epson printer color off help somebody

[cathy]

Can someone tell me what is wrong....I have a hp and epson both.
the gray on the hp prints out gray and on the (new) epson 4600 the gray prints out pink.. will not even talk about scanning a photo/print from epson.
I have a zerox laser, hp and epson...ready to throw epson in the trash...
I have downloaded all drivers, ink shows half full, cleaned heads.
I have envision flat screen shows gray and matches hp printer. :evil:
If I even think about another printer darling husband commit me.

[Jodi Frye]

the 4600...that is an all in one ? What kind of paper are you using ? If it is the model I'm looking at here you should be using DURABrite® Ink Glossy Photo Paper for the Epson ' DURABrite ' ink on that particular model. It might also be a case of old stale ink which will no doubt give you a lousy print.

[cathy]

It is the all in one... I have tried everything here....
The ink may be the problem, it is what came with it.
My printer is new but ready to throw it out.
I have read everything there is no updates etc for this model.
I am using regular paper at this time trying to get color correct.
Will keep at it. Thanks

[Jodi Frye]

cathy, ya ya need to go get some fresh ink. There is no telling how long the ink has been sitting in your printer. What kind of settings do you have for your printer...can you grab some screen shots to post ?

[Pauline]

:( Well Cathy I have to tell you that I also have the Epson 4600 and sure was NOT impressed with it when after printing a couple of times, I needed to clean the print heads. I would put a sheet of photo paper in and it came out terrible. I do the print check and discover that one of the inks wasn't printing properly. Clean the heads (once it took about 5 attempts to get ALL the inks going) , print and everything is fine. I didn't use my printer for a couple of days and SAME ISSUE!! I turned off my printer (by the printer) after each use, as I don't use it that often. Epson advised that it should be turned off by the printer as this allows the ink cartridge to dock properly and keep from drying out and should be turned off if not using. After the second time I called them (by now furious because I bought all new ink and same problem!) they replaced the whole thing. The new one came by Purolator and it was charged to my visa until I shipped the old one back. Seeings how I had just put new ink in it, I ended up doing a ton of printing and priming the new printer, before putting the cartridges back in and sending the printer back to them. As long as I was printing constantly no problem. Anyways, so far so good. Call customer service!! If there is a problem they should replace it NO CHARGE!

One thing I did notice. If I changed the print to PRINTER setting rather than source, the print was a lousey colour match.

Hope this long winded post helps you!! They need to know if their printer is bad! I love all the other features but was ready to go back to my old HP. Like you I was fed up and furious.

[Mary]

I think some of the problem with the all inones is that they can't really do any one thing well. Where I worked we refused to purchase any more for either work stations or computer labs. They were hard to keep aligned, went through ink far too quickly and on the network they would disappear.

We tried both HP and Epson all inones and neither were successful. Maybe they have come a long way in the last year but I remain gun shy.

[Jodi Frye]

Actually if i may step in here without upsetting anyone...All-In-Ones are meant for basic home office tasks. Definietly not meant for anyone serious about printing photos. They 'can' print photos...any printer can...doing it well is the key. Investing in a Photo Printer ( which will also print text etc...) is by far a better all around solution.

Steve's Digicams has a wonderful site devoted to photo enthusiasts...here is the link to the photo printers...everything you need to know about individual models. Not a complete list...which would be kind of difficult for any site to keep track of since the companies are spittin' them out so quickly;


http://www.steves-digicams.com/printers.html

PS I bought the Epson 785 epx back in early 2002 and spent about $ 149 for it. It hasn't let me down...exceptional photo quality prints. I will always buy Epson Photo printers.

[Pauline]

Well thanks Jodi. Where were you back in Dec. when I bought the new computer, all in one printer.........oh yes, that's right, that was also BEFORE purchasing pse!! This printer will just HAVE to do!! I don't print tons of photos anyway and just use it as general purpose. I will check out that site though. Thanks!

