I'm about to give up on my Epson Stylus Photo R340

[James Steele]

I've complained about this here before, but as I sit here among a rather expensive mess of test prints on glossy photo paper, for the life of me I cannot get this thing to print colors that match what I'm seeing on the screen. Everything has a yellowish tinge. I've tried Color Sync setting and all variations of color management and it is literally hopeless. I don't know what I can do at this point but try and buy a new printer. I like the Stylus because it has the CD tray, but I'm printing strictly in black and white for that because color matching what I see on screen has just been a fantasy.

I am using refilled ink cartridges, but I have used them before without a problem. I am going to perhaps try to print something from my Windows machine (one even MORE paper and more ink arrives in the mail as I pour money down this hole). I can't recall being able to print something that matched color since I owned a G4. Perhaps I'll have to dig out my old G4 out of the garage just to try and print from it. I just plain don't get it.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Hey James, I've had quite a few Epson and some other ink jets and that symptom always seems to be clogged print heads. They are fairly difficult to clean manually and rather messy. I've resurrected these guys maybe 5 times since about 1998 and would personally not bother. They don't seem to live long after that anyway. The 'clean print head' routine will work sometimes and may require several attempts before any kind of success.

We've pretty much moved to wide format and color lasers with a wide format Epson 1280 that hardly gets any use and a Brother MFC for quick scanning and fast ink jet (non-critical) printing. That's actually been more reliable than the dedicated Epsons and the ink is more affordable.

I wouldn't be surprised if multiple copies of glossy images at a place like Kinko's or some photo place dedicated to stuff like headshots wouldn't be more cost effective in the long run.

[James Steele]

Thanks Michael. That's exactly what I'm after, is just get a run of promo photos done. I just can't seem to print anything that doesn't come out whacked. I used to be able to and I don't know what's up. The heads don't appear to be clogged. I can't print the test page and it's just fine, but the color is just way off. Plain paper doesn't look so bad, but the prints on the Epson photo paper are godawful and unusable no matter what I try.

I guess I'll see what Kinkos will charge, assuming they're calibrated and can color match. I've looked online though for this and the prices are pretty shocking for me. I was use to being able to run them in small batches.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Have you tried different paper? Glossy paper has a shelf life unless it is archival quality. Then it has a shelf life, but like 200 years (or so they say...). We'll see - or maybe we won't!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

http://www.theactorsphotolab.com/photo-reproduction/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you buy 20, they'll cost you about $2 each.

100 will run you 80¢ ea. and 1000 about 47¢.

100 or 159 is not that bad a deal and someone else has to deal with color. You can send them a file online which is very nice as well.

Just sayin...

[James Steele]

http://www.theactorsphotolab.com/photo-reproduction/

If you buy 20, they'll cost you about $2 each.

100 will run you 80¢ ea. and 1000 about 47¢.

100 or 159 is not that bad a deal and someone else has to deal with color. You can send them a file online which is very nice as well.

Just sayin...

Priceless info Michael... thank you so much!!

[amergin]

You could also try printing using another profile (e.g instead of using epson photo glossy use generic photo glossy) as your profile could just be corrupted - you say that plain paper prints out okay?

[James Steele]

You could also try printing using another profile (e.g instead of using epson photo glossy use generic photo glossy) as your profile could just be corrupted - you say that plain paper prints out okay?

Yeah, the color doesn't seem as off on the plain paper setting. Which is okay if I order the photos from the link above. In fact I already submitted an online order to them because I had a small contest of Facebook and have to send photos and CD-Rs to the winners, and this is just taking too much time. Also I'm sure it's cheaper in the long run.

If plain paper is working okay it should mean my CD-R labels will still look okay I'm hoping. Although I had to go to Black & White on those just because color was lame. I might make a two-color type design that's mostly black and white and an accent color to make it look like I did that "on purpose" rather than because my old printer is screwy. Also cheaper just to be changing out black ink I guess.

[mikehalloran]

I finally jetisoned my working Epson CD printer in favor of an HP.

Although HP no longer offers a CD printer, you can still buy them.

With HP printers, some come with the print heads built into the cartridges; with others like mine you can buy the print heads separately. Those printers have much lower ink costs. So much so that, the second time I bought ink, the printer paid for itself.

Mine is the HP Photosmart C309a, still available new from some sources. CDs print in seconds in Fast Draft Black mode - in color, it is still much faster than my Epson ever was. It also handles duplex printing (both sides of the page) and scanning. It has wired/wireless/network printing and scanning.

FD Black mode saves a lot of money by using only one tank. I will go through two XL black tanks for every set of color. My wife and I get heavy use out of this for our jobs and I save about $75 a month - not bad for a printer that cost me $150.

These guys supposedly have one for $75
http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech ... gwodhmBGgQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here are other sources. I bought mine from OfficeMax.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=all" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jtaylor1477]

have you try cleaning the heads of the printer? it just need to be clean and you can print again properly...if your need some epson cartridges you can by it online... they have refill too...

[FutureLegends]

I have an Epson 1290 (1280 in the US). I've not had much problem with colour matching, generally that has been great. But I've only used original Epson ink and paper. Biggest problem has been that if it's not used regularly it clogs up, leading to many wasted prints (which get real expensive real fast). And the cost of ink has lead me not to buy new in almost 2 years...
If I ever get a new printer I'm getting either a laser or a smaller inkjet that can print on CDs, any recommendations of good printers that print on CD with not too expensive ink?

[mikehalloran]

>Biggest problem has been that if it's not used regularly it clogs up<

That has always been the problem with Epson.

I used to avoid HP printers because you had to wait for the paper to dry. That is no longer an issue.

To be fair, I don't have to do critical color matching but am quite happy with how close it gets.

Because of the way that HP printers handle paper, one must use the HP photo paper - it has a textured back surface that allows the rollers to grip it properly.