Ink Color Variance

[burning]

I have an Epson artisan 50 printer, and I do alot of heavy printing on it - namely discs. I use refillable carts, and have to refill every now and then. Usually every two or three days. Last week I ran into problems, which I have yet to solve. I am using 16 OZ of HobbiColors ink, they came in two separate 8OZ bottles. I use Epson Print CD software. I have two Epson Artisan 50 prints, with two sets of cartridges. The same problem occurs on both of them.

When I print white text with a black background, instead of being white, it turns out magenta. Maybe this is something to do with the ink. I've cleaned both printers out thoroughly, and have done nozzle checks. Everything is working perfectly, and have ensured that none of the ink is contaminated inside. I emptied the refillable carts out completely, and used fresh ink from the bottles. The same problem occurs, there's a huge color variance between all the previous prints. CD's are now MUCH lighter in color, in contrast to the previous prints. Not sure how to fix this issue....any advice will be appreciated.

 

[Grandad35]

Are you saying that printing white text (i.e. no ink applied for the text) onto your CD turns that area of the CD to magenta? Are you sure that applying the black background doesn't change your perception of the CD's base color so that it now appears to be magenta when viewed against a dark background?

 

[burning]

The problem seems to have been fixed regarding the white text turning into magenta. The original problem still remains though - there's a huge color variance between the previous print outs. The colors are much lighter and are not as 'deep'.

 

[stratman]

Like Grandad35 said, to get white on a disk means the absence of ink. You cannot get white from mixing any combination of Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black, Light Cyan or Light Magenta.

The color perception change Grandad35 is real but you have comparison printed disks with these new disks and the new printed disks look different to you, so the likelihood is either you vision has changed (certain drugs or diseases), you have changed a setting(s) somewhere, your Printer Profile driver is incorrect, there is a problem with the function of the printer or print head, you are using different different printable media or there are changes in the printable surface that cause color shifts, your monitor is not showing you colors the same way as before so you make adjustments that are "off" in the final print, or your ink is somehow different.

It is possible that your ink is two different batches in separate bottles or some contaminant or incorrect storage practice has altered their physical properties. That's what I can think of off the top of my head. There are probable more reasons. It's a start.

 

[burning]

Haha...I am certainly not on drugs, I have clear and precise vision. I'm printing on the SAME exact media as previously. I'm going to have to attach images to show the vast color difference. I've reinstalled the printer drivers, but it has little to no effect. I checked all the settings, and ensured I didn't change anything. I'm using the original Epson settings, color mode is set to 'EPSON Vivid'. I've been using this setting ever since, this is the first time I'm experiencing problems. I have a strong feeling, it has to do something relating to the ink. I'm on my second batch of Hobbi Color Inks. I've talked to them aswell, and they suggest it has to do with an altered setting inside the drivers somewhere which is causing this problem. I've double checked and verified all the settings were the same..but have had no luck.

 

[Grandad35]

There are 3 main factors that determine the colors that you get from a printer:
1. Printer
2. Ink
3. Paper (CDs in your case)

I assume that you have done the necessary nozzle checks, cleaning cycles, alignment, etc. in addition to reinstalling the driver to reset all of the settings back to their defaults (as stated). This would seem to rule out the printer.

Differences in the ink are certainly a possibility, but they would appear for every print. Do you ever print on photo paper? If so, have these prints also changed their color?

Since you state that you are a heavy printer, I assume that this means that you print hundreds of CDs. This obviously implies that you are now using a different batch of CDs, perhaps from a different manufacturer. I have never seen the process used to apply the printable coating to CDs, but I doubt that it is a precision process over time or across every production line. If you have switched CD suppliers, all bets are off. This isn't to say that your CDs are the reason for your color shift, only that they may be.

 

[stratman]

Since you state that you are a heavy printer, I assume that this means that you print hundreds of CDs. This obviously implies that you are now using a different batch of CDs, perhaps from a different manufacturer. I have never seen the process used to apply the printable coating to CDs, but I doubt that it is a precision process over time or across every production line. If you have switched CD suppliers, all bets are off. This isn't to say that your CDs are the reason for your color shift, only that they may be.

