Help with R800 reflective qualities on glossy paper

I have had an R800 printer for approx 18 months and have been
perfectly happy with it. I bought 10 packs of 50 6" X 4" premium
glossy photo paper and have been gradually printing my way through it
with excellent results.
I printed a couple of photos the other day after a break of maybe 2
months, and found that the black or near black areas of the
photographs printed seem to have a different reflective quality than
the rest of the colours printed, this makes them next to useless as
you cannot actually view the pictures properly without tilting them
this way and that to avoid the reflection.
I have gone back and checked my other photos and I have never had this
happen before. So I did a nozzle check - which was a bit flaky, then a
head clean, then another nozzle check - which was perfect - but still
no improvement on the photos.
Can anyone offer any help with this, or an explanation of what is
going on ?

If you are not using all Epson OEM inks then you have the reason. If
you are than check the glossy tank. That is want is supposed to reduce
bronzing when using pigment ink.

brewcrew wrote:
> I have had an R800 printer for approx 18 months and have been
> perfectly happy with it. I bought 10 packs of 50 6" X 4" premium
> glossy photo paper and have been gradually printing my way through it
> with excellent results.
> I printed a couple of photos the other day after a break of maybe 2
> months, and found that the black or near black areas of the
> photographs printed seem to have a different reflective quality than
> the rest of the colours printed, this makes them next to useless as
> you cannot actually view the pictures properly without tilting them
> this way and that to avoid the reflection.
> I have gone back and checked my other photos and I have never had this
> happen before. So I did a nozzle check - which was a bit flaky, then a
> head clean, then another nozzle check - which was perfect - but still
> no improvement on the photos.
> Can anyone offer any help with this, or an explanation of what is
> going on ?
>
>

Moisture content ( lack of it) can cause printing problems such as you
describe. So can old stock paper that has dried out.
(The ink dries on the top of the paper, instead of having the proper
penetration.)

"measekite" <inkystinky@oem.com> wrote in message
news:dJjbi.86$bP5.17@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
> If you are not using all Epson OEM inks then you have the reason. If
> you are than check the glossy tank. That is want is supposed to reduce
> bronzing when using pigment ink.
>
> brewcrew wrote:
> > I have had an R800 printer for approx 18 months and have been
> > perfectly happy with it. I bought 10 packs of 50 6" X 4" premium
> > glossy photo paper and have been gradually printing my way through it
> > with excellent results.
> > I printed a couple of photos the other day after a break of maybe 2
> > months, and found that the black or near black areas of the
> > photographs printed seem to have a different reflective quality than
> > the rest of the colours printed, this makes them next to useless as
> > you cannot actually view the pictures properly without tilting them
> > this way and that to avoid the reflection.
> > I have gone back and checked my other photos and I have never had this
> > happen before. So I did a nozzle check - which was a bit flaky, then a
> > head clean, then another nozzle check - which was perfect - but still
> > no improvement on the photos.
> > Can anyone offer any help with this, or an explanation of what is
> > going on ?
> >
> >

This is called bronzing and is a well known phenomenon. However, I
don't know why it would suddenly appear with no change of the materials
and inks you are using.

If you changed either ink or paper that would explain it.

Is it possible you changed the use of the GLOP (Glossy optimizer)
settings, or using a different driver setting for either the paper type
of the ink?

Is it possible the GLOP cartridge is empty or the GLOP head is clogged?
That would not be easy to see.

The main reason for the GLOP is to even out the gloss factor on the
different inks. You may also wish to try removing the black ink
cartridge and shaking it gently, as it may have settled.

Art

brewcrew wrote:

> I have had an R800 printer for approx 18 months and have been
> perfectly happy with it. I bought 10 packs of 50 6" X 4" premium
> glossy photo paper and have been gradually printing my way through it
> with excellent results.
> I printed a couple of photos the other day after a break of maybe 2
> months, and found that the black or near black areas of the
> photographs printed seem to have a different reflective quality than
> the rest of the colours printed, this makes them next to useless as
> you cannot actually view the pictures properly without tilting them
> this way and that to avoid the reflection.
> I have gone back and checked my other photos and I have never had this
> happen before. So I did a nozzle check - which was a bit flaky, then a
> head clean, then another nozzle check - which was perfect - but still
> no improvement on the photos.
> Can anyone offer any help with this, or an explanation of what is
> going on ?
>

The R800 uses pigment inks which do not fully penetrate the paper
surface. Although our troll is partially correct, there are a number of
Epson ink substitutes which may work as well or better than Epson's own,
so that isn't necessarily the reason, but a clogged GLOP (Glossy
Optimizer) ink head may be responsible (and that could well be with
Epson's own inks, BTW.

