Epson R1800 Calibration problems

[photographer_riverside]

Can anyone tell me how to calibrate the 1800, I have tried all everything, to try and sort out the problems, colours are flat, and even wrong shades to what i have on the screen, or indeed whats in the the camera! I am using a Winxp,

[jhuddle]

I just picked up a R1800 also. Same issue with the prints coming out way to light. But, I'm sure it all comes down to my needing to learn proper color management in PS. First thing I have to do is fix my video card error so I can then run Spyder2 Pro and calibrate the monitor. Then with the canned Epson printer profiles I should be close.

[jhuddle]

Well, I'm up and running now. Calibrated the monitor with Spyder2 and then carefully set up the color mangement. Follow the directions closely in the manual and you should be fine. I'm using PS6 and my prints are now almost a perfect match to the monitor. I was getting bad prints because I had both PS and the printer applying color management.

[oskar63]

G'day, I recently got the R800 and found myself scaling the huge learning curve of calibration, colour management and profiles. I wish it was easier. I mean, of all the things I already read I had never heard of a conflict between Photoshop's profiling and the printers. That sort of stuff seems too important not to be in the common text (unless I missed it).

Anyway, I'm having problems getting good, vibrant prints. I have a good digital SLR and good PS skills, but what I see on my 'crappy' monitor is far from what is printed by my 'expensive' printer.

My question: what's the easiest and cheapest way to get good results?

PS: I haven't used any decent paper yet (I was given a free pack of Canon glossy photo paper). And, when I try to run any 'gamma' program like Adobe Gamma I can't get the colour sliders to work. Any clues?

[jussness]

I've messed with the Adobe profiles, using Epson and Red River papers... and it's been tricky, with the profiles, getting consistent results. When good, the tonal range is subtly but noticeably better. When bad, I wonder what the heck I've got myself into...

With photographs, try using the printer driver, no color management via photoshop. Use the vivid setting, or try the gamma alternatives right there. You'll get decent, pleasing results with minimal fuss.

When using profiles you must remember to turn off the printer color as otherwise any corrections will be applied twice.

I've a R1800 and when going good, the results are excellent! I've learnt to like luster papers too, and for matte I've found Epson's Enhanced Matte works well. In general, the R800/R1800 produce better quality with the luster/glossy papers rather than matte. Although matte ain't bad!

[ckeyes888]

Hi,

Well after a ton of wasted paper and ink I've found something
that really works. I have a Mac G5, 23" Cinema display and R1800
Epson printer. In the R1800 manual it says to "let Photoshop determine colors" and turn off color management for the printer. My prints were awful with those settings. All I did was set it for " let the printer determine colors"
and use the color management for the printer using Epson Vivid and
a couple minor adjustments on that page. The results are amazing.
Very saturated and near perfect color.

Carl

[moonseye]

Free Utility Color Calibrates Your Monitor
You should really calibrate both your monitor and printer as these go hand in hand. Many monitors come with a calibration set and this should be your starting point. If you don't have it, go the manufacturer's web site to see if you can download it. They may also have custom calibration software available. In addition to your monitor controls, it's possible to alter color settings using your graphics card or software applications like Adobe Gamma that comes with Photoshop. That sounds great but it often causes users to fall into the trap of calibrating several times using all available options. This is a mistake; calibrate only once otherwise you will be over compensating. The most important thing though, is to understand what you are doing. That's why I recommend users visit Norman Koren's website [1] before doing anything. It's a bit technical but color calibration IS technical. If you find Norman's site a bit overwhelming then this site [2] may be better. Both of these sites have links to software and reference images, but for the calibration process itself, most casual users would be better off using a little freeware program called the 'Monitor Calibration Wizard' [3]. It will give results that are more than adequate for most applications. A final word: getting color right sounds like a simple issue but it's not. It's a matter taken very seriously by graphics and photography professionals and they dedicate an appropriate amount of time to addressing the problem. Indeed many professionals calibrate their equipment every six months or so to ensure that the quality is always at its best." Freeware, all Windows versions, 771KB.
[1] http://www.normankoren.com/makingfinepr ... nitorsetup
[2] http://www.e-cobo.com/stockphotos/quali ... ration.php
[3] http://www.hex2bit.com/products/product_mcw.asp

Hope this helps. If you are using Photoshop then set your printer setting to RGB Adobe (windows) and set your Gama to 2.2.

Hope it helps

moonseye

[cdyckes]

Just got myself an R1800 and been suffering the same calibration problems myself.

After many hours fiddling, I think I've found the solution:-

The CRITICAL thing in the printer settings dialog is to set ICM ON and then ICM Mode = HOST ICM!!!!

I then use Intent = Perceptual and it automatically picks the correct profile based on the paper selection (though probably gets overridden by Host settings later).

I've also just bought CS3 Design Pro, so quite a steep learning curve in Photoshop CS3, but settings of "Photoshop manages colors", Perceptual with Black Point Compensation turned OFF and select the paper profile (SPR1800 Premium Glossy for Epson Premium Glossy).

Seems to work for me, and I'm getting extremely good print colours now (beaten only by QImage using same settings!!!!)

EDIT: Not sure why my number of posts has been reset

Colin