Epson R800 printing problems, seeking advice

[jaharris1001]

Ive got the Epson R800 and have not been able to get a decent photo print from this printer since Ive had it.
Ive downloaded the current driver for Windows Vista 64.
Turned off the color management from the printer.
Followed the manual for setting up and printing from photoshop. I use the preview setting and everything looks fine. Have my settings to Adobe RGB 1998
but all the prints turn out very purple/magenta, it drives me crazy,, any suggestions ?? I understand that this is suppose to be a decent printer,, Ive tried everything from printing outside photoshop right from the hard drive, inside photoshop, all are purple, documents on the other hand are fine,,
any input is appreciated !!

[mario]

Well, I'm not an expert, so take this with a grain of salt. A couple of ideas to consider:
1. Printer profiles - I have an Epson 2880 and print on a variety of papers. I get the best results and truest colors if I have the proper printer profiles for the specific paper. Most paper manufacturers will have printer profiles on their website for downloading. Being sure that you have the proper printer profile for the specific paper could make a difference.
2. Since you also get the same results whether you print from Photoshop or outside, could it be that your monitor needs to be calibrated properly? Could the color cast you are seeing be a result of not adjusting the color properly because your monitor isn't displaying it properly? [perhaps a bit of a longshot here].

I would have guessed a color space conflict, but if you are setting to Adobe RGB, I assume that you have this set for camera and software?

Hopefully some of the real 'printer experts' on the Board will pipe in.

[R. House]

Do you Softproof?

[poliwog]

What settings do you 'have to Adobe RGB 1998'? Sounds like double profiling to me. What profile are you using for the printer?

EDIT: Which version of PS? I'm assuming CS4, since you are on Vista 64?

[jaharris1001]

Originally Posted by R. House

Do you Softproof?

Im sorry, not sure what that is ?

Originally Posted by poliwog

What settings do you 'have to Adobe RGB 1998'? Sounds like double profiling to me. What profile are you using for the printer?

EDIT: Which version of PS? I'm assuming CS4, since you are on Vista 64?

poli, I use CS3 actually, have the printer set to sRGB which is the default setting,
for profile its set to sRGB color space profile

hey Mario !! nice to see ya over here yes, I tried all the paper profiles too, I dont think its the monitor as I post so much online and dont have any complaints about color, the color on the prints is terrible !! I dont think its that ,,

confused,, I do appreciate any help !!

[poliwog]

Oh dear. You need to start all over. In your printer driver set your correct paper type (Premium Lustre' or whatever) then choose 'ICM--No Color Adustment'. In Photoshop, choose 'Let Photoshop Manage Colors'. Then in the 'Printer Profle' menu, choose the correct profile for your printer and paper. It will be something like 'SPR800 PremGlsy' (for Epson Premium Glossy Paper) or whatever matches your paper. 'Rendering Intent' should be set to 'Perceptual' or 'Relative Colorimetric'

[jaharris1001]

thanks again for commenting Poli, I have been checking ICM-no color adjustment then "let photoshop manage colors" I tried the other things you suggested after that, but still no change, purple/magenta, and I mean STRONG purple/magenta,, I wrote Epson about that and they are willing to exchange the printer if I pay for shipping, they offered some other suggestions as well that I will try first,, I do have a feeling its some sorta color management problem somewhere along the line,,,, why does it have to be so complicated ?? why not just plug in and GO !! Thanks for attempting to help, if any other ideas come up or other suggestions, thay are greatly appreciated !!

[chappy]

I have 2 R800's and a R1800, they are good printers but rather fussy about color management. Since you say they are printing purple in all photo applications you may have a bad one. As mentioned earlier you must turn off color management in the printers dialog box. Here are screen grabs that are important in getting good color. They are from CS3, I use a mac but they should be similar in Windows.

[chappy]

I see I made a mistake on the first dialog box; a paper profile for the printer should be in the printer profile box rather than srgb, Sorry!

[R. House]

Softproof = In Photoshop go to View - Proof setup = Custom. Then check the boxes appropriate to your printer. This will give you a preview of what your print should look like according to profile and paper used. If you check Perceptual, then uncheck Black point. If you use Relative Colorimetric, then check Black point. Uncheck Preserve Color Numbers.
In Photoshop under Edit - Color Settings...what do you have that set for?

[Songman45]

Personally I believe you have a faulty printer. I've got an R800 too. This thing must be tougher than nails. I've hauled it thousands of miles and put it through the wringer. It made beautiful prints out of the box and still works like a charm. All the profile settings are really fine tuning so far as I'm concerned. From your description of the problem I think its malfunctioning. If Epson will make it good, paying shipping is a cheap way out. You shouldn't have this much trouble with it.

Steve

[jaharris1001]

Originally Posted by R. House

In Photoshop under Edit - Color Settings...what do you have that set for?

