Secret with punchy colours with Epson 4800.

[dmarks]

I just received my Epson 4800 and after initial setup I started

printing.I'm not finding it easy to get the punchy colours I was

getting with my Epson 1280.I've tried making changes in the driver

settings comparable to what I did in the 1280 drivers,but that

doesn't seem to help.I'm printing on matte papers with both

printers.Do anybody have any ideas to try with my problem.I remember

reading somewhere that pigments weren't as "colourful" as dyes.Any

truth to this???

Thanks for your anticipated help.

[mona_chrome]

No, pigment inks are not as colorful, traditionally, as the other inks. A lot of that was

supposed to be addressed with the new 4800 inks. I print with a 4000 and get very strong

color.

 

Do you understand color management? Are you using profiles for the paper you are printing

on? Do you understand that setting the printer profile to Perceptual versus Relative

Colormetirc can make a difference. I think the world of the ultrachrome printers is a bit more

sophisticated than what was available for the 1280, so all of these could be the issue.

[ivan_dzo]

the 4800 inks are just as colourful. What profiles are you using? If it's the Epson defaults, I find them very true and linear but rather desaturated. So either get profiles made for your machine, or do test prints to find that you need a 15% saturation boost for example, to match your screen.

[dmarks]

I'm using the profiles supplied by Epson for the paper I'm using.

[dmarks]

and the profile is set to perceptual.

[ivan_dzo]

Don, perceptual vs relative colorimetric makes very little difference, but choose one and stick to it. As I said, the out of the box (make sure they're the up to date ones off the web site) profiles are ok. Very good apart from low saturation. Try making changes to incr saturation and if this doesn't do it for you, pay for a custom profile.

[patricklavoie]

But the real question is; Witch Black do you use? If you instal the Photo Black that come

with

the printer and you are printing on a Matt paper, well everything will look a bit dull. And

the

second questions is; How do you print? Are you applying a ICC profile in Photoshop? Are

you

applying the rigth one? Are you applying another color profile in the Epson driver (that

what it

seem when you talk about *making changes in the driver settings*) Ae you printing with

NO

COLOR ADJUSTMENT? And in the end your old Epson use in a simple word * vegetal ink*

that

are more vivid than K3 ink...but also pretty quick to fade compare to this new ink. Tell us

step by step how you print, answer thoses questions and im sure whe will give you the

source of

your problem. : )

[mona_chrome]

I think the advice about giving us your settings is a good one, but also what program are

you printing with? Also, I forgot that the 4800 only has one dark black and that could

really mess you up if you are using the wrong one.

 

As to relative colormetric vs perceptual-these generally don't make a difference with

Epson profiles with Epson papers. But there can be a huge difference with other papers,

altho it would not be huge in the color saturation area--more in blacks depth and color

rendition--am currently doing a project where the blue looks like candy with perceptual

and perfect with rel colormetric.

 

With the 4000, I haven't found a need to increase saturation to get the results I am after,

but my system is calibrated stem to stern. If your system is not, you may have found the

combination with your old printer that compensated for the difference.

[dmarks]

Here goes..........I'm using photo black with epson enhanced matte papers.I have the latest profile downloaded for the Epson enhanced matte paper and that's what I'm printing with.I'm not applying icc profiles in photoshop.Photoshop is the program I'm printing with.

Any other advice???

 

Ps............what profile are you using for this paper???

[dmarks]

I really do appreciate all the help you're giving me with this issue I'm having.I'm just not used to printing with something of this quality but hope to gain alot of knowledge from the people that are used to this type of printer.

 

 

Don

[ian_scholey]

Don,

 

You should be using matte black with enhanced matte paper for optimum results.

 

If your monitor is profiled try softproofing in PS. Try ticking the paper white box and then up the sat and contrast to your taste.

 

Reprint and you should have your punch back

 

Ian

 

http://profiles.colourperfect.co.uk

[patricklavoie]

Et voila! Here is your problem.

 

1_I'm using photo black with epson enhanced matte papers/

Using Photo Black to print on a Matt surface will give you muddy Black, or at least OK

black in your image. But this is not your real problem.

