Magenta has taken over all my colors.

BH
Posted By
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 15, 2007
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711
Replies
19
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Closed
When printing from Photoshop 4 to my Epson 3000 my colors seem to be getting too much magenta. Example, blues are purple, greens are mud etc. This started when I had a problem with Windows 98(corrupt files). Up till then I had no problem. Bought a new computer with XP. Got everything up and running but still the colors are wrong. One thing I noticed is that when printing a color check the 100% CMYK samples seemed fine. It was the blues and greens that were way off. Is there a default setting that I don’t know about? Did the calibrations, head checks, gamma setting, you name I did it. Even download Photoshop 5, no change. Help!

Barbara

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PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 15, 2007
Photoshop 4 was not color managed and version 5 was a nightmare for most people. I’m surprised you ever got anything decent out of 4. What you really need to do is upgrade to a more recent version and learn about color spaces and printer profiles. Trying to sort things out in ancient versions of the program is going to lead you down a very frustrating path.

Unless you are printing through a third party RIP (raster image processor) you should only be sending RGB files to your 3000. If you are using a RIP, then that has to be set up correctly with the right profiles for both your printer and the paper you’re using. Monitor calibration wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
J
Jim
Oct 16, 2007
wrote in message
Photoshop 4 was not color managed and version 5 was a nightmare for most people. I’m surprised you ever got anything decent out of 4. What you really need to do is upgrade to a more recent version and learn about color spaces and printer profiles. Trying to sort things out in ancient versions of the program is going to lead you down a very frustrating path.
Unless you are printing through a third party RIP (raster image processor) you should only be sending RGB files to your 3000. If you are using a RIP, then that has to be set up correctly with the right profiles for both your printer and the paper you’re using. Monitor calibration wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

And, sometimes this is the result of a dirty nozzle. Another way is to apply a profile twice.
Jim
MD
Michael_D_Sullivan
Oct 16, 2007
Any chance you are using Photoshop Elements 4, rather than Photoshop 4? Photoshop 4 is more than 10 years old and it’s unlikely to run under XP. If you are using Elements, you’re in the wrong forum. Elements is here <http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.eeb4f8b/>

In any event, a heavy magenta cast suggests that you have color management turned on in both Photoshop and the printer. The best results usually come from letting Photoshop manage colors and turning off color management in the printer driver. This may require going into the Advanced screen, checking "ICM" and then turning color management off. Not having an Epson 3000, I can’t be more specific.
BH
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 16, 2007
I downloaded Photoshop 6, checked ICM in my printers setup. In color management I have 2 options, Automatic in which Windows picks the color profile, and Manual where I pick the profile. Ran a test in both, not even close. Was told by an Epson tech that it should be set on auto, which seems to agree with you. I’m checking every file, tab and window for any contradicting defaults in Photoshop, Windows and Epson. Any other ideas you can throw at me will be appreciated. Its midnight and I’m tired. I’ll check back in the morning.
Thanks for your input.
Barbara
C
chrisjbirchall
Oct 16, 2007
downloaded Photoshop 6,

Where from?
MD
Michael_D_Sullivan
Oct 17, 2007
The current version is Photoshop CS3 (version 10), and it’s available for a free 30 day trial from Adobe. Photoshop 6 is too old for me to offer any specific help. If you downloaded it in the last 5 years or so, it’s almost certainly pirated and/or hacked; Adobe only makes the current version available for download.

If you have the Epson driver set to apply a color profile, either automatically or by manual selection, you need to have Photoshop set to let the printer manage color. I don’t know where in version 6 you would do that. In CS (8) and CS2 (9), it’s set in the Print with Preview dialog; I think that was the case in version 7 as well.
BH
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 17, 2007
Actually I have Photoshop 6. Many years ago I always bought the latest Photoshop as soon as it came out. But when I started my business(t-shirt transfers) I found that I got better results with Photoshop 4. Don’t ask me why, but the colors just seem to come out perfect. I never upgraded after that. If its not broken don’t fix it. Well now its broken! I’ll try to shut down management in Photoshop and or download the free trial. By the way, I found others that have the same problem at a Yahoo group(Transfers). They haven’t found the answer either.

Barbara
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 17, 2007
So Barbara,

Have you been sending RGB or CMYK data to your 3000 when printing from Photoshop 4? What is the source of the files you are printing? Are you generating or scanning them yourself or are you receiving files from third parties? This stuff really is not that hard to sort out, but it takes a bit of sleuthing to get there. Simply turning off color management won’t work as there is no real way to do that, even though there is a setting that claims that. It’s probablly better to start at the beginning and proceed step by step in a systematic and orderly fashion to achieve your goal, which is very doable, than to willy nilly try random fixes.
BH
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 17, 2007
Files sent are RGB. Sources are scanned or created in the computer. As I do have repeat orders, Art that was fine is now all off. Just tried to download PS CS3 trial and having a problem opening it. It keeps going to setup. Think I’m just going to uninstall it. I’ve got enough problems without dealing with a new program.
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 17, 2007
Any RGB files in PS4 are by default, in MonitorRGB, as that version did not support different RGB color space definitions. The problem is that they are in YOUR monitor’s color space, which is different from anyone else’s and with no easy way to define it. For a moment, if you assume that your monitor is somewhere close to sRGB, or maybe was close, then it’s conceivable that sending that to the printer while picking the right media type in the driver would yield decent prints. Decent but certainly not perfect. It all depends on how closely the media type picked in the Epson driver matches your exact media.

