Topic: Posterizing in skin tones on Epson 9800 but not Epson 3800 issue (Read 5506 times)

GamutGirl · « **on:** February 27, 2009, 11:34:23 pm »

I'm trying to print out a 16-bit tif file through Photoshop to an Epson 9800 using custom ICC profiles, Mac OSX Leopard 10.5.5, w/latest updates (OS & drivers). Unfortunately, there is posterization around highlights on the skin. It doesn't show up when I print it to the Epson 3800 printer. The only way I've been able to get rid of it is by adding a 1 percent gaussian blur to the entire image, but I lose so much detail in the final print. Any suggestions on what I can do?

UPDATE: The posterization issue was resolved by changing the Default printer to 9800. After we did that, the posterization went away. Thanks everyone for their help!

pfigen · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2009, 01:13:00 am »

How were the custom profiles made? Were the targets printed through CS4 and Leopard?? Is the printer chosen as the default printer?

There is a problem with printing targets (and subsequent prints) from CS4 and Leopard for large format Epsons. Until the problem is addressed by whoever is responsible, as far as I can tell, the only solution if you're going to print through the Epson driver, is to print from CS3 when in Leopard.

In theory, there is a workaround where you open the ColorSync Utility and choose the same profile as the one you're printing to - which forces ColorSync into a null transform and bypassed the problem, but I haven't tested this yet and I'm not sure how you'd print a profile target anyway.

There was also a bug, and I'm not sure if it was ever addressed, where if your printer of choice was not the default printer in your printer setup, you would get a weird posterization on skin highlights.

I print all day to Epson 9800 and 9900 from Leopard and CS3 with no problems at all.

When I compared measurement files from the same Gretag target printed to the 9900 with Leopard and CS3 and CS4, there was up to a 20.72 Delta E difference with many patches in the 10-16 Delta E range. That's a huge difference.

GamutGirl · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2009, 05:58:09 am »

We're using CS3 and built the ICC profiles using X-Rite's EyeOne Match software. I thought it might be a problem with the ICC profiles, so I used Red River's paper and their stock/canned profiles and still have the problem.

I noticed that the driver for the 3800 has newer options when I updated the drivers. It now has "Accuphoto HD" and a 16-bit mode option that the latest driver of the 9800 doesn't have. Would that make a difference since the image I'm trying to print is 16-bit? If so, how do I print around this?

colinm · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:28:57 am »

Does it do it if your softproof with the 9800 profile too, or just when you actually print it?

GamutGirl · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2009, 06:46:09 pm »

Only when it prints.

Quote from: colinm

Does it do it if your softproof with the 9800 profile too, or just when you actually print it?

pfigen · « **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:19:17 pm »

Did you double check that your printer actually is your default printer in your Print Center? If it's not then that's probablyl the problem. If it is, then there's something unknown at this time.

Farmer · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2009, 02:55:02 am »

CS3 doesn't print 16bit to the Epsons, so first thing to do is drop it to 8bit (you shouldn't particularly need to, but try it in case something odd is going on - you can't lose anything, since it can't print 16bit anyway).

Have you done nozzle checks on the 9800?

Mussi_Spectraflow · « **Reply #7 on:** March 02, 2009, 05:43:36 pm »

What working space are you using, if it's something like ProPhoto then that may be the problem right there. You could try converting to sRGB since your printing on a matte paper. Does this happen with other papers as well? It's odd that you get this problem with two different ICC profiles. Try making a grayscale gradient in PS, use Adobe RGB, and print it out using the current setup.

GamutGirl · « **Reply #8 on:** March 03, 2009, 11:55:48 am »

Quote from: pfigen

Did you double check that your printer actually is your default printer in your Print Center? If it's not then that's probablyl the problem. If it is, then there's something unknown at this time.

UPDATE: The Default Printer issue was the problem! Once we selected the 9800 printer as the default printer, the posterization went away! Thanks so much for the help!

digitaldog · « **Reply #9 on:** March 03, 2009, 01:14:12 pm »

This sounds like the old "salmon color" bug that only showed up in a small region of reds, the solution was to select the printer as a default as the OP did. This was a common issue about a year or so ago. Can't recall if CS4 or an update to driver or OS ended up fixing the issue, but at the time, the fix was to select the actual printer as the default assuming more than one Epson driver was installed on the machine.

pfigen · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2009, 01:22:23 am »

GamutGirl,

Thanks for that feedback. Good at least to know that the problem still exists and that I haven't been setting the default printers in vain. Glad your printer is working again.

Peter

GamutGirl · « **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2009, 04:28:29 pm »

This default printer "bug" apparently reaches out more than our 9800 posterization problem. We've noticed streaky lines in our 7600 and slightly over-saturated colors in our 3800 prints, ALL from not having that respective printer selected as our Default printer. These problems went away when we had the printers selected as default. Unfortunately, we print to several printers at the same time, so the Default printer trick won't help long term, esp when we get busy. We're not thinking of reverting back to an older version of our Mac image with older Epson drivers.

I called Epson regarding these issues and they are placing the blame on Apple. Unfortunately, when I called our Apple Support rep, they blamed Epson.

Quote from: pfigen

GamutGirl,

Thanks for that feedback. Good at least to know that the problem still exists and that I haven't been setting the default printers in vain. Glad your printer is working again.

Peter

pfigen · « **Reply #12 on:** March 06, 2009, 02:45:19 am »

For some reason these companies, Adobe included, always seem to want to blame anyone but themselves whenever a problems arises. From everything I've read on the subject, all roads point to Apple, and this has been around for two or three years already. I agree that it's a pain in the ass. I've got both a 9800 and 9900 and have to constantly keep an eye on what computer is printing where, but it seems that dedicating a separate Mac to each printer is working well for the time being.

GamutGirl · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2009, 01:15:04 pm »

Epson printing tips:

1. Delete all instances of the Epson drivers. Delete the com.apple.printers* file from the following directories and restart the computer:

hard disk/Library/Preferences/
hard disk/Library/Preferences/ByHost/
user/Library/Preferences/
user/Library/Preferences/ByHost/

2. Delete the Epson folder under user/Library/Printers/

3. Restart computer

4. Run Disk Permissions Repair to fix permissions

5. Install Epson drivers.
- We can install our Epson 4000, 7600, 9600, and 9800 printers through the Epson TCP/IP window under System Preferences>Print&Fax>More Printers>Epson TCP/IP. Unfortunately, we can't do that same with the 3800s. You have to install under IP>Line Printer Daemon-LPD and enter the IP address of the printer.

These tips helped us out alot. Let me know if they work for you.

Author Topic: Posterizing in skin tones on Epson 9800 but not Epson 3800 issue (Read 5506 times)