Art

Chuck wrote:

> Moisture content ( lack of it) can cause printing problems such as you
> describe. So can old stock paper that has dried out.
> (The ink dries on the top of the paper, instead of having the proper
> penetration.)
>
> "measekite" <inkystinky@oem.com> wrote in message
> news:dJjbi.86$bP5.17@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
>
>>If you are not using all Epson OEM inks then you have the reason. If
>>you are than check the glossy tank. That is want is supposed to reduce
>>bronzing when using pigment ink.
>>
>>brewcrew wrote:
>>
>>>I have had an R800 printer for approx 18 months and have been
>>>perfectly happy with it. I bought 10 packs of 50 6" X 4" premium
>>>glossy photo paper and have been gradually printing my way through it
>>>with excellent results.
>>>I printed a couple of photos the other day after a break of maybe 2
>>>months, and found that the black or near black areas of the
>>>photographs printed seem to have a different reflective quality than
>>>the rest of the colours printed, this makes them next to useless as
>>>you cannot actually view the pictures properly without tilting them
>>>this way and that to avoid the reflection.
>>>I have gone back and checked my other photos and I have never had this
>>>happen before. So I did a nozzle check - which was a bit flaky, then a
>>>head clean, then another nozzle check - which was perfect - but still
>>>no improvement on the photos.
>>>Can anyone offer any help with this, or an explanation of what is
>>>going on ?
>>>
>>>
>
>
>

I am using the correct Epson R800 inks and epson premium glossy paper.
When this problem first occurred I suspected the gloss optimiser -
which was approaching empty, so I replaced it - this made no
difference.
The nozzle check prints the gloss optimiser section perfectly. I have
tried printing the same photo with a number of different gloss
settings, i.e. gloss set to auto, set to full, and gloss set off. None
of these settings make any noticeable difference to the printed
photos. Any ideas ?

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:54:51 -0000, in comp.periphs.printers brewcrew
<rick@fourfront.ltd.uk> wrote:

>I have had an R800 printer for approx 18 months and have been
>perfectly happy with it. I bought 10 packs of 50 6" X 4" premium
>glossy photo paper and have been gradually printing my way through it
>with excellent results.
>I printed a couple of photos the other day after a break of maybe 2
>months, and found that the black or near black areas of the
>photographs printed seem to have a different reflective quality than
>the rest of the colours printed, this makes them next to useless as
>you cannot actually view the pictures properly without tilting them
>this way and that to avoid the reflection.
>I have gone back and checked my other photos and I have never had this
>happen before. So I did a nozzle check - which was a bit flaky, then a
>head clean, then another nozzle check - which was perfect - but still
>no improvement on the photos.
>Can anyone offer any help with this, or an explanation of what is
>going on ?

First go back and reprint one of the photos you are happy with to verify
this is not image dependent and verify every setting in the Epson print
driver is the same. particularly any setting related to color management.
--
Ed Ruf (Usenet2@EdwardGRuf.com)

Nope, you have me. I don't understand what might have changed that
would cause this change. Like I stated, you might want to try to shake
the black cartridge to mix the ink.

I can't recall, does the R800 have one or two or three black cartridges
(one being gray)... is there a matte black and a glossy or photo black?

Art

brewcrew wrote:

> I am using the correct Epson R800 inks and epson premium glossy paper.
> When this problem first occurred I suspected the gloss optimiser -
> which was approaching empty, so I replaced it - this made no
> difference.
> The nozzle check prints the gloss optimiser section perfectly. I have
> tried printing the same photo with a number of different gloss
> settings, i.e. gloss set to auto, set to full, and gloss set off. None
> of these settings make any noticeable difference to the printed
> photos. Any ideas ?
>

This sounds like a problem for Epson Tech Support.

brewcrew wrote:
> I am using the correct Epson R800 inks and epson premium glossy paper.
> When this problem first occurred I suspected the gloss optimiser -
> which was approaching empty, so I replaced it - this made no
> difference.
> The nozzle check prints the gloss optimiser section perfectly. I have
> tried printing the same photo with a number of different gloss
> settings, i.e. gloss set to auto, set to full, and gloss set off. None
> of these settings make any noticeable difference to the printed
> photos. Any ideas ?
>
>

On Jun 12, 1:07 pm, Arthur Entlich <e-printerh...@mvps.org> wrote:
> Nope, you have me. I don't understand what might have changed that
> would cause this change. Like I stated, you might want to try to shake
> the black cartridge to mix the ink.
>
> I can't recall, does the R800 have one or two or three black cartridges
> (one being gray)... is there a matte black and a glossy or photo black?
>
> Art
>

There are two black cartridges - one matt and one photo. I removed
both of them today and gave them a shake. Still no difference.
Also, I reset the drivers to all default settings - still no luck