Epson 3850 dull/pale colours?

[Joe94]

Hello, sorry for what may be a very newbie question but I have recently got myself an Epson 3850 Eco Ink (using with iMac), which is a super printer and I want to use it for the odd photo print here and there. The issue I have is when I have done a print on standard gloss 6x4 photo paper, the colours are quite pale/dull almost like there is not much saturation in the colour. (Using official ink and paper)

So question is, should I be manually changing any colour settings? Or I have read something about ICC Profiles.. not sure if this is something I need to be looking at?

I will also like to print directly from my Lightroom if possible so would like the colours to be better?

Hope this makes sense, thank in advance

 

[ecoleman]

Firstly, ensure that you are using the proper Epson driver and not Apple Air Print. The Air Print driver is a very basic driver and will not include all of the paper/ink options that the epson driver will provide.

Secondly, ensure you are choosing the correct paper type for the paper you're printing on.

Ideally, you want to be using the ICC profile for the paper and ink you'll be using. You can either download ICC profiles from the paper manufacturer or even better have one created for you.

 

[Joe94]

Firstly, ensure that you are using the proper Epson driver and not Apple Air Print. The Air Print driver is a very basic driver and will not include all of the paper/ink options that the epson driver will provide.

Secondly, ensure you are choosing the correct paper type for the paper you're printing on.

Ideally, you want to be using the ICC profile for the paper and ink you'll be using. You can either download ICC profiles from the paper manufacturer or even better have one created for you.

Thank you so much for this, really helpful indeed!

If I may ask and apologise in advance, but how would I ensure I’m using Epson Driver and not Air Print? Would I see certain settings?

 

[Box Brownie]

As it is a Small Office Home Office printer aimed at text and graphics I think you may struggle.

The datasheet alone makes no mention of or about printing photographs.......the Usain Bolt advert on the product page shows photographs being printed which may be misleading!

Every Epson printer with photos in mind has photo papers mentioned/stated on the data sheet and manuals.

Having said that I hope you can find a happy medium and some satisfactory prints.

PS also AFAIK the inkset of Pigment Black and dye Cyan, Yellow & Magenta is not one aimed at photo printing.

 

[ecoleman]

Thank you so much for this, really helpful indeed!

If I may ask and apologise in advance, but how would I ensure I’m using Epson Driver and not Air Print? Would I see certain settings?

Check in System Preferences-> Printers and Scanners then choose your printer on the left.

You should then see some information about the printer on the right. Location, Kind and Status.

If Airprint is mentioned under Kind then you are using the Airprint driver.

 

[Joe94]

As it is a Small Office Home Office printer aimed at text and graphics I think you may struggle.

The datasheet alone makes no mention of or about printing photographs.......the Usain Bolt advert on the product page shows photographs being printed which may be misleading!

Every Epson printer with photos in mind has photo papers mentioned/stated on the data sheet and manuals.

Having said that I hope you can find a happy medium and some satisfactory prints.

PS also AFAIK the inkset of Pigment Black and dye Cyan, Yellow & Magenta is not one aimed at photo printing.

Yeah I must agree with you in the advertising side of things.

As it was the printer was not actually bought with photo in mind, it was for my dads business (I do the admin), but thought I would give photos a try on it.

As you say though I’m sure it will offer a good enough image for my needs

 

[Joe94]

Check in System Preferences-> Printers and Scanners then choose your printer on the left.

You should then see some information about the printer on the right. Location, Kind and Status.

If Airprint is mentioned under Kind then you are using the Airprint driver.

Okie dokie thank you, I will definitely have a look at this