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Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Ok so up until now anything I have printed be it a photo or digital art work has given me the what you see is what you get, printed. For some reason my printer(s) are now giving me issues with matching my screen colors so I'm starting to doubt my previous methods and I'm asking how would the correct/proper way to get great results be handled?

I'm using a Canon pixima 9000MKII and an iP6600, either Aperture 2 or at times PS or AI.

Today my prints were darker and now have a yellow cast to them with really taking out my whites. At first I thought it was my file of an art piece but then when I tried printing a photo that I printed before the difference was still there using two different programs.

I'm sure a bunch of us have had an issue be it minor or something way off a time or two before so thanks for any and all input & help!
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
Not really a lot of info to work with....

Have you calibrated your screen lately? If not, perhaps it's time.
Have you changed inks lately? Bad batch?
Do you have a clogged ink head? Have you printed a test page?
Have you updated the drivers lately?
Have you upgraded the OS lately? Perhaps to Lion?
Are you remembering to turn off colour management in the printer?
Have you changed papers lately?

The Adobe site, among others, have some good tutorials on digital workflows, and colour management strategies.

One last set of questions...

You said you reprinted a known good file and got bad colours.
1) Did you print the file "as is" this time, or did you make some on-screen adjustments just before printing?
2) Did you get the same results on both printers?

The answers to those two questions may help to narrow down the guilty culprit..
 

Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
For other info, I'm running OS 10.6.8 I have also not installed the printing software that Canon gives with it's printers (easy print) because I would just prefer to use Aperture, PS, AI or Flash. I haven't tried printing from Painter as of yet. I don't even bother with iPhoto.

Have you calibrated your screen lately? If not, perhaps it's time.
Not for some time because I've been focused on printing grayscale stuff, so it needs to be done for sure.
Have you changed inks lately? Bad batch?
No they are fresh in the 9000MKII, new batch in the iP6600 and I tried printing from my girls MB and she gets great results, she is using the software program that Canon supplies with the printer where I'm not.
Do you have a clogged ink head? Have you printed a test page?
no clogs and two test pages seemed fine but your later question maybe the reason…
Have you updated the drivers lately? Have you upgraded the OS lately? Perhaps to Lion?
Drivers, Yes, from Canon and no to using Lion. I didn't want what happened now to be because of installing Lion which seems moot now ;)
Are you remembering to turn off colour management in the printer?
Have you changed papers lately?
Turned off the color management…no I didn't, I totally forgot, sigh :eek: I was taught a long time ago about the paper(s) to which I will cut a full sheet say of 13x19 Photo Rag Paper into smaller sizes to test with so I don't waste ink but also helps so I can fine tune with the paper I plan on printing to in the end.
You said you reprinted a known good file and got bad colours.
1) Did you print the file "as is" this time, or did you make some on-screen adjustments just before printing?
2) Did you get the same results on both printers?
For 1) I printed just the way I did the last time, from the file after I saved my adjustments. I really use a few photo's to test the colors with to see if anything crops up like it did.
For 2) Yes, so that is what makes me think I'm missing something or did/didn't click something like I should have. Also as of late I have only printed in grayscale because I've been printing on Bristol Board for my outlines for painting with Gouache so color hasn't been on my top of the list until this past week so it's my own fault for not keeping up on color control.

I'm going to try a few things today and also visit Adobe and see what I can find and where I'm going wrong.

Thanks for the response and help, greatly appreciated!
 

carlgo

macrumors 68000
Dec 29, 2006
1,806
17
Monterey CA
The industry is so very far behind in making printing easy. It is the geekiest and least understood thing most people do with their computers.
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
The industry is so very far behind in making printing easy. It is the geekiest and least understood thing most people do with their computers.

Yes!!!!! Printing is the one thing that causes me more frustration than anything else.

@Artful Dodger Check your paper profile, and also your "Quality & Media" setting - or whatever it's called for your setup. But basically, there is a paper profile that tells Photoshop (or whatever) how to lay down the spray pattern to get the intended results. And then, at least in my case, there is also a setting in the printer settings - separate from the profile - where I tell the printer about the paper. Whether it's matte or glossy, thin or thick, etc.

Also - you mentioned you had updated the Canon drivers. Noodle over to the Canon forums (if they have one) or to a printing forum, and do a search to see if there are other's having the same issue with these drivers. Perhaps your culprit is there. If there are issues, then it's just a matter of waiting for updated drivers.
 

Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Thanks for all the help with this. All I ended up doing was deleting the old drivers and reinstalling the new ones and with a few tweaks everything is good again. I can only assume that the old and new drivers had an issue some where some how :rolleyes:

A bit of a red tint but that was an easy fix. I also checked out the other updates and I was missing one, added that and everything is still good to go so I'm happy again.

I was using the Canon paper but I also have downloaded icc profiles from ilford for future paper color needs. Glad there isn't more to tell but I hope this may help in the future to others. Yeah printing issues are always the least liked trouble and man do they make life suck at times.
 