Thanks for the response,
Settings: North American Prepass 2
Working space : Adobe RGB (1998 )

chappy, mine looks like that too when I go to print except profile is (Adobe RGB 1998 ) same as photoshop

Songman,, Im beginning to think you are right, this is definitely not a fine tune issue, Im talking PURPLE here,, nasty purple,, not just a hint of it,, this is dominant PURPLE, I think I might send back to Epson for them to exchange
I really appreciate all the effort and advice everyone has supplied, if there is anything else you can think of, please advise
Thanks so much

[Songman45]

I failed to mention the recent scare mine gave me. I'd been printing regularly for months and had one tank showing low but not yet empty. Then we had some bad weather cancellations and were idle for about 3 weeks. I got all set-up this past weekend for the first of two events within 6 hours and 150 miles of each other. I started the first print order and the paper came out the way it went in, clean and white. Nothing would work. So, we took orders for the handfull of print orders at both events. I was sweating bullets that I'd lost the printer. I could not perform a cleaning because the ink in the one tank was too low. I'm not talking about the printer stalling because it was out of ink, no. The print head was working like normal, just no ink getting on the paper.

I did not want to buy a new printer and I did not want to invest in ink and have the gamble not work. I finally decided to replace all the tanks and give cleaning a try. Naturally, the low ink was one I did not have on hand. $75 in ink later I ran the cleaning, had two minor gaps in the test pattern, cleaned again. Whoopie---- back in business.

Long and short of it: Though the printer will print several prints when the gas guage shows low, don't rely it. I've had the printer sit idle for more than 3 weeks without experincing any problems, dont' rely on that either. IF you run into a cleaning issue and don't have enough ink in a single tank to complete the process you'll be stuck. Now and then something will go wrong that looks really, really bad and it won't be the fault of the equipment.

Unfortunately, I don't think your pruple pictures are a matter of user inattention. I really hope everything works with Epson. I'd like to hear how this works out since I am a customer of theirs as well.

Steve

[munsmocr]

Originally Posted by jaharris1001

Ive got the Epson R800 and have not been able to get a decent photo print from this printer since Ive had it.
Ive downloaded the current driver for Windows Vista 64.
Turned off the color management from the printer.
Followed the manual for setting up and printing from photoshop. I use the preview setting and everything looks fine. Have my settings to Adobe RGB 1998
but all the prints turn out very purple/magenta, it drives me crazy,, any suggestions ?? I understand that this is suppose to be a decent printer,, Ive tried everything from printing outside photoshop right from the hard drive, inside photoshop, all are purple, documents on the other hand are fine,,
any input is appreciated !!

Honestly I admire the people who invented the computer.It really is a wonderful product of the human,.
I am trying to learn computer well.Can you show me some short ways to get the best effect !
Thanks alot !
Share me !

[427scr]

I have the exact same problem!!!

Bought an R800 about 3 years ago having done extensive research on which was the best printer for digital images.

Never managed to get a decent print out of it! all of my prints are heavily magenta and "milky"

I have tried everything including lots of different paper, different ink, every adjustment under the sun and although I get slightly better results than factory settings provide, they still are not good enough.

In desperation, I even bought a second printer and that is just the same. I decided it must be my PC, so I scrapped the old clunker and bought a new one...same results.

I must admit that I have given up and at the weekend, I went and bought a Canon 4700......perfect results straight out of the box.

Want to buy a nearly used Epson R800?

[jaharris1001]

wow,, thats strange !! purple prints with the epson but perfect prints with the Canon huh ? I was thinking you might have had your color management set up strangley but since it works on you other printer it must have been the Epson,, you did spend some money to find that out though it seems thanks for commenting !! I thought about returning mine to epson but Ive had it for a while and it would probably cost as much to have them fix it as it would to just get another different one, so thats what Im leaning towards, probably a Canon as well

[427scr]

Originally Posted by jaharris1001

wow,, thats strange !! purple prints with the epson but perfect prints with the Canon huh ? I was thinking you might have had your color management set up strangley but since it works on you other printer it must have been the Epson,, you did spend some money to find that out though it seems thanks for commenting !! I thought about returning mine to epson but Ive had it for a while and it would probably cost as much to have them fix it as it would to just get another different one, so thats what Im leaning towards, probably a Canon as well

Some money!!

most expensive printer I ever bought.

Over £300 for the printer, then £40 on an ink system, another £250 on a second printer, followed by £900 for a new computer and then £100 this weekend for the canon, not to mention what I have wasted on ink and paper.

I thought I was quite bright, but this printer has just plain beaten me and I have no idea why.

[poliwog]

427: What did you use to calibrate your monitor? Who did you consult about your problems? I have never had problems like yours from at least a half-dozen Epsons. What settings did you use? What settings are you using on the Canon? And why the devil did you throw 1490 quid away?

[427scr]

Originally Posted by poliwog

427: What did you use to calibrate your monitor? Who did you consult about your problems? I have never had problems like yours from at least a half-dozen Epsons. What settings did you use? What settings are you using on the Canon? And why the devil did you throw 1490 quid away?

Tones a bit harsh isn't it?

The problem is not with the monitor, it has to be the printer. Eveything I did over 3 years resulted in crappy purple prints that looked milky.

I just plugged the Canon in direct from the box and it was perfect.

Wasn't my choice to throw away £1490 that's just the way it panned out, I'm not made of money.

[Songman45]

Originally Posted by poliwog

427: What did you use to calibrate your monitor? Who did you consult about your problems? I have never had problems like yours from at least a half-dozen Epsons. What settings did you use? What settings are you using on the Canon? And why the devil did you throw 1490 quid away?

Has it not entered your mind that the possiblity exists that the printer is faulty? Occasionally, even great manafactures build a bad unit. If it weren't for defects in materials and workmanship, we would not need warranties.

Steve