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Banding in blue sky with Ilford Smooth and i950..

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pfhuang

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This was copied from another thread which dealt with different topic...

In any case, someone encountered banding in deep blue color areas of prints (as in skies of outdoor pics) with Ilford Smooth Glossy and Pearl. Up until now I thought Ilford Smooth was pretty good in terms of pic quality. So I tried this out with a pic that had a nice deep blue sky on Ilford Smooth Pearl and I saw indications of banding. I tried the same pic on Epson Luster and to my dismay I get the same results (colors, though, look more richer and vibrant).

For a nanoporous paper, I didn't expect this kind of results. Does anyone have any insight?

Just getting a bit frustrated with paper media. This "great paper chase" of mine seems futile.

Thanks.
 
For those of you interested... I seemed to found an acceptable solution. If you change the media type from the Ilford recommended "Photo Paper Pro" to "Glossy Photo Paper", you will not get the banding. At least, it's at a point where it's really hard to notice. Colors seem to come out more vibrant in this mode as well.
pfhuang said:
This was copied from another thread which dealt with different
topic...

In any case, someone encountered banding in deep blue color areas
of prints (as in skies of outdoor pics) with Ilford Smooth Glossy
and Pearl. Up until now I thought Ilford Smooth was pretty good
in terms of pic quality. So I tried this out with a pic that had
a nice deep blue sky on Ilford Smooth Pearl and I saw indications
of banding. I tried the same pic on Epson Luster and to my dismay
I get the same results (colors, though, look more richer and
vibrant).

For a nanoporous paper, I didn't expect this kind of results. Does
anyone have any insight?

Just getting a bit frustrated with paper media. This "great paper
chase" of mine seems futile.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
pfhuang said:
For those of you interested... I seemed to found an acceptable
solution. If you change the media type from the Ilford
recommended "Photo Paper Pro" to "Glossy Photo Paper", you will not
get the banding. At least, it's at a point where it's really hard
to notice. Colors seem to come out more vibrant in this mode as
well.
Click to expand...
Could it simply be the fact that default PPP quality setting is lower (2) than default PP+G (1)???
 
Kris,

I was checking out the print driver and fooling around with the media settings. I didn't see a change in the print quality when I change the media types. Where are you seeing this difference?

Thanks.
Kris Kadela said:
pfhuang said:
For those of you interested... I seemed to found an acceptable
solution. If you change the media type from the Ilford
recommended "Photo Paper Pro" to "Glossy Photo Paper", you will not
get the banding. At least, it's at a point where it's really hard
to notice. Colors seem to come out more vibrant in this mode as
well.
Click to expand...
Could it simply be the fact that default PPP quality setting is
lower (2) than default PP+G (1)???
Click to expand...
 
I tried the "Glossy Photo Paper" setting. The difference I see that there's actually more banding, but it's less pronounced. The 'gap' betweens bands has gone from about 4 mm to 2 mm and the colour variation has decreased.

Overall it's an improvement, but not a complete solution. It does suggest that the 'prefect' setting is probably out there.

Being new to inkjet photo printing I'm surprised that media type settings affect something like banding. Colour issues or pooling I can understand, but banding? I'm also wondering why Ilford recommend settings which don't work as well as the ones you discovered. They've got a pretty good reason to come up with optimal settings.

I'll try the Ilford printer driver when it's available for the i950.

David

--
http://www.fp-photo.com
 
I use Ilford smooth glossy in both my 950 and my 850, and when I see banding, it's always been a clogged or partially clogged head in the photo cyan position....Try using another similar paper using the same settings...a quick head cleaning uses a bit of ink, but it's worth a try...Frank
 
David,

Haven't read/remember how the others set their print mode. But set it to slider 1 instead of default 2 may solve the banding altogether...
David Yule said:
I tried the "Glossy Photo Paper" setting. The difference I see that
there's actually more banding, but it's less pronounced. The 'gap'
betweens bands has gone from about 4 mm to 2 mm and the colour
variation has decreased.

Overall it's an improvement, but not a complete solution. It does
suggest that the 'prefect' setting is probably out there.

Being new to inkjet photo printing I'm surprised that media type
settings affect something like banding. Colour issues or pooling I
can understand, but banding? I'm also wondering why Ilford
recommend settings which don't work as well as the ones you
discovered. They've got a pretty good reason to come up with
optimal settings.

I'll try the Ilford printer driver when it's available for the i950.

David

--
http://www.fp-photo.com
Click to expand...
--
fotografer

...the great paper chase! (see http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=5683956 )
 
I don't own a Canon printer. But somewhere you'll see the default setting for Canon media selection will be slider at 2. Folks says all traces of banding disappear with the slider moved (left?) to 1. It will print more slowly, due to the fact that now the highest resolution print mode is employed but banding almost always disappear in this mode.
David Yule said:
You mean the 'Print Quality' setting?

Thanks

David
--
http://www.fp-photo.com
Click to expand...
--
fotografer

...the great paper chase! (see http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=5683956 )
 
Thanks, I found the other thread. It looks like the printing wizard was causing that problem, but I'm not using the wizard.

After switching media type to Glossy Photo Paper and using quiet mode the prints are now pretty good. Viewed from a normal distance (more than 18 inches) the banding can't be seen. For the moment I'll accept the prints as good enough.

I'm going to mail Ilford and ask when they're going to produce a driver for the i950.

David

--
http://www.fp-photo.com
 
I noticed the fine banding in some prints, not so much in the dark blue areas but moreso in the lighter blue areas. Very strange. This is why I said my solution was only "acceptable." Thanks for sharing your results, it confirms mine.

Oh well... this will have to do for now.
 
I use both the Ilford Smooth Gloss and The Classic Pearl in my 950 with Cannon inks. I have gone through several PM and PC carts., but I am not a heavy user and the printer often sits for several days between printing sessions. I always run a nozel check before printing and if needed clean the heads (this has only been needed twice). I have never had any banding nor have I had any clogs that were serious. The only other setting that could play a part is that I have the printer set to auto power on and off and never turn it off manually.

Maybe this means something or maybe I have just been lucky

Good Luck

Ed
 
David:

For the Ilford Smooth Gloss and Classic Pearl I set the paper type to Photo Paper Pro and for the Classic Gloss I use the High Gloss Film setting These are the setting recomendations that came with the paper. I have never tried using quiet mode because I have not had problems. The only time I have ever had any banding I ran a nozel check and it showed an incomplete grid in either the PM or PC (I am not sure which it was at this time) I cleaned the heads and re-printed the picture and the problem was gone. One other thing that might be helping me avoid problems is that I live in the desert and the weather here is almost always very dry. Even my prints on the Classic papers come out of the printer virtually dry to the touch. Also when the printer is not in use I remove any paper and close both of the covers to keep out any dust.

Having read the other posts I may have to try Photo Glossy Plus for the Classic gloss because I would like to get borderless prints on this paper like I do on the others.

Ed
 
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