Dark, "double-printing" black ink over color

[Luke]

It appears based on test prints with a Kodak ESP 5250 and both the 15-1 and 18-1 versions of C2esp that the printer is printing the image twice-once with color ink and again with black ink. This is clearly visible in the Ubuntu test pattern and anything other than a text file printed from the computer. The version of Ubuntu I am using is 11.04 (Natty), now in Beta.

if a jpeg is saved onto a camera card and is large enough (in format) to resemble one from a camera, the printer can print it from the card just fine. It copies fine from it's own scanner as well. Same for it's native test pattern printed from the printer's own controls. The "double print" issue seems to exist only when printing fom the computer, so the bug must either be in C2esp or somewhere in CUPS.

[Paul Newall (p-newalls)]

Can you clarify the problem?
Do you mean that prints do not look like the picture?
Or that in black pixels, coloured ink is being wasted by being mixed with black when black on its own would do?

When I print the ubuntu test page, the print looks like the test page.
For example the red strip varies from black at the LHS to red at the RHS of the page.

The ubuntu test page file is attached, when you view it does it look the same as when you print it?

[Luke (lukekuhn)]

Color prints do not look like the color source image, they come out far, far darker, almost black. In colored pixels, it appears that the normal colored ink is being printed, plus the black in that would print if the pixel was being printed in black and white.
The ubuntu test page(which I tested when I set up the printer) does not come out looking at all what you sent, every color being very dark and heavily mixed with black. The red 10%, Green 10% and Blue 10% squares from your image are representative of what colors in the bottom 4 panels resembled, each color being mixed with black instead of with white due to the overprint with (presumably) black ink. There were no light colored panels in the test image output.
I cannot print from anywhere online, no Internet access at home where the printer is set up. Therefore, it will take a couple days before I can try to send an image back if you need it.
In printing anything in color, the image is printed very dark, almost black but with some color. Prints are heavily saturated with ink, and the cause of this very dark printing appears to be that the printer is printing simultaniously in color, with the color ink, and at the same time printing a second copy of the image in black and white directly over the color image with a very dark, almost black final result.
Printing in black and white suppresses the problem, giving a normal black and white print. This is still all I was able to afford to do with the old Lexmark printer, so my kodak with it's cheap ink is still a worthwhile switch. If I want color prints without the black and white image printed over them, I have to put jpegs of what I want to print on a camera card,put the card in the printer, and print from the camera card, which the printer can do natively without the computer at all.
While it would seem that removing or deliberately running out the black ink would fix this, I do not want to risk the print head, which is detachable but separate from the ink tanks. On this printer, there are 2 black ink tanks: one in the cluster that includes the coored inks, and a separate standalone tank.
> Date: Sun, 15 May 2011 20:18:20 +0000
> From: <email address hidden>
> To: <email address hidden>
> Subject: [Bug 758198] Re: Dark, "double-printing" black ink over color
>
> Can you clarify the problem?
> Do you mean that prints do not look like the picture?
> Or that in black pixels, coloured ink is being wasted by being mixed with black when black on its own would do?
>
> When I print the ubuntu test page, the print looks like the test page.
> For example the red strip varies from black at the LHS to red at the RHS of the page.
>
> The ubuntu test page file is attached, when you view it does it look the
> same as when you print it?
>
> ** Attachment added: "The ubuntu test page file"
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/c2esp/+bug/758198/+attachment/2130152/+files/ubuntutestpage-a4.ps
>
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> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
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> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/758198
>
> Title:
> Dark, "double-printing" black ink over color
>
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[Luke (lukekuhn)]

As of 2013, this bug is gone, but I can not only connect to the printer by wifi, not by USB. Possibly hardware issue in the printer either with 64 bit kernels or just with that particular printer, gets "device not accepting address." P:rinting by network is fine, so long as you are dealing with files that can be safely exposed to the router (which is exposed to the Internet).

Print qualty is now good and so is scan quality after the usual hacks to get Xsane to work over a network.