Epson R2400 and Photoshop CS - HELP

[david_mallwax]

I am using Windows XP, Photoshop CS, and just purchsed a Epson

R2400. I have heard that this is an awsome printer. Thus far I

have been unsuccessful in getting anything good from this printer.

If I use settings that allow Photoshop to manage colors --- Blue

turns into purple. (I'm using the Epson ICC paper specific profiles

in photoshop and setting the printer options to ICM and Color

management to off. I have spent appx 9 hours on the phone with

Epson tech help (there very kind -- but it was frustrating. The end

result has been that I have to allow the epson printer to manage my

colors --- Epson finally told me to contact Adobe --- It is an issue

with Photoshop?

Thanks

[david_littleboy__tokyo__ja]

Have you tried Qimage? Adobe tries to make Photoshop be everything to everyone, but I find it easier to just use it for image editing and leave resampling and printer color management to Qimage.

 

I realize "imaging professionals" have been printing from Photoshop for years, so it must be possible...

[byronlawrence]

well maybe this is rehashing your entire evening again. so if so stop me HA. ok enough jokes.

 

in Photoshop you have a file in the workspace with the matching imbedded profile (lets say AdobeRGB (1998) for these). now let us start the print thing. First thing I do is go to Image>Convert to Profile... and in this dialogue box I pick the paper profile from the drop down menu and make sure I have the 'preview' button checked. I view the results and say 'cancel' (I do this because it gives me a rough idea about what to expect from my print).

 

Next I go to File>print with preview and make sure the settings are correct (I believe you have this down but I will go through it anyway). Under 'print' have document selected and it should list your workspace profile. then under 'Options' you have 'let photoshop determine colors' selected and the paper profile selected. for rendering intent many use perceptual or relative. either works. then (making sure the paper orientation and all that good stuf is right) click 'print'.

 

now you are in the printer driver dialogue box. here in the advanced menu you have the Icm button thing selected and no color management, and the correct paper selected in the dropdown menu and the correct quality setting in the dropdown menu selected. say OK and then click 'print' when you are returned to the dialogue box.

 

using this process the results should be great. and if your screen is calibrated correctly (or even if it is pretty correct looking) your results should be just right. Make sure you have all the ink cartridges in the right holes.

 

if this has all been done and you are still printing crap. maybe you should exchange the printer.

[bill_t__new_mexico_]

Nothing wrong with Photoshop CS2 printing, which I assume is the same as Photoshop CS printing. It does, however, make you work awfully hard.

 

We just installed an R2400 here, and it worked like a champ right out of the box, amazing everybody by nailing the very first print. It wasn't close, it was perfect! Here's how we did it...

 

1. Go to epson.com and download the R2400 profile packages, they're free. You will need to separately download the profile for each paper you plan to use, each profile with automatically install itself.

 

2. In Photoshop, select Edit>Color Settings then select "Adobe RGB (1998)." Now load the image you want to print. If you get a "conversion" dialoge just click "Yes."

 

3. Select File>Print With Preview...at upper right click "Page Setup" and select the paper size and orientation you want to use.

 

4. Make sure "Color Management" is displayed instead of "Preview"

 

5. Under Color Handling select "Let Photoshop Determine Colors"

 

6. Here's where Photoshop can really get you...Under "Printer Profile" DO NOT select "Working RGB - Adobe RGB (1998)"! That would just too obvious. Instead, scroll down through the incredibly long list of entries until you get to the name of the paper you are using, which was added to the list when you installed the downloaded profiles. Remember profiles are associated with specific papers. I bet this is what messes up most people. For some papers there may be different profiles for different resolutions, be sure you pick the one you really want to use.

 

7. Under "Rendering Intent" select Perceptual, but it's ok to experiment here, some of the other ones give more vivid prints, I think.

 

8. Click PRINT.

 

9. This gets you to the familiar Epson printing dialogue. Click "Properties" and again enter the paper type and paper size...very important to do this, and a downright repetitive nuisance because you just did all that in the previous dialogue box. Also select Best Photo.

