Epson 4900 & QTR woea

[smieglitz]

I'm attempting to calibrate an Epson Pro 4900 for use with Quadtone
RIP (first-time user), but I am getting some unexpected results in the very earliest
stages of the procedure. When I printed the calibration image
(inkseparation10.tif) onto Pictorico OHP, I expected to see a step
wedge for each ink with a stepped transition from highlights through
the shadows, but in different colors for each ink line. Instead, the
resulting negative has abrupt changes in color and density within each
ink line and the Photo Black ink line is kinda yellow.

The black ink also starts to pool at about the 50 density patch as do
magenta and yellow. Light cyan has 3 steps cyan and then goes
purplish. Similarly , yellow starts out OK then goes navy, light
magenta goes gray and the other inks (except orange) go blank after
several steps. Orange seems to be the only ink printing as I
expected.

Can anyone experienced with QTR have a look and give me a clue as to
what might be causing this behavior? I must have some color management setting on somewhere. I thought QTR would take control of it anyways once the calibration mode was selected.

FWIW, the QTR calibration dialog box is set to 100% ink, using Photo
Black ink, and Ive slowed the printer to unidirectional. I havent
changed the TIFF file status although I am working with a copy of the
original. (There are also some streaks in the transparency where the
ink pooled and I sopped it up after an hour in order to scan it.)

Any help appreciated. Thanks,

Joe

 

[Miller]

I had problems too. This link helped. Hope the same for you.
http://www.dpug.org/forums/f23/qtr-ink-pattern-page-abomination-2337/

Vern

 

[smieglitz]

Thanks Vern,

That thread suggests a few things that are good to know about. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with CS5 at work and can't get an earlier version of Photoshop. But, that sounds like the easiest way out of this mess. I'll try to fool the driver into letting an untagged file go through.

I also got the grayscale printout problem on a 2200 so perhaps it is CS5.

 

[Miller]

Joe, I have cs5 too. What fixed it for me was "printer manages color".
Good luck.
Vern

 

[Ron-san]

Try the method given in the attached document. Cheers, Ron-san

OK, I tried to attach both a word and a pdf version of a small document but this new and improved website will not let me do so.

Here is the gist of the method. Find the Inkseparation8.psd file and open it in Photoshop. In the print window select your Quad printer driver. Set Document profile to untagged RGB, let Photoshop manage colores and set the printer profile to sRGBIEC61966-2.1, rendering intent Perceptual and Black point compensation ON.

For me, with my 4880 and running CS5 on a Mac, that results in the ink separation page being printed out correctly. Got this workaround from a post by Roy Harrington.

 

[smieglitz]

As the last two posts indicate, the information on how to set the menus can be contradictory. I'll try both suggestions.

 

[David Hatton]

Try this download from adobe
No Color Management option missing | Printing | Photoshop CS5

 

[Kenneth Lee]

If you're using a a Mac, be sure to read the Adobe instructions carefully. The QTR settings are hidden a bit:

"Expand the Print dialog box by clicking the arrow next to the Printer pop-up menu."