Expert: LizaL - 10/26/2004

Question
When printing to an Epson 2200 or 4000 from PS CS I will
routinely get large areas green or puple rectangles in my print.
They are translucent as though you were looking through
colored glass in those areas. I have reinstalled all my software
on freshly erased and reformatted hard drives in my G4, but to
no avail. Some times it will even produce itself when I hit print
preview but not everytime. I am at my wits end with this
problem. Epson says it's a software issue and not theirs. I have
even replaced my hard drive and reinstalled all software from
original disks.  Please HELP

Matt

Answer
Hi Matt,

I disagree with Epson -- this doesn't sound like a software conflict to me. However, I can't with full authority say it's their problem, either. I sure can understand your frustration, though.

It sounds like you've covered all bases with your troubleshooting and I'm worried I can't add anything else. But let throw this out: What type of images does this happen with? In other words, is it with images from your digital camera? Stock photography? All images, or just certain file types?

If it seems to be happening with digital camera pics, I'd say the problem lies with your camera and/or your camera's memory card. If this is the case, I'd download any pics on your current card and reformat the card. I'd also reinstall your camera's software, but you've probably done that. But check out the card and camera and make sure they're functioning correctly. Naturally, send the camera out for repair if it seems like the card itself is OK.

Another question: Do the translucent areas appear in the very same place all the time, or do they move around to different places with different images?

If they're in the same place, this would make me think it IS the printer -- hardware-related, though. If you can do some tests and confirm that the bad places show up in the same place all the time, I'd tell Epson this, and see what they'll do in terms of replacing your unit.

As I said, it sounds like you've run the gamut in terms of troubleshooting, but I ran across a guy who offers a TON of info, in particular about the 2200. Maybe you can find something out here, or even email the guy himself:
http://www.normankoren.com/printers.html#Epson_2200

Here's the guy's contact page:
http://www.normankoren.com/contact_news.html


Some other thoughts:

If it happens only with a certain type of image -- say, JPEG -- it would lead me to believe it's Photoshop-related. That would sound like something is wrong with the compression of the image, and that would sound software-related.

It doesn't happen often, but it is possible to get a bum disc from the factory. This sounds like the one possibility you might not have considered, and you might want to consider contacting Adobe and having them replace the CD as a last resort.


I realize I haven't given you a solid solution, but I don't think I have one, and I'm sorry. But hopefully something here will help you out! If not, please post back and we'll keep trying!

Lisa