Problem in printing with Epson P800

[Gennaro_27]

Hi,

I'm new on the forum and this is my first post ! So forgive me if I tell something wrong and please be patient.

On my new Epson P800 I noticed sometimes, specially when I use Canson papers (on the baryta photographique doesn't happen), that the edge of the print that first comes out from the printer (the left side) is not sharp as it would be (or as it is for the other side). To help you understand you can see the picture attached.

Thanks in advance for your help !

Gennaro

[Mark D Segal]

This comparison isn't too helpful because the subject matter isn't the same and neither part of the print looks very sharp as presented here. If you were to do one print upside down relative to the other (rotate the image 180 degrees and print it), then one can compare the same subject matter as it comes out opposite ends of the paper. Also, it would help to chose a really sharp photograph just about from edge to edge for analyzing whether there really is a problem.

What paper were you using which displays this problem? How did you load it in the printer (Front Fine Art Feed, or Sheet Feeder)? What Media Type did you select in the printer driver? These factors at least can affect how the printer handles the paper, which could have an impact on the results. The fact that Canson BP doesn't present this issue indicates it may be more a problem of settings and how you are feeding the printer, rather than the printer itself.

[Rado]

Mark I think he means the jagged line where the ink ends at bottom of the posted picture. I haven't seen such effect on my P800 yet. Maybe some clogged nozzles?

[Mark D Segal]

Mark I think he means the jagged line where the ink ends at bottom of the posted picture. I haven't seen such effect on my P800 yet. Maybe some clogged nozzles?

Ah - different story then. But my questions remain in any case. Can't say what may be the cause from the little information provided. I have not had this issue either. Clogged nozzles wouldn't usually present this way, so should be something else.

[Gennaro_27]

Thanks for the replies.
And yes Rado, I meant the edge line between the print and the paper. Sorry for the picture but I took it with my phone.

In this case the paper was not Canson but Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Book & Album 220 gsm. I set the Media as "Velvet Fine Art Paper", paper thickness to "4" and platen gap to "Standard". I choose front fine art feed.
I try to upload again the pictures for both sides.

[Gennaro_27]

I did right now a Print Head Nozzle Check test and the result is without problem.

[Mark D Segal]

Those settings look OK to me for that paper. You may try "Wide" rather than "Standard", but once you've set the Media Type to VFA which is OK for that paper the printer should handle the platen gap and width automatically for that setting. I don't think this is the problem. It is a rather subtle issue. I'm wondering whether it isn't in what you are sending to print. How does that left side look if you were to magnify it on display? Is it possible that there's a bit of a ragged effect somehow from processing that perhaps you can crop-off before printing?

[Gennaro_27]

Mark I printed the same picture again and this time I also set Thick Paper "ON" and modified the size (bigger now) of the print itself.
But again these marks are appearing in the exact same way and same position as before.
Observing carefully the image up to 100% in my display seems ok !
I have to try to crop the image to see what happens as you suggest.

Cheers

[Gennaro_27]

I cropped the image and print it again using Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 (unfortunately I don't have more Hahnemuhle Book & Album sheet) and paper thickness "5", platen gap "wide". The result came with the same imperfections as the other two attempts.

Then I examined all the prints I have done until now and I can say that the same problem is present for the color prints on matte papers.
The color glossy and the b&w, both on glossy and matte papers, are ok !

What happens ?
Very strange situation !

[Mark D Segal]

It is beginning to have the feel of a printer issue; perhaps you should call Epson ProGraphics tech support and discuss it with them.

[mcbroomf]

Gennaro,
What OS are you printing with, and from what application? 

Can you change the application, for example if you've been printing from Lightroom can you try from Photoshop?  The reason I ask is that it looks a little like some kind of masking along the edge to me and I wonder if it's from a bad template in your printing application.

[Gennaro_27]

Thanks again Mark and Mike for the suggestions.

I don't have Lightroom to try printing with another software. My Os is Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).
I already sent an email to technical support. I'm waiting for the answer !

I'll let you know what happens !

Bye
G.

[Gennaro_27]

Well, tech support from Epson told me to perform 2/3 head cleaning cycles. I don't think it could solve the problem but I'll try !

[Gennaro_27]

And also, if the problem is in the head printer why the nozzle check test is ok ?

[Mark D Segal]

And also, if the problem is in the head printer why the nozzle check test is ok ?

That's the key point and why I was surprised by the advice you got from Epson. Normally they tell people if the nozzle check is clean, there is no issue with air or clogs. The fact you are having this problem with certain matte papers but not luster paper suggests to me an ink lay down issue that shows up more for matte than for luster because of the different absorption characteristics between the two. Which leads me to ask an elementary question: are you sure you are printing with Matte Black when using that matte paper?

[Gennaro_27]

Yes Mark, I selected the right matte black ink option when printing !

[howardm]

I've seen where the herringbone nozzle check was fine but the auto checkerboard nozzle check wasn't.

Also, my hunch is that 'run a few nozzle checks' is the printer support line equivalent of 'reboot your PC one or more times' to get you off the phone or at least passed off to a different tech.

[Gennaro_27]

I did the print head cleaning two times and print a couple of images but the problem is still there !
Now I'm waiting some answer from Epson ...

Bye

[Wayne Fox]

definitely not a nozzle problem.  It could be a printer issue, but a couple of other thoughts.

It could be from something in your paper setup.  You may want to post screen shots of your dialog boxes, including custom paper size if you are wanting one.

Additionally  OS X 10.6 (snow leopard) is very old, and had plenty of issues with printing that have long since been resolved.  I’m not sure anyone including epson or adobe supports 10.6 at all any more, and guessing they haven’t for some time.  It’s a long shot, but you may want to consider updating your OS.

[Simon J.A. Simpson]

Thanks for the replies.
And yes Rado, I meant the edge line between the print and the paper. Sorry for the picture but I took it with my phone.

In this case the paper was not Canson but Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Book & Album 220 gsm. I set the Media as "Velvet Fine Art Paper", paper thickness to "4" and platen gap to "Standard". I choose front fine art feed.
I try to upload again the pictures for both sides.

Gennaro, it looks to me like ink bleed.  I note that the edges which extend out in this irregular fashion correspond to darker areas of the print.  I get this with my Canon printer, which puts down a lot of ink, on matt papers – but it does this ‘uniformly’ around all edges of the print.

I'm sorry, but at the moment, I do not have a suggestion to offer as to how you might resolve this.  However, a test would be to make an image of stepped white to black patches and then try printing them on different papers to see whether it is ink bleeding or not.