CS printing with colour cast

Mike Guilbault · #1 03-30-2005, 10:31 PM

This one is stumping me. I'm using PhotoShop CS on a Mac G5 Dual 2.0 w/2gig ram and the Epson Photo 1280 printer. Everything was going fine when suddenly my prints have a blue cast to them. Printing out a 50% gray test, it turns light blue!

In the printer dialog I am using Adobe RGB (1998) as my source profile (which it is) and in the Print Space area I can either select Adobe (1998), Same as Source, or even the actual Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight paper profile with the same results.
I'll hit PRINT - and the next dialog let me select the printer etc. and I choose my 1280, set my print options (photo, best photo etc.) and turn color management off (which has always worked in the past). If I hit preview at this point, the image appears as a pdf and actually shows me the colour cast (sometimes it's more pink than blue). Sometimes the image looks correct, but when I print it, it will print with the colour cast.

Has anyone else run into this and if so... what's the answer??!

T Paul · #2 03-30-2005, 10:39 PM

Out of curiosity, if you turn the color management on does the pdf print preview still show the color cast?

T Paul · #3 03-30-2005, 10:45 PM

According to the web...

Quote:

Lighter than normal prints with a strong blue cast generally indicates that you are using your printer profile in more than one place.

These links may help:
Color Management: Troubleshooting Common Problems

Understanding Printer Colour Management

Out of Gamut: Color Management Made Stupid

Color management and color science: Introduction

Epson Color-Managed Workflow

Color Management - The Color Conundrum

T Paul · #4 03-30-2005, 11:07 PM

Found this tidbit about the Mac...

Quote:

In the "Color Management" window, click on "No Color Adjustment" in the mode setting. Do not choose the ColorSync option on the Mac. You may be wondering why we suggest turning off the ColorSync option when using Photoshop 6.0 or above on the Mac. That's because the Mac version 6.0 and above actually performs a color conversion before sending the color data to the printer driver. If the ColorSync option is still on, the printer driver will take that data and convert it again (we call this double-sync jeopardy).

Mike Guilbault · #5 03-31-2005, 06:08 AM

[quote=T Paul]According to the web...

Thanks! I'll look at the links you provided, but I'm not sure what you meant by "using the printer profile in more than one place"??

Mike Guilbault · #6 03-31-2005, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T Paul

Out of curiosity, if you turn the color management on does the pdf print preview still show the color cast?

I've turned it on, checked ColorSync, and let the Epson software do it's own thing with the same results. The problem seems to occur AFTER I hit the Print button in PSCS, and before the image is sent to the printer.

I'm hoping to find the answer in the links you've provided.

Thanks.

Legacy~Art · #7 03-31-2005, 07:10 AM

Mike i am having same problem,. i have blue and yellow lines down the picture, i am assuming i am out of ink, but i checked and i am in ink so what it is i don't know is it epson again, this is my 2nd printer from epson maybe i should learn...

I have epson r300

Gary Richardson · #8 03-31-2005, 08:10 AM

Legacy, try doing a head clean. Unlike many printers where the jets are part of the cartridge, Epson have permanently attatched printer jets, and if the printer has been stood a while then sometimes the jets clog. This would produce problems like those you describe.

First run the head test utility, then the head clean utility, then head test again.
(Sometimes it takes a few goes to clear the blockage.)

Hope this helps.

T Paul · #9 03-31-2005, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Guilbault

Thanks! I'll look at the links you provided, but I'm not sure what you meant by "using the printer profile in more than one place"??

I believe what they meant is that many times people have Photoshop performing color management, but they also have their printer performing color management and the results are that your image is converted twice. It is highly recommended that you choose one and turn the other's color management off.

Hopefully you will find the answer from one of the links. If you do please share; someone else might encounter the same problem.

~T

T Paul · #10 03-31-2005, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legacy~Art

Mike i am having same problem,. i have blue and yellow lines down the picture, i am assuming i am out of ink, but i checked and i am in ink so what it is i don't know is it epson again, this is my 2nd printer from epson maybe i should learn...

I have epson r300

Are your lines always in the same place? If so, it may be that there is ink on those rollers and you just need to clean them. This thread may help:

Problem Getting Quality Prints

Legacy~Art · #11 03-31-2005, 09:15 AM

I have posted on the link you provided...

Gary did that...

I went to the link on the other thread

http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/cone_ts/cleaning.htm

Would this look like how mine is...

4 - DIRTY ROLLERS LEAVE ROLLER MARKS ON THE PAPER
Occasionally a roller in the printer gets dirty and subsequent prints have ink tracks running down the sheet in a vertical direction. How the roller became dirty can be mysterious, but the marks themselves are obviously caused by a dirty roller.

Mine is like stripes of pink and blue faint in colour but a pain to look at.

Legacy~Art · #12 03-31-2005, 09:17 AM

This is what it tells us to do if it is that problem...I hate getting my hands inky too...

PROCEDURE
It is hard to clean the rollers in the machine because they are gear driven, and turn while the printer is printing. So you can swab of the top of the rollers, but it is harder to clean them all the way around because they do not freely spin.

4.1 - EPSON STICKY SHEETS.
Epson sells a tacky cleaning sheet that has a slightly sticky surface. Often times these sheets are bundled in with other papers. Follow the Epson instructions to use these sheets to help clean the rollers.

4.2 - CHEAP TYPING PAPER AND WINDEX TRICK
One trick we have used successfully is to put a sheet of cheap typing paper in the paper feed and then press the paper load / eject button to cause the sheet to travel through the printer. LIGHTLY SPRITZING the paper with Windex or Fantastic as it enters the machine helps dissolve the ink on the rollers and transfer the ink to the paper. This can be repeated a few times until the rollers are clean.
Note - Common sense should prevail here.

First - Do not spray too much Windex or Fantastic on the cheap typing paper. If it is heavily saturated the paper can fall apart as it is pulled through the printer making a mess.

Second - Do not flip the dirty sheet over to save paper - the wet inky side will make other parts of the printer dirty. Use the paper once and discard.

Mike Guilbault · #13 03-31-2005, 12:24 PM

Those links you provided were great! Learned alot about colour management, and although it didn't help with my problem, at least I was able to eliminate some variables.

I ended up downloading the printer driver, re-installed it, and reset every setting from scratch. It's working fine now. Thanks for all your help. I certainly learned alot in a short time!

Cheers!

Mike Guilbault · #14 03-31-2005, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legacy~Art

Mike i am having same problem,. i have blue and yellow lines down the picture, i am assuming i am out of ink, but i checked and i am in ink so what it is i don't know is it epson again, this is my 2nd printer from epson maybe i should learn...

I have epson r300

I've had this before too and doing a head clean did the trick. You may have to do it a few times. Hmmm... the other thing it could be is that the heads need to be aligned. On the 1270 & 1280, there is an alignment function in the utility dialog to realign the print heads. You may want to check for that too.

T Paul · #15 03-31-2005, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Guilbault

Those links you provided were great! Learned alot about colour management, and although it didn't help with my problem, at least I was able to eliminate some variables.

I ended up downloading the printer driver, re-installed it, and reset every setting from scratch. It's working fine now. Thanks for all your help. I certainly learned alot in a short time!

Cheers!

Glad to hear that the printer driver re-install worked. That was my next suggestion. I've had to reinstall my printer driver when my Epson was cutting off the images when printing...well it was stopping short on printing when there was still a lot of paper left.