I won't bore you with the full details of my latest problem, but very briefly, i'm completely crushed with the early deterioration of a high percentage of my inkjet prints from the last 3yrs
Although i'm extremely happy with the detail/colour fidelity etc etc of my inkjet prints from my epson 1290s straight from the printer {and until the problem develops}, a large number of prints have tended to develop a strange problem within the space of a few months. This takes the form of a thin, sharp black line suddenly and mysteriously appearing around the edges of any detail. As time passes, this thin line tends to spread slightly, under a loupe {as if bleeding}.
Ive always used epson inks, and as i 'assumed' that epson 'premium' paper meant 'top-of-the-range' resin type paper, i thought this would be the ideal combination for my purposes {although not archival, ten years or so would have been perfectly acceptable for me personally}.
I initially thought this problem may have been due to me allowing too short a drying time, and sleeving the prints {hence, trapping any remaining moisture within, and the black lines being caused by black ink rising to the surface over time}. However, ive always followed epsons drying suggestions to the limit!!
After first discovering this problem and reprinting affected prints , i decided not to sleeve prints anymore {in case this was part of the problem}. I have been drying my prints for at least a week ever since, and stacking them with paper between them, before placing them in a box-file {with fresh paper leaves between them}. I felt i had now gone well beyond epson's minimum drying/storing recommendations, and was confident that the problem would not re-occur {how wrong was i }.
Although not all of my prints have been affected, i consider the high percentage of these prints, and cost/time/annoyance of reprinting with no certainty of a reasonable shelf-life too much for me to continue with any printing whatsoever .
I have decided to prepare many of my images for screen viewing only {rather that my usual album/print viewing}, as my future method.
On windows XP there is a 'slide show' function, and this will be perfectly acceptable for my future use {and save me a fortune on ink/paper}. Ive already prepared a couple of hundred of my favourite shots for this purpose, and placed them in a folder as jpegs. However, when i run the 'slide show' they seem to appear on screen in the particular order that the files are numbered from the camera {ascending order}. I would prefer to change the order that the images appear if possible, but i don't know whether if altering the files number would reduce the jpegs quality when re-saved. Ive tried draging the jpegs around, but they always seem to reappear in their original position within the slide show .
sorry for the long ramble, to get to the initial question, and if i can't change the order without affecting the jpeg quality, i shall be happy enough with their current order.
Alan
Posted by Alan Bryant on December 2, 2006 at 8:13 AM
Hello Alan
Regards your jpegs in the order you want them to "stay" in.TRY THIS.......................
On the screen where you have all your thumbnails in order to look at click(top left) VIEW-ARRANGE ICONS BY-(and un-tick)AUTO ARRANGE.
Some one ask me the same question at work.So he could put his holiday "jpegs" in the order he wanted them, then transfer them to CD.Doing what i said worked for him .
Sorry i cant help about your printer issue .
Posted by Sean Bolton on December 2, 2006 at 8:15 AM
Hi Alan
Renaming a JPEG file in Windows explorer does not alter the file content so image quality is preserved.
Image quality is only effected if you open an image in Photoshop and then save it again as a new file. The JPEG compression algorithm will be reapplied to the image. (Unless PS is smart enough to work out if you haven't changed the image and does an intelligent save of the original jpeg data).
Also if you intend to go down the route of using slideshows for displaying your images I would recommend looking at some 3rd party software designed to create slideshows. Pictures2exe is popular, an excellent and cheap slideshow package with lots of options for fades, transitions and soundtracks. However if you want to burn slideshows to DVD for viewing on a TV in your lounge then a package such as ProShow Gold is a better option.
I use both Pictures2exe for basic image slideshows.
I use ProShow Gold if I also want to embed AVI or MPEG footage and want to burn the results to DVD.
RE: Prints The 1290s does not use the latest inks from Epson. I think they quote 10 years for Glossy and 25 years for matte. In theory this is enough by I noticed some fading on my 1290 prints after 2 or 3 years, especially those hung in a brightly lit room. Hence I upgraded to the Epson R1800. Better ink longevity and I would say better colour reproduction too, so if you want to keep with printing then I would recommend a printer upgrade.
Hi there's nothing wrong with your printer it's the paper and ink combination if you can afford treat yourself to a continuous ink system using pigment inks on the correct paper they will last up to 100 years, now for the problem with your inks and paper on all my early ink jet prints on glossy paper I protected them with a spray on varnish from gepe, I have a print that has sat in the sunlight at the top of my stairs from the day I printed it about five years ago, I can honestly say there's been very little fading, I still use this method on all my true canvas prints.
Alan, your suggestion works a treat {as does yours Sean}, thanks for that!.
With regards to the print problem, i haven't noticed any fading issues, but the mysterious black line is a weird thing .
No dought a change of paper/ink, or a completely new printer would solve my problem, but this episode has been so dissapointing for me, after the many hours of effort and total cost of it all, that i no longer have the stomach to reprint yet again.
The slide show seems a suitable option for me, although i will miss seeing every detail. I do have all my original tiffs/neffs on discs, so i may just send the odd shot away to be professionally printed if i really need a print in the future.
I shall look into those slide-show options Sean, thanks
cheers all
Alan
Posted by Alan Bryant on December 2, 2006 at 9:34 AM
Sorry to change the subject just a little.Regards sending off your "tiffs"(or jpegs) to a place that does prints.Are you not worried about other people stealing your shots ?.I've taken aload of F1 motorsport shots(taken on the testing days at Silverstone) that i would'nt mind having some printed big, but because they have a comertial(sp?) value i'm not even going to take them to a local printing place to get prints.In the event of them selling them on.
