I recently got Hahnemühle paper (308 photo rag). Test prints are washed out and lack contrast. Am I doing anything wrong?
Everything else is as I normally do with Epson Luster paper and prints look fine with that paper.
http://www.hahnemuehle.com/site/de/203/epson.html
donwloaded from here. I also checked for 'right' surface with the moist finger test. I just made a test print with their Fine Art pearl which is similar to Luster I guess and prints look fine.
Oh, am having Photoblack inside the printer as of now. And am using 'Relative Colorimetric conversion with Black Point Compensation'. Do I need to replace photo Black with Matte Black everytime I use a 'matt' paper like Photorag? Or Mk/Pk profiles won't work? Is it not waste of ink then?
MK profiles are specifically created for matte black. I saw some profiles for matte paper with Photo Black but the results are rarely as good.
Guy
Posted by Rick Dunn on November 1, 2006 at 10:11 AM
Just to be sure, I'd suggest taking a sheet, cutting into 5x7 or 4x6 pieces, and print on both sides. It can be very difficult to tell which is the printing surface.
For test prints, I had cut up a 13x19 sheet into a variety of pieces, then lost track of which side was the printing side and had a couple come out very washed out. Printing on the wrong side will yield a print that is washed out/pale for all colors. If it's just the blacks that are giving you trouble, this most likely isn't the problem; but if the whole image is washed out, that could certainly be it.
Prashant: you can obviously make prints with Photo Black, but it is NOT the right ink for Photorag. Replace it with Matte Black and you're going to see a world of difference.
There are ink-swap workarounds with the large format printers, but I don't know about the desktop's.
I made some BW prints with this paper last night, and guess am getting a hang of it. And also why people call it 'part photo, part painting' thing. I might try some color prints tonight.
Last time, I got some 'detail' problems with it. The prints on HM-Pearl paper were sharp with lots of details same shot on photorag looked like 'water color' painting. Lets see. If I like the results then I might go for a special profile.
Discussion
10 repliesEverything else is as I normally do with Epson Luster paper and prints look fine with that paper.
Guy
donwloaded from here. I also checked for 'right' surface with the moist finger test. I just made a test print with their Fine Art pearl which is similar to Luster I guess and prints look fine.
Guy
Guy
For test prints, I had cut up a 13x19 sheet into a variety of pieces, then lost track of which side was the printing side and had a couple come out very washed out. Printing on the wrong side will yield a print that is washed out/pale for all colors. If it's just the blacks that are giving you trouble, this most likely isn't the problem; but if the whole image is washed out, that could certainly be it.
I will check it out. I guess that might also be the reason.
There are ink-swap workarounds with the large format printers, but I don't know about the desktop's.
Last time, I got some 'detail' problems with it. The prints on HM-Pearl paper were sharp with lots of details same shot on photorag looked like 'water color' painting. Lets see. If I like the results then I might go for a special profile.