 

10. Now find the little "Advanced" box down towards the bottom, click that, select "ICM" under Color Management, then click "No Color Adjust".

 

11. Now just OK back to the Epson printing dialogue, and go!

 

12. The Epson "Print Preview" image will look awful. This means you probably did everything right and the print will be gorgeous. Just avert you eyes and click the "Print" button. If the preview image looks good, you did something wrong. Makes perfect sense. The Print Preview can only be used to checking framing.

 

I was amazed, this worked first time out for me, and ended years of bitter printing experiences.

 

Easy, huh? There are quite a few places to make mistakes, but if you do everything right you will enter Inkjet Nirvana.

 

I bet there are people out there who know how to do all this easier, speak up please!

 

If you are shooting something besides ARGB in your camera, you will get "Convert to Adobe RGB..." dialogues when you load an image. Just say "Yes."

 

Oh, you will find profiles for matte papers printed with Photo Black (PK) cartridges...don't waste ink on these, 'nuf said.

[eric_perlberg]

1) Make sure all cartridges are firmly seated in the printer. Do a head check to see if all nozzles are functioning correctly.<p>

2) You have to get your monitor hardware calibrated and profiled otherwise you have no idea of how accurately your monitor is in showing you how the file looks. see

<a href="http://drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration.htm"> here</a> for more info.<p>

3) Your file must be in working space when you open it. Check to see what it is. Adobe RGB is better, sRGB is not acceptable for getting the most out of this printer.<p>

4) Do your tonal and colour adjustments and sharpening (see <a href="http://computer-darkroom.com/tutorials/tutorial_3_1.htm"> this tutorial</a>).<p>

5) Don't follow Byron's advice above about converting to profile. There is a tool in photoshop for doing this which is far more elegant and powerful called soft-proofing. Learn to use it. See <a href="http://computer-darkroom.com/softproof/softproof_1.htm"> this</a> link.<p>

6) In general use Relative Colorometric for rendering intent unless there are lots of saturated colours and when you soft-proof those colours go flat. If so try perceptual as the intent. You can do this right in soft-proof to save paper.<p>

7) Choose Print with Preview in Photoshop and follow

<a href="http://computer-darkroom.com/ps7_print/ps7_print_1.htm"> these </a>instructions.<p>

8) Make certain that the media type you're selecting in the printer driver is correct for the paper you're using.<p>

9) You may need a custom profile made for your printer/papers. Even though Epson profiles are generally good, there is enough pritner to printer variability that the profiles from Epson may not be doing a good job on your specific printer.

[byronlawrence]

ERIC,,, read what I wrote.. I never said to convert. I just said to preview it and CANCEL OUT of the box.. WITH NO CHANGES.

 

BILL T,,, hey this might help for simplifying one step, in the last print dialogue settings box (where you say ICM ,, no color correction,, etc.) on the lower left there should be a place where you can save settings, I have a setting saved for each type of paper I use, so it speeds up this part a bit.. you probably are already familiar with this however, but I thought I would mention it.

[eric_perlberg]

Byron, I did read what you wrote and was simply referring to your comment.

 

What I said was that photoshop has a powerful tool that allows you to actually work *as

though you had converted to the

profile* to apply tonal, sharpening and colour corrections necessary for the particular

paper/ink you think you're going to use and see the effects as you work. And you can

go back and forth between your working space and the softproof by just hitting a key

combo. You can also quickly change to different paper profiles to see the effects of using

different papers.

 

Your technique requires you to cancel the convert to profile and then make further

changes to improve the printed file-to-be blindly (without knowing how they'll look) and

then going back to convert to profile to see the effect and then cancelling, make more

blind changes, etc.

 

Do what pleases you but this is not the best advice IMO to give to others. No personal

animosity here, we're trying to help people get the best out of their work methods.

[byronlawrence]

I didn't feel there was animosity. I was just defensive of my advice, since I feel it is valid, albeit not the best.

