Printing/profiling question (Epson R200/210)

  • Thread starter Thread starter M i c C u l l e n
  • Start date Start date
M

M i c C u l l e n

G'day all.

I'm trying to print some photos out for a competition. (Although that's
not really important, I just want to do this right.)

I'm using Qimage to print my images, but the images I get are dark
compared to my monitor.

The images (mostly people - all taken with a Canon 10D) are prepared in
PSCS on a 19" (Viewmaster VM-705??) monitor profiled with a
Gretag-MacBeth Display One. (Redone last week, Matrox G400MAX card.)

The printer is an Epson R200/210 - I'm using OEM ink, Epson Premium
Glossy Photo Paper and Ilford Smooth Pearl Paper. (Both seem to be
similar using the same profile.)

The profile I've used for both is the Epson provided Premium Glossy
Photo Paper setting, along with 'Best Photo'.

High speed, Grayscale, Edge Smoothing, Print Preview is off
Color management = 'color controls'
Gamma=1.8
Color Mode = Epson Standard

Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow = 0

Profile screen capture. (with the brightness cranked - apart from that,
it's as was suggested by Duncan based on his R300.)
http://www.cross.com.au/graphics/epson_profile/profile.html

Problem - the prints are usable, but dark. (Same with each paper, but
I'm using the Epson paper for testing for consistency.) Even if I crank
the brightness to +25 (max), the prints are better, but still darker
than they should be.

If I crank the Gamma down to 1.5 it helps, but I figure that's not
really solving the problem, just masking it. (Feel free to tell me I'm
wrong - printing has given me a huge number of new ways to be wrong...)

Anything I'm missing here? (I'm sure it's something simple...) Or should
I just bite the bullet and get a custom profile made up? (ie are the
Epson profiles any good - I would have thought they'd do a good job, but
what do I know?)
 
M i c C u l l e n said:
G'day all.

I'm trying to print some photos out for a competition. (Although that's
not really important, I just want to do this right.)

I'm using Qimage to print my images, but the images I get are dark
compared to my monitor.

The images (mostly people - all taken with a Canon 10D) are prepared in
PSCS on a 19" (Viewmaster VM-705??) monitor profiled with a
Gretag-MacBeth Display One. (Redone last week, Matrox G400MAX card.)

The printer is an Epson R200/210 - I'm using OEM ink, Epson Premium
Glossy Photo Paper and Ilford Smooth Pearl Paper. (Both seem to be
similar using the same profile.)

The profile I've used for both is the Epson provided Premium Glossy
Photo Paper setting, along with 'Best Photo'.

High speed, Grayscale, Edge Smoothing, Print Preview is off
Color management = 'color controls'
Gamma=1.8
Color Mode = Epson Standard

Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow = 0

Profile screen capture. (with the brightness cranked - apart from that,
it's as was suggested by Duncan based on his R300.)
http://www.cross.com.au/graphics/epson_profile/profile.html

Problem - the prints are usable, but dark. (Same with each paper, but
I'm using the Epson paper for testing for consistency.) Even if I crank
the brightness to +25 (max), the prints are better, but still darker
than they should be.

If I crank the Gamma down to 1.5 it helps, but I figure that's not
really solving the problem, just masking it. (Feel free to tell me I'm
wrong - printing has given me a huge number of new ways to be wrong...)

Anything I'm missing here? (I'm sure it's something simple...) Or should
I just bite the bullet and get a custom profile made up? (ie are the
Epson profiles any good - I would have thought they'd do a good job, but
what do I know?)
--
cheers, Mic (Reply address works...)

"A window of opportunity won't open itself."
- Dave Weinbaum "The One-Line Philosopher"
Click to expand...

Try the following

In Qimage select the Epson PGPP Profile instead of the canned Epson R200
profile.

In the Epson driver select No Colour Adjustment

Paul
 
Paul said:
Try the following

In Qimage select the Epson PGPP Profile instead of the canned Epson R200
profile.

In the Epson driver select No Colour Adjustment

Paul
Click to expand...


Well, here is my experience with R200 and Photoshop:

I get 95% color accurate using these settings:
Convert the picture to Adobe RGB 1998 if it's not.
Print with color management using source document (Adobe RGB 1998) space.
With Epson printer driver set to gamma = 2.2 and standard Epson color. no
other adjustments.
Tip: Enable <preview> in the Epson driver so you can see what's the approx.
brightness of the print.

I tried the following settings with poor result.
1. Converting the picture to R200 profile color space produces slightly
darker image in the PREVIEW but I haven't tried to the print with the above
mentioned Epson driver setting.
2. Using ICC with no color adjustment produces extremely dark images. It's
not recommended per Epson driver Help document anyway.
3. I have not tried out using just ICC [no color adjustment - unchecked]. I
think this may mean double color correction, but I am not sure why or it's
exact function...
4. Using gamma 1.8 and Vivid Epson color produces odd color, light green
becomes kinda yellowish. It's similar experience like browsing the internet
using a Mac and every web picture looks funny when the web is standardized
on 2.2 gamma and sRGB.
 
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