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
Thanks for all the help with this. All I ended up doing was deleting the old drivers and reinstalling the new ones and with a few tweaks everything is good again. I can only assume that the old and new drivers had an issue some where some how :rolleyes:

A bit of a red tint but that was an easy fix. I also checked out the other updates and I was missing one, added that and everything is still good to go so I'm happy again.

I was using the Canon paper but I also have downloaded icc profiles from ilford for future paper color needs. Glad there isn't more to tell but I hope this may help in the future to others. Yeah printing issues are always the least liked trouble and man do they make life suck at times.

What old drivers were you talking about?
 

Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
I was using the drivers off the install cd, then when I updated from the Canon site it gave me two sets so I'm not sure if there was some error with the download and install or what happened but after deleting the first set and reinstalling the latest driver download I had more options for my settings for the 9000MKII and my prints were almost where they once were as far as color.

There were three or four updates total but after each one I tested the printer to see which might have caused issues. I have the list of stuff below and as you can see some of the dates are long overdue for an update like the color management and icc profiles (2009/2010).

The only thing I'm not sure about is installing the software program on my 9000MKII since I use other programs to print with however if it gives more options of paper and size choice I just might.

My only disappointment doing all this was finding out that Canon has discontinued their Museum Etching 13x19 paper :( I really liked using that and the front feed to print my outlines which was fantastic for what I create. They still have it in the 8.5x11 and then there is the Photo Rag, it's not the same and I can't "just make do" so I'm going to look around for another brand and hope it works as good or better.

Here is the list of their drivers and stuff…
 

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Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Have you applied the profiles of the papers you are using?

My question for this is some people on the net say you have to place them in your printer folder to work and others say they will just appear on your list when you need to select them. I'm not sure which it is since the Canon site is really vague about this process as is the manual (online manual as well).
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
My question for this is some people on the net say you have to place them in your printer folder to work and others say they will just appear on your list when you need to select them. I'm not sure which it is since the Canon site is really vague about this process as is the manual (online manual as well).

All the profiles I've downloaded have specified on the paper maker's webpage where to place the profiles. I'm at a different computer, so can't check where I've put them, but ... just check their websites.

What I don't like is that I can't seem to be able to rename the profiles (technically, you can rename the profile - but CS3 seems to use the original name). So, I end up needing to remember what something like HFA3800PBRmk means.
 

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
I was using the drivers off the install cd, then when I updated from the Canon site it gave me two sets so I'm not sure if there was some error with the download and install or what happened but after deleting the first set and reinstalling the latest driver download I had more options for my settings for the 9000MKII and my prints were almost where they once were as far as color.

There were three or four updates total but after each one I tested the printer to see which might have caused issues. I have the list of stuff below and as you can see some of the dates are long overdue for an update like the color management and icc profiles (2009/2010).

The only thing I'm not sure about is installing the software program on my 9000MKII since I use other programs to print with however if it gives more options of paper and size choice I just might.

My only disappointment doing all this was finding out that Canon has discontinued their Museum Etching 13x19 paper :( I really liked using that and the front feed to print my outlines which was fantastic for what I create. They still have it in the 8.5x11 and then there is the Photo Rag, it's not the same and I can't "just make do" so I'm going to look around for another brand and hope it works as good or better.

Here is the list of their drivers and stuff…

I'm going to set up a pixma pro 9500 mark ii soon.

I suppose you recommend not installing from the install CD but downloading the software from Canon...
 

Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
I would see what drivers are listed on Canon's website first but after finding some youtube and other videos of the software that comes with the 9500 & 9000 I now plan on installing the easyprint software and try working with them more. There are some settings and paper profiles that comes with that and may aid in printing. If you get a chance check out the videos about the programs on Canon's site. I'm starting to wonder if something got mixed up the first time around as they have some settings for different light sources and types. Did an old driver not agree with a custom Canon setting? I'm not sure but this week I'll be doing a process of elimination trying it out.

After checking out that model on the site I would install most from the support page. It appears to be on track with the list I posted above as far as dates and whatnot for both software and drivers. No new firmware for either model so that's alright. I will say that the 9000MKII prints much faster and smoother than it did before so something in the reinstall sure helped with the newer drivers.

Keep me updated with that model and the prints you get from it. That looks really nice and if you haven't used a front tray feed before let me know if you need help setting that up. Canon has a poor how-to about setting it up in the manual and online. If you do one step out of sequence it balks at you and makes a few minutes seem like forever ;)
 

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
I would see what drivers are listed on Canon's website first but after finding some youtube and other videos of the software that comes with the 9500 & 9000 I now plan on installing the easyprint software and try working with them more. There are some settings and paper profiles that comes with that and may aid in printing. If you get a chance check out the videos about the programs on Canon's site. I'm starting to wonder if something got mixed up the first time around as they have some settings for different light sources and types. Did an old driver not agree with a custom Canon setting? I'm not sure but this week I'll be doing a process of elimination trying it out.

