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Pete Chipman
8-Apr-2002, 22:08
Hi, everyone. I recently acquired an Epson 1270. I noticed that when I printed out a 13X19, th ere were vertical bands (oriented to the flow of the paper, that is) running acc ross the top of one print and all the way through the center of another 13X19 pr int.

I think the banding is showing up in continuous tone areas. The printer head cle aned itself upon inserting the new color cartridge, so I don't think that's the problem.

Also,upons someone's recommendation, I set the resolution down to 720dpi in Phot oshop, with his theory being that when I was sending it over before in 2820 reso lution, it was causing the printer to pause with so much information, creating t he bands. Well, that didn't work either.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Pete.

Jorge Gasteazoro
8-Apr-2002, 23:17
Get a 16x20 camera and contact print? What does this have to do with LF? I am sure there is a digital forum somewhere that can help you better and would interest the memebers more....no?

Pete Chipman
8-Apr-2002, 23:36
True, I thought about that.

I decided to post here for two reasons:

1. I have read threads on this site about printing 4X5 scans out on Epson printers (what I'm trying to do), and I'm assuming that many of us use them, so it seemed reasonable to post here.

2. There is a subject thread on this forum titled "printing (non dark room) and exhibiting," which is where I filed this question, and it seems appropriate to add it to that knowledge base.

3. I've tried other forums and not found the answer so I figured that since the people on this forum tend to be somewhat more technically minded than others, I might find the solution.

However, I will refrain from asking printing questions of this sort if it bothers anyone.

Thanks,

Pete.

Pete Chipman
8-Apr-2002, 23:37
Sorry, meant to say 3 reasons.

Georges Pelpel
8-Apr-2002, 23:41
Try cleaning the heads several times. If it doen't work change the ink cartridge and try again. After that I only suggest having the printer serviced. Good luck.

Jorge Gasteazoro
8-Apr-2002, 23:48
Not at all Pete, please ask away, I just thought maybe a clarification like you have been unable to find an answer would have been good. Specially if we dont want this forum to become a digital question and answer forum for those who scan their negs. I have no objection if you use it as a last resort type thing, after all that is the purpose of this forum to help people and exchange ideas.

tim atherton
9-Apr-2002, 00:13
and you would be the clasroom monitor? List Mom? Cyber Cop......?

Tim A

George Nedleman
9-Apr-2002, 00:30
I just got a new 1280 and only noticed banding when I printed @ low res. 1440 on Glossy epson paper printed just fine. Maybe it needs factory servic even though it's new?? George

Jeffrey Goggin
9-Apr-2002, 00:33
In general, horizontal banding (runs parallel to the long side of the paper) is due to clogged heads and vertical banding (runs parallel to the short side of the paper) is due to head misalignment.

In addition to running the cleaning cycle, you should also check head alignment using the appropriate Epson utility program. You might try cleaning the heads with the Windex method, too (a good description of it is posted at http://www.luminous-landscape.com/cis.htm)

If none of the above works, then you'll probably have to send it back to Epson for repair or replace it with another one.

Good luck!

Jorge Gasteazoro
9-Apr-2002, 00:35
Tim A.....none of the above, just a person who has courtesy with others, something you apparently lack!

tim atherton
9-Apr-2002, 01:01
ahh yes - that was a rather courteous post I must say... I quite liked the "I have no objection" phrase especially :-)

tim

David G Hall
9-Apr-2002, 01:18
Try different kinds of paper. I have a 2000P and I have noticed that I get banding with flatter papers and no banding with glossier papers.

dgh

Matt_1193
9-Apr-2002, 01:51
Jorge - This question is as valid relating to large format as any of the million questions that have appeared here regarding darkroom processes and enlargers. Just because you use a wet process does not make your concerns in that area more relevant (sp?) to LF photography. It is, after all, just another aspect of the process.

Bob Ashford
9-Apr-2002, 04:21
Hi, I find I get the best performance from Kodak Premium Glossy. You must have the paper settings appropriate to the paper you are using. But, also do an extra clean cycle.

Rehards, Bob

Christopher Campbell
9-Apr-2002, 09:15
Pete, You don't specify which OS you're working under, but I found that running Macintosh OS 9, my previous Epson 1200 was unpredictably sensitive to various software settings before I learned how to set it up. Working up the chain of Epson technical support, I finally discovered that a whole variety of printing problems can often to traced to problems with the smooth flow of data being buffered between computer and printer. The things I do to eliminate these are: never use "background printing", allocate large amounts of RAM to Photoshop (roughly 4X your file size), and allocate large amounts off RAM to the "Epson Print Monitor." Now with a fast G4, 1 GB of RAM, and an Epson 1280 running under OS X, I'm finding that I seem to be able to relax the requirement about not printing in the background, but I haven't yet printed a lot of 13 x19s with the new set-up. Personally, I don't care for the recommendation to downgrade the printer resolution to 720 dpi. Isn't the whole point of starting with large format film and using the 1270/1280 printer at 2880 dpi so that you can end up with the best print possible?

