Digital BW, The Print

I have an Epson TX650 loaded with MIS Eboni and UT14-PKN and dilutions of these made using Paul Roark's base (the one with Edwal LFN for 1.5pl printers). The TX650 is the current entry-level 6 Claria ink 1.5pl printer in Australia (it's a PX650 in the UK) similar in stats to the R260. I am printing on Photo Rag 188 and a very cheap matte inkjet paper for experiments.

The problem I have is that whenever I print using QTR and Printing Model R260-MIS (to which I have added some profiles) I get blobs and streaks of ink in the borders (which are about 1.5cm) around the image I am printing. They can take the form of 1mm ink strains along the top or bottom edges of the paper, as if part of the edge had been very lightly dipped in ink, horizontal streaks within the first 1cm of the top or bottom edge of the paper (these look like the head or some rollers have streaked ink from the previous stains), and sometimes little dense drops of ink on the right hand margin. The images themselves are always perfect with no marks on them, but there are always some messy ink blotches somewhere in the border.

Some of the ink will get on rollers and effect later sheets. Aside from this left over mess though I never seem to have a problem when I use the Epson driver to print images. I have tried adjusting the Ink Limit (Shadows) to -50 in QTR's Advanced Adjustments, rolling the paper around a paper roll and using a thinner paper, but I always have some messy ink in the borders when using QTR.

Is my ink too thin? Too thick? Are my refillable cartridges no good? Is my Ink Limit in my QTR curves (40 with a Black Boost of 50) too high for the printer? Am I using QTR incorrectly? Am I just missing something? Any help or ideas would be appreciated!

Cheers, Nigel.

So I think what is happening is that the ends of the paper that are not held
by the rollers (like all the small printers) tend to bend up and touch the
head and yes your inks are maybe a bit thin and there is some ink sitting
under the head.

Try the following;

1) Bend the paper before you put it into the printer so the ends are are
bend away from the printing surface and or

2) Print an image that's at least 5cm (2.5inch) from front edge and back
edge.

Either or both of these should help.

Mike

2009/12/30 nigglefish <nigglefish@...>

>
>
> I have an Epson TX650 loaded with MIS Eboni and UT14-PKN and dilutions of
> these made using Paul Roark's base (the one with Edwal LFN for 1.5pl
> printers). The TX650 is the current entry-level 6 Claria ink 1.5pl printer
> in Australia (it's a PX650 in the UK) similar in stats to the R260. I am
> printing on Photo Rag 188 and a very cheap matte inkjet paper for
> experiments.
>
> The problem I have is that whenever I print using QTR and Printing Model
> R260-MIS (to which I have added some profiles) I get blobs and streaks of
> ink in the borders (which are about 1.5cm) around the image I am printing.
> They can take the form of 1mm ink strains along the top or bottom edges of
> the paper, as if part of the edge had been very lightly dipped in ink,
> horizontal streaks within the first 1cm of the top or bottom edge of the
> paper (these look like the head or some rollers have streaked ink from the
> previous stains), and sometimes little dense drops of ink on the right hand
> margin. The images themselves are always perfect with no marks on them, but
> there are always some messy ink blotches somewhere in the border.
>
> Some of the ink will get on rollers and effect later sheets. Aside from
> this left over mess though I never seem to have a problem when I use the
> Epson driver to print images. I have tried adjusting the Ink Limit (Shadows)
> to -50 in QTR's Advanced Adjustments, rolling the paper around a paper roll
> and using a thinner paper, but I always have some messy ink in the borders
> when using QTR.
>
> Is my ink too thin? Too thick? Are my refillable cartridges no good? Is my
> Ink Limit in my QTR curves (40 with a Black Boost of 50) too high for the
> printer? Am I using QTR incorrectly? Am I just missing something? Any help
> or ideas would be appreciated!
>
> Cheers, Nigel.
>
> 
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

BTW this paper curling problem (towards the coated side) occurs with nearly
all matte papers I've used.
Obviously something to do with the coating, which is why many good quality
matte papers are coated on both sides, the best equally coated on both sides
(like Epson Ultrasmooth) to reduce/stop curling, not to allow you to print
on both sides.

