Epson R2880 woes.

woof woof

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Alan
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I think I'm going to take an axe to something but I'm not sure if I should kill my pc or my printer.

I used to have a HP Compaq lap top running Window XT and a HP printer and everything was fine apart from constant paper feed problems with the HP to the point that it was regularly taking me two or three attempts to get a complete usable print.

So...I now have a Fuji Siemens lap top running Vista and an Epson R2880.

The problem I have is that all of my prints are way too dark, they look like they were taken at dusk. I don't want to have to boost the brightness for printing as it'll all be guess work. I've looked at a calibration chart and all of the shades are visible and what I see on my camera display pretty much matches what I see on my pc screen and they both pretty much match the scene as I saw it...but when I print them out they're too dark.

I've pretty much given up printing pictures now because of all the problems and now I only print stuff out when someone wants a print but to be honest I'm embarrassed by them. I took a load of shots yesterday and when I've come to print them out the results are just way too dark.

I had this a couple of months ago and I tried downloading a new printer driver and factory resetting the lap top and that did seem to improve things - slightly - but the prints are still way too dark and I'm very disappointed with them.

So...is it likely to be the printer or something to do with the lap top? I only have one of each so I can't really pin the problem down.

I might add that the Robot at Epson tech support was as much use as a chocolate fire guard.

If it's the printer can anyone suggest another A3 printer which will plug in and work without making me reach for the axe?

oh, and I'm using Epson premium glossy.
 
I'm using a Canon Pro9500 Mk II with Canon Platinum paper
it produces stunning prints that are identical to what I see on the monitor

I assume you're using sRGB and not Adobe RGB colourspace?
 
Go to the Epson site and download the profiles for the 2800 and install them.

If you are using Photoshop change the profile of whatever you are printing using the tab Edit/Convert to profile and choose the Epson profile to whatever paper you are printing with.

In the print dialogue box set it to Photoshop manages colours with the printer profile set to the printer profile.

Hope this helps
 
I don't know...my brain is melting but frankly I'm sick of this.

I've just Googled Epson R2880 dark prints and it looks like it's a common problem with people tearing their hair out (like me) and trying anything and everything. Dark prints are also mentioned in several review I've just read.

Guilty as charged I think so the Epson is for the axe, and as their robot in tech support couldn't give a toss about me and my problems I'll never ever buy another Epson product.

It looks like this pile of crap has been an utter waste of money.

I think I'll buy a Canon but I'll buy one from my local camera shop and hopefully they'll let me do a print before I buy.

PS. Epson profiles are installed and I've read complaints from readers and reviewers that they aren't accurate and produce dark prints. Frankly I don't have the knowledge, time or inclination to put more time and effort into this printer. I just want something that works.

Rant over, sorry!
 
I use the HP9180 and it has been great for almost two years. No problems at all (touch wood!).

Chris :)
 
I have no real brand loyalty so I think I'll just buy what looks like a good deal but I'll want to try it in the shop first. I hope this is possible at my local camera dealer.

The Epson can go on ebay.
 
I have an Epson R2880 and got rid of my Canon Pixma Pro 9000 as it was printing too dark. When the Epson arrived it also printed too dark!

After some very expensive months of trying all sorts of things I finally realised that my backlit screen on my Macbook Pro was set far too bright (even though it's calibrated). The brightness far exceeds anything you can get from paper, even those papers which use optical brighteners.

So now when I'm printing, reduce the brightness of my screen, get the image looking right at that brightness and print - nigh on perfect prints every time. Still a pain because the brightness needs to be turned up again afterwards as it's too dim for every day usage. I think the issue is that the screens nowadays are really built for multimedia (HD video for example). That's a world apart from printing to paper.

Also, pay attention the brightness and light you are viewing the images under both when processing and when printed. It can make quite a difference.
 
Two Questions for the OP

Have you calibrated your Monitor

Have you calibrated your Printer

If your output from the printer dosent match what you see on screen then something is out of calibration.

Also what is your printing work flow, you may be doing something silly like double profiling.

What software package are you printing through.

If you are using Photoshop try the following

In Photoshop, set colour control to Printer Manages Colour

In the Epson Printer Driver select Auto and make sure you select EPGPP for the paper and do a test print, what does it look like

The Epson range of printer will give a very good picture in auto mode, if it dosent then you have something set wrong.


