Canon Pro-100 Printing Too Dark

NattyM · Jul 9, 2018

Ink stained Fingers said:
Your headline says - Prints too dark - you may just google for that and would find several references like these all referring to monitor settings

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/why-are-my-prints-too-dark/
https://imagescience.com.au/knowledge/why-your-prints-are-too-dark
https://www.shutterbug.com/content/are-your-prints-too-dark-cause-and-cure

and more with the same advice changing/reducing you brightness settings

You rather may follow a reverse approach adjusting your monitor such that it matches reference prints as far as possible, or you go for calibrating your monitor with one of the tools available on the market - ColorMunki etc (reference print with the profile option on on Canon paper , or another (glossy) paper you have an icm-profile for )

I totally have googled but I get what you're saying. I just ordered a monitor (Huion GT-191) that I am going to calibrate using Colormunki. The thing is, I know the printer isn't giving me the right results because the skin tones and strawberries in the one test sheet I did (which is the one Jtoolman uses in his youtube videos) don't look correct. So whatever my screen is showing me is probably too bright or saturated but the colors are still off. But you are definitely correct, I DO need to calibrate the screen as it is equally important to do so. For now, I used the Windows Color Management program on my Surface Book and hopefully that helps a little, too. I am going to request that calibration hardcopy from Marrutt right now, thank you so much for that!

The Hat · Jul 9, 2018

@NattyM, to start with, if you review your setting in your Profile, in there you can mark the setting that will enable you to get notification when someone replies to your posts. Hence the “ @ “ before your used Name..

NattyM said:
It's inconvenient and slow, but it totally makes sense!

Actually, it’s not slower, especially if you’re a quick learner, because colour management is not for the faint hearted, and I should know because I don’t go anywhere near it, I use my own self-taught system...
There are many experts here who can guide you through lots of the usual colour management problems, but you must first ask the right questions...

NattyM · Jul 9, 2018

@TheHat
The settings you posted worked without needing to adjust anything else. Literally perfection! The wood grain is exactly the color it should be and the fall leaves are light orange instead of almost brown and the red is deeper than what I thought the printer could even do. I am so excited! Thank you so, so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate your help.

NattyM · Jul 9, 2018

I am usually a quick learner and am usually relatively good at googling and researching but with color management I feel like everything starts in the middle instead of at the beginning and the concept is SO in depth. Also, the paper, inks, etc are all so expensive that experimentation quickly starts to add up quickly (not like when I started designing or photography, where you can make a lot of mistakes but can easily just delete and start again). Also, I'm a little lazy so if I don't understand something the first couple tries, I get easily frustrated haha. But I have a whole stack of sample papers from Red River, I have picked out the two I am going to order and the rest are purely for fun, so I'm excited to experiment with them!

Thanks again, everyone, for all your help, it is much appreciated!! SO excited right now!

The Hat · Jul 9, 2018

@NattyM, when testing your prints, there’s no need to use a full sheet of paper, try cropping or reducing your image to a smaller size to fit more of them onto one single sheet, its called been a cheapskate...

bhill · Jul 11, 2018

NEVER let the printer manage colors...disable that in the driver settings and let the ICC profile for the paper in the App you are using manage color. I suspect the printer AND the app are causing issues..
Calibrate monitor
Download and install the paper profiles
disable color management in the printer driver
do a test print

I use Lightroom with proofing enabled AND the Red River profile for the paper I am currently using works really well. You can try the Canon Print Studio Pro app/module, as it DOES allow you to adjust the brightness/contrast and see the changes before printing, but it can be a challenge to get the scaling/sizing correct for the given paper in use.

I think you will see a WORLD of improvement once your monitor is calibrated.

Red River makes some great papers, but the matte polar papers can be a bit muddy until you get every thing dialed in.

Robert Lemlin · Jul 11, 2018

I had the same issue. I use Precision Colors inks and their profiles for Canon and other papers. I never got around to profiling.

I added a bit of lightening in the Color/Intensity section and had to teak some colors a tad by eye but now prints are spot on.

If wear lightly yellow tinted eyeglass lenses (for computer monitor viewing) you'll need figure out a way to view without them, they do affect perceived color.

The Hat · Jul 11, 2018

bhill said:
NEVER let the printer manage colors...disable that in the driver settings

@bhill, its obviously you didn’t read NattyM post properly, because that’s exactly how she first started out, and nothing was working properly for her till she came here for advice.

It’s easy to say do this, or do that, when you have some knowledge of colour management, but learners need to start somewhere, and the beginning is the best place to get good results straight away, and this then helps them grow with confidence over time.

My monitors were never calibrated, they did that automatically and incidentally, I can print any colour I need with the assistance of printer colour management and I only use Canon profiles that came with the printers...

Spittinimages · Jul 11, 2018

bhill said:
NEVER let the printer manage colors...disable that in the driver settings and let the ICC profile for the paper in the App you are using manage color. I suspect the printer AND the app are causing issues..
Calibrate monitor
Download and install the paper profiles
disable color management in the printer driver
do a test print

I use Lightroom with proofing enabled AND the Red River profile for the paper I am currently using works really well. You can try the Canon Print Studio Pro app/module, as it DOES allow you to adjust the brightness/contrast and see the changes before printing, but it can be a challenge to get the scaling/sizing correct for the given paper in use.

I think you will see a WORLD of improvement once your monitor is calibrated.

Red River makes some great papers, but the matte polar papers can be a bit muddy until you get every thing dialed in.

I agree. When your app and the printer fight their battle, you're prints are the losers. They will produce a dark version of your images. Happened to me. I like the idea of starting with Canon Print Studio Pro and tweaking the brightness/contrast. You'll get the hang of the scaling/sizing. Bet you'll begin to like the results.

stratman · Jul 11, 2018

The Hat said:
My monitors were never calibrated, they did that automatically and incidentally, I can print any colour I need with the assistance of printer colour management and I only use Canon profiles that came with the printers...

If you could sing you would be the Frank Sinatra of Ireland. :thumbsup

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