Monochrome photo tint drifts over time — ABW driver & paper choice
Joe B.
Reviewed for technical accuracy
Specialities: Inkjet photo printing, Epson Advanced Black & White (ABW) driver, monochrome workflows, paper & ICC profiling, archival B&W display issues
Monochrome photo tint drift — ABW driver neutral vs warm, paper white & OBAs, metamerism & viewing light
Technician
Quick scan first so I can choose the right **ABW driver** and **paper** strategy:
• What printer model are you using (Epson P-series, Canon Pro, other pigment inkjet)?
• Do you print B&W using **Epson Advanced Black & White (ABW)** / dedicated B&W mode, or a normal color profile from Lightroom/Photoshop?
• Where do you notice the tint shift — under **daylight**, warm LED, gallery lighting, or after the print sits on the wall for a few weeks?
• What paper type: gloss/luster, baryta, or matte / **fine art rag**? Any idea if the paper has **optical brightening agents (OBAs)**?
Technician
A few things are happening:
• The **ABW driver** uses several black/gray inks plus a bit of color ink to keep B&W smooth. If the **Color Toning** or **Tone** sliders are even slightly off, you can get a subtle cool (cyan/green) or warm (magenta/brown) cast, especially in the midtones.
• Bright “super white” photo papers often use **optical brightening agents (OBAs)**. As OBAs fluoresce under daylight and fade or behave differently under LEDs, the **paper white point** changes and the print’s grayscale balance appears to drift.
• Different light sources (D50 vs office LED vs tungsten) cause **metamerism** — the same neutral print can look warmer or greener under different spectra.
Plan: we’ll 1) tighten your **ABW Neutral** setup, 2) choose a more stable **paper/paper profile** for monochrome, and 3) show you a quick **test strip workflow** to lock in a neutral tone that doesn’t wander with time and light.
Technician
In the Epson **Advanced Black & White Photo** panel (names vary slightly by model):
1) Set Color setting / Mode = Advanced B&W Photo (not Color).
2) Set Color Toning = Neutral. Avoid Cool/Warm/Sepia for now — they deliberately add a blue or brown tint.
3) Open the **Advanced / Fine adjustment** controls. Make sure the **tone color wheel** is centered so there’s no hidden cyan or magenta push. Many users accidentally nudge this and introduce a cast.
4) Set **Tone = Dark or Darker** rather than Light. Those curves generally render smoother shadows and reduce banding in grayscale test strips.
5) Leave **Max Optical Density** near default at first; aggressive changes here can exaggerate warm/cool shifts in dense blacks.
Also important: if you’re using a raw developer like Lightroom/Photoshop, set **Printer Manages Color** when using ABW. Don’t stack an ICC profile plus ABW — you want the **ABW driver** to do all the grayscale & black and white toning.
Technician
Your **bright luster paper** almost certainly uses **optical brightening agents** to look extra white. OBAs absorb UV and re-emit blue light, so the paper base shifts depending on lighting. Over weeks and months, OBAs can also **fade**, making the paper base more creamy and changing the perceived neutral gray balance.
For **monochrome printing stability**:
• Try an **OBA-reduced or OBA-free baryta or matte fine art paper** — many are marketed specifically for “monochrome” or “fine art B&W” with low metamerism.
• Use the paper vendor’s **ABW guidance or paper profile**. Even with ABW, manufacturers often provide suggested driver settings for neutral black and white prints.
• Evaluate prints under a consistent light source (ideally **D50 / 5000K viewing light**) instead of random room lighting. This reduces apparent green/magenta flip between LEDs and daylight.
Once we put ABW Neutral on a more stable paper, the **monochrome photo tint drift** you’re seeing usually drops from “annoying” to “barely noticeable”.
Technician
Here’s a simple **monochrome test workflow** that works across Epson P-series and other ABW-capable printers:
• Create or download a **grayscale step wedge + neutral image** (portrait or landscape with skies, skin, shadows).
• Print 3–4 small **test strips** on one sheet of each paper: ABW Neutral / Tone Dark on your current luster, then on a **baryta** and a **matte rag** if you have them.
• Mark each strip with the **paper name + ABW settings** you used (Neutral vs slightly Warm, Dark vs Normal, etc.).
• Let the sheet **dry and outgas for 24 hours**. Then compare strips side by side under the same light you’ll display in.
• Pick the combination whose shadows look rich but not blocked and whose midtones look **neutral gray**, not blue-green or pinkish.
Once you’ve found a favorite, you can even build a simple **ABW “paper preset”** (saved driver settings) so that every monochrome print uses the same Color Toning, Tone and paper type.
Technician
What you’re noticing is **metamerism**: ink + paper combinations that read neutral under one spectrum but shift under another.
To minimize it for black and white photo printing:
1) Prioritize papers marketed as having **low metamerism** or designed for monochrome. These often have fewer or no OBAs and smoother coatings.
2) In ABW, stick to **Neutral** and small corrections; extreme Warm/Cool toning pushes more colored inks into the mix and exaggerates color shifts between light sources.
3) If 90% of your viewing is under warm LED, we can bias the ABW tone a hair toward **cooler** so it ends up visually neutral in that environment (even if it looks slightly cool in D50).
4) For critical display, consider a **D50 viewing lamp/booth** near your workstation so you’re always judging prints in a standard, repeatable light.
So yes, it’s both **paper** and **ABW tuning**, but picking the right paper type first usually has the biggest impact on metamerism.