The OP says they are the exact same disks, but does he mean same spindle or a different spindle/batch from the same company?

I'm curious which disks he's using, including MID. The more info the better. I don't know what qualifies as precision to you, but the process of applying the surface seems precision to me from what I know. There are only a handful of companies that apply the printable surface no matter who presses or brands the disks. Each printable surface formula variant responds differently to the same ink set just like photographic paper. Color shifts are possible within a specific printable surface due to recipe changes and probably time and environmental factors, just like photographic paper. However, I do not recall experiencing the shifts OP reported while using the same spindle of disks and ink set without having fiddled around with color management.

OP says he reinstalled and checked all hardware and software settings. Maybe trying a different spindle of disks would clear the issue. Otherwise, if the disks are from the same spindle, the printer and its drivers and settings are the same, the image used for printing is the same, the application used to print on the disks and its settings are the same, the ICC printer profile is the same, and the image used is the same as before, then this points to either an alteration in the printable media surface within a spindle, a failure of the printer, or variations in the ink used.

Maybe OP can post his nozzle check and before and after issue disk images.

 

[stratman]

Haha...I am certainly not on drugs,

I meant prescription medications, not illicit narcotics. A classic example of color perception changes from medications is digitalis toxicity which can cause a yellow shift. Some think Vincent Van Gogh was taking digitalis in excess and was the reason for his yellow period .

 

[burning]

I'm curious which disks he's using, including MID. The more info the better. I don't know what qualifies as precision to you, but the process of applying the surface seems precision to me from what I know. There are only a handful of companies that apply the printable surface no matter who presses or brands the disks. Each printable surface formula variant responds differently to the same ink set just like photographic paper. Color shifts are possible within a specific printable surface due to recipe changes and probably time and environmental factors, just like photographic paper. However, I do not recall experiencing the shifts OP reported while using the same spindle of disks and ink set without having fiddled around with color management.

OP says he reinstalled and checked all hardware and software settings. Maybe trying a different spindle of disks would clear the issue. Otherwise, if the disks are from the same spindle, the printer and its drivers and settings are the same, the image used for printing is the same, the application used to print on the disks and its settings are the same, the ICC printer profile is the same, and the image used is the same as before, then this points to either an alteration in the printable media surface within a spindle, a failure of the printer, or variations in the ink used.

Maybe OP can post his nozzle check and before and after issue disk images.

If there was a minor difference in print quality, I wouldn't have bothered posting it, but there is a huge difference whether it be discs or regular color print outs. All the images printed out on discs, are dull, and are lighter than the previous print outs. I have a huge batch of various disc brands, ranging from Falcon Media to Optimum Quantum discs. It's not a problem faced with a single batch/brand of discs, this is an ongoing problem with anything I print out. I've emptied the carts using syringes, and have filled them up with fresh ink directly from the bottles. The same problem still occurs though..............

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Do you have any other ink available? You may have accidentally gotten the wrong inks in the wrong bottles. But that still wouldn't explain how white areas are getting any ink at all. It could still be the driver. You may need to find out how to manually uninstall the drivers, as simply deleting the printer in Windows or even using the uninstall routine from the Epson software won't completely remove everything. In XP once you delete the printer, you want to go to File -> Server Properties -> Drivers tab, and remove it. Even then, that doesn't guarantee every file related to the driver is gone. I don't know what the process is for Vista/7 or if they even let you do that, you may have to log in as Administrator in Safe Mode and go in to delete files. Then try to find older drivers, maybe the ones off the CD and not the website, and use those first. Did you upgrade the drivers or firmware? I wouldn't put it past Epson to intentionally mess up the color profiling if it detects non-OEM chips. Also, try printing the image out onto plain or photo paper, and try finding an alternate/re-downloading the ICC profile. It may have become corrupted.

How are you even using an ICC profile through the CD printing software? Do you have a Photoshop template that works with the CD tray?