[Jodi Frye]

Pauline, if you only plan on printing a photo here and there then your printer will be fine...actually, there are some all in ones that cost about 4 times more that will print a decent photo...but who can afford it ? Your model uses Dura Brite inks and is suggested to use the dura bright photo paper for it. Paper really does make a difference when it comes to Epson printers. Are there any 'advanced' settings in the printer preferences ?

[Pauline]

Thanks Jodi. I am using Epson Premium Glossy, and didn't realize there was a special "durabrite" paper. I will have to watch for it.

Yes there are advanced settings but I wouldn't have a clue about it. Colour controls is checked and then there is photo enhance and ICM

The gamma setting (what ever that is????) has options of 1.5 1.8 and 2.2
1.8 is the one checked.

I guess I have so much more to learn! It's an neverending process to say the least.

I recently received an honourable mention for a photo of my dog that was judged by professional photographers. It was printed on this printer, so the quality must be pretty good.

[cathy]

Well I ended up last night putting my camera card in my Hp printer and printed from there. I may have a back ground that I didn't want but at least the color was correct. I don't know if I am fed up with photo elements or the epson printer...Once I had the epson working ok, I went to print on the hp and it was .........out of whack ! I just don't undersand why I can't get this straighten out. I downloaded what epson told me to. Still dark..You turn
color mamagment off on adobe then on printer and then change it all around again. I have had it...
:roll:

[Pauline]

Cathy, when you go to print in ps at the bottom of the print page there is a "more options" box. Click on that and see what is selected. I use "same as source" and seem to get closest to what I see on the screen. When I changed it and choose the Epson the print came out really dark compared to the other one.

Like you I also had an HP, and I think it's just a matter of getting used to all the different options. It's taking me a while, but I'm slowly learning. I also learned about choosing borderless prints and that it enlarges the photo and ends up cropping it a bit! There is a slider to adjust how much gets cropped, but it appears on a different screen from the borderless option!! You have to go to the page layout screen to adjust it. I found that out the hard way from many posts to this list regarding a problem I had with a border around a picture being cut off!

[Jodi Frye]

Pauline, here is a link to the Epson store

Dura brite paper;

http://tinyurl.com/5bjw8

...designed specifically for durabrite inks.

Selecting the advanced button is the way to go. I'll take some screen shots of mine later today and post them just to show you what I have and maybe yours is similar.

[Jodi Frye]

OK, I got a screenshot of the settings so perhaps you have something similar;

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1HmYwggTBLPs72lbZ4iJ4ra3Dg4E0

In Elements color settings (Edit>color settings) go ahead and select ' No color management ' for now and choose the settings in your printer preferences.

If you can get a hold of some dura brite photo paper then that is definietly the best way to go to acheive the best print possible from your particular printer. Choosing 720 dpi is probably going to give you a good print. The higher you go with these settings the better the print but the more ink you will use up. I have never gone above the 1440 setting here only because I am cheap and suspect that the higher setting is more than I actually need. For smaller images in album pages the 720 is plenty enough.

[Jodi Frye]

PS, those were just 'basic' settings to get a good print....my particular model has a handful of different settings as well depending on which button I click...and I suspect yours does as well...but stick with the basics for now.

[Pauline]

Hi Jodi. My settings were some what similiar. I don't get to choose the dpi. It has economy, draft, normal, fine, photo and best photo. I will go into the elements and chnge the color setting to no management though and see what happens.

I am using Epson Premium Glossy Photo,. I bought a 100 4 x 6 pack on sale, but will watch for the Durabrite for those "treasured" photos and buy it from now on. I'm learning so much from this forum and the books I'm reading, I'm surprised my brain hasn't exploded yet! LOL

Also I saw your web site and loved your digital work. Cool colours and ideas. Thanks for the help.

