Epson P900 printing (new) magenta cast — help!

[tinyshocks]

Hi folks, I am desperate with a printing problem under deadline — I'm supposed to give a talk at a local university Wednesday and really need to knock out 10 prints. This is my environment: MacBook Pro running 15.5, Lightroom Classic 14.5.1, Epson P900 13.26 driver. Attempting to print from LR files that have been soft proofed, printed in the past (to absolute satisfaction on both the old Epson P-whatever it was that made 11x14s and on this P900). Yes, I calibrate my monitor with some iProfile dongle and, FWIW, I have worked in a custom lab printing B&W and color, am a wire service photog, went to art school — by way of saying there's little for me to be falling down on with regards to color balance, making good prints, etc.

Something has changed with one or another updates; system or new LR version. I am getting a magenta cast to prints which I presume is due to ColorSync fighting my Canson Platine icc profile. The LR interface windows have changed, I think even since my last printing at the end of July before I went away on a month-long assignment. I turned the printer on and it had lost date and time, and apparently my custom print setting for the paper I use almost exclusively. I'm finding the latest Epson/Lightroom interface a real departure from past and hard to get used to, find things, access controls, etc.

In any case I can't access the dialogue that allows me to select "Epson Color Controls" the choices are greyed out and ColorSync is selected. And that's assuming that Epson Color Controls is what I want?! I just want LR to manage color with my icc profile. Screen shots below. I admit, I am no computer whiz, but I have been printing with an Epson for years, to great satisfaction once it's dialed in. I am feeling very old person in my frustration with getting this to work where it always has.

Any suggestions are so greatly welcome. I've been through it all, attempting to set print settings from the lower left button, the right button, dumped and reinstalled the Epson driver package. I am a broken printer — it's amazing what a level of desperation this process can raise in me when it doesn't do as it has always done. Thanks so much, I very much appreciate the aid!!
Jaye

[tinyshocks]

I can't seem to post screenshots, though they might be helpful. I'm getting this error for a 166kb PNG file:
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[William Walker]

Hi Jaye,

For starters, I print with Canon and have long ago given up printing from Lightroom….

Have you tried re-installing the printer driver - Canon recommends this after an IOS update?

Maybe it is the same for Epson...

[Jonathan Cross]

I had a similar problem on my canon Pro 300. In the end it turned out to be a conflict between what was set on the printer’s screen and what was set in the LR print module.
Jonathan

[tinyshocks]

Thanks William and Jonathon, I appreciate it!

I have updated the Espon driver after getting rid of the old post OS update. I've also learned that the latest Mac OS could not be made to work with two large format Canon printers a friend has to keep running teaching photography. Her solution, with the school IT folks, was to return to the OS and driver that worked which is what I may be facing.

I have the feeling, right or wrong, that Apple is incautious in creating its OS updates insofar as has anything to do with professional photo printers. I read a take from a service bureau that indicated that they use PCs to run their printers because Macs are too unreliable. I wish this were all reliable. I don't have the time to lose two days to printer problems — none of us do!

[tinyshocks]

UPDATE:
I have found the issue and very much would like to hear if others have seen this in my particular OS environment. (See first post.)

LR seems to be defaulting to ColorSync no mater what is entered to be saved. When setting up a print from the "Print Settings" button at the left side of LR's screen and I look at the "Color Matching" printer option the window that comes up is greyed out with ColorSync selected rather than "EPSON Color Controls" being the so-called "color matching" choice. (Shouldn't this be color management?)

If I go in the precise sequence of selecting my preferred printing parameters the printer has (once) spit out a good test. The preset for the Canson paper will give me the ColorSync Mac native color management; even as the preset was created from all of those parameters being set per my printing environment. Unfortunately LR/Epson do not provide the opportunity to to see all of the printing parameters as a final check on one screen prior to sending a job to the printer (as InDesign does, say, for exporting or printing).

And, interestingly, setting every parameter manually by way of LR and the print interface windows will show ColorSync as the color management paradigm when checking "Color Matching" to see what's up there. Closing that window, returning to "Printer Settings" and then returning to check "Color Matching" then shows the correct Epson color management. With no input changes!

Critically, all of this has to be done by way of the right had side LR "Printer" button immediately prior to printing t get a good print. Doing any of it at the left hand "Print Settings" button does not save the settings entered!! (This is probably accounting for the failure of the paper preset I repeatedly deleted and set up.

It all seems nuts.... Has anyone else seen this failure of saving color management settings by way of the "Print Settings" button in LR on a Mac? Not being able to save a paper preset is a real PITA but I can work around it for now.

[dgberg]

Mine does the same thing randomly with my P8000 and P5370.
I select PS manages color and the correct icc profile. When I go to setting/Color Matching it has defaulted to Epson Color Controls.
The way I reset it the quickest is to select another Icc profile, then go back and reselect the correct profile. Now when I go back to
Color matching Color Sync is selected.
Don't ask me how or why..
Running a Mac with Sequoia.

[degrub]

i think this has been an ongoing bug introduced with one of the last few Apple updates. Basically, you have to check the settings every time.

[digitaldog]

Start from scratch in LR and create a new user Print Template with every possible setting (for print driver and within LR's module) and try again. When printing with an Epson, always have the driver itself set for Presets: Default Settings, NOT one you created and can use in Photoshop! ALL settings are stored in a template in LR, they all have to be correct meaning everything you can configure in the print driver outside a saved preset there:

 http://digitaldog.net/files/EpsonDropdownPreset.jpg
 
 LR is unique in that it must be configured via a template, and you should never expect a saved setting, such as that seen in a JPEG, to be anything but the default. In Photoshop, you can certainly use the Epson Presets. Not Lightroom Classic.

[digitaldog]

Proper setting of ColorSync radio button and the recent macOS bug that affects it.
http://digitaldog.net/files/API%20Print%20bug%20in%20macOS.pdf
Tahoe seems to be OK but I still always check the settings.