 

2_I'm not applying icc profiles in photoshop/ Haaaaaaaa. sorry. You should apply by all

mean a ICC profile IN Photoshop. This is for sure the main and only reason why your print

look...boring and not alive.

 

Here is the recipe for succes/

 

A_Calibrate your screen with a Colorimeter, not with a cheap freeware.

 

B_Use PRINT WITH PREVIEW, in CS to apply a ICC profile BEFORE printing. as a exemple you

should use Pro4800 EMP_PK in your case (EMP stand for Enhanced Mat Paper)

 

C_Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric are both a good choice. I use Perceptual myself.

 

D_Press Print. In the Epson Dialog, enter again your paper choice, 1440 dpi (you realy dont

need 2880 to get amazing print, try it yourself, print at both resolution, drop the print and

try to see witch one is the 2880...)

 

E_And in the other menu call PRINTER COLOR MANAGEMENT, use NO COLOR

ADJUSTMENT.

 

F_Read your manual, buy some good book on the subject...and enjoy your new expensive

toy.

 

G_Subscribe to photo.net, now that you have your important answer : )

[mona_chrome]

Patrick gave you most of the settings, but I noticed a couple more that you need to be sure

are set.

 

When you print with PS CS2, select Print with Preview and in addition to what Patrick said,

you must select "Let Photoshop Determine Colors" in the color handling scroll menu. Also

make sure the the BLK PT box is checked. When you hit print, on the next menu, for Print

Settings, be sure to turn off "High Speed" which is on by default and also be sure to again

select the paper you are using and as said be sure that under "Printer Color Management"

you select "OFF (no color management)" Photoshop will do it all for you.

 

As said, you are using the wrong black for matte paper, but you should still get good color

even if the blacks may be a little off.

 

Good Luck!

[graham_binns]

take heart , its a big learning curve. it took me over a year to get a dedcent print. Getting a decent printer highlights all the colour managment issues in your workflow :-(

 

If you havn't already calibrated your monitor with a hardware device do so.

 

The 4800 is suposed to be calibrated in the factory so standard paper should give good results.

[dmarks]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks for all the answers that you've given me.I find my prints on enhanced matte are lacking a little zing still.I guess it must be the wrong paper for the photo black inks I'm using (as has been mentioned).

 

I printed on premium lustre though and what a difference.The colours just snap off the page.Thanks again for all your help.

[ivan_dzo]

Yes it is, but because there is still some variation between printers, they play it safe and give a profile with rather dull colours. To get the full saturation and vividness of colours that is possible with the ink/paper combinations, you need a custom made profile. The results using my custom made profile are a lot better than the factory "out of the box" version. Just a tip.

[photography_vanuatu]

I am having a similar problem If anyone can help

 

If I do a greyscale strip from white to black and print my black is coming out as a dark grey. the bead off of the greyscale strip would appear that the pbk photo black is not actually printing. It goes to mid point and then almost goies lighter after getting to the midway point of the white to black strip.

 

This has been a problem for a few months but as I haven't been doing much printing didn't notice it just thought something was odd.

I have prints I have printed last year and if I print them now the black that printed like a 100% black now brints like a very dark grey or opaque black.

Now I look at previous prints and the blacks are black I print it out now and it is a dark dark grey. Nothing has changed in my profiles or my workflow. I have tried hours of profile paper printing option changes and workflow adjustments but nothing changes, If I print 100 percent black from a file it comes out 95% grey I have tried it from three computers to clarify. It appears is a 4800 problem.

Perhaps it is not recognising that it is a PB catridge.

 

I have no idea.

I have tried adjusting the settings from the printer but there is no option to clarify catridge from the printer.

This is odd, if anyone has any idea.

 

Of course I have done print head tests and they are all good. although I note that doing the auto print head test where it prints out blocks of colour that the photo black does not look black. I have aftermarket ink due to frustrations with epsons expectations that we should fork out $50 every time we want to use the printer and need to do half a dozen head cleans or a power head clean! I have compared print head tests with those done two years ago or more and the black appears to be the same colour as the factory spec though in previous print head tests.