RE: Banding on Pictorico with Epson 2200
Thanks for the clarification. Glad to know I'm not the Crapster. I was just kidding around, anyway. It is a well known scientific fact that gum printers are bipolar when it comes to their confidence quotient. They are either arrogant misanthropes or meek "woe-is-me" types. Well-adjusted people gravitate towards processes where success or failure can be more easily determined. At least is seems that way. And you are right about paper negs for gum. That is the way I intend to go. -----Original Message----- From: Sandy King [mailto:sanking@clemson.edu] Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 9:51 AM To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: RE: Banding on Pictorico with Epson 2200 Keith, If your reference is to my comment, no, you are not the one. Your work is quite creative in its painterly qualities and very interesting. So you have nothing to get over on my account because my comments were not directed toward your work. As for the Epson 2200, I have used it for more than two years for making digital negatives and this is the first time I have had any problem with it. Still, it has still fairly low use since I use it only for making digital negatives. But, it must be a media problem since I can print the same negative on paper with no sign of banding. For gum you might want to consider printing on paper for your negatives. Sandy King At 11:53 AM -0800 10/30/06, 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 >>
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