Using an old printer

[raggamuffin]

Hi all,

My Canon Pixma Pro-1 has been in storage for about 4 years. I was going to get some new inks, but I wanted to know if there'll be anything specific I need to do in order to get the printer up and running again?

Also, does anyone have experience with 3rd party inks for this printer? Or is it best to go with the £300+ official set from Canon?

Ed

 

[The Hat]

I was going to get some new inks,

First off, try to insure that the printer can get a good nozzle check first, then you can think about feeding the beast..

There’s no point in wasting good money on the printer if it doesn’t print, and you can use 3rd party inks in this printer no problem, but you will have to profile the new inks to suite your needs.

You can get good bottle ink and aftermarket carts (if you don’t want to refill your own carts) from AliExpress, they also have reset chips available too..

 

[raggamuffin]

I've found the nozzle check for this printer on the Canon site. But surely I'd need to buy new inks in order to do this nozzle check?

I recall a bunch of the 12 ink colours being low before it went into storage. I didn't realise that if you didn't print anything in a few days, it'd do some sort of process/check which literally drank large quantities of ink in the process. Before I knew where I was I needed to drop hundreds on new inks.

As you said though, I don't want to waste money on inks if the printer isn't going to work as it should.

Probably my own fault for impulse purchasing this printer. Especially as it's probably more cost effective to get my prints ready in Photoshop and then getting a 3rd party to print them for me.

Ed

 

[The Hat]

As you said though, I don't want to waste money on inks if the printer isn't going to work as it should.

You now have a dilemma, do you continue or cut your losses, every time a Canon printer has no power to it (Not plugged in) it will always start with a hefty cleaning cycle, but even saying that, the Pro 1 is a very thirsty girl and can use as much ink in cleaning cycles as it can on paper..

You need to print at least once a week or more to keep the thirst down, its nearly cheaper to have another wife, or two school going kids...

P.S. make sure you keep the printer plugged in and turned off when not in use..

 

[Artur5]

The Hat, I wouldn't know about the Pro-1 but, as I mentioned sometimes, my MB5150 sits on a shelf, totally disconnected from the mains outlet. No hefty (or light) cleaning cycles every time I switch it on. Most of the times it starts printing right away. In fact, I'm quite sure that among all Canon printers I ever used, that Maxify is by far the one that performs less automated maintenance routines and /or cleaning cycles.
Instead, my Pro10s always connected by cable to the mains socket, 95% of times I try to print, it starts making lengthy and noisy antics, be it cleaning cycles or whatever.
As you own both machines, you can check by yourself.

 

[The Hat]

As you own both machines, you can check by yourself.

I don’t really need too.. I’m fully aware of what the printers do, and I except any cleaning cycles that are done on my machines as necessary, it’s all part of owning a printer.. But it does drive some guys crazy..

 

[raggamuffin]

Seeing as it's more cost effective to print them via 3rd parties, it feels hard to justify keeping the Pro-1. But I'm not sure if I'd have difficulty selling a printer that's been in storage for 4 years or so.

But can I get images ready to print without doing test prints? I was watching some Youtube videos about Photoshop and obtaining the ICC profile from the printmakers you will be using. That way it should be possible to get your pictures ready that way?

Still new to all this, and it's feeling a little overwhelming.

Ed

 

[The Ninth]

But can I get images ready to print without doing test prints? I was watching some Youtube videos about Photoshop and obtaining the ICC profile from the printmakers you will be using. That way it should be possible to get your pictures ready that way?

I had my printing done in a shop for quite some time before getting my own printer. I‘d say with some experience you can get your images print-ready with soft-proofing. But still, I think printing at home will yield better results. From the shop you might go with an acceptable but not perfect result, simply because of costs, hassle and time it would take to get the print done again. At home you‘ll tweak the image and print it again to get that last bit of perfection.

 

[raggamuffin]

I got the Pro-1 to also be able to scan and print my own limited edition art prints of my pen/pencil pieces too. In fact, I was tempted to revert from A2 back to A3 size as it makes for printing and scanning to be a lot easier to DIY.

I'd imagine being able to edit and test print from home would yield better results in the long run. I feel quite lost when it comes to a lot of the printing and editing language and terminology at the moment, so it feels a little overwhelming taking the early steps.

Ed

 

[The Hat]

I got the Pro-1 to also be able to scan and print my own limited edition art prints of my pen/pencil pieces too. In fact, I was tempted to revert from A2 back to A3 size as it makes for printing and scanning to be a lot easier to DIY.

If you’re new to photo printing then you should have started off with a cheap printer just to get the hangs of things and keep your costs down, the Pro 1 is a professional printer and it take a lot of experience to get the best out of her, but it does produce the very best results every time..

You can learn how to use Photoshop without printing a sheet, it’s a package in its own right, but you must first have your screen calibrated so what you see on screen after editing is what you’ll get when you finally go to print..

Colour management is an awful long road and can’t be just picked up, you’ll either get good at it as you go alone or fail at the very first step by thinking, this is easy, but small steps and patients will get you there, but beware of the know it all’s..