Paul
 
I trust that this is the same printer that this thread refers to

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=181901

If so to update (THE ABOVE THREAD referring to mates Epson Printer)

I took the printer and set it up with my Mac and it prints very close to perfect. The print driver is the Guten driver and no calibrations of monitor took place. Basically straight out of the box plug in and print with prints that were acceptable.

From the thread listed above my mate tried it with his Vista machine with the result being dark prints, then did a clean install of Vista with the same result. He then tried it on an XP home system same result again "dark prints". Basically everything he tried it with gave him dark prints apart from my Mac.

Epson have like you say been as much use as a Chocolate Fireguard

If you know someone with a mac plug it in and see

Cheers
 
I have used a number of Epson printers for quite a few years and only ever used Windows, I have never had problems getting a good print out of an epson printer with anything other than auto printing

At the moment using an old R360 and Windows 7 without any problems.
 
I have used a number of Epson printers for quite a few years and only ever used Windows, I have never had problems getting a good print out of an epson printer with anything other than auto printing

At the moment using an old R360 and Windows 7 without any problems.

which driver are you using?
 
I've exactly the same problem with my HP printer (8250). Used to work OK, but I did something unknown and now I just get dark prints. Tried all the settings changes listed above, and when I finally got round to calibrating my screen I find it is way too bright. I am unable to turn brightness down as the controls just don't seem to work. So I'd like to blame my pc (running Vista) but I remember when it used to work perfectly so have nagging doubts.
 
I had the same problem when i got my R2880. Prints were too dark compared to onscreen. After doing a lot of Googling and reading up, it was down to the monitor being set too bright.

Got myself a Spyder Elite and calibrated my screen and set the luminance to 120cd (apparently this is the recommended number). Before this it was about 350 (Mac Screen - waaaay bright).

Prints now pretty much match whats on the screen, at first the screen does look quite warm (yellow) but i'm guessing this is correct as my prints match. Just had a photobook printed too and they also match the screen bob on.
 
Running a 2880 on a iMac. Calibrated system using Ilford Galarie paper. Brightness set to 130 Cd/m2 .No problems at all


Have found though that the Epson profile for Matte Heavyweight,does give a darker print. Nothing horrendous but not a screen match ( Ran the same print using the Galerie profile , almost as good as the Ilford print.. Go Figure)

I would try dropping the screen brightness on the laptop. My MacBook Pro laptop was also way to bright, I get 130 Cd/M2 aprox with the brightness down by 4 notches.
 
Time for another rant I think...

I don't want to turn my screen brightness down.

I've looked at calibration charts and I can see all of the graduations I'm supposed to be able to see and that's good enough for me. I just don't see why I should turn the brightness down so that I have to lighten my images so that this Epson will give me a half decent print.

Even if my monitor was too bright my exposures would all still need to be off to produce dark prints and how come I've suddenly become crap at exposure since I bought an Epson printer? And of course there's always the fact that I didn't have this problem with the HP, unless I've just forgotten what a good exposure is since I stopped using that printer.

I'm convinced that it's a set up issue of some sort but I'm struggling to understand why the world has to change to accommodate Epson.

I've honestly run out of ideas with this printer. The mid tones are way too dark and I just can't see why. If I get the chance I'll see if someone younger and more tolerant of software settings can have a look at it for me and if not I'll pray that the next £500 or so gets me a printer that doesn't want to rule the world and simply works.

Thing is, I've done so many test prints that I'm running out of ink again and now face a decision, do I buy more ink or stop throwing good money after bad into this printer.

I'll lay down in a darkened room and think...:thumbsdown:(y):thumbsdown:
 
Instead of ranting why not take the time to answere som of the questions asked by those taking the time to try and help.

Epsons do not give bad prints unless they are faulty, why do you think they sell so many.

It is more likely to be something wrong with either the way you have your system set up or the way you print.

If you don't tell us how you do it we cannot help.
 
woof woof

If you are not prepared to recalibrate your monitor, why not just alter the print brightness in the epson printer driver & let the printer sort it out for you & not letting photoshop control the settings. You might need to do a few tests but once done can be saved in the driver settings for your paper & ink preferences

Regards Toonie
 
Make sure you have the latest Epson drivers.

Make sure you're not double profiling.

Check your using the correct profile.

Does your screen match prints purchased online/instore ?
 
Time for another rant I think...

I don't want to turn my screen brightness down.

