epson R800 flat colors on small photos

While printing photos at 8x10 the colors are matching the screen and are vibrant and bright...well saturated...however if I set up for smaller photos the results is somewhat paler colors and generally a flatter photo, even when all settings other than size are the same...any ideas ?

What do you have your resolution ppi set to in Photoshop? I have an Epson too and it likes about 240 ppi the best for all photos. I print quite a few through my R800!

Oh, one more thing: Use Epson Premium paper too, it likes that the best!

Ya, I've tried other papers and just not the same , although fuji is pretty good, but a tad slow drying...I get them both at Staples on some super good sales !...I'm not at my printer right now, but if I remember it's set at 300 dpi...any idea why this would effect the smaller photos?

Yes on why! Epson, like all printers, have a sweet spot on ppi. It should be 240 ppi for all photos. Significantly more will cause darkening in some photos but it's inconsistant.

I have found through lots of experience with the R800 that it likes the Epson premium paper the best. Of course that figures because all printers are optimized for their brand paper. Canon and Canon, Epson and Epson, etc. I also have found certain settings in the advanced area best for photos. If you're interested in trying some, let me know and I'll list them. Of course all I know if what works best with the Epson paper so I'm not sure with others. I know I bought some cheap paper at Fry's one time and the prints were terrible. A real waste of money.

I also fine that Espon Premium Photo Paper. I think its is optimized for piezo printer head not like the other paper which will optimize more for thermal inkjet.

Theory could it be possible that there is just to many PPI on such a small area without actually resized.

I also find that prints come out better when the printer is set to 1440dpi then ten higher setting.

JonnyG...I'd love to know what you use for those other settings...I know I had to do some printer settings tweeking to get the colors right with the 8X10's which size I almost always use with this printer..I have experimented with almost every paper on the shelf when I first got this over a year ago and had terrible luck, with many turning into watercolor washes or leaving the ink sticky for hours or days,,,I only print things I want to show or keep for a long,long time with this epson, ie expensive printing, so I stick to epson paper, with the exception of presenting a photo to a friend who I know will not keep it forever but I want a good presentation..Then I use Fugi, which works very well, except a tad slow setting up (which I sometimes put in the oven on a tray at 250 degrees for 5 minutes ,,How do you like them apples?) So yes your setting info would be great,,here or at my email address which ever is easier for you...thanks!

THANKS,,,Makes sense to me ..

Sheet
Premium Glossy Photo Paper
Photo RPM
4x6" Paper
Portrait/Landscape
Full Gloss
High Speed
Print Preview
Photo Enhance
Vivid
Sharpness (middle scale)

These settings seem to always work for me. I change the sharpness effect to soft focus for portraits occasionally but that's about it.

I also have these setting saved for consistantcy.

If you have any other questions or need clarification on this, please let me know!

Thanks JohnnyG...it's about all the same as I have mine set for now...a least I'm headed in the right duirection!

One more thing: Have you done an Auto Nozzle Check lately to insure that no nozzles are clogged?

Worthwhile to check.

JohnnyG wrote:
One more thing: Have you done an Auto Nozzle Check lately to insure that no nozzles are clogged?

Worthwhile to check.

I did...I had to replace 3 or 4 carts and thought it would be a ggo time for clean and check with printout sheet...all in aparent good order!

Hi,

I'm starting to lose my hair from tearing it out!! I'm trying to get a nice print from my R800 and thought I'd hit a "eureka!" moment when I used the settings mentioned above. I had one print that came out beautifully. Then, the very next one started acting really weird. I've been back through the settings you've suggested as carefully as possible, to ensure I haven't accidentally ticked something I shouldn't have, but it's still doing the same thing. I'm getting these really weird images that look like the saturation (in particular in the green areas of the photo) has been turned up to far. It's very odd and I can't figure it out. It's not just happening on the print, but you can see the effect in the print preview. I took a screen capture to demonstrate what I mean:

my first step would be to go into adobe gamma in your "control panel" and make sure you are calibrated properly...if it';s shoiwing on your monitor first and printing what you see , I'd say it's not the printer but something hay wire with the program or computer color settings/profiles!

I can't figure out what I've done. I didn't change my profile. I'm using the new profile from Epson (SPR800 PremGlsy BstPhoto R1). What rendering intent do you use? I have it on perceptual, after reading on another site to have it on that. What about colour handling? Surely "let Photoshop determine colours"?

Apart from that, I have it set on all of the things mentioned above.

I'm clueless to what's happened. I got one brilliant print after changing settings to what I thought you had listed here. Then I went to do another one, went through and made what I thought were the same settings and now I'm having this problem. Weird! I wish I could figure out what I've ticked, because the original print was beautiful. Please help!

For details on settings and rendering intent, see this post of mine from earlier today.

David