your printing old files previously adjusted with no new tweaks that
printed ok?
If your monitor is not accurately calibrated then you have no clue what
Photoshop and your printer driver are seeing.
If you do not have an accurately calibrated monitor it could be that your
were simply lucky that your prior setup worked at all.
My experience is that custom paper/printer calibrations made using the
Monaco system are not really better than Epson's canned printers for their
surfaces.
However for Canon printers the custom profiles you can make with the Monaco
system are far superior to profiles Canon includes with its printers. IMHO
Canon printers are severely hampered by their software (so is much Canon
hardware).
I strongly believe the error is in your workflow: I recently changed from an
Epson 1280 to an r1800 and so far have only used the canned Epson profiles
to print images previously printed satisfactorily with the 1280 with no
further changes made to the image. These images print fine and demonstrate
the inherent differences (which is better or worse is a subjective
judgement) between the 1280 and r1800.

 

[Dave Balderstone]

Then again, things improve markedly if I disable Photoshop's colour
management.

Which, again, suggests you need an accurate profile of your printer.

If you don't wish to pursue that path, I have nothing else to offer you.