If you could list al the options you choose in the driver, it might help unravelling your problem. Also, have you changed anything about your monitor – it’s brightness, contrast, color balance, etc. that might make your images look different? Overall it sounds more like that it’s a driver option that is the culprit.
BH
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 17, 2007
I agree about the driver option being the problem. My problem is that the original computer crashed so I don’t know if I have the same driver as before. Probably not as I downloaded the driver from Epson for XP. I originally had 98. But remember this color problem started before the crash. As far as the monitor is concerned, I’ve re calibrated it more than once since this problem. That goes for the ink setup too. What do you mean by options in the driver? Do you mean the output media? Please excuse me but I only know enough to be dangerous. I checked and found 6 different color profiles listed with the box checked that Windows would automatically pick best profile. Does that help? I appreciate your effort in helping me. Thank you.
Barbara
JH
Judy_Hendrickson
Oct 18, 2007
Barbara,
I had the same problem with my Canon i9900. It drove me crazy. Every single photo had a magenta cast to it no matter what I did. I finally called support. Who would have known I had two magenta ink cartridges in my printer! One in the wrong place! How stupid of me! But, my problem was solved. Hope you have figured yours out. Judy
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 18, 2007
Barbara,

What specific media are you trying to print to, and are you picking the right profile for your media (paper). You had previously mentioned printing for transfers, so is it possible that you’re printing on a non-standard substrate?

Basically I think you need to start from the very beginning and go step by step by today’s standards and technology to get where you need to be.
BH
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 18, 2007
I am printing on Transjet II Transfer Paper which is coated. The color profile is EE031_1. The other profiles that are available are EWADOBE, EWCIE, EWCMATCH, EWSRGB, AND EWWIDE. I’ve tried printing with each one with the same printer settings and the tests all look the same. The ink supplier says that there is no color profile for my inks and I’m the first to ask for one.
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 18, 2007
So do I understand that you’re using special third party inks and transfer paper? There are two ways to deal with this. One is trial and error. The other is to make a custom profile for your setup. Those inks are likely to be quite different from Epson inks or offset inks and the paper probably doesn’t respond as you would expect either. Any profiles you have in your system were probably installed with the Epson driver and are for their media and inks. Just out of curiosity, can you post a jpeg image of one of the files that is printing purple? You can use Pixentral.com and paste a link here. I’d like to see exactly what you’ve got there. Then we can talk about monitor calibration and sending you a profile target to make a custom profile.
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 18, 2007
This is a pretty straightforward image. Given your ink and media, it’s almost surely a matter of making the proper profile.
BH
Barbara_H_Leonard
Oct 18, 2007
Where do I start and in what Photoshop? 4 always worked for me, 5 gave me problems and I haven’t really got into 6. Got the CS3 30 trial but haven’t had a chance to even play with it. And if its a color profile I don’t have, where can I get one? Thanks again for all your help and patience.
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 18, 2007
The first place you start is by calibrating your monitor – either with an eyeball calibrator like Adobe Gamma (which is NOT included in CS3) if you are still using a CRT, or by using a hardware calibration device like the Gretag EyeOne, which works equally well on both CRT and LCD displays. After you’re calibrated you can have a reasonable chance of seeing what you’re supposed to on screen.

Epson only supplies canned (premade non custom) profiles for their own inks and papers, and more often than not, they’re not the best quality anyhow. To print with any consistancy on your setup, you’re going to want to have custom profile made and use at least PS 6, which can use the profile and make the necessary profile conversions for you. I can email you a profiling target, which you’ll have to print out through PS 6, making sure that color management is turned off in the printer driver – you basically want to print with No Color Adjustment in the first print dialog and make sure that Color Management is unchecked in the appropriate box in the Epson driver portion. You will, have to figure out which Epson Media Type is the best for the transfer media you are using. I usually do that by printing the PhotoDisc Test Image trying out different media settings and choosing the one that looks best, remembering that with no profile they’re not going to look that great to begin with. After that, you print the target I’ll send you, Fedex it back to me, I’ll measure it and generate a profile for your setup. If everything’s working correctly, you should get prints that are very close to your screen, from a variety of sources. You can click on my name to get an email.

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