I am getting a recurring program error in CS2 when printing a rather large (660 MB - 44"x65", 340dpi) file to an Epson 9800: "Could not print <file name> because of a program error." When I (miraculously) do get the file to print, the 9800 stops half-way through the job, wasting vast amounts of paper and ink.

I have read through some posts on this forum about similar issues (particularly the print program error in CS2), and the general consensus seems to be that CS2 has memory leak/management issues when running on Rosetta (I have an Intel iMac Core2Duo, 2GB RAM, running OSX 10.4.10 and CS2 9.0.2, and the latest 9800 Epson drivers, v3.5aE). Several people suggest kluges to get around the memory leak issue, I have tried most of them and failed - the only kluge that seemed to work was pressing CTRL-OPT-ESC and exiting to the finder to open another app. CS2 then stops spooling and the Epson print window opens. Then after about 40 minutes of printing the 9800 stops half-way as described above. I am guessing this is because CTRL-OPT-ESC does not really work - it may get the 9800 to start printing but the information needed to print the whole file/image size was probably aborted.

Questions for Forum Members:

1. Has anyone found a systematic and coherent way to successfully print large files from CS2 to a 9800 on an Intel Mac?

2. Is CS3 better at printing large files to the 9800?

3. Are there any good alternative apps to print large files other than RIPs?
[Aperture? Apple Print Profile? Note I extensively use custom color profiles under CS2 color management and Epson's Adv. B&W driver routines - the quality is great and I am loathe to give those up, so I am concerned about color management compatibility.]

4. If my only option is a RIP, what is/are the most cost-quality optimal?
[Cost is an issue, I've blown my budget on the 9800 and lots of ink/paper.]

Any suggestions appreciated. I'm essentially grounded until I get some fresh ideas.

Thanks...Susanne



[P.S. I called Epson Support and they said two things to me: (1) Your problem is too complex for us to fix, there are too many HW/SW variables (!); (2) You should reduce the memory allocated to CS2 to between 40-50%. I tried the latter (40%), and it didn't work. To be fair, Epson also suggested other possibilities: (a) Use Disk Utility to repair permissions (tried - no success); (b) Reinstall *all* your Epson drivers/SW; (c) Get a new USB cable and don't do thru a HUB; (d) Reinstall CS2. Though I haven't tried (b)-(d) I am loathe to do so until I get more ideas. BTW, Epson also said they've heard many complaints about CS3, and that users are switching back to CS2 for some tasks, though they were not specific enough to say that would affect my problem...so before I download the trial version of CS3, I'd like to get forum user feedback...]