Magenta Cast on Prints

[HaroldL]

It's been a while since I've been able to use Affinity Photo but not that I'm retired I am getting back into it but have already run into a problem with printing. I've already searched the forum for all posts pertaining to a magenta color cast on prints. Some of them are quite old and I've tried most of the suggestions posted but still don't have a solution to my printing problem.

Most of what I've been able to find online and on this forum tells me that the  issue is "double color correction" and that only the printer or the app should control the image color and that Print Preview should be turned off. To that end I have tried setting the Affinity print settings both ways, Performed by App and Performed by Printer. In each of them I've opened the Printer Properties and selected the opposite setting to avoid the conflict between app and printer, but to no avail.

I've also tried printing out of Windows Photo Viewer and got the same results which leads me to think the printer is at fault. But even selecting "no color management" in the printer driver gives the magenta color cast on the print.

I am printing from my HP Envy laptop to my Epson WF-7610 and cannot get a decent image to print. I've uploaded a screen capture of my printing settings and a copy of the pitiful results.

Hopefully someone can point me to a solution to this printing dilemma before I run out of paper. I've already gone thru half a ream, luckily it's just multi-purpose white for these test prints.

MagentaHaze.pdf

[carl123]

Can you upload the file (above) you are attempting to print?

[HaroldL]

No problem - here it is.

[carl123]

I've tried to simulate the magenta cast by changing printer and app settings but no matter what I do I can get it to go wrong

But as you say if Windows Photo Viewer also prints incorrectly it looks like a "printer" problem

Does your printer have the inbuilt ability to do a print test?

I think I've read that if the cyan cartridge is blocked or low this can also give a magenta cast when printing 

[walt.farrell]

5 hours ago, carl123 said:

Does your printer have the inbuilt ability to do a print test?

For example, the Epson printers I've worked with all have a Utility tab in the printer properties dialog, and one option there is "Nozzle Check". That will print a pattern allowing you to check whether all the colors are working properly. There's also an option to do a cleaning if your inspectionn of the results indicates that something is wrong.

[HaroldL]

9 hours ago, carl123 said:

Does your printer have the inbuilt ability to do a print test?

Been there, done that. I had to put in a new Magenta cartridge and cleaned and ran a print test after installation, just to be sure it worked. Print test was fine, no missing lines to indicate a plugged nozzle.

Seems to me that I cannot turn off the printer color correction even though the settings indicate that it is off.

Is it possible to remove the color profile from the image in Affinity? I see that I can assign a different one but don't see an option to remove it.

I'm kinda grabbin' at straws here to find a solution.

[carl123]

13 hours ago, HaroldL said:

Is it possible to remove the color profile from the image in Affinity? I see that I can assign a different one but don't see an option to remove it.

There are a couple of threads I could find for this below but I still think there is something causing this that is not Affinity related due to the fact that you also get the wrong colours when printing from Windows Photo Viewer.

You may also want to try exporting to PDF then using a PDF viewer to print as there are options in there that may help track down the issue (see screenshot)

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/12924-remove-colour-profile/&tab=comments#comment-56559

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/67146-color-profile/&tab=comments#comment-347610

 

 

 

 

[firstdefence]

How are you correcting this colour cast issue in Photo?

Re printing you can create test strips over the image using filters such as the white balance adjustment filter, this should save on paper.

Make test strips...

1. Create a rectangle and fill it with a colour, the colour is irrelevant it is just to make the rectangle a solid body else creating a selection will not work.
2. With the rectangle layer selected go to the Select menu and choose Selection from layer, this will create a rectangular selection
3. Click off the rectangle layer to deselect it and you should see the marching ants.
4. Add an adjustment layer, the selection will add a mask to the adjustment layer so that when you make an adjustment to the sliders it will only affect that area.
5. Then it’s just a matter of deselecting the adjustment layer and moving the rectangle over and repeating until you have an effect that looks like the image above, in this way you have a comparative image.

I’ve made the adjustments extreme to show the effect but it can be more subtle with thinner rectangles.

[HaroldL]

I was finally able to contact Epson Support, seems you really have to work at finding their email link. I also did some more nozzle tests and found that the Yellow is not printing a complete test pattern. Even after running Epson's suggested number of head cleanings the Yellow doesn't print well. I'm waiting on them to come back with any new suggestion to get the nozzle unplugged although  I've seen several web sites that promote a procedure for head cleaning.  Their suggestion of making a copy showed similar results with the addition of some banding.  Given all that I've seen so far leads me to think the print head "has a cold" with one plugged nozzle.

 

9 hours ago, firstdefence said:

Re printing you can create test strips over the image using filters such as the white balance adjustment filter, this should save on paper.

I'll  keep this in mind so I can use it on other images as I get more into photo editing

 

Thanks for all the feed back. I'll post back with what I find out.

[firstdefence]

You can get cleaning kits that come with either cartridges or a syringe and tubing. I have had amazing success unblocking printers using Astonish Window Cleaner, it’s not for the faint of heart and you have to be meticulous in the process but it works.

[HaroldL]

Well, after three head cleaning sessions with 6+ hours between each, I finally have a decent print. The Yellow still shows a few small gaps in the test print, hopefully that will clear up with more cleaning.

I read on one web site that is not advisable to use window cleaner that has ammonia in it, Windex was mentioned specifically so not sure about other brands. There is some kind of reaction between the ammonia and any metal (I think copper was mentioned) that causes corrosion and eventual failure of the print head. Also, there is a fast drying agent in window cleaner that may not allow a nozzle to be unplugged.

I'll look into the kits with syringes and tubing if it becomes necessary for more aggressive action to be taken.