Color inconsistency (especially with images) when printing from Adobe InDesign

[kpad]

Hello, First let me tell you what I'm working with...

- Windows 7 PC
- Adobe CS6
- Epson Stylus Pro 7900 (all ink cartridges beyond 50% level with perfect nozzle check)

I have been using this printer to print signage for 6 months with no problems at all. A few days ago the colors randomly started coming out darker than they appear on the screen, and all of the images have a flat look to them similar to the posterize effect in Photoshop. When I am in overprint preview everything is darker also. I had Pantone colors in the artwork and now they look different and print dark and dull. I'm not sure if I changed my color settings by accident, or what the settings were on before, but I can't seem to fix it.

Color Control Setting in Print Dialogue: Adobe RGB
Creative Suite Color Setting: North American Prepress 2 (I tried General Purpose 2 also and the same things happened)
Document Color Profile: sRGB IEC61966-2.1
Transparency Blend Space: RGB

I tried to export to PDF and print through Preview, Acrobat, and Photoshop and even though the PDF looked okay on the screen, the same things happened
...Also tried switch Pantone colors with RGB colors and it helped lighten them a little but they still print weird and the images are still posterized

Before this happened I could print anything in CMYK or RGB with any type of image extension and it would print perfectly.

Thank you to anyone who can give me some insight into these issues.

 

[foreigner]

What do you mean the Colors are coming out darker?
Even the colors created in the App like Illustrator or Indesign like squares & Type filled with solid palette color & gradients or only the photos embedded or not?
If the problem are the photos, Well check if there is a change in their embeded profile or in the final output profile restriction to PDF that make you see the color OK on screen but print differently.
Once I had a case that the colors were dark because of the Document RGB profile was set by me to Adobe 1998 witch isn't suitable for print Photos & Vectors but just to capture the pictures in the cameras and then convert to a smaller gamma like sRGB for print purpose.
Hope you find a Solution Soon!

 

[kpad]

Thanks for the reply! The colors that print are darker than they look on screen. I can adjust the colors, but the worst problem I'm having is that images (jpeg, png) print very dark and have a weird posterized effect and they don't look good or high quality at all.

 

[mojoprime]

did you update any of the drivers, or use a different brand of paper?

 

[foreigner]

Well the scenario is more clear now, you are facing all the artwork vectors & placed Photos Darker & oversaturated , Right? If yes:
( First Scenario) Something has changed in the Color Control Setting of the Adobe App. you are using because it's impossible that with the same impostation you have two different results. Second thing to do is check the output Format in PDF or Tiff it bee, is embeding or not, the profile RGB or CMYK in the Exported file. If no I will try to embed or not embed an profile RGB or CMYK it will be. I dont know if you have converted prior the photos in the printer CMYK profile in PS or you leave to the Rip to convert the RGB & CMYK data to his CMYK FINAL OUTPUT.
In illus. you have two options to export to PDF: the standard one is, Convert to destination ( meaning respect the cmyk numbers & not the color profile in which you have created the document & previewed the colors all the time on screen or the second one is: Embed Profile (the document ones) as Destination Profile which maybe with give a most close result with that on monitor.

(Second Scenario, only the photos print strangely like desaturated & dark for ex.) if you are working in a CMYK Safe Artwork were every document is opened & saved in CMYK mode you should check before importing to Illu if those PNG-s in Photoshop have a RGB embbedid profile or not, If not assigne one exmpl. sRGB or Adobe 98.

(Once, to me has happend, that some transparent PNG-s imported in a CMYK safe Doc & exported with PDF X3 Stan.who honors the embedded profiles of the selective objects, strangely were printed almost desaturated in B/W while all the vectors and the text surrounding the PNG photos were fullfilled beautifuly with color just like in the screen. this was a lesson for me to check before the PNG-s in PS for a emmbeded profile before importing to Illus. or Ind. or Corel.