Troubleshoot: Epson 3880 Printing Dark?

[neil poulsen]

A few days ago, I began on a recent printing project with my 3880, and I noticed that it was printing dark. Typically, I have a much closer match between screen and print. I've been using the standard Epson 3880 driver, and it's been working fine. I know my color management is in place, and I have my screen brightness set to the level indicated during my calibrations. So, I dramatically decreased my brightness to get some semblance of matching screen to print. And, I cranked up the brightness of my images to get decent printing.

Post project, I tried printing an image that has always printed well, and it's quite dark. As a check, I trashed the printer profile and downloaded a fresh profile (Hahnemuhle FA Baryta). No change. I reset the printer defaults. No change.

The color seems fine, just printing dark. Thinking that the printer might be delivering too much ink, or too much black (?), I cut back on the Color Density setting from 0 to -25, and while a bit thin on color, the print looks much better. Not dark.

I suppose I could play with the density setting and maybe get better results. But, I'm concerned that something has changed. I've always used the default Color Density setting of 0. For some reason, I suspect that my Epson 3880 is suddenly delivering too much ink, either overall or in the black.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what I may be encountering would be appreciated. I've had this printer for a few years, and it's always performed flawlessly. Given all the periods of non-use, it actually hasn't had that much use.

[paulr]

Are you comparing to your screen or to a print that you've made in the past from the same file?

[neil poulsen]

Are you comparing to your screen or to a print that you've made in the past from the same file?

Good question: definitely to a print. And, it's not just a bit dark; it's obviously dark.

It's possible it's a color management issue; but, it seems unlikely. As I've indicated, all be it dark, the color fidelity is acceptable.

There's a fair number of 3880 users on the forum, I was wondering if someone has experienced a similar problem?

[Ken Lee]

If the printer sits idle for a while, it's important that we remove the cartridges and shake them up a bit. Otherwise the ink settles and what we get may be rather... surprising

It's also important to run the printer through a calibration/cleaning cycle for the same reason.

[neil poulsen]

If the printer sits idle for a while, it's important that we remove the cartridges and shake them up a bit. Otherwise the ink settles and what we get may be rather... surprising

It's also important to run the printer through a calibration/cleaning cycle for the same reason.

Consider me surprised.

This sounds like the problem I'm having. In previous sessions after I've let it sit, I've not had a problem. On the other hand, the ink is low, and I'm still on the original set. (Or, perhaps not to a noticeable degree?) I'll give this a try. Your reasoning sure fits the circumstances.

Ken, thanks for your post.

[sanking]

Have you printed a nozzle check recently? Sounds like some kind of color management issue, perhaps due to change in OS or PS.


Sandy

[paulr]

I print a nozzle check before every print job. The 3880 is quite resistant to clogs, but it's always worth this extra step. I just keep a stack of used office paper for this and do the test pattern on the back.

If you can eliminate the possibility of clogs, separated ink, and color management problems, I'd suggested calling Epson. You shouldn't have to mess with those density controls, unless maybe you're creating a setting for an unusual paper type.

[neil poulsen]

I will do the nozzle check. (Thanks.) It was kind of out of my thinking, because I've never before had to.

The paper I've been using is a straight forward gloss paper, Hahnemulhe Fine Art Baryta that I've used successfully many times.

I'm less inclined to think that it's color management problems, since the colors are good. Just dark. Note that I downloaded fresh profiles after deleting the profiles on my system.

One thing, I have both CS4 PS and CS3 PS. Not recalling with which I generally print, I was printing with CS4 PS. But, it went buggy and extended the printing process (back & forth, back & forth) long after the image had been printed. (Weird! On and on.) This problem stopped, when I switched printing to CS3 PS. Note that the darkening problem exists with both CS3 PS and CS4 PS.

[Ken Lee]

When be purchases house paint by the can, we usually have someone at the store put the paint on a machine which stirs the paint, because the solids precipitate to the bottom of the can while the solvent rises up to the top.

Inkjet cartridges are similar to cans of paint but their outlets are at the bottom where the material is thickest.

This suggests that if we allow the ink to settle, we will print with a comparatively thicker paste which is likely to be darker than ink dissolved in solvent to the correct proportion.

[Preston]

Neil,

Check to make sure your most current monitor and paper profiles are listed in Photoshop's Proof Setup.

Go to View>Proof Setup>Custom. In the box that appears, open the dropdown list, "Device to Simulate". Your profiles should be listed there. Also, for your paper profile(s), be sure that Preserve RGB Numbers is unchecked, Your preferred 'Rendering Intent' is set, and "Black Point Compensation is checked.

You could also check to see if your monitor's luminance is too high. Create a new canvas in Photoshop. It should be pure white. Enlarge it so it mostly fills the screen. Next, hold a piece of you printing paper next to screen. You'll see right away if you screen luminance is too high.

I don't know if any of this will help, but it may aid in your tracking down the cause of your dark prints.

--P