Don't know why the coating causes curling, maybe someone in the paper
business can explain.

Mike


2009/12/30 Michael King <drmrking@...>

> So I think what is happening is that the ends of the paper that are not
> held by the rollers (like all the small printers) tend to bend up and touch
> the head and yes your inks are maybe a bit thin and there is some ink
> sitting under the head.
>
> Try the following;
>
> 1) Bend the paper before you put it into the printer so the ends are are
> bend away from the printing surface and or
>
> 2) Print an image that's at least 5cm (2.5inch) from front edge and back
> edge.
>
> Either or both of these should help.
>
> Mike
>
> 2009/12/30 nigglefish <nigglefish@...>
>
>
>>
>> I have an Epson TX650 loaded with MIS Eboni and UT14-PKN and dilutions of
>> these made using Paul Roark's base (the one with Edwal LFN for 1.5pl
>> printers). The TX650 is the current entry-level 6 Claria ink 1.5pl printer
>> in Australia (it's a PX650 in the UK) similar in stats to the R260. I am
>> printing on Photo Rag 188 and a very cheap matte inkjet paper for
>> experiments.
>>
>> The problem I have is that whenever I print using QTR and Printing Model
>> R260-MIS (to which I have added some profiles) I get blobs and streaks of
>> ink in the borders (which are about 1.5cm) around the image I am printing.
>> They can take the form of 1mm ink strains along the top or bottom edges of
>> the paper, as if part of the edge had been very lightly dipped in ink,
>> horizontal streaks within the first 1cm of the top or bottom edge of the
>> paper (these look like the head or some rollers have streaked ink from the
>> previous stains), and sometimes little dense drops of ink on the right hand
>> margin. The images themselves are always perfect with no marks on them, but
>> there are always some messy ink blotches somewhere in the border.
>>
>> Some of the ink will get on rollers and effect later sheets. Aside from
>> this left over mess though I never seem to have a problem when I use the
>> Epson driver to print images. I have tried adjusting the Ink Limit (Shadows)
>> to -50 in QTR's Advanced Adjustments, rolling the paper around a paper roll
>> and using a thinner paper, but I always have some messy ink in the borders
>> when using QTR.
>>
>> Is my ink too thin? Too thick? Are my refillable cartridges no good? Is my
>> Ink Limit in my QTR curves (40 with a Black Boost of 50) too high for the
>> printer? Am I using QTR incorrectly? Am I just missing something? Any help
>> or ideas would be appreciated!
>>
>> Cheers, Nigel.
>>
>> 
>>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks for all the advice Mike,

I finally found a process that works for me so I thought I would share it for anyone else who might have the same problems.

By rolling the page over the cardboard roll from the inside of some paper-towels I put a reverse bend into the paper. I am careful not to roll it too far as it can crease the paper halfway if you let it double up on the roll, but I do aim for quite a strong reverse roll.

This eliminates the ink at the start and end of the page but only seems to increase the amount of splotches down the left-hand side of the page which look like big ink drops about 5mm round and line up all down the side of the page. I finally managed to get rid of these by setting the Resolution to 1400x1400 and the Speed to Uni-directional in QTR. I guess it was the second setting that did it.

Anyway, I am now making great prints so thanks again Mike!

Nigel.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Michael King <drmrking@...> wrote:

