Printing issues

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mojo1
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:34 pm

Hi, recently I have been having problems printing out Mb4 files of brick and stone paper, getting some awful casts, and inconsistent colours. It may be that my printer (once a very nice Epson R800) is on the way out, but before I take drastic action can I ask a question? When you recommend matte photo paper and "best" settings do I let the printer handle the output with it's software, or do I go for no colour management in the preferences section? I had been using no colour adjustment and that had seemed to be okay but I'm wondering if something hasn't hijacked the colour management process and is imposing another set of instructions on the printer. I'm not looking to you for a solution to my particular problem but some advice from you re the settings you go for might help me work out this issue.
Many thanks.
evande
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 6:00 pm

Hi Mojo
The Epson R800 is a nice printer. Epson ink nozzles do tend to get clogged though. Even when the cartridges do not indicate they are empty, a clog will make print outs come out badly or "mottled".
Here is a link to the Epson R800 support page on Epson's website
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/supp ... ?oid=30501
I suggest you first check the date of the driver available for download based on your operating system.
See if updating your driver does some good.
Next try the troubleshooting portion. Here are the instructions for printing a nozzle check pattern
http://files.support.epson.com/htmldocs ... uttons%20b and after you see the nozzle check you can see what steps they recommend if any color is not printing correctly.

Color management is not normally necessary as you said you had fine print outs when you did not select it in the past.
Evan Designs
mojo1
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Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:54 am

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I already had the updated driver, even reinstalling it, while the test pattern shows that it is printing fine. That's why I think it may be a software problem. Never mind. Difficulty is that I built some railway workers cottages, where the print was fine, but I didn't produce enough to cover the surrounding retaining walls! Now I can't get a match. Will remember next time to print out enough for likely needs. That is, if I can get the printer to print something somewhere near realistic!
Thanks again.
SRV Ron
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Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:02 am

I have had this problem with my Epson as well on some projects in the past.

I fixed it by doing the following;

1. Print the picture as a PDF file. Save as 300 or 600 dpi. PrimoPDF is a free PDF printer conversion program that gives good results. It functions just like a Windows printer.
2. Load the saved PDF file into a paint program such as Paint Shop Pro Photo X or Photoshop. Load the file at 300dpi or higher.
3. Print as normal from the paint program.

If the print comes out normal, then it may be a Model Builder issue with the Epson driver. If not, the Epson is not printing properly.

Matt paper from Epson, Staples, and Sams Club works just fine on my Epson printer.

My reason for printing the picture to pdf and loading into PSP is so that I can use the features of the paint program to finish my work and use the paper space more efficiently.
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