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Hi, I am a printmaker in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) Recently I purchased an Epson P6000 for DTP. I use PrintTool, QTR 2.7.9 and Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6 At first I got small horizontal lines on the plate. Walker advised me to re-install QTR as it could be stuck in 720 dpi. I did so and the lines were gone. But now I get wider banding (horizontal) in the black parts:  I tried several times, but all the same. Than I printed another image, and I got the small horizontal lines back!!  Has anyone a solution? Do I have to upgrade QTR or my Mac? Thank you! Eric Levert
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I get the same thing on a P7000. At a workshop I held in Stockholm in DTP before Christmas it turned out like this in various pictures of my students. Tried with different resolution and switched to 3 gray colors with DTP. My picture picture turned out fine but not any others. At the same time, there are good images without streaks in Mirage and Epson's driver, but only in QTR. Updated to last QTR.
I consulted a printer consultant and wondered if a print head broke? What he told me that the printer has three printhead resolutions and chooses one to print with. Tried with different resolution on image and print but QTR may not always choose the highest resolution? Anyone who knows?
?
Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures now of the bad ones, but they are similar to yours, both in high and low days but more visible in smooth surfaces of course. Sending with a picture that works but not so much smooth surfaces... 
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Hello Eric,
?I had the same issue with Epson SC-P6000.?
?I was using Tecco production SF140 film to print the negatives.?
?I assume the horizontal lines was caused by the substrate being to thin. 140gsm. I have experimented with different media type, creating my own media settings, but nothing helped.?
?I switched to Fomei Clear Film 180, which is 180gsm. Also set the media type to Premium Glossy Photo Paper 170 and Narrow platen gap, which solved the issue.?
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Hi Tomas,
Thanks for your mail!
The thing is, I do DTP. I also narrowed the platen gap from Widest to Wide, but the horizontal lines remain.
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Hello Eric,
?I had the same issue with Epson SC-P6000.?
?I was using Tecco production SF140 film to print the negatives.?
?I assume the horizontal lines was caused by the substrate being to thin. 140gsm. I have experimented with different media type, creating my own media settings, but nothing helped.?
?I switched to Fomei Clear Film 180, which is 180gsm. Also set the media type to Premium Glossy Photo Paper 170 and Narrow platen gap, which solved the issue.?
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Hi Eric,
Based on your images I have the idea those are scans from BW negatives. Am I correct? I have bumped into similar artefacts with poorly scanned or processed images from clients (i.e. trying to get too much detail out of the shadows, scanning too dark or too bright and adjusting that in post-processing, ...).
The grain on those prints appears particularly sharp and I have the impression you have a few sharpening artefacts going on due to oversharpening. In my experience oversharpening can indeed lead to banding. You could try printing the same image without any sharpening applied to see if the banding persists.
Printing through QTR with dedicated BW inksets can yield such high fidelity that prints sometimes reveal issues that are very difficult to spot on a computer screen. Even more so if that screen is a laptop screen or an average desktop monitor.
Let me know if this helps.
Kind regards,
Dieter
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Hi Dieter, Thank you for your answer. I am printing DTP. Using Toyobo-plates. These are horizontal lines. When I turn the image 90 degrees in PrintTool , the lines remain horizontal. So it has something to do with the printer or the software, I think.
Best regards, Eric Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone
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Op 31 jan 2024 om 15:36 heeft Dieter <daemen.dieter@...> het volgende geschreven:
?Hi Eric,
Based on your images I have the idea those are scans from BW negatives. Am I correct? I have bumped into similar artefacts with poorly scanned or processed images from clients (i.e. trying to get too much detail out of the shadows, scanning too dark or too bright and adjusting that in post-processing, ...).
The grain on those prints appears particularly sharp and I have the impression you have a few sharpening artefacts going on due to oversharpening. In my experience oversharpening can indeed lead to banding. You could try printing the same image without any sharpening applied to see if the banding persists.
Printing through QTR with dedicated BW inksets can yield such high fidelity that prints sometimes reveal issues that are very difficult to spot on a computer screen. Even more so if that screen is a laptop screen or an average desktop monitor.
Let me know if this helps.
Kind regards,
Dieter
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Did you tried differents paper feed adjustments ?