Pete Chipman
9-Apr-2002, 10:47
Thanks, everyone. Jorge, no problem, I'll be more specific that I'm doing LF in the future. Don't mean to get people riled up. After all we should all "BAND" together....applause, groan, applause.

I'll try some of the recommendations.

Also, Chris, I am printing with my printer set to 1440 dpi, it's the output that I changed to 720dpi in Photoshop, which shouldn't affect image quality per say, but should stress my printer buffering much less. I am going to try to do some RAM reallocation in addition to head maintenance (not my head, the printer's head).

Thanks,

Pete.

David F. Stein
9-Apr-2002, 12:05
Chris and Jeff were right on. First, some models will just be more sensitive to this issue-i.e. the 1160, and , of course, certain image areas will show such an effect more. Do a Nozzle Check frequently, as well as the Head Alignment-the newest models do both a horizontal and vertical alignment check. The heads will drift. Next, as suggested, if you search in the printer reference, Epson notes Spooling to Disk before printing to minimize banding. I always do Spool to Diska nd Preview before hitting the print button. Still, certain papers and inks will work less well with each other. For some good guidance go to www.tssphoto.com and then to inkjet. Once obvious banding is conquered, part of the problem is that computers and our general nitpicking society have made us look at everything with "loupes on." A guru once told me, "your inkjet print was great but at 40x I decided problems." This was a quadtone. Let's pull back to 4x and live a little!!!!!!! Considering all the questions here about which is better-Lisco or Fidelity holder-this is a fine question-the world of large format photography is intimately involved in inkjet printing (glicee)-aesthetically, craftwise and FINANCIALLY.

Jorge Gasteazoro
9-Apr-2002, 13:20
Tim A, exactly i wrote I had no objection because I thought Pete was going to stop posting, which was not my intention. He uderstood this, obviously you were unable to connect response and reply. Maybe next time you pay a little bit more attention before you demand expalanations.

Matt, I disagree with you, the way the question was originally posted it could have come from someone using 35 mm to scan his neg. The enlarger questions usually starts something like "my Beseler 4x5, my Zone Vi4x5" etc, which clearly is related to the printing of 4x5 negatives. Other process like platinum etc, clearly are related to LF as they are contact print processes. So you see, not all the digital/scanner questions posted are related to LF as the more common Enlarger/process are most likely related to them.

pauly
9-Apr-2002, 13:33
jorge, quit your bitchin. you are a ninny.

Pete Chipman
9-Apr-2002, 13:45
Point taken Jorge, but (IMHO) a single/multiple solution to a printing problem can just as well be used by someone in small, medium, or large format, and particularly LF, as the standards tend to be somewhat higher. Higher standards are why I'm moving up to LF, I want better end results...This includes trying to get the best print results out of my 4X5 transparencies. I agree though that if someone asked "do I really need Eye control on my Elan 7e?" that that would be unnecesary clutter for this site.

I know you and Tim are great guys who would probably have a blast shooting film in the field together. Hopefully, you and Tim can buy lunch for each other (or at least exchange e-cards), and exclaim in the famous words of Buggs Bunny..., "This looks like the start of a Beeauuutiful relationship."

I'll stop kidding, I'm always very appreciative of the feedback I get here (including your point of being on topic), and will report back on how the printer problem was eventually solved.

Tim Klein
9-Apr-2002, 15:27
Pete,

I didn't see that you mentioned which paper you were using (sorry if I missed it somewhere in the thread).

If it's something other than Epson's papers for the printer, you might want to look very closely and see if it's really banding you're experiencing and not the dreaded "pizza wheel" problem that often occurs with some brands of paper. You can do a google search with the words "Epson pizza wheel" to get a description of the problem and potential solutions.

Pete Chipman
9-Apr-2002, 15:53
Definitely not the pizza wheel problem (which I don't mind too much). This is banding with strips of a little more than 1mm next to lighter (in tone) strips of about 4mm next to that, going accross the page in the direction that the paper is printing out.

Picture the sky portion going from darker blue to lighter blue across the page resulting in a darker blue stripe next to a lighter blue stripe and repeating accross the page. The same thing happened with a picture of a waterfall, where there was banding in the continuous white area of the waterfall.

Pete.

Will be trying some of the suggestions...

David F. Stein
10-Apr-2002, 00:01
2 other points: Banding is not a function of resolution, per se. With Epson's Photo Enhance mode, excellent "smooth" prints can be made be from 150 dpi, they even have optimization schemes for 72 dpi JPEGs to print well. Also, be sur High Speed printing is turned off. THAN

Pete Chipman
10-Apr-2002, 01:50
Well, this just gets better...

now I've got blue lines less than 1mm in width running perpendicular to the direction of the paper's movement through the printer. The banding goes outside the porder of the print and off the page. This is different than the tonal banding I described earlier.

Looks like I might need a new head? [referring to the printer, again]

Pete.