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The channel test: find out which Epson tank prints which colour in 5 minutes

On a converted L805, L1800 or ET-8550 the printer still thinks its tanks hold light cyan and light magenta. Your kit put white ink there. If the RIP does not know that, it sends white where cyan should go and you get a blue, pink or single-colour print. The channel test makes the mapping visible.

6 min read · Updated 2026-09-21
In short
  1. Load a strip of film and open Ink settings → Print channel test
  2. Read which colour came out in each numbered block
  3. Enter what you saw in “Wrong colours? Diagnose” and apply the mapping

What the test prints

One numbered block per physical channel, sent raw — no colour management, no white generation. Block 1 is the first row of the ink table, block 2 the second, and so on. On film both colour and white show, which is why you print it on film, not on paper (white on paper is invisible).

Reading the result

  • A block came out white → that tank holds white. Set its row to White; the RIP moves it to the white layer automatically.
  • A block came out a colour → set that colour. Magenta printing where cyan is expected means the kit swapped the tanks.
  • A block printed nothing or very faint → the channel is clogged or empty. Run Head cleaning, then Nozzle check, refill if needed, and print the test again.
  • Two blocks printed the same colour → both tanks carry it. Decide which one should be white and set it.

Let the app do it

In ZoroPrint RIP, Printer tab → “Wrong colours? Diagnose”. Pick what each block printed; the app rewrites the mapping, flags clogged channels and warns you when a colour is missing entirely (no yellow makes black print purple, no magenta turns skin grey).

Print it right with ZoroPrint

Free for one printer. The channel test, preflight and white underbase from these guides are built in.

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