Underwhelmed By Pro-100

[opurora]

Hi, not to stir up a hornet's nest but after setting up my Pro-100 I'm disappointed. I've had a Pro9000ii for several years and it prints exactly the way I like with rich, vibrant prints. I get very close to what I see on my monitor. I bought the Pro-100 because it was so cheap with the rebate plus the load of free paper.

The Pro-100's colors seem muted or like there is a white film over the image. The prints lack punch that I'm used to with the 9000ii. The contrast is less as well.

I shoot almost exclusively in color, perhaps the lack of red and green inks in the Pro-100 are the problem? But I've heard other people say they haven't noticed a difference in the missing red and green inks. I haven't altered anything in my workflow from my 9000ii, so I'm confused.

Any suggestions? I'm using the latest drivers from Canon's website (XPS Printer Driver 5.70).

Also, how do you determine what firmware the printer is running? I'm using Windows 7. Thanks.

 

[PeterBJ]

Also, how do you determine what firmware the printer is running? I'm using Windows 7. Thanks.

Some newer Canon printers print something like this under a standard nozzle check from the printer drivers maintenance tab:" V1.00 500-550 pages", where V1.00 is the firmware version and the numbers are the total number of pages printed, updated in intervals of 50 pages.

If the printer does not give this info, then you will have enter service mode and use either one of the service tools or the CD-enabler tool to get the wanted info.

The procedure for entering service mode on the Pro-100 is found here: http://www.smoothprinterservice.com...rvice-mode-canon-pixma-pro1-pro10-and-pro100/ and the procedure is confirmed working: http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...-displayed-ink-levels.8327/page-15#post-66132

You find a description and download links for the service tools here: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/canon-service-tool-v2000.6615/ and for the CD enabler tool here: http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...-tray-e-pixma-pro-9000.8440/page-2#post-66421

If you only want to get info or print the extended nozzle check, I recommend using the CD enabler tool as there is less risk of changing some vital settings than with the service tools. Don't use the region setting in the CD enabler tool.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Hi, not to stir up a hornet's nest but after setting up my Pro-100 I'm disappointed. I've had a Pro9000ii for several years and it prints exactly the way I like with rich, vibrant prints. I get very close to what I see on my monitor. I bought the Pro-100 because it was so cheap with the rebate plus the load of free paper.

The Pro-100's colors seem muted or like there is a white film over the image. The prints lack punch that I'm used to with the 9000ii. The contrast is less as well.

I shoot almost exclusively in color, perhaps the lack of red and green inks in the Pro-100 are the problem? But I've heard other people say they haven't noticed a difference in the missing red and green inks. I haven't altered anything in my workflow from my 9000ii, so I'm confused.

Any suggestions? I'm using the latest drivers from Canon's website (XPS Printer Driver 5.70).

Also, how do you determine what firmware the printer is running? I'm using Windows 7. Thanks.

If you do not know the firmware version it may be because you have not carried out a nozzle check, where the firmware version is listed at the bottom. Always wise to do regular nozzle checks.

I am running what I believe is the latest version V1.100. If you have an earlier firmware version get some opinions before upgrading. There is a school of thought which claims that upgrading allows Canon to make some nefarious adjustments you may not like. Your choice!

As for your colour reproduction problem, I will leave comment to others more able. I am sure Joe the Toolman, our current guru on this beast, will weigh in with some solid advice.

I am pretty sure your problems will be resolved. Over a broad spectrum of colours and papers it is my opinion it exceeds the Pro9000mk11. Your mileage may vary.


RS

 

[opurora]

Hi, thanks for the responses, nozzle check indicates I'm at firmware 1.030. I'll do some further prints and report back...

 

[opurora]

I did more testing and the 9000ii is beating the Pro100 hands down. The Pro100 has an odd warm overtone especially on black and white images. Again, there is like a whitish film over the prints and they are much less contrasty.

Using Canon's Photo Pro Luster paper I printed up the 'Printing Insights #048 Printer Evaluation Image' from the outbackphoto.com site and the 9000ii output looks great. The Pro100 is dull and too warm. I've also been comparing images between the two printers on Canon's matte paper (MP-101) and there is quite a difference between them.

I'm not sure what more to do besides upgrading to a higher firmware. I notice on Canon's USA website they have version 1.2 for download. I'm hesitant to go that high as I intend to refill.

Any more suggestions? Thanks.

 

[PeterBJ]

...The Pro-100's colors seem muted or like there is a white film over the image. The prints lack punch that I'm used to with the 9000ii. The contrast is less as well....

This looks to me like the saturation is set too low in the printer driver or other software. Could you upload scans of test prints from both printers, using the test image from Printing Insights?

Here is how to upload images: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/how-to-upload-pictures-images-to-printerknowledge.8227/

 

[opurora]

Hi, here are the scans.

Pro9000

Pro100

 

[PeterBJ]

When I watch my own downloaded Printing Insights test image on my monitor the grey scale is made up from almost perfect neutral grey, so my monitor is fairly good even if it is not calibrated.

Seen on my monitor the image printed by the Pro 9000 has a strong green cast, while the image printed by the Pro 100 has a less strong red/magenta cast. This red cast is typical of many Canon printers. I think the Pro 100 print is a bit too dark/saturated,

Are the printers set to the media used, and what inks are used, OEM or refill ( brand?) or pre filled third party cartridges. I guess the Pro 100 is using OEM inks, but what about the Pro 9000 mkII?

I like the Pro 100 print best by far, I think the Pro 9000 print is way too green. Maybe some tweaking in the printer driver can correct the errors.

Do the images seen in the browser match the actual prints? Most home use scanners are not quite true to colour, and what happens to the uploaded file when viewed in a browser?

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Joe should be all over this as it seems to be his specialty helping people set up the Pro-100.

I will start with a few comments based on your previous post.

Is you monitor profiled with a hardware device?

Without some standard benchmark it is very hard to suggest adjustment that will help.

On the files you posted the 9000 had a decided green cast, whilst the Pro-100 looked more neutral but slightly warm. That is on my calibrated monitor.

So many steps involved in scanning and reproducing files monitors, color spaces etc. What I am seeing on my screen my be distorted.

IS ANYBODY ELSE SEEING THE 9000 IMAGE AS HAVING A GREEN CAST?

Roy Sletcher

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Nobody will comment?

It looks to me like you might be printing with too much contrast with the Pro 9000. Look at the B/W test strip on the bottom. You should be able to see the little squares embedded in a pure white or pure black background. If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to see almost all of them. Ideally, you should just barely be able to see the 2 and the 254. To me it looks like the Pro 9000 is printing with a bit of extra contrast. Possibly your prints are then set with too low a contrast to compensate. You should check this by directly viewing the prints in the lighting to be used for display.

Also, the balls look excessively green on the Pro 9000, and not at all neutral, although that could be due to (1) viewing light and (2) the monitors I'm using at the moment. The Pro 100 gives what appears to my eye to be a very neutral color, with just a slight hint of pinkish cast in the middle grays on the wedges. I've personally noticed a problem with grays on the Pro 9000 in tungsten light.

RGB look very different. I have been underwhelmed with red on the Pro 9000, but maybe that's me. Is it really red? A good blue? The arch with sky, the trees, and the strawberries look different. Mostly better on the Pro 9000. The faces look sickly green on the Pro 9000. BUT it's hard to know about accuracy without seeing the original prints.


EDIT: Someone did comment. Yep, it's sickly green. Loud and clear.