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Author Topic: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching  (Read 3241 times)

uintaangler

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Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« on: August 29, 2016, 05:33:11 pm »

What does it mean if I can find "cross hatching" all across the sky ( upper third ) of two consecutive prints I just completed on my Epson 4900?
Never saw this before!
When I say "cross hatching" - if you look closely at the sky ( lighter area ) of the print there are many, little boxes formed by both vertical and horizontal lines
Thanks,
Bob
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2016, 05:41:40 pm »

Did you do a nozzle check to see whether there are clogged nozzles? Can you provide a scan of that portion of the print so we can see what the problem looks like?
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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uintaangler

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2016, 06:06:00 pm »

Here is a zoomed in version of the scan
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2016, 06:37:04 pm »

Typical appearance of clogged nozzles.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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uintaangler

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2016, 06:55:15 pm »

Mark,
Thanks for your responses.
I spoke to an Epson Technical guy and he thinks it is a paper feed issue, especially considering that a Nozzle Check Print did not indicate any clogs
Bob
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2016, 07:51:06 pm »

I'm surprised and somewhat skeptical given the very familiar profile of those defects. I hear you about the nozzle check, but nonetheless it does look like a classic ink-laydown issue. Anyhow, now that you are in the hands of professional tech support it should get sorted out one way or another.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2016, 08:47:35 pm »

Is it my eyes, or does the banding get worse as you move left to right on the image shown?  If so, I'd agree it's paper feed related.
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Phil Brown

Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2016, 08:50:22 pm »

Is it my eyes, or does the banding get worse as you move left to right on the image shown?  If so, I'd agree it's paper feed related.

Phil, to my eyes it gets only very marginally worse from left to right. But let's say it is paper-feed related - what kind of a paper feed issue and how does it manifest itself like this?
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2016, 09:18:51 pm »

When the banding increases as you move either the paper or the head, then you have an issue with either the media type that is chosen in the driver (compared to the media being used), or an issue with the 1m adjustment, or with the CR scale.  The small, increasing error is indicative of a fixed measurement being slightly out and that error being repeated with each pass or movement and causing such an effect.

But it's very subtle in the supplied image and without seeing it first hand, and having a loupe to check the microweaving, it's hard to be sure.
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Phil Brown

Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2016, 09:30:04 pm »

Thanks Phil. From what you say, he should check his paper settings against the paper being used and if they look OK, probably the next step is to call in a technician for a hands-on diagnosis.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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uintaangler

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2016, 09:54:12 pm »

FWIW, these prints were made on Canson Baryta - 17 x 22 - sheet - feed singly through the slot on top of the printer
I never had this problem when using roll paper on this machine
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2016, 10:28:56 pm »

FWIW, these prints were made on Canson Baryta - 17 x 22 - sheet - feed singly through the slot on top of the printer
I never had this problem when using roll paper on this machine

Further up this thread I suggested that you post all your settings. You dribble out the details bit by bit making it difficult to help you with useful ideas about what may be going on. Because it is third party paper, and especially in light of Phil's comments, the Media Type setting becomes all the more important, because that determines how the platen gap and paper thickness are set in the driver - which settings of course you can also intervene on manually. If those settings are not well matched to the actual media being pulled through the printer you can expect problems. Not to say that mechanical problems can't develop, but the 4900 is a really robust piece of machinery, so especially on this printer the first places one heads to for fixing problems are potential nozzle clogs and driver settings. Could well be that some setting or other needs to be adjusted and it will solve your problem; failing which you may need a technician.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #12 on: August 30, 2016, 12:52:43 am »

I agree with Mark - there may be a variance between driver settings for Roll and Sheet, or it could just be that the sheet-fed needs some micro adjustment in the driver for the paper feed.  Or, it could be mechanical (but less likely - these things are built like a tank).
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Phil Brown

Royce Howland

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #13 on: August 30, 2016, 08:39:43 am »

I'm going to throw out an idea in a different direction. I'm keying off part of the description in the original post -- "When I say 'cross hatching' - if you look closely at the sky ( lighter area ) of the print there are many, little boxes formed by both vertical and horizontal lines."

If the bad prints have a uniform cross-hatched pattern across a large area (or the entire print -- it's unclear), to me this does not signal a mechanical paper feed or head alignment problem, or a physical ink lay-down problem. All of those issues create what I would call a banding pattern -- parallel lines running either with the direction of head movement or with the direction of paper movement. None of those issues by themselves would create a cross-hatching pattern composed of both horizontal and vertical lines. It would take at least two separate printing faults combined to create cross-hatching, e.g. both a paper feed issue and head alignment issue, or both a severe nozzle clog affecting multiple ink channels plus a head alignment issue.

