U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: Banding on Pictorico with Epson 2200

Re: Banding on Pictorico with Epson 2200



Nonononononononono, I was afraid this was going to happen. It's not you! (I guess the thing I sent three hours ago about that hasn't arrived on the list yet).
Katharine


On Oct 30, 2006, at 11:53 AM, Keith Gerling wrote:

Fairly Global? Several weeks? About given up?

ooooboy, this in not what I want to hear. The recent curves/no curves
discussion has piqued my interest in using inkjet negs (and, BTW, I'm fairly
certain that *I* am the mysterious crappy gumprinter recently mentioned, so
I need to get out behind that...) It's been several years since I used an
Epson (I used a Stylus, an 1160 and a 3000 just to put into perspective how
long ago) and one of the reasons I gave them up for lith negs is that the
Epsons were just plain unreliable. Horribly so. Banding, stuck nozzles,
drying up, constant cleaning cycles, praying and swearing. I was hoping
that things had improved.

So what is the real skinny? Are these printers still a hassle to use? To
tell you the truth, Camden, the odds you speak of are not reassuring: Two
of your three 2200s band? You're lucky in that you have more than one to
choose from. Is the prevailing thought concerning inkjet negatives still
that struggling with the printer is just "part of the territory"?

-----Original Message-----
From: Camden Hardy [mailto:camden@hardyphotography.net]
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 8:11 AM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: Banding on Pictorico with Epson 2200


Hi Sandy,

Sounds like you're experiencing the dreaded "venetian blinds", which is a
fairly global problem with Epson printers. I've only seen it affect
highlights, and only in images with very long, smooth tonal gradation. I
spent several weeks toward the end of the summer trying to find a
solution, namely with the 2200, but I've all but given up at this point (I
can tell you what makes it worse, but not better). I suspect it's a
mechanical issue that has to do with the way the printer lays down ink,
but I have yet to figure out how or why or what the cause is.

I've got access to a few various RIPs that I've been meaning to test it
with, to make sure it's not the Epson driver that causes the banding.
If/when I ever have the time, I'll let you know what I find out.

It's also a very inconsistent problem, that may or may not have something
to do with wear and tear (I haven't done enough testing to formulate any
theories there). We've got three 2200s in our digital lab, one of which
doesn't band at all. Only one of the two 4000s in the lab show banding.
So, if you have access to another 2200 it may be worth trying.

Based on what I'm hearing from Mark and a few others, the R1800 is the
only Epson printer out there that doesn't exhibit these blinds. I've also
heard the R2400 minimizes the banding, but doesn't eliminate it entirely.

Camden Hardy

camden[at]hardyphotography[dot]net
http://www.hardyphotography.net


On Mon, October 30, 2006 5:12 am, Sandy King wrote:

I am having a lot of problem with banding printing on Pictorico with
the Epson 2200, and it is not like anything described in the Epson
manual. I am getting dark lines (on the print), about 3-4mm wide, and
sometimes in pairs, running at right angles to the direction of paper
feed (i.e. in the direction of travel of the printing head). The
lines are just barely darker than the surrounding area, but they
contrast enough to make the negatives useless.  I don't get the lines
when printing on paper, only on Pictorico. The lines completely
destroy the highlights so I need to solve the problem before I can
print any more. I have done all the usual things, i.e. head cleaning,
head alignment, etc. Any other suggestions?

Sandy King