Epson ET-15000 Color Mismatch With Printer's Jack Ink vs Epson F-170: ICC Profile Options, RawTherapee Limits, and "No Color Adjustment" Explained

Question: If my ET-15000 color issue is caused by Printer's Jack ink, should I build a custom ICC profile or swap inks? Also, why can't RawTherapee see the F-170 ICC profile, and how do I adjust color when the ET-15000 is set to "No Color Adjustment" in Affinity Designer?

Thank you for your very detailed response-it has been extremely helpful. I understand you're very busy and I really appreciate how thoroughly you've responded.

If the color problem is an ICC-profile issue caused by using Printer's Jack ink, it seems like I have two options:

1. create an ICC profile that works, or

2. change out the ink.

For option 1, I found open-source software called RawTherapee. I'm trying to load the ICC profile for the Epson F-170 so I can tweak it and see if I can get better colors on the ET-15000. But when I browse to the ICC profile folder, nothing shows up. If I use the ICC Creator option, I can see some profiles but not the F-170. If I edit one and save it into the ICC folder, then I can see the F-170 profile. Strange.

I'm going to keep researching, but in the meantime I have a screenshot showing the parameters RawTherapee lets me adjust-would that be sufficient?

For option 2, I've watched videos on flushing and replacing the ink in the ET-15000. It seems doable. If I do it, I would replace the Printer's Jack ink with the same Epson ink I use in my F-170. What are your thoughts on these options?

Also, the correct terminology on the ET-15000 is "No Color Adjustment." When I select it, I don't see a way to make the adjustments you mentioned. I tried many settings (saturation, cyan/magenta/yellow amounts), but I still can't get the colors close. Is there a way to change settings with "No Color Adjustment" enabled and use Affinity Designer to control color?

Answer: 

You're thinking about this exactly the right way: if the root cause is ink + profile mismatch, you generally have two paths:

1. Profile the actual ink/paper/printer combination, or

2. Standardize the ink set to one that already has predictable behavior and profiling support.

However, there's an important detail here: the Epson F-170 is a dye-sublimation printer designed around a specific ink chemistry and a controlled transfer workflow. The ET-15000 is a different platform with different head behavior, screening, and driver logic. So using an "F-170 ICC" as a starting point for an ET-15000 usually won't translate cleanly-especially if the ET-15000 has third-party ink in it.

1) Why you can't "tweak the F-170 ICC profile" and expect accurate ET-15000 color

An ICC profile is not a simple set of sliders. It's a characterization of how a specific printer/ink/paper combination reproduces color under specific conditions. If you change any of these, the profile becomes unreliable:

• Printer model (F-170 vs ET-15000)

• Ink chemistry (Epson dye-sub vs Printer's Jack)

• Media (paper type/coating)

• Driver settings (quality, paper type, resolution, color mode)

So if your ET-15000 is running Printer's Jack ink, the most accurate ICC is one made from ET-15000 + Printer's Jack + your exact paper + your exact print settings.

That's why you're stuck between the two options-because you're trying to force a profile from one ecosystem into a different one.

2) RawTherapee: why it may not show the ICC profile (and why it's not the best tool for printer ICC creation)

RawTherapee is primarily a photo raw processor, and its ICC handling is often aimed at:

• monitor profiles,

• working space profiles,

• input camera profiles,

• and output soft-proofing profiles.

Depending on your operating system, RawTherapee may only display ICC profiles stored in specific system-level color folders, not just any folder you browse to. That's why you may see "some profiles" in one view but not others, and why saving something into that folder suddenly makes it appear.

More importantly: RawTherapee is not typically the tool used to create accurate printer ICC profiles from scratch. A true printer ICC workflow usually requires:

• printing a standardized color target (hundreds/thousands of patches),

• measuring it with a spectrophotometer (hardware),

• and using profiling software to generate an ICC from real measurements.

Without measurement hardware, any "ICC creation" is largely guesswork-even if the software gives you lots of parameters.

3) Would RawTherapee's adjustable parameters be "sufficient"?

For rough visual improvement, maybe. For accurate color matching, usually not.

Those adjustment sliders can help you get "better looking" prints, but they typically won't give you:

• predictable repeatability across different images,

• accurate neutral grays,

• accurate skin tones,

• consistent brand colors/logos,

• or proper saturation/black handling.