 

your alternative is just as valid and is likely more useful. I have actually downloaded the pdf on how to 'softproof' (it being something that I have never tried before). and intend to try it out.

[awindsor]

It is very likely to be an issue with your set-up somewhere. The most common is a poor Adobe Gamma set up.

 

I print using the relative colorimetric rendering intent unless there are significant out of gamut colours. It reproduces in gamut colours exactly (after mapping white point to white point). Perceptual maps the gamut of the original space into the gamut of the output space maintaining the "perceptual relationship" between the colours. A little out of gamut area in the image will produce a less vibrant and less colour accurate print if you use perceptual rendering. I use perceptual when there are significantly out of gamut colours.

[gerd_christian_seeber]

i too have been trying to print on a brand new epson r2400, using mac os tiger and

photoshop cs; and i too spent hours with epson youngsters reading from scripts, without

solving anything

 

my conclusion is that the new k3 inks and epson archival matte paper don't get on, though

k3 inks and epson premium glossy paper print perfectly well

 

my only disappointment so far is horizontal banding in one image; this is very faint but

both manual and automatic print head alignment have not brought an improvement

 

i nearly bought an epson pro 4800 but changed my mind when i heard that epson archival

mattte paper, which i like for exhibitions etc, was not available in A2 sheet or roll format.

i wonder whether anyone has expeienced similar problems and would be grateful for

comments

 

gerd s

[mark_kirkpatrick]

This is just to confirm that the problem is with the printer and/or its software. I have

consistent color differences between the prints coming off my new R2400 and my two

monitors; the prints are distinctly warmer. The monitors (a 23" Apple Cinema Display and

a G4 laptop) are calibrated and agree with each other.

 

I just returned from the shop where I bought the printer. We compared the colors of my

laptop's monitor with their (very expensive) monitor and a print of mine with the same file

printed on their R2400. We used Epson Premium Glossy and the Epson ICC profiles.

 

Result: our monitors were consistent with each other (given the constraints of my laptop

monitor), and the prints were consistent with each other, but the prints were warmer than

the monitor displays.

 

It looks like the Epson profile for Premium Glossy isn't accurate. I haven't tried any other

papers yet. Has anyone done a custom profile with this printer and paper combination? If

so ... care to share???

[photosnafu]

I'm using XP, CS, and a R2400.

Printing with CS color management, I get poor blacks with Archival Matte and Matte Ink. I would say black looks dark grey. Just saw this morning a print on R800 on matte paper and the black was better, bouuuuuuh.

Is it normal? Any idea?

(I use Epson Matte paper profil, and my black in the picture is around RVB 10/10/9).

What is the best way to get deep blacks?

I read sometimes "R2400 B&W is near -sometimes better than- normal photography, especially in terms of definition and dynamic": maybe I don't know how to trim my R2400, but for the moment mine is very far!

[aeiffel]

Don't use CS color management if you want really neutral B&w prints. Instead let the printer handle the printing stage and select "Advanced B&W" in the driver. Try the "neutral" and "dark" settings (default is "darker"), this is what match my screen best (greyscale gamma 2.2). You can also give QTR a try, at the moment I'm only in my test phase with it so I can't recommend precise settings.

[jason_winshell]

I just had a very similar problem with the R2400 I purchased two days ago for use on Mac

OS X. The profiles that are shipped with the driver (2.3 or 2.5 if you download newer

driver) are horrid -- at least for all matte papers. This was obvious when I previewed

(proofed) with a gamut warning on for any of the matte (art) papers. An IT8 target showed

much of it being out of gamut. I installed newer profiles that can be downloaded

separately from the Epson site and all was well.

 

For color printing - Color Manage in Photoshop (adobe RGB or pro RGB is good working

space), callibrate your monitor, proof with correct profile (relative colorimetric or

perceptual), print with "Let photoshop manage colors", with source space being the

working space, print with driver no-color-management.

 

For pure b&w printing

- just make sure your monitor is calibrated, no proofing is possible, print with "no color

management" in photoshop, advanced b&w in driver.

 

Regards