I seriously dought if anyone would want to steal any of my efforts , but you make a good point.
I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, but i guess if the time comes when i need a particular shot printed, maybe one of my UKNP chums would print it for me {at their normal business rates obviously}.
Alan
Posted by Dave Courtenay on December 2, 2006 at 12:32 PM
info@john-mactavish.co.uk
Give John a call re your printing requirements
Yes, printing inkjets has turned out to be an expensive failure for me {in time and money}.
Its a shame, as i was blown away with the initial results.
It would be a mammoth task for me to reprint all my past efforts using a more stable combination of ink and paper, and hugely expensive, and therefore i can't justify the time and expense, unfortunately.
Guess i will have to get used to screen viewing, which seems fine, but not quite what i would have prefered.
Discussion
8 repliesI won't bore you with the full details of my latest problem, but very briefly, i'm completely crushed with the early deterioration of a high percentage of my inkjet prints from the last 3yrs
Although i'm extremely happy with the detail/colour fidelity etc etc of my inkjet prints from my epson 1290s straight from the printer {and until the problem develops}, a large number of prints have tended to develop a strange problem within the space of a few months. This takes the form of a thin, sharp black line suddenly and mysteriously appearing around the edges of any detail. As time passes, this thin line tends to spread slightly, under a loupe {as if bleeding}.
Ive always used epson inks, and as i 'assumed' that epson 'premium' paper meant 'top-of-the-range' resin type paper, i thought this would be the ideal combination for my purposes {although not archival, ten years or so would have been perfectly acceptable for me personally}.
I initially thought this problem may have been due to me allowing too short a drying time, and sleeving the prints {hence, trapping any remaining moisture within, and the black lines being caused by black ink rising to the surface over time
After first discovering this problem and reprinting affected prints
Although not all of my prints have been affected, i consider the high percentage of these prints, and cost/time/annoyance of reprinting with no certainty of a reasonable shelf-life too much for me to continue with any printing whatsoever
I have decided to prepare many of my images for screen viewing only {rather that my usual album/print viewing}, as my future method.
On windows XP there is a 'slide show' function, and this will be perfectly acceptable for my future use {and save me a fortune on ink/paper}. Ive already prepared a couple of hundred of my favourite shots for this purpose, and placed them in a folder as jpegs. However, when i run the 'slide show' they seem to appear on screen in the particular order that the files are numbered from the camera {ascending order}. I would prefer to change the order that the images appear if possible, but i don't know whether if altering the files number would reduce the jpegs quality when re-saved. Ive tried draging the jpegs around, but they always seem to reappear in their original position within the slide show
sorry for the long ramble, to get to the initial question, and if i can't change the order without affecting the jpeg quality, i shall be happy enough with their current order.
Alan
Regards your jpegs in the order you want them to "stay" in.TRY THIS.......................
On the screen where you have all your thumbnails in order to look at click(top left) VIEW-ARRANGE ICONS BY-(and un-tick)AUTO ARRANGE.
Some one ask me the same question at work.So he could put his holiday "jpegs" in the order he wanted them, then transfer them to CD.Doing what i said worked for him
Sorry i cant help about your printer issue
Renaming a JPEG file in Windows explorer does not alter the file content so image quality is preserved.
Image quality is only effected if you open an image in Photoshop and then save it again as a new file. The JPEG compression algorithm will be reapplied to the image. (Unless PS is smart enough to work out if you haven't changed the image and does an intelligent save of the original jpeg data).
Also if you intend to go down the route of using slideshows for displaying your images I would recommend looking at some 3rd party software designed to create slideshows. Pictures2exe is popular, an excellent and cheap slideshow package with lots of options for fades, transitions and soundtracks. However if you want to burn slideshows to DVD for viewing on a TV in your lounge then a package such as ProShow Gold is a better option.
I use both Pictures2exe for basic image slideshows.
I use ProShow Gold if I also want to embed AVI or MPEG footage and want to burn the results to DVD.
RE: Prints The 1290s does not use the latest inks from Epson. I think they quote 10 years for Glossy and 25 years for matte. In theory this is enough by I noticed some fading on my 1290 prints after 2 or 3 years, especially those hung in a brightly lit room. Hence I upgraded to the Epson R1800. Better ink longevity and I would say better colour reproduction too, so if you want to keep with printing then I would recommend a printer upgrade.
cheers
Sean
Phillip.
Alan, your suggestion works a treat {as does yours Sean}, thanks for that!.
With regards to the print problem, i haven't noticed any fading issues, but the mysterious black line is a weird thing
No dought a change of paper/ink, or a completely new printer would solve my problem, but this episode has been so dissapointing for me, after the many hours of effort and total cost of it all, that i no longer have the stomach to reprint yet again.
The slide show seems a suitable option for me, although i will miss seeing every detail. I do have all my original tiffs/neffs on discs, so i may just send the odd shot away to be professionally printed if i really need a print in the future.
I shall look into those slide-show options Sean, thanks
cheers all
Alan
Or am i being over pretected
Oh and i'm gladd my sugestion worked
I seriously dought if anyone would want to steal any of my efforts
I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, but i guess if the time comes when i need a particular shot printed, maybe one of my UKNP chums would print it for me {at their normal business rates obviously}.
Alan
Give John a call re your printing requirements
Yes, printing inkjets has turned out to be an expensive failure for me {in time and money}.
Its a shame, as i was blown away with the initial results.
It would be a mammoth task for me to reprint all my past efforts using a more stable combination of ink and paper, and hugely expensive, and therefore i can't justify the time and expense, unfortunately.
Guess i will have to get used to screen viewing, which seems fine, but not quite what i would have prefered.
Alan