Epson 2100 Print Head Alignment

[martcol]

I get awful banding from my Epson 2100 and have run the cleaning and then the print head aligment utility again and again.

I'm getting confused with the alignment utility. The second stage prints seven lines of two offset rectangles but I am not sure what to look for! Am I supposed to see a difference in intensity in the two rectangles and select the number where the two rectangles look the same or am I supposed to look at the tiny line between the two rectangles? I swear they all look the same!

On the final stage I am asked to select the least grainy square. Again, they all look as grainy though I admit that some are less grainy but I can't ever decide between two or three squares in each line! Anyway, I have a go and can get the banding in my prints looking less obvious but not so reduced as for it to not be a problem.

Is it my eyes? Am I missing something? Should I be looking at something else?

Regards

Martin

[Top-Cat]

Martin

At the second stage look at the lines and select the ones that look the straightest and enter the values in the boxes

And with the final stage select the squares that are the least grainy a bit difficult I often use a magnifying glass

Also check your print resolution use 1440 or 2880.
Check the leaver on the R/H rear is all the way at the top of its travel



Top-Cat
_________________________

Eos 1D Mk II
Eos 10D With Grip
16-35mm f2.8L
24-70mm f2.8L
70-200 f2.8L
100-400mm IS f4.5-5.6L
100mm Macro
580EX Speedlight + Manfrotto Tripod + Manfrotto Monopod
Photoshop CS2 Epson 2100 Printer

[martcol]

Hi Top Cat

Thanks for your reply.

The lever's at the top but I will go back and check the dpi. It's a bit late now (bed time) so will revisit tomorrow.

Checking the grainiest box is tricky especially, when two boxes are pretty close! I have tried a magnifying glass but then the problem is you see a different kind of grain... either in the paper or in the structure of the dots laid down by the printer. Will they ever make a printer that self-aligns? As much hope as a camera with auto-composure!

The other aspect of the utility is the one with the two large grey rectangles. Do you know if I compare rectangles or the line between the rectangle. This isn't the part with the verticle alignment where you see the line up of the spindly lines..

Sorry to sound so dumb. This evening I spent another two hours running through the utility and still yes, still have banding. But much better; much, much better.

Regards

Martin

[Top-Cat]

Hi Martin

To be honest I can’t remember. So I have just done a print head realignment on my printer to check.

With the Gray rectangular boxes try and pick the one that has the least distinction between them.
The one that you can’t see a thin or dark line separating the two boxes the one where the colour all looks the same. (If this makes sense)

You could try uninstalling the driver and then reinstalling it to see if this helps.
You can down load the latest driver from the Epson web site

http://esupport.epson-europe.com/SoftwareListing.aspx?lng=en-EU&data=354ECF80483622405C4B8769B978446C458D2EEA1A0D4 65AC1CEB20F5C2D7D05

Hope this helps


Top-Cat
_________________________

Eos 1D Mk II
Eos 10D With Grip
16-35mm f2.8L
24-70mm f2.8L
70-200 f2.8L
100-400mm IS f4.5-5.6L
100mm Macro
580EX Speedlight + Manfrotto Tripod + Manfrotto Monopod
Photoshop CS2 Epson 2100 Printer

[martcol]

Thans again TC. I'll have another go at the weekend.

Regards

Martin