Another, "the print doesn't match the monitor". Is my gear too old?

[robert_ades1]

Okay, here's what's going on. Used to be that my color prints matched my

monitor very, very close, but now the prints are edging toward a slight

reddish/magenta cast relative to the monitor.

 

I'm trying to identify the culprit and there are several possibilities. First

off, you should all know that my monitor is regularly calibrated by an older

Pantone Colorvision Spyder, and I'm running XP.

 

1. My Sony Trinitron, model G420 is at least five years old but seems bright

and sharp as the day I bought it. The calibration software says that the

contrast, brightness and color balance are all within calibration ranges. Small

adjustments are needed, but the Trinitron seems capable of doing it. I'd

replace the Sony as soon as an affordable LCD widescreen around 24" hits the

market. I'm suspicious of Dell's 2407.

 

2. My Epson 2400 printer. I don't use it often enough, so it's possible that

some of the inks might have gotten old (maybe 6 months out of date). Still, I

have cleaned the heads and the test targets look fine.

 

3. My Spyder is old, and newer, better models are available. Could this be

giving me bad readings?

 

4. Adobe Gamma. It's appears in Control Panel by default. I've done nothing

with it, but I don't think I can delete it.

 

5. Improper use of Epson supplied .icc profiles for the 2400. I'm certain that

I'm NOT double profiling my images in Photoshop, so I can safely say that this

is not the likely cause.

 

I'm ready to dump the monitor AND the Spyder, but if something else is the

culprit, I'd rather hold off getting new hardware needlessly.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you

[ben.goossens]

It's dificult to find the solution...

1. delete Adobe Gamma and try again

2. a CRT monitor of 5 years could be old.

3. try to reinstall the Epson Drivers.

4. print with de ICC of the Epson inkt and paper.

5. use the original Epson inkt and paper, otherwise you need an special ICC profile.

6. when you print use settings in attachment...

 

 

I hope I have been of any help

 

Best regards, ben

[alec_myers]

Spend $20 and get a custom profile written for your paper and ink, before you consider spending much more than that on a new monitor.

 

Even if you do then replace the monitor, the profile will still be good.

[marshall]

If the monitor is meeting the specs, it should be fine. You do need to get rid of Adobe Gamma, though. If you do a search, you'll find instructions on where to find it and how to eliminate it.

[robert_ades1]

Thanks all. I do use Epson's advanced ICC profiles, and until recently there was an acceptably good color match. I use only Epson inks and papers.

 

When I had the former 2200, I used custom profiles and they worked well. But when the 2400 came out, Epson's profiles worked fine.

 

As for Adobe Gamma, I try to find a link that shows how to remove it. Still, if I'm calibrating on top of Gamma, should it correct for whatever Gamma might be doing?

 

Lastly, could my Spyder, which is also old, be losing its accuracy?

[jtk]

Your monitor has probably become somewhat (not stable across your work day)...in its death process. 5-plus-unknown years is a long time, even for a Trinatron.

 

I don't think monitors have the longevity of a TV set (unless you're an Oprah fan and watch TV 24/7)...my 23" home Sony TV dates back to 88', was knocked off a table by the San Francisco earthquake of 89' and it looks great today (gets 1hr day/max)...the shattered case adds a touch of nostalgia :-)

[William Kahn]

"As for Adobe Gamma, I try to find a link that shows how to remove it."

 

You don't need to remove it entirely, just from the startup menu. Go to Start>Run, type in "msconfig" (without quotes), click on the Startup tab and uncheck the Adobe Gamma box.

[robert_ades1]

It's not in msconfig, in the startup tab, nor is it in the Startup Folder. I already checked both places. Still, it appears in the Control Panel. I also searched the Abobe Knowledgebase to no avail.

 

I have a call in to Colorvision to see if my 5 year-old Spyder v1 is just losing it's ability to calibrate correctly. It's not a big deal to replace it with something newer

[SteveH]

Could this be something as simple as room lighting? Things I have read about this complicated business indicates that room lighting or something reflecting on the monitor will change perception of color.

[dave_reichert1]

Do older prints that once matched the monitor closely, still look right when compared to the monitor? If they do, then the current issue is probably with your printer (clogged light cyan jets?). If the older prints no longer match the monitor, then the problem is most likely with your monitor.

 

In the other direction, you might just try reprinting one of those older, more correct prints, using the same paper and the same settings. If the new print is different, then your printer is the culprit.

[robert_ades1]

Definitely, but the slight cast appears in daylight, tungsten, and florescent lighting. Still, none of my hardware, lighting environment, or workflow has changed. I'm suspecting that my colorimeter is starting to fail, but I'm going to try using the standard Epson profile instead of the special ICC profile to see if that makes a difference.

[fanta]

I have a similar problem, probably because of the printer. I have re-printed pictures I printed time ago on same paper and same color profile, and now I get a green color cast. May be the printer is not printing as it used to do, and having new custom made profiles would fix it. As others advised, you should try to do the same.

 

Also, before throwing away display and colorimeter, I would borrow somebody else display to see if it makes a difference.

 

Mind you that Adobe Gamma is run if you have it in Startup menu. As long as it is in Control Panel only, it is not an issue.

[robert_ades1]

Nice idea, but it'd bum me out if the 2400 were at fault. Borrowing another monitor (a CRT) is a royal PITA. It's cheaper and easier to just get a profile made, but then, that assumes that the printer went adrift.

[robert_ades1]

Well, I ordered a new Colorvision2 Spyder from Amazon. It was only a little over $100 and I'm going to need it for the eventual LCD purchase. Hopefully that will solve the problem, because if not, then the only remaining culprit is the printer itself (a EP 2400) or the Epson inks.