Epson R1800 B&W

[dont45]

In the past (6 mo ago) I printed lots of b&w on the R1800 which I thought were excellent with no discernible cast from scanned 6x6 and 35mm b&w negatives.
These were printed on windows from photoshop CS2 on Epson premium glossy.
Now that I have the m8 and a mac, I tried to print from the mac via lightroom with the latest R1800 drivers downloaded. On every attempt the pictures have a harsh purple cast. So back to windows and photoshop, and now the pictures there also have the same cast. I've ran through head cleaning etc, tried all kinds of printer settings, but nothing works. Any ideas where I'm going wrong or how to debug?

Thanks

 

[IGMeanwell]

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=25204217

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=604367&sid=afc191d344e9b2e606ed5e6f026a42f7

Looks like clogged heads are the most likely culprit

The other question is what inks are you using?

I have heard problems for people using 3rd party inks without cleaning the heads after using OEM inks

 

[Tuolumne]

Could the MAC have loaded some strange color profile into the printer?

/T

 

[dont45]

The inks have always been correct epson inks. I don't think the print heads are clogged since it prints a clean test pattern. However, the printer has sat unused for about 6 months. All of the cartridges are new and full.
I'm not sure how to tell if the mac loaded a profile to the printer. I've tried 'let the printer manage' and 'let the computer manage' and the results are the same.

 

[lawrence]

I also have an R1800 that I use exclusively for monochrome printing. I was tearing my hair out with the colour casts until I discovered Piezography. The R1800 is perfectly suited to their K7 inks and once you have tried them you will not look back.

 

[dont45]

The K7 ink is why I originally bought the 1800, but then never tried them. Recently I was checking them out again and I saw they no longer will be selling the epson cartridges. Did I read this wrong? I'll check their site again.
Thanks

 

[lawrence]

They'll still be available for R1800 but not as cartridges -- you'll use bottles instead. However the carts are currently available till 19th December on special offer from www.inkjetmall.com and I ordered some a few days ago.

 

[Tuolumne]

Did you try sending an email to Epson support? They answered mine very quickly a few weeks ago.

/T

 

[dont45]

Lawrence, do you use bottles? What's that entail? Is it a good solution?
I'd like to give these inks a try since I've heard so many nice things about them.
In the meantime I'll try epson support--thanks everyone.

 

[lawrence]

Lawrence, do you use bottles? .

No I just ordered some more carts while they're still available and on special offer. Guess I'll have to move on to bottles when they've run out (no more carts after 19th December).

 

[mwooten]

Don,
Does the color-cast problem show itself on different types of paper? I wonder if the paper might be causing the problem. I've had it happen to me with older paper.

As to the after-market Epson carts -- I'm not sure we'll be able to easily obtain them in the US. Epson won a patent case against the after-market cart producers for patient infringement.


Michael

 

[lawrence]

Don,
As to the after-market Epson carts -- I'm not sure we'll be able to easily obtain them in the US. Epson won a patent case against the after-market cart producers for patient infringement.
Michael

You will not be able to get the K7 cartridges for "desktop" printers i.e. non-professional printers. However, you will still be able to buy the same ink-set in bottles (so you'll need to buy the bottle system). Also, they are not really "after-market" cartridges as they are not designed to do the same job as the Epson cartridges. They are designed to give you superb monochrome prints, which is what they do. My advise is to snap some up before the deadline later this month.

 

[dont45]

I'm considering getting a couple of the K7 sets. If I like it, I can switch to bottles. I have a friend who uses a bottle kit on his 2200 and loves it -- color, not K7.

What is your experience of which cartridge(s) runs out first. If this is predictable I might buy a couple extra of those as well.

What about the RIP required. There seems to be a free download as well as a $50 version. What's the deal with this?

thanks

 

[Chris101]

I always use No Color Management in both the preview and print dialogs. This is on a 2400 however. I have heard the 1800 does not specialize in B&W. I also have an 820. It does fine color, but metamerizes B&W badly on most photos. Matte paper seems to do best.

The inks have always been correct epson inks. I don't think the print heads are clogged since it prints a clean test pattern. However, the printer has sat unused for about 6 months. All of the cartridges are new and full.
I'm not sure how to tell if the mac loaded a profile to the printer. I've tried 'let the printer manage' and 'let the computer manage' and the results are the same.

 

[RingoHung]

I am also using R1800 exclusively for B&W photos. I am using MIS 3MK Black Only ink, and I am very pleased with the result. I have never thought that inkjet B&W photos would be this good. Give it a try!!