Help needed!Epson printing problems

[Matthew Forrest]

Hey Guys

Ive got myself an epson R1800 printer and using adobe photoshop CS5 ,When I have the image on the screen its looks superb,When I print the image the image is way too dark as in details are lost completely,Ive tried changing colour profile settings,cranking up the brightness ect to no joy.Im using compatible ink,However I still had the problem using genuine epson inks.Its a major anti climax.Is anyone experiencing similar problems? Or does anyone maybe know where im going wrong??

Anyones advice would be a breath of fresh air!!

Thanks!!!

[OldBoy]

Turn of colour managerment in Photoshop and let the printer do it. My guess is both are doing it.

[Matthew Forrest]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

Turn of colour managerment in Photoshop and let the printer do it. My guess is both are doing it.

Thanks Oldboy.Well ive decided im going to uninstall all the drivers,I had an epson stylus colour 3000 and I uninstalled those also.Ill install new drives direct from epson instead of letting windows install them and see how I get on!!

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by Matthew Forrest

Thanks Oldboy.Well ive decided im going to uninstall all the drivers,I had an epson stylus colour 3000 and I uninstalled those also.Ill install new drives direct from epson instead of letting windows install them and see how I get on!!

Yes, it could be driver conflict, but that normally means you can't print at all.

[Cathus]

have you calibrated your screen otherwise there is no way of knowing whether what you see on the screen is what the image actually looks like against the standard colour profiles.

You can also calibrate your printer if you have suitable calibration hardware.

[GeoffWessex]

Don't forget that the screen is backlit and looks bright - paper is plain white (usually) and doesn't 'project' the luminosity. And new monitors tend to be a little bright..... if you reduce the brightness very slightly, and adjust your image so it looks 'right' again, you'll find your prints are a little better. After that, though, there's the whole subject of colour management, paper profiles, screen calibration, monitor profiles, colour spaces.... it can be a nightmare!

[rbarry]

I recently tried to cure the same problem I've been having with my Epson printer and CS5. I found that my screen was too bright but the main problem was allowing photoshop to manage colours rather than Epson software.

From advice I looked up within the archives of this forum, I found the best way of calibrating my monitor to the output of my printer was to print off various copies of the same image , an image I know was exposed correctly, and making adjustments to both monitor and printer settings until I got the two to match.

There are technically better methods of doing this, but none that I could achieve. I am now happy with my printed results.

[PaulMontgomery]

In addition to all of the above, I've found that using the epson software 'photoquicker' gives very good results...

[Matthew Forrest]

Hi Guys

Thanks all for your response,I eventually found the problem! after several prints and ink usage I got perfect prints with the click of one button! I feel so silly I was using the printer profile for the epson stylus colour 3000 Instead of epson R1800 in the dropdown box.I changed it and everything sorted out.....Next time ill look a bit harder!!