Epson Photo 1200 Problem

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I recently purchased an Epson 1200 Photo Printer. On the whole, the photos it prints are beautiful. The problem is this... Many of my images have fairly large areas of black (I shoot 35mm and 120mm transparency film which I have transferred onto either a Kodak Photo CD or Kodak Pro Photo CD). When I print them in my Epson printer, the black areas often have a strange unrealistic and mottled look to them. I have heard others complain about this problem. Is this inherent to inkjets, or is there a solution someone might have? Thanks. Peter Glass

-- Peter Glass (pglass@vpm.com), February 02, 2000

Answers

I'll guess you're using matt finish photo paper. This effect is much less noticeable on photo gloss paper; too bad it's so damned expensive!

It is possible to get solid blacks on matt paper, but it needs delicate manipulation of the digital image's black level and gamma in order to get the printer's black ink to "kick in" at the right point.

If you've got Photoshop, use the curves tool to reduce the deepest black in the image to zero brightness, and then bend the curve up steeply in the darkest region. It's difficult to explain in words, but that should give you the idea.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 02, 2000.


Peter:

I, too, have an Epson 1200 and routinly print 35mm transparencies that have been scanned to PhotoCD. My blacks look great, no mottling, and after no digital manipulation from Photoshop. I exclusivly use the Epson Photo paper. What are you using? I used to think that paper was paper, and that matching manufacturers paper to their printers was bunk. Not any more! Stick to the Epson papers. Specifically, the Photo or Glossy papers. You may try this and see if the blacks come out more to your liking.

-- C. G. Anderson (chris@darklightimagery.net), February 14, 2000.


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