Page 1 of Epson printers and photo output issues.

`lo all.
OK, Epson printers, in this case R300`s.

I`ve noticed that when I print out a picture, the colour is very often way darker than my on screen piccie.
Now at first I thought this was screen to printout variations but if I send the picture to a memory card then print directly from it on the printer the picture is a helluva lot closer to the on screen version! (or closer to what I`d expect)

Also tried using the Epson Photoquicker program which helps dramatically but still doesn`t give the right colours. In contrast to all of this a print on anything else (web page, CD face etc) is almost perfect!
This is including all various paper types, it only happens when you print a high quality graphic or picture.

Anyone got any ideas or settings that can be changed?
Cheers :D

Jimbo : oÞ

"Making Teenagers depressed is like shooting fish inna barrel"

Free Utility Color Calibrates Your Monitor
You should really calibrate both your monitor and printer as these go hand in hand. Many monitors come with a calibration set and this should be your starting point. If you don`t have it, go the manufacturer`s web site to see if you can download it. They may also have custom calibration software available. In addition to your monitor controls, it`s possible to alter color settings using your graphics card or software applications like Adobe Gamma that comes with Photoshop. That sounds great but it often causes users to fall into the trap of calibrating several times using all available options. This is a mistake; calibrate only once otherwise you will be over compensating. The most important thing though, is to understand what you are doing. That`s why I recommend users visit Norman Koren`s website [1] before doing anything. It`s a bit technical but color calibration IS technical. If you find Norman`s site a bit overwhelming then this site [2] may be better. Both of these sites have links to software and reference images, but for the calibration process itself, most casual users would be better off using a little freeware program called the `Monitor Calibration Wizard` [3]. It will give results that are more than adequate for most applications. A final word: getting color right sounds like a simple issue but it`s not. It`s a matter taken very seriously by graphics and photography professionals and they dedicate an appropriate amount of time to addressing the problem. Indeed many professionals calibrate their equipment every six months or so to ensure that the quality is always at its best." Freeware, all Windows versions, 771KB.
[1] http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html#Monitorsetup
[2] http://www.e-cobo.com/stockphotos/quality/calibration.php
[3] http://www.hex2bit.com/products/product_mcw.asp

Hope this helps. If you are using Photoshop then set your printer setting to RGB Adobe (windows) and set your Gama to 2.2.

Moonseye

This item was edited on Wednesday, 25th April 2007, 12:15

Cheers Moonseye, but that may be more indepth than required but will certainly look through the links.

My old SCSi Epson scanner had callibration software with it as did my old A3 photo printer.
This issue though is different.
Items will print fine (including photos on printable CD faces) but photos print so dark you couldn`t tell the subject sometimes!
Flesh colours will appear almost dark brown instead yet print the same to CD and it`s acceptable.

On the same track, send the photo to memory card and print from the printer card slot and it`s much closer to what it should be and acceptable too.

Photoshop tip duly noted and settings changing on next use ;)


Jimbo : oÞ

"Making Teenagers depressed is like shooting fish inna barrel"

Unfortunately WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) setup is not simple unless you have some concept of colour icc formats. To get there you have to calibrate both printer and monitor.

Good luck

Moonseye

Are you printing directly from Windows Picture Viewer when you`re getting the darker photos?

It happened to me too. Are you using the most up to date printer drivers/version of Windows?

Yes to up to date Sput and no to Windows P&F viewer.

I use Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Epson Photoquicker and the Epson Print CD program.

Everyrthing printing except an actual photo is off a fair bit. Even a photo printed to the face of a CD is ok but print the same photo to any kind of paper and it`s too dark.

Did find a little banding with one of my ink carts which helped but still didn`t cure it. Suppose I`ll just buy a R265 for photo printing as a second printer <sigh> (or third if you count in my laser ;) )

Jimbo : oÞ

"Making Teenagers depressed is like shooting fish inna barrel"