>
> BTW this paper curling problem (towards the coated side) occurs with nearly
> all matte papers I've used.
> Obviously something to do with the coating, which is why many good quality
> matte papers are coated on both sides, the best equally coated on both sides
> (like Epson Ultrasmooth) to reduce/stop curling, not to allow you to print
> on both sides.
> 
> Don't know why the coating causes curling, maybe someone in the paper
> business can explain.
> 
> Mike
> 
> 
> 2009/12/30 Michael King <drmrking@...>
> 
> > So I think what is happening is that the ends of the paper that are not
> > held by the rollers (like all the small printers) tend to bend up and touch
> > the head and yes your inks are maybe a bit thin and there is some ink
> > sitting under the head.
> >
> > Try the following;
> >
> > 1) Bend the paper before you put it into the printer so the ends are are
> > bend away from the printing surface and or
> >
> > 2) Print an image that's at least 5cm (2.5inch) from front edge and back
> > edge.
> >
> > Either or both of these should help.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > 2009/12/30 nigglefish <nigglefish@...>
> >
> >
> >>
> >> I have an Epson TX650 loaded with MIS Eboni and UT14-PKN and dilutions of
> >> these made using Paul Roark's base (the one with Edwal LFN for 1.5pl
> >> printers). The TX650 is the current entry-level 6 Claria ink 1.5pl printer
> >> in Australia (it's a PX650 in the UK) similar in stats to the R260. I am
> >> printing on Photo Rag 188 and a very cheap matte inkjet paper for
> >> experiments.
> >>
> >> The problem I have is that whenever I print using QTR and Printing Model
> >> R260-MIS (to which I have added some profiles) I get blobs and streaks of
> >> ink in the borders (which are about 1.5cm) around the image I am printing.
> >> They can take the form of 1mm ink strains along the top or bottom edges of
> >> the paper, as if part of the edge had been very lightly dipped in ink,
> >> horizontal streaks within the first 1cm of the top or bottom edge of the
> >> paper (these look like the head or some rollers have streaked ink from the
> >> previous stains), and sometimes little dense drops of ink on the right hand
> >> margin. The images themselves are always perfect with no marks on them, but
> >> there are always some messy ink blotches somewhere in the border.
> >>
> >> Some of the ink will get on rollers and effect later sheets. Aside from
> >> this left over mess though I never seem to have a problem when I use the
> >> Epson driver to print images. I have tried adjusting the Ink Limit (Shadows)
> >> to -50 in QTR's Advanced Adjustments, rolling the paper around a paper roll
> >> and using a thinner paper, but I always have some messy ink in the borders
> >> when using QTR.
> >>
> >> Is my ink too thin? Too thick? Are my refillable cartridges no good? Is my
> >> Ink Limit in my QTR curves (40 with a Black Boost of 50) too high for the
> >> printer? Am I using QTR incorrectly? Am I just missing something? Any help
> >> or ideas would be appreciated!
> >>
> >> Cheers, Nigel.
> >>
> >> 
> >>
> >
> >
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Good day to all,

As a confirmed lurker, I hesitate to interrupt this board, but I will  
ask your forgivness this time.

As I have had the same problem ( streaking and rorschach like ink blob  
on a 4880 Epson ) and trying all kinds of solution, none of which I  
will waste your time with explaning here as nothing worked.

So I gave in and called epson tech support. Short story shorter they  
suggested setting my platen width to "wider" from the front panel of  
my 4880.

Done and done!

Do reset it each time you turn the unit on as it will not retain the  
"W" setting after a power down.

Sent from my iPhone

Silvio

By setting the platen wider is only a bandaid. You must have dirt on your head surface. Having the platen set to wide just keeps the head farther from the paper so it has less of a chance of touching. So what are the solutions you tried that are not worth explaining? Did you physically wipe the head clean by hand?

I think you can also setup a custom paper with a wide gap and it will remain wide when you turn the printer off.

Mark
http://www.stillrivereditions.com

On Jan 3, 2010, at 1:14 PM, Silvio wrote:

> Good day to all,
> 
> As a confirmed lurker, I hesitate to interrupt this board, but I will  
> ask your forgivness this time.
> 
> As I have had the same problem ( streaking and rorschach like ink blob  
> on a 4880 Epson ) and trying all kinds of solution, none of which I  
> will waste your time with explaning here as nothing worked.
> 
> So I gave in and called epson tech support. Short story shorter they  
> suggested setting my platen width to "wider" from the front panel of  
> my 4880.
> 
> Done and done!
> 
> Do reset it each time you turn the unit on as it will not retain the  
> "W" setting after a power down.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Silvio
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------
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