Colors Look Bad Using Continuous Ink System

Top 11 Inkjet Printing Mistakes in 2022

In today's online print selling environment, whether the product is photographic, graphics or created design, our customers around the world seek to achieve the right balance between print quality, production speed and profit. Numerous conversations with our customers allow us to build up knowledge and share with you the important elements which make up a successful online print business.

Supporting tens of thousands of inkjet printing world-wide for over 20 years, we have picked up a thing or two! Here are some easily avoided common mistakes and some useful advice to keep your print standards high and frustration levels low in 2022

Mistake 1: Printing via WiFi

Fine for small snaps and low-resolution documents, never rely on your WiFi printer connection to produce normal sized high quality photographic prints; connect via printer cable, and make sure that your printer driver is configured for printer cable - not wireless.
Whenever possible, eliminate transsferring images via WiFi; camera to computer, scanner to computer, smartphone to computer for full image fidelity and tone with consistent fast image transfer speeds.
Many customers have found that they have installed the printer driver using WiFi, which has resulted in a printer driver that has limited functionality.

An extract from the Epson website:
"When connecting an Epson printer for the first time to a Macintosh running Mac OSX 10.10 (Yosemite) or later an AirPrint printer is added automatically which will limit the settings available for printing."

Marrutt recommend to always connect to your printer using a cable whether you use a Mac or PC. For high-end photo printing take no risks, use a cable. Most modern inkjet printers allow you to disable wi-fi connectivity also.

Marrutt Advice: Play it safe, use a cable

Mistake 2: Not having back ups in place

Fact of life: Things go wrong and usually at the worst moment! For all of your important printing processes you need a back up in place. It is good practice to run through your printing workflow and identify the possible failures and how you can plan for the least impact if and when things go wrong.

For example, it is always a good idea to have two working printers in case one fails for any reason. If this is not possible, having use of a friends/colleagues printer or a printing service already in place that you know and trust can prove life savers!

Marrutt Advice: Get your back ups in place!

Mistake 3: Trying to print what you see on screen

Never assume that your computer monitor is accurate for color and density. It's almost a certainty that unless you've calibrated your monitor recently the colors displayed will not be accurate. Most people have the brightness set too high, perception of color varies from person to person, and as your monitor gets older the colors will degrade.

Most monitors show your work in the ballpark of 72 - 144ppi, so images appear softer or even out of focus until printed out at high resolution, leading to think that we must adjust every image using 'unsharp mask' or 'sharpen' tools. Cheap, low spec monitors often struggle to convey a full gamut of inkjet colors even when new. In addition, many screens (particularly basic laptops) show a different brightness depending on your viewing angle! So, inaccurate prints are often the result of the photographer making adjustments guided by an incorrectly calibrated or inadequate monitor.

Our advice is to ensure that your color inkjet printer is accurate first and then adjust your monitor visually to agree as best as you can against your accurate color print, keeping your viewing angle constant. If your printer is producing inaccurate color, check that all printer color channels are functioning by performing a nozzle check; if not perfect, run the "clean printhead" function, then repeat your test. Once a perfect nozzle check is achieved, if your printer still produces inaccurate color, a custom printer profile usually cures the problem, so long as your printer is consistent.

Always adjust your monitor to agree to an accurate printer, never the other way around!

CLICK HERE to download the free Calibration Print & JPEG image >>

Marrutt Advice: Do not trust your monitor until tested!

Mistake 4: Wrong printer driver

If you have more than one printer driver for your particular printer on your computer system, this may cause problems - delete any extra unused drivers

Printer drivers can be installed by mistake and without you knowing anything about it. This often happens if your forget to connect your USB printer cable and your printer on.
Make sure you have the most up to date printer driver suitable for your printer and operating system connected by a USB cable or similar.

Marrutt Advice: Regularly check your printer list

Mistake 5: Wrong image size and spec

Ensure that you capture enough pixels/Mb for the size of print you want to produce; do not expect a great 11x17" print from an original image measuring a fraction of a Mb! - as a rough guide, an 8.5x11" print needs at least 2 Mb of original image information - 8 Mb or more is best for 8.5x11".

Resize your image for printing in your desired size at a resolution of between 180 to 360 pixels per inch (most photographers use 300 ppi) - many DSLRs give you a resolution of 72 ppi, which is wrong for printing, but easily resized. Remember also that cropping an image cuts file size by a surprising amount.
If you have the option ensure the colour is set to 8 bit/Channel, never 16 bit/Channel as this is too much information and can lead to lines/banding in various areas in your print.
Use every Genuine Camera Sensor Pixel in your prints - use all available pixels from your camera sensor - see below:

CLICK HERE to download the spreadsheet guide >>

Marrutt Advice: Check file size before printing

Mistake 6: Over-adjusting images

Reviewing your images on screen often leads photographers into a common trap; over-adjustment until they look good on the monitor (sharpening / contrast / color saturation) which often results in a bad overcooked print appearance.