As a trouble-shooting approach, I tend not to assume that 2 or more separate problems both suddenly started to happen at the same time. Assuming the printer was actually working previously, then if there's a single root problem that has started happening, it needs to be capable of creating the observed effects. In my experience, actual cross-hatching is not caused by the printer, but most often is a digital artifact triggered by something upstream of the printer.

Having said that, I'm with Mark in pointing out that we really have too little info to diagnose much -- we don't know what software is making the prints, any of the software settings, the driver settings, or anything about how the problem file(s) have been prepped for print. From the posted print scan, I can't really see what's going on to any degree of detail since the file is very low res. I don't know whether the heavier lines visible in the scan are parallel to the direction of paper movement or head movement. With little info, we're just speculating about possible problems & solutions.

Beyond just posting a ton of details, I could suggest some basic trouble-shooting for the OP. For example, print a standard reference / test image on the same paper with the same settings, and see if it comes out clean. If the reference image has the same problem, then something with the printer or the print settings is wrong. But if the reference image prints clean, that likely rules out anything with the printer itself or the major print settings in which case we need to look more closely at the problem image(s).

If basic trouble-shooting doesn't isolate the issue, then to follow up here there's really a bunch of info we need. What file resolution do the problem images have, and what software edits have they been run through? Any plugins to do with heavy noise reduction, contrast enhancements or upscaling? More generally, what software is driving the printer, what are the print software settings, what are the driver settings? What is the media type, what is the platen gap? Etc.

uintaangler

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2016, 10:41:16 am »

Thanks to all for the thoughtful responses, as usual on this forum!
To Mark and Royce, I apologize for "dribbling" out pertinent info - please understand that it is not for any other reason than my lack of technical knowledge regarding all things computer, including my own printing processes.
I keep doing the same thing every time so long as it works
For instance, I had never even visited the "Advanced media settings" area in the print dialogue box until the Epson tech sent me there.
Then he suggested I find a pdf from Canson that would delineate the correct settings for things like paper thickness, and a couple of other settings whose name I forget but the setting choices were between -70 and + 70.
If anybody can tell me where to find that information for Canson Baryta Photographique - I would be grateful.
I do ALL my printing straight from Lightroom.
And by the way, I do find loading a 17 x 22 sheet into the 4900 to be an awkward process, much more so than my now gone 3880
One final IMPORTANT point - cross hatching is not really the case - what I have are horizontal ( perpendicular to the direction the paper is feeding ) lines throughout the entire sky ( lighter part of the print )
Thanks!
Bob
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #15 on: August 30, 2016, 10:54:39 am »

Hi Bob, no I didn't think you were being nefarious dribbling out the info - I just wanted to highlight that the usefulness of the recommendations you get back from a Forum are a direct function of the information you provide. Think of it like going to the doctor and just telling him/her you have a tummy-ache. Well, duh :-)

Also on your IMPORTANT observation re the cross-hatching - yes I noticed exactly what you clarified, which is what led me to suspect nozzle clogs, because it is that kind of ribbing I have noticed from clogged nozzles in the past, when making purge prints during the more stubborn cleaning sessions.

Now, all that said, please do tell us all about your driver settings! They matter whether printing from LR or other applications, except those that bypass the driver, which LR does not.

I think the "basic troubleshooting", diagnostic suggestions Royce made for trying to pin down the source of the problem are most useful. I suggest following his advice and implementing them.

As for the sheet feed in the 4900 - it's the best I've encountered in all the Epson professional printers I've used over the past 16 years. The key thing you need to do is press the sheet down, somewhat firmly and evenly, until you hear a sound like a loud click or a snap. This means the paper is properly positioned and "grabbed", from which point the mechanics and the vacuum pump take over once you hit print. I get very, very few paper skews with this. Phil is right - this machine is built like a brick ....house. But it needs frequent usage to minimize interruptions of ink flow.

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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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MarkJohnson

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #16 on: August 30, 2016, 04:08:33 pm »

Are any of the ink cartridges virtually empty?
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Mark J

Wayne Fox

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #17 on: August 31, 2016, 03:59:39 pm »

I assume the problem is on several different images,not just this one so we can rule out a file problem ...

Have you done a head alignment?  I don’t believe banding perpendicular to the paper path would relate to any settings in the advanced media options, but it seems the head out of alignment might be an issue.  (might wan’t to try printing unidirectional to see if it makes any difference at all, if so a head alignment would be prudent).

Did this happen to start with some new media?  I have seen a couple of circumstances (rare) where new media was defective in that some regions wouldn’t hold the ink correctly.  Long shot, but can’t really think of anything else.  Might try cutting a sheet square and turning it 90 degrees to see if the banding changes.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 4900: Cross Hatching
« Reply #18 on: August 31, 2016, 08:30:34 pm »

I agree about verifying the head alignment. Probably a good idea to do one and see whether it solves the problem.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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