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Hello Frankie and Eric
I have tried different media settings and created my own? media settings for DTP and for film. The horizontal lines still appear, suspect it must be the QTR software as the lines do not appear with Mirage or Epson's driver with the same picture. Apparently three different print heads are used and QTR may not be able to control which one is used for which image. It can cause different results for different images, for me with SC p 7000 and DTP. Anyone know how it is controlled?
/Tomas?
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Question: does your DTP profile only use one ink? You mention three different print heads in your post.? Unless you have a custom ink setup, you really should only be using matte black ink in a single ink profile.
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On Feb 1, 2024, at 2:56?AM, Tomas Holmqvist <tomas@...> wrote:
?Hello Frankie and Eric
I have tried different media settings and created my own? media settings for DTP and for film. The horizontal lines still appear, suspect it must be the QTR software as the lines do not appear with Mirage or Epson's driver with the same picture. Apparently three different print heads are used and QTR may not be able to control which one is used for which image. It can cause different results for different images, for me with SC p 7000 and DTP. Anyone know how it is controlled?
/Tomas?
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Hi Clay, I only use Matte Black ink. Eric
Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone
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Op 1 feb 2024 om 12:56 heeft Clay Harmon <w.clay.harmon@...> het volgende geschreven:
? Question: does your DTP profile only use one ink? You mention three different print heads in your post.? Unless you have a custom ink setup, you really should only be using matte black ink in a single ink profile.
Clay On Feb 1, 2024, at 2:56?AM, Tomas Holmqvist <tomas@...> wrote:
?Hello Frankie and Eric
I have tried different media settings and created my own? media settings for DTP and for film. The horizontal lines still appear, suspect it must be the QTR software as the lines do not appear with Mirage or Epson's driver with the same picture. Apparently three different print heads are used and QTR may not be able to control which one is used for which image. It can cause different results for different images, for me with SC p 7000 and DTP. Anyone know how it is controlled?
/Tomas?
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Okay - scratch that as a possible cause! I’m stumped. ====================================
I have a ridiculous number of email accounts for lots of reasons. This email is the best one to use for anything that is not business-related:
Hi Clay, I only use Matte Black ink. Eric
Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone Op 1 feb 2024 om 12:56 heeft Clay Harmon <w.clay.harmon@...> het volgende geschreven:
? Question: does your DTP profile only use one ink? You mention three different print heads in your post.? Unless you have a custom ink setup, you really should only be using matte black ink in a single ink profile.
Clay On Feb 1, 2024, at 2:56?AM, Tomas Holmqvist <tomas@...> wrote:
?Hello Frankie and Eric
I have tried different media settings and created my own? media settings for DTP and for film. The horizontal lines still appear, suspect it must be the QTR software as the lines do not appear with Mirage or Epson's driver with the same picture. Apparently three different print heads are used and QTR may not be able to control which one is used for which image. It can cause different results for different images, for me with SC p 7000 and DTP. Anyone know how it is controlled?
/Tomas?
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Eric,
Looking at your original images the bands look approximately 1inch apart which is the head size.
So my guess is that you are seeing the variation of the inkjets -- probably normal manufacturing tolerances.
The close bands at the top of a print are likely because the reads have to make closer passes over the paper there.
The way this is normally avoided (actually hidden) is using lots of different jets scattered seemingly randomly.
The interleaving of passes helps a lot but also using more different inks helps a lot. When you mentioned using
only one ink this suggests to me you are using lots less different jets. You've said the Epson driver is better
and its because it uses lots of different inks -- grays as well as all the colors. This gives smoother results but
may not be the inks you want. Of course this is the advantage of QTR -- you get control of the inks.
But you still have to use several inks to hide banding. I don't do negatives in general but most curve-profiles I've
seen use many inks with the same curve shape. For instance Y is ordinarily not very dense but to UV light it is
quite dense. So try adding inks -- reduce MK and increase others. You ought to have tested the different inks
for UV density previously.
Roy
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Thank you for answering!
Just to be sure: I print DTP on Toyobo-plates using QTR and PrintTool. And for that you only use Matte Black isn’t it?
The thing is, I only see it in the, let’s say, ?50-70% black parts.
Eric
? ? ? ? de Liefde 16
?1052MZ-Amsterdam ? ? ? ?@eric1levert
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Op 2 feb. 2024, om 02:54 heeft Roy Harrington < roy@...> het volgende geschreven:
Eric,
Looking at your original images the bands look approximately 1inch apart which is the head size.