After checking out that model on the site I would install most from the support page. It appears to be on track with the list I posted above as far as dates and whatnot for both software and drivers. No new firmware for either model so that's alright. I will say that the 9000MKII prints much faster and smoother than it did before so something in the reinstall sure helped with the newer drivers.

Keep me updated with that model and the prints you get from it. That looks really nice and if you haven't used a front tray feed before let me know if you need help setting that up. Canon has a poor how-to about setting it up in the manual and online. If you do one step out of sequence it balks at you and makes a few minutes seem like forever ;)

Canon has a tradition of manuals being about as informative as a haiku.

There is a new printer model about to come out within the next months or maybe weeks.

I'll take a look at the Canon site. I actually never used any Canon software from a disk. DPP I always downloaded from their site.

I think it makes sense. Download centers are just a better way to keep customers' software up to date. Canon should drop the drop-in CD altogether.
 

Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
I agree and it was showing age when I got my printer last year and they included Photoshop Elements 6 :confused: I thought well ok maybe 8 or 9 would have been close but wow, PSE 6…drop the disc and let me download a packet per se and be done with it. They tell you to go to their site and do it any way if one is not sure about the latest drivers and sw updates.
 

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
I agree and it was showing age when I got my printer last year and they included Photoshop Elements 6 :confused: I thought well ok maybe 8 or 9 would have been close but wow, PSE 6…drop the disc and let me download a packet per se and be done with it. They tell you to go to their site and do it any way if one is not sure about the latest drivers and sw updates.

The great thing about having Photoshop Elements is that you can upgrade to Photoshop at a huge discount (approx 50%).
 

AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2008
3,497
13,359
Alaska
This is what I have done (I use CS5): I downloaded Easy PhotoPrint Pro from Canon, and installed it in CS5 as a plugin. When printing a photo, I just look under the "Automate" menu for Easy PhotoPrint Pro, and launch it from there. Next I use the printer to control the print colors, not CS5. I set the paper profile, as needed to match the paper type, and choose the print quality.

Next I click on "Print" and in the print window I set the quality I want, and then print the photo. My printed photos look great.
 

Artful Dodger

macrumors 68020
Original poster
The great thing about having Photoshop Elements is that you can upgrade to Photoshop at a huge discount (approx 50%).

This is what I have done (I use CS5): I downloaded Easy PhotoPrint Pro from Canon, and installed it in CS5 as a plugin. When printing a photo, I just look under the "Automate" menu for Easy PhotoPrint Pro, and launch it from there. Next I use the printer to control the print colors, not CS5. I set the paper profile, as needed to match the paper type, and choose the print quality.

Next I click on "Print" and in the print window I set the quality I want, and then print the photo. My printed photos look great.

I never thought or knew either of these. I have CS4 and I think I will try the plugin method instead of just a stand alone app. Thanks!
 

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
This is what I have done (I use CS5): I downloaded Easy PhotoPrint Pro from Canon, and installed it in CS5 as a plugin. When printing a photo, I just look under the "Automate" menu for Easy PhotoPrint Pro, and launch it from there. Next I use the printer to control the print colors, not CS5. I set the paper profile, as needed to match the paper type, and choose the print quality.

Next I click on "Print" and in the print window I set the quality I want, and then print the photo. My printed photos look great.

Good to know it comes as a plug-in.

Why are you using the printer to control the colors? Is that a new method, replacing the method that disables the printer's color management before printing?
 

AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2008
3,497
13,359
Alaska
Good to know it comes as a plug-in.

Why are you using the printer to control the colors? Is that a new method, replacing the method that disables the printer's color management before printing?

I was wasting a lot of ink when letting CS5 control the color management, so now I let the Pixma 9000Pro manage the colors. It has worked well for me for over a year :) Before I had to try several profiles to see which print looked closer the the image on the display, and it was too much of a hassle. Now what i see on the screen is pretty close to the printed image.
 

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
I was wasting a lot of ink when letting CS5 control the color management, so now I let the Pixma 9000Pro manage the colors. It has worked well for me for over a year :) Before I had to try several profiles to see which print looked closer the the image on the display, and it was too much of a hassle. Now what i see on the screen is pretty close to the printed image.

So you mean softproofing did not work with Photoshop CS5, but with the Canon printer software?

Or, maybe the other way round, the Canon printer software could read the results of the softproofing in Photoshop and get it right, while Photoshop could not handle the printer?
 

AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2008
3,497
13,359
Alaska
So you mean softproofing did not work with Photoshop CS5, but with the Canon printer software?

Or, maybe the other way round, the Canon printer software could read the results of the softproofing in Photoshop and get it right, while Photoshop could not handle the printer?
No. All I am trying to say is that I was wasting too much ink trying to figure the perfect settings in CS5 every time I changed paper profiles. So, I went the easy way, and that was to use Easy PhotoPrint Pro, allowing the printer instead of CS5 to handle color management.

Nothing to lose, just give it a try and see if it works for you.
 
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