Photo printing problem

Hi

I have a slightly off topic question, but I am sure someone will be able to help.

I have recently tried printing out some of my photos for the first time. I am using an Epson Stylus R360, printing using Epson Easy Print software, using Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl paper.
All my photos have a strong green tinge/hue to them.
I have cleaned the printer heads etc.
Any suggestions what I can try?
Would this indicate an issue with the ink? I have replaced all the ink cartridges but must confess to be using generic, non Epson, printer cartridges, in a wasted attempt to save some money!
I am loathed the replace all the ink cartridges again with Epson cartridges if there is any other solution I can try.
Does the application I am printing from make any difference? Is it worth purchasing Adobe Elements (in the future)?
I have critique session with Redeye on Monday, so I'd like to get my photos printed out by then, although I'm not holding out much hope.

TIA

Adam

Adam,
Colour matching on printing is complex
It depends on a few things:
1) Paper used
2) Inks used
3) Printer driver setup
4) Application used to print
5) Whether the source image is correct

The Epson driver and software will use colour profiles that assume that you are using Epson paper and Epson inks. Some paper manufacturers give you instructions (either online or in a sheet with the paper) that specifies how to adjust the printer driver to compensate for the paper differences.

However, as you have non Epson inks this may still give you a dud...

Matt

I get excellent results using an Epson printer (R300), standard Epson software/drivers and Ilford Galerie paper (smooth gloss is my favourite) but I only ever use genuine Epson ink - I found to my cost some while ago that third party inks gave very poor and unpredictable results. As my mum always said; buy cheap, buy twice.

Wish I could add more than "Good luck".
I have calibrated/profiled monitors, printer with profile matching the paper used, correct inks, and software correctly configured to use the printer and its profiles, etc... yet I still get vastly off-color prints.

I honestly disbelieve anyone who says that have this stuff working properly. They probably believe the King's new clothes are superb as well.


I am sure I am doing something wrong, but everything is configured as suggested by various books and people helping to set it up correctly.
It has also recently been suggested that I might need to re-install the printer drivers. Otherwise the printer may be bad, but good luck on servicing that for much less than the cost of a new one. Argh!!

Thanks Guys.
I bit the bullet and bought some guenuine Epson ink. I also tried different paper. I tried a few different settings but he on which really resolved the problem was switching photo enhance off. The difference was amazing!
I'm happy with the reults and have got my critique session this evening.

Cheers
Adam

Adam

I'm amazed no-one asked you if your monitor is calibrated correctly (actually Matt did in a roundabout way), especially the gamma setting, if not and you adjust a print to look good on the monitor then it will be way different to your printers output.

There are many online tools to help you adjust your monitor and many free software downloads too, give a few of them a try. Spending a lot of money and time on calibration equipment or finding special profiles for your paper can be both expensive and time consuming so the freebie route is always worth a try.

I use an Epson R300 with a cheap(ish) continous ink system that uses cheap inks (£12 for 100ml of all siz colours) I use this with Epson premium glossy paper and also get very good results on some cheap glossy paper I bought, I occasionally have to adjust and re-print the odd image but the cost of doing this is negligable. All I did was adjust my monitor using a freebie download. I also print with photo enhance switched ON and also select "photo rpm" which prints slower but finer quality, not sure if your printer has that function though.