So my guess is that you are seeing the variation of the inkjets -- probably normal manufacturing tolerances.
The close bands at the top of a print are likely because the reads have to make closer passes over the paper there.
The way this is normally avoided (actually hidden) is using lots of different jets scattered seemingly randomly.
The interleaving of passes helps a lot but also using more different inks helps a lot. ?When you mentioned using
only one ink this suggests to me you are using lots less different jets. ?You've said the Epson driver is better
and its because it uses lots of different inks -- grays as well as all the colors. ?This gives smoother results but
may not be the inks you want. ?Of course this is the advantage of QTR -- you get control of the inks.
But you still have to use several inks to hide banding. ?I don't do negatives in general but most curve-profiles I've
seen use many inks with the same curve shape. ?For instance Y is ordinarily not very dense but to UV light it is
quite dense. ?So try adding inks -- reduce MK and increase others. ?You ought to have tested the different inks
for UV density previously.
Roy
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On Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 08:48 AM, Eric Levert wrote:
Thank you for answering!
Just to be sure:
I print DTP on Toyobo-plates using QTR and PrintTool.
And for that you only use Matte Black isn’t it?
I really don't know any details about the DTP process and what's needed. In general I'd think anything that can take Matte Black can take any other ink as well. (Is the issue: just use Matte vs the Photo Black)
The thing is, I only see it in the, let’s say, 50-70% black parts.
It's all a matter of patterns that our brains can recognize. Less ink and there's less pattern to see. More ink and more dots run together. It's best to read up or get in contact with others who already do this process. Roy
Eric
de Liefde 16
1052MZ-Amsterdam
@eric1levert
www.eric-levert-etsen.nl
Op 2 feb. 2024, om 02:54 heeft Roy Harrington <roy@...> het volgende geschreven:
Eric,
Looking at your original images the bands look approximately 1inch apart
which is the head size.
So my guess is that you are seeing the variation of the inkjets -- probably normal manufacturing tolerances.
The close bands at the top of a print are likely because the reads have to make closer passes over the paper there.
The way this is normally avoided (actually hidden) is using lots of
different jets scattered seemingly randomly.
The interleaving of passes helps a lot but also using more different inks helps a lot. When you mentioned using
only one ink this suggests to me you are using lots less different jets. You've said the Epson driver is better
and its because it uses lots of different inks -- grays as well as all the colors. This gives smoother results but
may not be the inks you want. Of course this is the advantage of QTR -- you get control of the inks.
But you still have to use several inks to hide banding. I don't do negatives in general but most curve-profiles I've
seen use many inks with the same curve shape. For instance Y is ordinarily not very dense but to UV light it is
quite dense. So try adding inks -- reduce MK and increase others. You ought to have tested the different inks
for UV density previously.
Roy
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Hello Eric
Did you solve the problem? I get different results (banding) with different images with DTP. A consultant says that the printer uses different nozzles with different resolution for different jobs (images), maybe that explains something if QTR can't choose the resolution of the print in the printer if the print is on different heads on different jobs? I use scp7000 (same as scp 6000?), QTR, Print Tool on DTP and two steps with Toyobo GR or KMGT 73 with own media profiles.
/Tomas
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bildpunkt
Tomas Holmqvist
Bj?rnidegr?nd 55, 162 46 V?llingby
+46(0)707 599 885
?
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Well, the last few plates I made, the banding is gone…… Can’t explain why. So not really a solution?
Best, Eric
Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone
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Op 3 apr 2024 om 08:40 heeft Tomas Holmqvist <tomas@...> het volgende geschreven:
?Hello Eric
Did you solve the problem? I get different results (banding) with different images with DTP. A consultant says that the printer uses different nozzles with different resolution for different jobs (images), maybe that explains something if QTR can't choose the resolution of the print in the printer if the print is on different heads on different jobs? I use scp7000 (same as scp 6000?), QTR, Print Tool on DTP and two steps with Toyobo GR or KMGT 73 with own media profiles.
/Tomas
---?
bildpunkt
Tomas Holmqvist
Bj?rnidegr?nd 55, 162 46 V?llingby
+46(0)707 599 885
?
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Hi Tomas & Eric. It looks like "pizza-wheeling" caused by the small gray plastic rollers that advances the plates. Try cleaning them with some alcohol - I do that from time to time on my P9000. /Stig
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