I have been printing with Piezography inks and love the output. However, an odd thing just started happening. Transition areas of my black and white images (in the lightest part of the image), have started to posterize. Same inks, same printer, same image, same paper, same settings. I have tried a number of things/settings. Reducing contrast, rebooting (MAC and Printer), etc. I can print the same image just fine with my 3880 using epson inks, but prefer k7 tonality. I have emailed a couple of images to Wells from my iPhone so that he may assist me in posting them to this forum. Thank you Wells. Any assistance would be most appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
I apologize for not responding sooner, we have had a workshop going on all week, so I haven’t been on my computer as much as normal, and am trying to answer emails every “free” moment I get.
If your Piezography output has been good.normal, then suddenly changed to posterized, here are the things that could cause that to happen:
One or more carts were mis-filled with the wrong ink shade, or ink shades installed in the wrong order. I see you recently ordered a set of carts and Special Edition inks- are you using these fresh carts/inks, or older carts/inks?
Wrong printer and/or curve selected
Change in OS or printing application- if using a newer Mac, you should be printing from QTR Print Tool and not from Photoshop.
I recommend you first check the ink shade placement by printing the Ink Separation image thru QTR’s calibration mode, which you can find instructions for doing here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?144-Print-Ink-Separation-Image-thru-QTR-Calibration-Mode
Mark the print darkest to lightest (1-7), check against the ink shade placement chart for your printer model, and let me know your results so we can move forward to resolve this and get you back to happily printing.
Thank you for the reply Dana.
I am using an older set of inks/cartridges purchased a few months ago. I am not printing from Photoshop, but was printing through Lightroom ( I noted Jon’s post on website). I then printed from QTR, with same results. I verified ink cartridges installed in correct position. No change. I have multiple printers, and am working through a large project on my 3880 (non-piezography) my piezography printer is my 2880 since this weird problem reared its ugly head. I will follow directions you listed, and respond by Monday. I am using a newer MAC. Lightroom 5, Photoshop CS5.
Thank you again for the reply Dana, and have a great weekend.
Best,
Hi Dana,
Thank you for the recommendations and troubleshooting methodology. I printed out the Ink separation image through the qtr calibration mode. Followed instructions in link you sent. Thank you for that link, I would have been lost without it. I found that my Light Magenta cartridge was/is NOT printing. I have an Epson 2880 dedicated for Piezography Printing. I am printing with neutral inks. Everything worked beautifully when I originally installed (and filled) the cartridges originally. I have since refilled the cartridges once. This is when the problem started. After printing the calibration/purge for the Light Magenta, I am still not able to print through that cartridge. Do you think I should empty the cartridge with syringe, and retry?
Thank you in advance for all your assistance Dana.
Regards,
dave
A missing channel will certainly make your output look strange!
I recommend you remove the LM cartridge, check to make sure it has plenty of ink inside and air vent open, then tap the cart exit valve down on a folded paper a few times to force air up and ink down, then reinstall into your printer- making sure it snaps firmly in place, then do a cleaning cycle and nozzle check to see how things look.
Hi Dana,
Followed your advice, and no better. The Epson utility’s message is to perform a manual clean. Will have to figure out procedure. What I do not understand is: Is this common for the 2880 series? Worked perfectly for me. New two months ago. Tested well. Installed Piezography neutral. Printed 20 (or so) images in one week. Refilled cartridges. Now I am experiencing the need for a manual clean. What are your thoughts?
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
dave
Hi Dana,
I cannot get the individual clogged cartridge to get ink to flow. I have followed recommendation below. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Best,
dave
[QUOTE=Dana-IJM;1803]Hi Dave~
A missing channel will certainly make your output look strange!
I recommend you remove the LM cartridge, check to make sure it has plenty of ink inside and air vent open, then tap the cart exit valve down on a folded paper a few times to force air up and ink down, then reinstall into your printer- making sure it snaps firmly in place, then do a cleaning cycle and nozzle check to see how things look.
Thanks for the additional information. It’s strange that you were having good results with this cartridge until refilling it with ink, and now the cartridge is not printing… Please tell me, which hole did you use to refill the cartridge? When you print a nozzle check, are any nozzles printing in the LM channel, or is he entire position blank? How much time was between when you were printing well to when you refilled the LM cartridge (was this immediately after printing, or weeks later?) Have you refilled any other cartridges since originally filling and installing them? Do you have any other LM cartridges to install and test to determine if the print head channel is clogged, or if the LM refill cartridge is restricting flow somehow?
Please let me know so I can help you resolve this and get back to happily printing.
Best regards~ Dana
Hi Dana~
Thanks for the reply. I filled the new cartridge in the proper fill hole (not the vent hole), as I did with all the other cartridges. Good question though. Time between good results and bad results…immediately after refilling cartridge. Now, perhaps I did not shake the ink enough (shade 5) before refilling. So, I emptied the cartridge with syringe back into shade 5 bottle. Shook the bottle really well, and refilled the cartridge…results same. I cannot get ink out of that particular cartridge. Blotting doe not help. All other cartridges work fine… I am about to use spare cartridge and see if that helps. I will be using the gloss cartridge in place of VLM cartridge. That will prove out whether problem lies with cartridge.
Thanks again.
Best,
dave
Hi Dave~
Thanks for the additional information. It’s strange that you were having good results with this cartridge until refilling it with ink, and now the cartridge is not printing… Please tell me, which hole did you use to refill the cartridge? When you print a nozzle check, are any nozzles printing in the LM channel, or is he entire position blank? How much time was between when you were printing well to when you refilled the LM cartridge (was this immediately after printing, or weeks later?) Have you refilled any other cartridges since originally filling and installing them? Do you have any other LM cartridges to install and test to determine if the print head channel is clogged, or if the LM refill cartridge is restricting flow somehow?
Please let me know so I can help you resolve this and get back to happily printing.
Best regards~ Dana :)[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the update. Please do let me know your results using the spare cartridge in your VLM position- if it works, then something with the original VLM cart was preventing ink flow, but if it doesn’t work then I suspect y=the VLM channel in your print head may be clogged. You will need to transfer the chip from the VLM cartridge to the spare cartridge in order for your printer to accept it in the VLM position. I recommend securing the chip to the cart using double sided tape, and always make sure the chip is straight/flat on the cart for a good connection with the sensor.
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