If your goal is "I want the ET-15000 to match what I'm used to seeing from the F-170," then you're really describing calibrated, repeatable color management, and that generally means a correct ICC built from measurements.

4) Option 1 vs Option 2: which is better?

Here's the practical tradeoff:

Option 1: Create/obtain a proper ICC for the ET-15000 with the ink you're using

Best when:

• you want to keep the current ink for cost/availability reasons,

• you print on a consistent media type,

• and you want the best accuracy you can get without changing hardware.

But: the "right" way usually involves professional profiling (measurement device). Software-only tweaking often becomes an endless loop.

Option 2: Swap the ET-15000 ink to a known, consistent ink set (and profile that)

If you flush Printer's Jack ink and move to a more standardized ink approach, you can reduce one major variable. That said, "the same Epson ink used in the F-170" is not necessarily the right match for an ET-15000 unless you're referring to inks that are actually intended for that printer type. The F-170 uses dye-sub ink designed for sublimation transfer behavior; the ET-15000 is not designed around that ink system.

If your end goal is dependable color on ET-15000, the best path is typically:

• use a consistent ink set meant for that printer/workflow,

• then profile that combination properly.

In short: changing ink can help, but only if you're moving toward a stable, supported workflow-not just swapping to a different ink chemistry.

5) "No Color Adjustment" on the ET-15000: what it really does

You're correct on the terminology: "No Color Adjustment" is the setting.

In most Epson drivers, "No Color Adjustment" means the driver is trying to avoid applying its normal color enhancements. But it does not automatically mean your application is now fully controlling color in a clean, ICC-managed way. What happens depends on the whole pipeline:

• application color settings (Affinity Designer),

• document color space (sRGB, Adobe RGB, CMYK profile, etc.),

• whether you are letting the app manage color vs the printer manage color,

• and whether you have a correct output ICC profile selected.

If you choose "No Color Adjustment" and still don't have an appropriate ICC profile for the ET-15000 + ink + paper, then you're essentially printing "uncalibrated." That's why the sliders you tried (saturation, CMY amounts) didn't get you close-they're blunt tools compared to a proper profile.

6) Can you change printer driver settings while using "No Color Adjustment" and Affinity Designer?

Usually, the whole point of "No Color Adjustment" is to prevent double color management. If you start adding driver tweaks on top of application color control, you often create:

• unpredictable shifts,

• inconsistent results between images,

• and "double profiling" (app adjusts + driver adjusts).

So while some settings may still be visible in the driver, using them typically defeats the purpose of "No Color Adjustment." The cleaner approach is:

• pick one place to control color (either the app via ICC, or the driver),

• not both.

If you don't yet have a correct ICC for the ET-15000 workflow you're running, then "No Color Adjustment" can actually make things look worse because it removes the driver's compensations without replacing them with proper profiling.

Addressing printer issues can be a complicated affair due to the hands-on nature of the problems, and color management is especially dependent on the exact ink, paper, settings, and even environmental factors. So, we're not able to provide remote troubleshooting, suggestions, or support for printer repairs. We offer an in-person evaluation and repair service via our local diagnostic facility, Printer Repair Service (https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service). Given the high demand, we operate on a first-come, first-served basis, so it might take a few weeks before we can schedule time for you to drop off your printer. Our services are structured to repair either a whole printer or specific parts, with clear instructions on how to proceed. However, we acknowledge that our rates aren't the most economical. Thus, we highly recommend that you resort to self-help via online research. You can start by checking out YouTube or visiting our YouTube channel's homepage, BCH Technologies on YouTube (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies). Look for specific videos using the search icon next to "About" on the right-hand side of the menu bar. I receive dozens of queries every day asking about videos for specific topics. Having created videos over the past nine years, it's challenging to remember every single one. Therefore, using YouTube's search function would be most efficient. Plus, YouTube might suggest relevant videos from other channels that could assist you.

Thank you again for your thoughtful questions and for taking the time to dig into the terminology and workflow details. You're approaching this the right way: either commit to a properly profiled ET-15000 setup for the ink you're using, or standardize the ink/workflow and then profile that combination so your colors become repeatable and predictable.