Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Ok, so I've finally got off my ass to do some more prints. I haven't used my R1900 for well over a year; during which time I've upgraded my computers, etc, so things have changed a little bit since the last time I've printed at home. I've had pretty good results with this printer in the past, so I'm a bit surprised at the challenges I'm encountering now.

I have my display calibrated with ColorEyes software, using a (I think) Xrite colourimeter. I'm trying to print an image very similar to this (different angle, processed slightly differently):

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/qualdoth/3764083580/" title="Day 4: Mist at Peggy's Cove by qualdoth, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3764083580_63350ee34d.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="Day 4: Mist at Peggy's Cove"></a>

Using PremierArt 8.5x11 paper, using a couple of different fine art paper settings on the Epson, I did 3-4 test prints. The results have been horrible; there's a massive colour shift to light blue/green that I've seen in the prints regardless of the paper setting, and regardless whether I've set colour management by the printer or just Lightroom.

The only thing I can think of to do next is:
- run a head/nozzle cleaning cycle, started that yesterday but it stopped half way through with the printer demanding more ink
- using an Epson paper (which I have, but didn't want to use for these prints since the size I have is much bigger)
- having a test print done in a lab (Pikto, for example) to make sure that the issue isn't with the image. Though, I don't think it's the image given that I've calibrated the display.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Get a custom paper profile or do it yourself if you can. Lots of custom paper profilers (specific to your printer) will do it for a minimal fee. Check out the Moab site for a list.

I'm not familiar with the printer model you're using but color management is always set to photoshop, nothing else regardless.

Use the paper profile in the printer profile box. I use CS4 to print but I don't see why the printing workflow should be any different.

Thanks for the advice!

That's why I'm thinking of trying the Epson paper as that way I think I should have a closer match with a paper profile. Although, I'm guessing you meant getting a customized profile specifically for my printer + paper combination? How does a process of having someone do that work? I've never looked into that.

Ditto on the recco - don't rely on manufacture supplied paper profiles. Get a custom profile for YOUR printer with YOUR paper. You basically print out a reference lab colour pattern (that you download from the labs site), you then mail in or take the print to the lab, the lab runs your printed image of the reference pattern through their colorimeter and gives you a custom icc profile to use. That's the icc profile you then use in Photoshop when previewing and tweaking your image. Calibrating our monitors is only half the equation.

Finish your head cleaning first. I'm willing to bet one of your ink channels is plugged and thats whats causeing your colour shift, it's happened on my R2400 when i have left it for too long and try to sneak a print through with out cleaning the head.

I personally use the epson profiles as they are quite good enough for me with the 3800 ATM. A lot of help online with this model as well. However, when you go exotic papers, it's a different story now and custom profiling becomes more impt to get the most of the paper quality your going for.

Thanks again. I'll do the head cleaning first and then will look into getting a custom profile. I'll keep updating this thread as I go through this

So I ended up replacing all the ink cartridges, as they were all pretty low, and ran the head/nozzle cleaning cycle. I'm now getting significantly better results. The colour shift is pretty much gone. I think there may be a minor difference between what I've got on my monitor and the print, but it's pretty close now.

I may still end up trying to get some custom profiles but for now this will suffice.