Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

Hi folks,

 I wonder if someone has some tips for me. I am trying to print two scanned black and white photos and getting terrible results.  I have the Epson Photo Stylus R2000. My first results were washed out green and something, so I did a nozzle check, which told me I needed to do a head cleaning (I ended up doing three of them!). I also did a printer unclog job within Qimage, which came out fine (after the head cleanings). But my attempts to actually get a decent print are futile so far--what I am getting is a green and white photo, and a poor quality one at that. I know the image quality isn't great, but my black and white laser printer did a better job.

I am using Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte paper. I have attached three screenshots of settings in case there is something you can see in them that I am missing....  I will attach the second and third separately.

By the way, I updated Qimage to the most current version a few minutes ago, but my prior version was only a few months old.

Thanks in advance.  :)

Liz

screenshots #2 and #3

While waiting for the real experts to reply:  on the MAIN tab of the Printer Properties tab -> Media Settings -> Color, what happens if you change this to Black and White?  (If you can...)

This works on my Canon PRO-100.  But might still be the wrong approach.

Hi Liz
After you mentioning your B&W laser printer, I got the same thought as George. Shut off the color....
But having owned an R2000, and having very similar problems, I am suggesting that you also try this printer profile for that paper and printer.
The problem is that it is 1 meg large, and the forum will not accept it.
If you send me your email address to: wathree.ssz@verizon.net  I will whiz it right back to you for a good try.

You can also put the image in the queue and open the editor, and hover the mouse over the whiter areas and read the RGB values at the bottom.
See if green is predominant. It can be a fooler on screen/

I don't want to get your hopes up, but when mine reached the time when for no apparent reason the print would go green or pink, and nozzle clean after  nozzle clean showed erratic tests, we had to give it "last lefts".
So try a different image? OK?,  print clean  or same tinge?
Try a different matte paper (which uses the same MK black) Then try a paper that uses a PK black.
That's all I can think of.... I will await your email address.

Liz

If your files are in RGB colour mode (if not, convert them) then setting the printer driver to ICM  should work.
This will turn on colour profiling using the correct Epson profile for your paper.

Brian

Actually I forgot to mention, I did try to print it in "grayscale." Again, yuck.

Fred,

(I sent you an email--thanks for your offer!) you wrote "You can also put the image in the queue and open the editor, and hover the mouse over the whiter areas and read the RGB values at the bottom. See if green is predominant. "  I am not sure what I am supposed to be looking for. How would I know if green is dominant? I attached a screen capture of what I see while my cursor is hovered over a white shirt.

Also, as suggested, I just printed a color image and it came out fine.

Thanks for your help so far.

Liz

That was a good thought, so I did change them. No luck with the results though.

I installed Fred's alternative profile, and it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Did not print with printer set to grayscale/ black and white in the end.)

Thanks so much!

Liz

At the bottom of your screen snap there are three numbers in color bunched. Those tell you the RGB values of the pixel currently under the mouse.
One more try...... Put your image into the queue, and in the editor, change SATURATION to -100 (minus 100). Save the filter as you would normally do and try a print.
Fred

Wow. That surprised me, but happy.
Settings would be normal as if you had your own profile...... No Color management in driver, and the profile in it's regular spot in QU
Fred

In my final attempt I don't know if my color management settings were ICM or Off/No color adjustment.

What is the difference, and which should I use? (Historically I have used Off/No color adjustment.)

Liz

The correct answer is that you must use the settings that were used when the printed target was created for making the profile.
In 99.9% of the time, that would be OFF  NCA
Fred

Fred
If you set the driver to 'ICM' it will use the correct profile supplied by Epson for that paper (you have to set QI profile to 'Off').  The profiles are installed when you load the driver. It's the same as using No Color Adjustment and setting the Epson profile in QI, but obviously only works with Epson papers.

Brian