Need expert help with Canon i960

[Boris Tahmasian]

I have two Canon i960s. One is about two years old which I purchased brand new. The other one I purchased used a few weeks ago and seems to be in good shape.

I have switched to a non-Canon inkset (www.tylermartin.com) and I am haveing a lot of trouble with the printer. I have read some possitive response to the fact that the non-OEM inks work fine.

I am having two problems.

1. My colors are way off and I am searching high and low trying to get a profile that works with this combo - I am using Tylermartin ink and COSTCO (kirkland) Glossy paper

2. Problem two is that one of the printers output on glossy photo paper has a very strong magenta cast. The photos almost look totally magenta and have that cross processed look. Something is seriously wromg here. The irony is that if I print on regular paper other that the flat look the colors look the way they are supposed to.

This is totally baffeling to me. I did follow the steps from the following link:http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inkjetstuff1.html for removing and cleaning the printheads. I blew air into the printhead to clean it. Do I need to soak the printheads in water for a better cleaning.

Do I have nozzles that are blocked or somethig else is going on here? Does anyone have any clue? I am not even bothering with Canon help because I know the first question they are gonna ask is if I am using original Canon inks and paper and the fact that I am not they usually do not bother with the rest of the problem.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Grandad35]

Boris,

There are numerous threads dealing with color problems caused by 3rd party inks. Do a search and settle back for a lot of reading to get the details. The concensus is:
1. There don't seem to be any non-OEM inks, either bulk ink or prefilled carts, that match the OEM color without a printer profile. Each ink supplier seems to have a dfferent formulation that gives different colors.
2. The vendors who supply prefilled carts buy them from China based on price. You cannot rely on them for consistent color, since they change their ink supplier(s) without notice.
3. If you want consistent color, you should buy bulk ink from a distributor who identifies their bulk ink supplier (so that you at least always get the same ink), refill your carts, and buy a custom printer profile for your printer, ink and paper.

There is no "magic bullet" for getting accurate colors. See this link for a more complete discussion on the subject (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3384#p3384).

 

[drc023]

The other thing to consider about an overly magenta cast is the possibility of double profiling if you are using an ICC aware application such as Photoshop or Qimage.

 

[Boris Tahmasian]

Thank you for getting back to me.

Thank you for the tip on the ink supplier consistency.

As far as the double profiling goes... what am I doing wrong?

I am familiar with Photoshop and that is what I am primarily using. But by no means am I a Photoshop guru.

Just trying to learn. Any help will be appreciated.

Boris

 

[drc023]

I wish that I could be more help with the double profiling issue, but other than what I've seen on message boards which can be searched by using Google, that's all I know about the subject. Do a Google search for double profiling and you should get quite a few hits. I believe there are also discussions of that issue here on Nifty-Stuff.

 

[Grandad35]

Boris,

Color corrections (using a "printer profile" that corrects for the color characteristics of a particular printer, ink and paper combination) can be applied in the printer, the printer driver or the software that sends the image to the printer. Normally, the printer driver only allows either the printer or the printer driver to apply color corrections. However, some printing packages are "color aware" (e.g. Photoshop and Qimage) and can also be used to apply a printer profile. so it is possible to apply a profile in the printer/driver and also in the printing software. This "corrects" the color twice, and is known as "double profiling". This is a case where too much of a good thing isn't wonderful (aploogies to Mae West). When the printing package is used to apply a profile, color management must be turned off in the driver to prevent double profiling.

If you are serious about color management, start with this link and plan on a lengthy learning curve (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1972#p1972).

Here is a good document about setting up a Canon printer for a color managed workflow (http://homepage.mac.com/renard/ls/Canon_ICC_Profile_Guide.pdf).

This thread discusses using profiles with Canon printers (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=625#p625).