I've looked at calibration charts and I can see all of the graduations I'm supposed to be able to see and that's good enough for me. I just don't see why I should turn the brightness down so that I have to lighten my images so that this Epson will give me a half decent print.

Even if my monitor was too bright my exposures would all still need to be off to produce dark prints and how come I've suddenly become crap at exposure since I bought an Epson printer? And of course there's always the fact that I didn't have this problem with the HP, unless I've just forgotten what a good exposure is since I stopped using that printer.

I'm convinced that it's a set up issue of some sort but I'm struggling to understand why the world has to change to accommodate Epson.

I've honestly run out of ideas with this printer. The mid tones are way too dark and I just can't see why. If I get the chance I'll see if someone younger and more tolerant of software settings can have a look at it for me and if not I'll pray that the next £500 or so gets me a printer that doesn't want to rule the world and simply works.

Thing is, I've done so many test prints that I'm running out of ink again and now face a decision, do I buy more ink or stop throwing good money after bad into this printer.

I'll lay down in a darkened room and think...:thumbsdown:(y):thumbsdown:
I think you're just missing the point or simply refusing to accept the reality of what the answer is.

Btw, I can guarantee you that I had the same issue on both my Epson R2880 and my Canon Pixma 9000 Mk 2 - so I'm not sure why you think the world has to accomodate Epson.

Some examples

http://www.canonpro9000.com/
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t29974.html
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t31532.html
 
Dark prints is a bit vague term. If you use Photoshop can you match the screen to print and make a note of how many exposure units you need to adjust the image by to get the screen to match the print.

As I said earlier i have found the Epson profiles I have used gave darker prints than I expected, whilst Illford paper and profiles gave a very good match. Try using Ilford .
Galerie Smooth pearl profile and see the difference. You don't need to make large prints so see the effect, 1/4 A4 will tell you quickly enough.

Also how have you calibrated you display ?
 
I am sorry to rant guys...but I am very frustrated with this printer.

Note that I say "printer" but maybe I should add pc and software to the mix as my previous printer and computer gave good prints without me needing to boost image brightness post capture to achieve an acceptable print.

What I meant by the world changing to accommodate Epson is that this seems to be a common problem with Epson printers and lots of people seem to be spending a lot of time trying to correct it, and the "dark print" issue is also mention in reputable on line reviews I've read.

I'm sure that it isn't a monitor calibration problem, at least in my case. I've been taking pictures for decades now and I just can't and will not accept that all of my exposures are way off with all of my 5 digital cameras since I bought this Epson to the point that I'll have to turn my monitor brightness down and boost the brightness of my images in Photoshop to get a good print.

I'm convinced that it's a paper / profile / setup problem and not an exposure or monitor problem. I should be able to take a shot and print it out with no post processing what so ever and get a pretty accurate rendition of the scene I photographed. Simples.

I tried again last night with improved results...just by playing with the software / driver settings and not boosting image brightness at all. The fact that I got some improvement proves to my satisfaction that the problem I have is nothing to do with my exposure or my screen brightness and everything to do with software settings, profiles and paper compatibility.

I've been using two test prints on the same piece of A4 paper, one is a high detail shallow dof flower shot (which I have a print of produced with my previous pc and printer) and the other is a high contrast beach scene. I got to the point where the high contrast scene is good with good detail visible in the shadow and midtones but at this point the flower shot deteriorated with a distinct colour shift but I'm hoping that this is due to a low ink cartridge. I've got some more on order and I'll do some more test prints when they arrive.

If I can't sort this out PDQ I'll shift away from Epson Premium Glossy and try another brand of paper and profile as I've got to the point now where I'm pretty convinced that the printer is capable of good quality images if the right profile and software settings are used.

Thanks all.
 
"i have found the Epson profiles I have used gave darker prints than I expected, whilst Illford paper and profiles gave a very good match. Try using Ilford...."

Thanks. I'm convinced now that I am the right track and I may change paper / profile once I've done some more prints with new ink.
 
I use an Epson R800, Windows 7 and Lightroom and the prints come out too dark, even after I have calibrated both the printer (Spyder3Print) and Monitors (Spyder3Pro). Its a very common problem with the R800, 1800, 1900, 2880 and no-one can explain it or why.

The only way I have found a way round it was to edit the Epson icc profiles in Spyder3Print adding +5 to the brightness, now they come out as per screen.

