Epson 3800 question

[ignatiusjk]

I bought a new monitor several months back and I noticed something weird.When I make a color print the prints come out fine but when I make a B&W print they come out way to dark (3 stops) and way to contrasty. It seems to happen when I convert a color photo to B&W.What the heck is going on??? My new monitor is a HP 2009m. This didn't happen with my older monitor, both color and B&W came out pretty darn close to what I was seeing on the screen.I've been told it's not the monitor, if so what happen to the printer then??? Need help.

[cps]

Probably dumb question, but you calibrated the monitor, right? Otherwise sounds almost like an issue with the grey-scale inks, assuming it's not a calibration issue. Could it be those channels stopped working or something? Have you done nozzle check to make sure all the cartridges are actually doing what they are supposed to?

[ignatiusjk]

No it wasn't a dumb question.I never calbrated my first monitor either and my prints came out fine.I'm new to the whole digital thing and don't know how to calibrate my new monitor.

[karl french]

Are you using Epson's Advanced Black and White software to print?
If so do you have the fine adjustment set on Darker, Dark or Normal. I think it defaults to Darker or Dark, which always struck me as a bit odd.

[Kirk Gittings]

You absolutely have to calibrate your monitor as a starting point. It would be like developing film and not knowing the temperature of the solutions.

[Light Guru]

You absolutely have to calibrate your monitor as a starting point. It would be like developing film and not knowing the temperature of the solutions.

Great analogy!

[Brian Ellis]

You might read this and see if it contains anything useful. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml

Apart from that, you might try Quadtone RIP ("QTR") instead of the Epson driver and see if that helps. http://harrington.com/index.shtml - scroll to the bottom of the page.