Better to test print an unadjusted image, straight from your digital camera, and review sharpness / color / impact according to your test print, then keep your adjustments subtle - you are more likely to retain true photographic image quality. Use your monitor as a rough guide, of course, but remember to keep your adjustments small and subtle - computer screens usually persuade you to over sharpen and over adjust! This advice also applies to RAW processing controls while viewing a small preview window on an inaccurate monitor.

Marrutt Advice: Less is more!

Mistake 7: Low level printer with High print aspirations

By far the most common mistake photographers make; beautiful, accurate detailed images are destroyed during the printing process by the use of low specification, cheap document inkjet printers, all-in-ones or old printers that are no longer up to standard.

This is also true of designers/illustrators who have large sized images with high expextations.
Consult your photographic equipment supplier to ensure that your printer does justice to your DSLR. For 2022, Epson SC P700, Epson SC P900, Epson SC P600, Epson SC P800 or Canon Pro-1 Canon Pro-10S Canon Pro-1000 are all excellent choices which suit the output from a professional standard DSLR for color and black & white.
Use the right printer for the job - pigment - bulk ink ready. If you sell your inkjet prints, steer clear of dye-based printers. Use only pigment ink inkjet printers for best image stability and monochrome appearance. If you are struggling with an old unreliable printer - replace it.

Marrutt Advice: If you have a Professional DSLR Camera, you need a Professional Inkjet Printer

Mistake 8: Wrong image editing software

Many photographers make the mistake of using very basic image editing software for printing (eg: "Preview") Although adequate for rudimentary printing, low-end imaging software usually does not accommodate an easy route to color management: Use Adobe Photoshop / Elements / Lightroom or similar - these programs allow simple, reliable accurate color management.

Marrutt Advice: Try the 30 day Free Adobe trial and test us!

Mistake 9: Wrong paper

Uncoated or cheap inkjet paper loaded with artificial fillers often result in poor definition in color without a good rich black; generally a bland, poor version of your original color image.

Do you achieve a good rich black? - Are your block colours crisp and sharp at the edges? - Do your photographic images exhibit rich tone? - Do you achieve a true black & white with no colour bias? - Do you have smooth graduations and correct healthy fleshtones?

Test good quality photographic inkjet papers, and see the difference for yourself. Make sure you print on the correct (coated) side of the paper; usually face side up in the box - the coated side is normally a little sticky on your tongue!

Marrutt Advice: Don't be tempted by cheap high street papers if you seek professional photographic print quality

Mistake 10: Bad Inks

Never use cheap high street compatibles for your photographic printing; you may produce completely different graduations from one color to another, as many compatible inksets are made up with a mixture of high-contrast signage inks for some colors, and perfectly acceptable photographic inks for the remainder.

To achieve accurate color reproduction with good rich blacks and smooth even graduations in every color channel, use the Brand OEM inks, or reputable bulk professional photographic inks only.

Marrutt Advice: Don't risk wasting expensive paper with poor quality ink

Mistake 11: Printing too quickly

Many photographers spoil their prints by being impatient. Set your print resolution to highest quality / no high speed for best photographic results.

If you need faster print production, test your printing at lower resolutions to see if a faster lower res print is acceptable to you.

Production speed vs quality - Many production inkjet workers get regular custom printer profiles for their stock papers for best colour accuracy and tone, then test print for best print speed and acceptable quality. Fast print speeds hugely increase daily print output and profit, but do check that your nozzle check is absolutely perfect - higher print speeds are much less forgiving of a less than perfect nozzle check performance, particularly in blocks of colour and smooth graduations.

Marrutt Advice: Slow and steady wins the race!

One Extra for Black & White Printing ...

Don't ever use generic printer profiles - we now advise that you obtain our free custom printer profiles for every paper you use for black & white printing.

Color printing is more forgiving than black & white printing. A Custom ICC printer profile guarantees best possible neutral color tone throughout the density range of your image, with smoothest possible graduations in each ink channel, for best possible tonal reproduction with good rich blacks and correct highlights. Free Marrutt custom ICC printer profiles are available for those using either Marrutt ink and/or Marrutt Inkjet paper:

Contact Us for a Free custom ICC Printer Profile >>

DISCLAIMER

The above represents opinions and customer feedback only, and is subject to the usual caveats; if you have alternative advice or extra information for us, please contact us.

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Source: https://www.marruttusa.com/printer/support/printing-mistakes.php

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