Spyder3Print isnt cheap but I can calibrate even the cheapest of glossy papers and they come out perfect (how long the ink sticks to them is another matter :LOL: )
 
Thanks for the tip.

I can't wait for my new ink to arrive now so I can get this sorted :LOL:

I think that my order of things should be -

Try again with my current set up once I have new ink. If that doesn't work...
Try new paper and profiles...

but...I like the idea of being able to use any paper so I might have a look at Spyder3Print.

Thanks.
 
I should also mention i get better results using Ilford paper and profiles than i do with the Epson paper and profile i have.

I have thought about the Spyder3Print so i can get spot on results from any paper but at the minute can't justify the cost.
 
Yeah, the cost...but at least you can use it with any printer or paper. And it comes in a nice case...:LOL:

I take it that it's possible to both build a profile and edit an existing one with this software?
 
I use an Epson R800, Windows 7 and Lightroom and the prints come out too dark, even after I have calibrated both the printer (Spyder3Print) and Monitors (Spyder3Pro). Its a very common problem with the R800, 1800, 1900, 2880 and no-one can explain it or why.

The only way I have found a way round it was to edit the Epson icc profiles in Spyder3Print adding +5 to the brightness, now they come out as per screen.

Spyder3Print isnt cheap but I can calibrate even the cheapest of glossy papers and they come out perfect (how long the ink sticks to them is another matter :LOL: )

If after profiling with the Spyder3Print and Spyder3Pro you are still getting dark prints then sorry you are not doing it properly, Correct Profiling will correct for printer errors, so if its still wrong after profiling you are doing something wrong.
 
Back to OP, please show your print work flow

What software are you printing from, ie Photoshop

How do you have the Print software set up, Colour management etc

How do you set up the epson print driver

When you say you use Epsons paper profiles, do you mean the ones built into the printer driver or seperate ones that you have to load in Photoshop.

Are you doing somthing silly like double profiling, ie Convert to profile in photoshop and then use the same profile to print.

We need to know these things to find out what you are doing wrong.
 
Hi Paul,

Thanks but I think I'm on the right track now, I hope so anyway.

It would take a long time to list all of the various options and settings but I'm printing from CS2 and also direct from Vista, both using the profile downloaded from Epson. It would be nice to get both (CS2 and Vista) working. I'm pretty shure I'm not double profiling or using two sets of colour management or anything like that.

As soon as I get my new inks I'll have another go and report back but I'm very hopeful of making progress as things were definately getting better before the ink ran out.
 
I've had some success.

Basically I waded through the various settings and double checked everything and did a test print every time I changed something.

I can now get pretty good prints from CS2 but annoyingly it's a bit of a compromise between dark prints / acceptable prints and a weird colour shift that seems to affect some shots. Also, occasionally, all of the sliders (saturation etc...) in the print preferences seem to randomly migrate to the far right and I therefore have to check if they've moved or not before printing. Weird. But I suppose we have to accept and live with the unexpected with modern computers and software.

I've had less luck with printing direct from Vista and I can't see why as it surely uses the same printer driver and profile and yet I get different results than CS2 gives.

I'm still convinced that the basic problem is Epson's paper profile and I may switch brands once I've used up my current paper stock.

The main thing is that I'm happy with my latest batch of prints.

I still think that this is a major PITA and if / when this Epson printer fails I can't at this moment in time see me buying another Epson product. I never had this faff on with my HP, I just plugged it in and it printed, although it did have constant paper feed problems, nothing's perfect!
 
Did you ever try the fully automated method.

I have always found this gives a very good basic start and often find it gives a fully calibrated system a run for its money, even when printing from windows picture viewer through windows 7.

Go on give it a try, No colour Management from your software and printer driver set to auto.

Just a thought are you using genuine epson inks, are you sure they are genuine. Most of the genuine epson inks sold on eBay are counterfit.
 
"No colour management" does give pretty good results with some pictures, Gamma 1.8 helps too. So far I've been avoiding moving the sliders to lighten images but I suppose if I get a problem image that's an option.

BTW, I'm using inks bought from Epson.

I really can't see what the problem is with Window's Vista prints but it does give me different results to CS2. It would be nice to be able to print from Windows as opening CS2 and creating a new canvas and resizing images, dragging and positioning etc can be a right faff on if I just want a couple of prints running off on the same A4 sheet.
 
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