[Jodi Frye]

Pauline, i can't quite remember the dpi settings for your printer at the moment but I would assume that the ' Photo setting' and 'best photo setting' would be the only 2 that would concern you....when it comes to printing photos anyways. I really do suspect you'll get a better print by using the durabrite paper but go ahead and use what you have for now...at least until you can find some. If you have a STAPLES or Office Max in your area then that would be the places I'd check on first. I'm almost positive I saw the durabrite paper in Office Max. Anyways, I'm pretty sure you'll be satisfied...eventually :) ...I certianly don't want to push you out to spend money and time !

PS, thanks for lookin at my site...I'm really not feelin that good about it tho. It needs updating badly. So many things to do and so little hours in the day ! And I'm sick...I hate being sick :(

[Pauline]

Yes, we have a Staples and they have a good selection. I will look next time I'm out now that I know there is a difference!

My next mission is getting my own web site going for my paintings! I've done a little work on it, and I'm currently working on fixing up and resizing my pictures to put on. Then after March break I will be working through my frontpage tutorials!! I know what you mean by too little time in a day! LOL As an artist/crafter I think that we just have way too much we want to accomplish. It's addictive. Having photoshop has just added to my addition and I haven't been painting! My husband keeps asking me when I'm going to go back to work (after 16 years at home). I tell him I don't have time! LOL I've just got way to much to accomplish.

Hope you're feeling better soon and thanks so much for your help. I love this forum! I am currently working through the techniques magazine. I've read it and now it's time to do the steps. It helps me to remember, and I am learning!!

Next purchase...........a tablet!! I have to have one. I did the signature save and then was checking out all the brushes.. I could do so much better with a pen than the mouse. I could also use a shoulder massage......to much time at the computer. :lol:

[Jodi Frye]

Pauline, if you want to skip Frontpage there are a couple of different generators that will put your images into a nice gallery thumbnail type setting. All you need is webspace...it generates the files and ya just load them..simple as pie.

I use Photothumb(as in my website galleries);

http://photothumb.com/



but I also found this one that looks interesting...and it's free !

http://jalbum.net/

Anyways, just a thought

[Pauline]

thanks Jodi, I know there are sites that do that, but I have front page and I decided I was going to learn it! LOL I bought the book and I will follow through. Front page actually does have a photo gallery which does all the thumbnails for you to, so it really isn't that bad. The hardest part is deciding how I want my site to look, and since I have the first two pages done, my theme is picked and so far doesn't look to bad.

[Jodi Frye]

Pauline, great ! More power to ya !! I too have frontpage but haven't bothered with it...obviously I don't have what it takes to attempt it :)
I choose my battles.... :lol:

[Mary]

I love Front Page and have created many sites with it. I used to teach it and I found that most people were very successful after following just a few simple rules.

The most important one I stressed is probably true about everything and that is Organization. Make sure you start a file structure that will really work well into the future. The other is put all your images in an images folder before you start. Lots of people would create a path to an image on their own computer and of course the web could never open that image and people would see a little red x. If you always publish your web and the images are all in the images folder you will never fail!

Good Luck and I hope you enjoy FrontPage as much as I do - what version are you using btw?

[Pauline]

I have front page 2003. I knew that I had to put the images in a folder as I asked for help regarding the gallery and how it works. So right now I am editing and resizing and putting them in a folder which will when I'm done be brought into the front page site.

I purchased the step by step book from Microsoft Press and in a couple weeks when March break is over I will go through it and then continue on with my site. Hopefully saving myself from making any errors.

Thanks Mary

[Jodi Frye]

Pauline, look what your printer CX 4600 has;

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supAdvice.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&type=highlights&noteoid=48205

....I know nothin' about it :wink:
Just thought I'd show you.

[Pauline]

Thanks Jodi, I had read that before, but still don't seem to trust it! I have had a few things print wrong when I didn't go and check in properties to make sure the settings were right. Of course some of it could have been my error too as I'm still getting used to thinks. As a default this printer is set up to print landscape and I always have to remember to change it! When I don't want this option.

Ah well. Like anything new, it takes getting used to. Lots of learning to do regarding what it can and can't do.