Major color gamut problems

TL
Posted By
Tim_Lewis33
Apr 23, 2007
Views
543
Replies
6
Status
Closed
I have been having a problem with a major change in my print gamuts. This is a new problem that has occurred after about two years of successful printing – now something has changed. I am not new to color space, calibration, and ICC profiles. I am not an expert but I understand how they work and have used them successfully.

I reinstalled all the software associated with printing including drivers, Photoshop, and printer firmware. Then I reinstalled the operating system on a different hard drive and then installed Photoshop CS-2. Still no change. (Settings were transferred with the new installations.)

It acts like more than one ICC profile is being used or the wrong one. Some prints with gradients show banding like the gamut has shrunk to only a few colors in part of the gamut. A gray scale step chart prints about half pure black.

What I know so far:

The same problem occurs in two different printers attached to the same PC so we need to find something they both have in common. It still occurs even if only one printer is installed. I can only be hardware, software, firmware, settings. Up to this point Epson’s canned profiles have been bullet proof for Epson papers so that is probably not the source. Even new profiles don’t work correctly. I am using existing files so no amount of monitor calibrating will change the print. (something others have suggested)

PC (XP Home)
PS CS and then PS CS-2 (temp version)
Printers: Epson 4000 and Epson 1280
Attached directly via USB 2.0
1 GB RAM

Photoshop Settings:
Adobe RGB (1998)
RGB: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Engine: Adobe (ACE)
Use Black Point Compensation
Use Dither

To print on Epson Premium Luster:
under Properties/Advanced/Color mgmt OFF
Print Quality 720dpi
under Paper/Media Type/Premium Luster Photopaper (250)
Print page – under Print Document (Profile: Adobe RGB (1998) Options:
– Color Handling: Let Photoshop Determine Colors
– Printer Profile: Working RGB – Adobe RGB (1998)
– Rendering intent: Perceptual
Black Point Compensation – YES

Any help would be appreciated,

Tim
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color gamut problems

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N
nsag
Apr 23, 2007
It couldn’t hurt to delete and reinstall the USB drivers. USB issues can be a source of many mysterious problems.
Unplug all USB peripherals.
Then under Device Manager delete all USB related drivers. Also delete the printer drivers. You may have to manually uninstall some files.
Reboot and Windows will reinstall all the USB drivers. You may have to reboot more than once.
Reinstall the printers one by one making sure they are attached to ports that work directly off the motherboard or an expansion card installed in the motherboard. Do not attach/turn on any other USB peripherals. When the 1280 printhead fails, and it will eventually, you can see behavior like this but since you are seeing it in two printers that does not appear to be the cause.
Also, when in doubt about mysterious system behavior:
Run antivirus and several anti-malware programs.
Delete old, reboot and install newest video driver.

Although in this instance it is probably too late to use System Restore often simply rolling back the system to a time when everything worked properly will solve many problems. It is possible some errant piece of software has caused this.
BP
Brian_Peart
Apr 23, 2007
I’m no expert either, but like you I have a certain understanding too…

If you are sure your software is okay (and you have reinstalled everything after all), then check your printer hardware. Do a printer test to check that the nozzles are all firing okay. The sentence where you mention banding sounds suspicious to me…

I know its not much, but I hope it helps!
P
Phosphor
Apr 23, 2007
Profiles can become corrupted. I have no clue about how that might happen. Discovering the corruption might be difficult, and may only make their corruption known by the type of problems that have recently shown up for you. Fixing the problem likely will occur at a system level; and would require more work than just reinstalling Photoshop. You may need to ferret out all printer drivers and their associated files and install them again fresh.

In OS X we’re provided with a utility called, appropriately, "ColorSync Utility" that will verify and repair profiles, but I don’t know if there is something similar for Windows. Might be worth hunting for something similar.

From the ColorSync Utility main window:About Profile First Aid:

Profile First Aid verifies the contents of ICC profiles installed on your computer. Errors are reported if any profiles do not conform to the ICC profile specification. Although some errors are unlikely to cause problems under typical usage, it is a good idea to repair any profiles that do not conform to the ICC profile specification.

One important component of an ICC profile, the description tag, contains up to three different names for a profile. This allows the profile name to be displayed in different languages or on different computer systems. Applications typically use one of the available names to show profiles in a list or pop-up menu. If you have profiles installed in your system that do not display in the ColorSync control panel, then you should run this utility to repair them.

Using Profile First Aid:

Select the “Verify” button to begin a verification process or the “Repair” button to verify and repair all installed profiles. Selecting the “Verify” button will report any problems with installed profiles without making any changes. Selecting the “Repair” button will report any problems with installed profiles and attempt to fix the problems.

Note: It is a good idea to make a backup of your profiles before initiating the “Repair” function.
J
Jim
Apr 23, 2007
wrote in message
I have been having a problem with a major change in my print gamuts. This is a new problem that has occurred after about two years of successful printing – now something has changed. I am not new to color space, calibration, and ICC profiles. I am not an expert but I understand how they work and have used them successfully.

I reinstalled all the software associated with printing including drivers, Photoshop, and printer firmware. Then I reinstalled the operating system on a different hard drive and then installed Photoshop CS-2. Still no change. (Settings were transferred with the new installations.)
It acts like more than one ICC profile is being used or the wrong one. Some prints with gradients show banding like the gamut has shrunk to only a few colors in part of the gamut. A gray scale step chart prints about half pure black.

What I know so far:

The same problem occurs in two different printers attached to the same
PC so we need to find something they both have in common. It still occurs
even if only one printer is installed. I can only be hardware, software,
firmware, settings. Up to this point Epson’s canned profiles have been
bullet proof for Epson papers so that is probably not the source. Even
new profiles don’t work correctly. I am using existing files so no amount
of monitor calibrating will change the print. (something others have suggested)

PC (XP Home)
PS CS and then PS CS-2 (temp version)
Printers: Epson 4000 and Epson 1280
Attached directly via USB 2.0
1 GB RAM

Photoshop Settings:
Adobe RGB (1998)
RGB: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Engine: Adobe (ACE)
Use Black Point Compensation
Use Dither

To print on Epson Premium Luster:
under Properties/Advanced/Color mgmt OFF
Print Quality 720dpi
under Paper/Media Type/Premium Luster Photopaper (250)
Print page – under Print Document (Profile: Adobe RGB (1998) Options:
– Color Handling: Let Photoshop Determine Colors
– Printer Profile: Working RGB – Adobe RGB (1998)
– Rendering intent: Perceptual
Black Point Compensation – YES

Any help would be appreciated,

Tim
A couple of things you ought to try:

1. Delete the preferences. All kinds of strange behaviors magically disappear when you do this. Removing PS does not remove the preferences; if that is the cause of your problem, the steps you have taken so far have no effect.

2. Are you certain that you are using Adobe RGB as a print profile? You certainly can because it is an input/output profile, but you really ought to use a paper specific profile. Also, having two profiles applied to the print usually results in poor output; at least it does at my place.

I am not saying that either or both of these steps will cure your problem.

Jim
CK
Christine_Krof_Shock
Apr 24, 2007
Try changing the rendering intent to Relative Colometric…The Perceptual can futz color if the monitor profile is blown…If Relative Colormetric works somewhere in the neighborhood, recalibrate your monitor…check the Epson settings to make sure the ICM is turned OFF! (this seems to be somewhat slippery on the 2200…)and see if Perceptual works again…
TL
Tim_Lewis33
Apr 30, 2007
It turns out that the problem was bad memory. One of the modules failed several tests. I guess we can’t assume that odd errors are our own mistakes.

Thanks for everyone’s suggestions,

Tim

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