Technician
A few tips so toned monochrome prints still behave themselves:
• Use ABW’s **Warm** or a slight nudge on the color wheel rather than toning in Photoshop. The driver is designed to keep grayscale ramps smooth while adding a controlled brown tone.
• Test your warm tone on both **OBA-heavy gloss** and **OBA-free rag/baryta**. If the tone changes a lot between daylight and LED, that paper is more prone to metamerism for toned prints.
• Keep a **reference neutral print** from the same file. If, after months, the warm toned print looks significantly redder or greener than day one while the neutral print hasn’t changed, we adjust the paper choice.
The big win is still the same: **stable paper + ABW driver used correctly**. Whether you’re neutral or slightly warm, the goal is a tone that stays consistent, not a “mystery sepia” that grows over time.
Technician
• The **ABW feature** was designed to produce very neutral black and white prints with built-in tone controls (Neutral/Cool/Warm/Sepia, Tone, Shadow & Highlight tonality). It bypasses normal color management, so you don’t use a standard ICC profile at the same time.
• Some advanced users build **ABW correction curves** per paper (using gray wedges and densitometer readings). That’s more about fine-tuning the ramp than stopping tint drift.
• For you, I’d suggest: choose one or two **monochrome-friendly papers**, dial in **ABW Neutral or slight Warm**, save those driver settings as a preset, and always print B&W through that preset.
If you ever want to go full “fine art B&W lab”, we can step through **ABW gray curve creation** and paper-specific calibration — but most people reach “rock-solid neutral” without that extra complexity.
Technician
Quick answer: the accepted fix
Accepted fix when a monochrome photo tint drifts over time: print black and white using the **Advanced Black & White / ABW driver in Neutral**, not a color ICC profile; move to a **low-OBA, monochrome-friendly paper**; keep the ABW tone wheel centered and Tone set to Dark/Darker; then test under your actual viewing light. Save those driver settings as a preset so future B&W prints stay neutral instead of shifting green or magenta.
Why monochrome photo tints drift (ABW, paper white & light source)
When you print B&W using a standard color profile, the driver mixes multiple color inks on top of the **paper’s white point**. On bright photo papers with optical brightening agents (OBAs), that white point changes with UV content and can fade over time, so a once-neutral grayscale can slowly look warmer or greener. The **Epson Advanced Black & White (ABW) driver** reduces reliance on colored inks and gives direct control over Color Toning, Tone, and grayscale ramps, but you still need paper with low metamerism and consistent viewing light to keep monochrome prints stable.
How to verify your monochrome tint will stay neutral
Print a **step wedge + sample image** using ABW Neutral on each candidate paper (luster, baryta, matte rag). Let the sheet dry overnight, then compare strips side by side under the light where the print will hang. Look at highlights, midtones, and deep blacks: they should all read neutral gray without green or magenta bias. If a paper shifts strongly between daylight and your room light, it’s more metameric — pick a **low-OBA, monochrome-oriented paper** instead, then save those ABW settings as your default B&W preset for future black and white prints.
Monochrome tint drift — quick troubleshooting tips
Most “my B&W prints go green/magenta over time” cases come from paper choice, OBAs, and color-managed workflows instead of ABW.
Quick path: switch your black and white workflow to the **Advanced Black & White / ABW driver**, set **Color Toning = Neutral**, keep the tone wheel centered, and use a **low-OBA baryta or matte fine art paper** marketed for monochrome. Evaluate test strips after proper drying under the same light your print will live in. This simple combination dramatically reduces **monochrome photo tint drift**, metamerism and surprise color casts in archival B&W inkjet prints.
Disclaimer: This information is AI-generated and intended for general guidance only. For advice specific to your environment, please consult a verified expert on Whizz-Tech before making decisions.
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FAQ
Why does my monochrome photo tint drift from neutral to green or magenta?
Most **monochrome tint drift** comes from a combination of paper with **optical brightening agents (OBAs)**, changing viewing light (daylight vs LED) and printing B&W through a color profile instead of the dedicated **ABW driver**. Over time, OBAs and light conditions change how the grayscale is perceived, so a print that was neutral at first can look warmer or greener later.
How do I use the ABW driver for neutral black and white prints?
Select **Advanced Black & White Photo / ABW** as the Color setting, set **Color Toning = Neutral**, center the tone color wheel, and choose **Tone = Dark or Darker**. Let the printer manage color (no extra ICC profile) and print a step wedge on your chosen paper. This ABW workflow is designed to give consistent, neutral black and white output.
Which paper is best for stable monochrome inkjet printing?
Look for **low-OBA baryta or matte fine art papers** marketed for monochrome or fine art B&W. These papers have more stable white points and lower metamerism than very bright, OBA-heavy gloss papers, so black and white tones stay more consistent under different lighting and over time.
Why do my B&W prints look different under daylight and indoor LEDs?
That’s **metamerism** — the way ink and paper combinations react differently to various light spectra. Paper with strong OBAs and B&W prints made with lots of colored ink are more prone to it. Using the **ABW driver in Neutral** plus a low-metamerism paper reduces these shifts so your monochrome images look similar in daylight, gallery lighting and home LEDs.
Sources
- PermaJet — Simple guide to using the Epson ABW driver for neutral monochrome prints
- Red River Paper — What is the Epson Advanced Black & White (ABW) feature?
- On-line Paper — Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs) in inkjet papers and their effects
Filed under: Paper handling & media (jams/feeds/duplex)
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