BRAND NEW CANON MP980 PRINTS SCANS WITH PINK CAST--please help

[pward]

Hi
I posted a message about this problem before and received no replies. I am guessing it is because this seems to be a common clog issue but IT IS NOT. I have read all the posts about pink casts and believe me this is not a clog or low ink or any of the usual suspects.

I hope someone might help.

I am on my replacement printer now and have the same results--scans look great on-screen but print with a pink cast. Nozzle check, etc all is fine. Hours spent on the phone with Canon techs resulted in printer replacement--only to face the same issue. Could this be a Vista problem? Does anyone out there have any advice? I have done all the usual -- nozzle checks, changed settings in scanner and printer. These are brand new ink cartridges in a brand new printer. If I make a copy, the copy comes out FINE. It is only with scans that the printout looks pink.

PLEASE HELP!!!!

thanks

 

[Grandad35]

I have zero experience with your printer/scanner, but since no one else has responded, here goes....

Are you using Canon ink? (I suspect that you are).

When you "copy", it appears that the scanner and printer are internally "profiled" (calibrated) so that the colors come out properly, indicating that the printer is working properly and that you don't have a clog or ink feed problem.

When you scan and then print, the data must be first transferred to your computer, then from the computer back to the printer. This provides two opportunities to mess things up - you enter another world where you must "color manage" the scanner and the printer to get correct colors. What software are you using to scan? What software are you using to print? Canon normally provides "profiles" for their printers that can be used to get accurate colors with Canon ink and paper if you have everything set up correctly to enable color management. I have no idea what they provide for the scanner. If you are using any of the "adjustments" available in most scanning packages, you will destroy any calibration that might be built in to the scanner.

The fact that the images look OK on your monitor means nothing unless your monitor is hardware calibrated. When you go to a large electronics store, look at the range of colors that you see on the rows of TVs connected to the same signal. Uncalibrated monitors are like these TVs - you have no idea if what you see matches what you should be seeing.

You might want to read this link as a simple starting point, then follow the links on color management. It's a complex subject and isn't something that you will learn in a short time. Since you are an artist, you will have to learn color management if you will be doing any color manipulation in your computer and printing the results.

 

[pward]

Hi,

Thank you so much for replying. I read those links and checked to see if anything applies to my situation. But I am not using any scanner or printing software other than what came with the printer. There is a preference I can set so that the printer calibrates with each scan; I did that with the canon tech on the phone the other day to no avail. I have scanned with both the calibration on and off. I have scanned with the auto scan, everything at default settings, as well as with various settings changed, all with the same results. Now this new printer, which actually is refurbished as indicated by the sticker on the box, the copies are coming out too green, while the scans print with the same pink hue. Either I am majorly unlucky or there's something even the Canon techs (I have spoken to several), can't figure out. I hope you or someone else reading this can solve this mystery.

Thanks so much again.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Since this printer is still under warranty, I think your best bet is to take it to an authorized Canon service center and show them the problem. Maybe they will fix it or replace it with another printer.

 

[pward]

Hi
Thanks for the advice. When I call Canon in a few days I'll find out where the closest dealer/support is and do that. It would be great if someone with real tech know-how looked at this as I have completely tapped my skills at this point-- I can't imagine it's the printer itself as today I printed a photograph from the camera and it came out great--- it's only with scans of artwork/other pics that things go wrong

Will post if I ever find a solution, tho at this point I'm thinking I might just need to scrap this and start over with another printer

thanks everyone.

 

[Grandad35]

pward,

Download this image. The bottom two stripes are gray gradients, and they should not have a color cast when viewed on your monitor or printed on your printer. Report back on what you see.

Next, get a known gray sample (like a "gray card" available at most photo shops if you don't already have a sample) and scan it as you would your artwork. Post the resulting file for us to look at (use the "upload" feature at the top of this page). We can look at the color values assigned by your scanner to see if it is introducing a color cast. From your latest response, I suspect that the scanner's calibration may be the problem.

 

[pward]

Hi
Thanks so much, I only just saw this response. I printed the test page, and it looks fine. Also looks fine on the monitor. Is there anything i can use for a gray scan instead of going to a photo shop?

Small and possibly meaningless update: the other day I printed one of my scans onto Canon photo paper and it came out lighter, but with NO COLOR CAST. Thinking maybe the use of plain paper was part of the problem, I got high quality inkjet paper. That printout was still pink.

I don't know if I already mentioned that this problem exists mainly with scanning old photos. When I scan color images, there are still some color issues but nothing like this. I always scan the photos in color, in an effort to reproduce the sepia tones and color changes that make an old photo special.

Another question if you could advise: In all this I had the printer replaced by Canon, but it is actually refurbished as indicated on the box. As both printers are operating exactly the same, is it 6-of-1 as to whether I keep the refurbished (currently the one set up)? Or should I go back to the new one I originally had? Just concerned that refurbished means there could be miles on the printer that will shorten its life, but if there's really no difference then I'd rather not go through the whole process of switching the printers again.

Thanks--this forum is really great. I really appreciate your help.

 

[Grandad35]

FYI - these printers are calibrated to produce accurate colors on Canon Photo paper - several types can be selected in the printer driver. Other quality photo papers should be close, but plain paper can result in unpredictable colors. "High quality inkjet paper" is not the same as Photo paper. For my "snapshot" photo printing, I use Costco photo paper - (150) 8.5x11 sheets for about $18 (US).

You now know that the printer is OK and that the problem is probably a color cast from the scanner. Anything that is a neutral gray will work for the scanner test, but how do you know that it doesn't have a color cast unless it has a known color? An art supply shop may have something that is suitable.

You should know that few critical users are satisfied when printing B&W images on a low end color printer, as the light tones are printed using a mixture of C/M/Y inks, not black. For B&W, these people usually prefer something like the Pro9500, which uses these inks, including matte black, photo black and gray inks, with the gray used for the lighter tones instead of a blend of C/M/Y.

When Canon refurbs a printer, they replace the ink absorber pad if the printer has seen significant use, inspects and tests the printer and cleans and lubricates the moving parts. If you return your "new" printer, it will become a refurb for someone else, so many of these units have low use. Others may have an opinion of the refurb/new question, but my guess is that it's really a crap shoot as to which one to keep.

 

[pharmacist]

Grandad35: the MP980 has an extra grey cartridge and should print neutral B/W prints when using the "advanced B/W setting" omitting the colour cartridges and printing solely using photoblack and photogrey. I don't think that would be the problem with this printer, when the settings are properly set...

 

[mikling]

I had suspected that you were attempting to print B&W and this was confirmed in your last post. Obtaining a pink cast when outputting B&W is not unusual.

Most color inkjet printers actually use all colors to print B&W.
Most color inkjet printers actually used CMY even when printing black and white. The exceptions to this are the 8 color Epson printers which have an advanced B&W mode, where three shades of black are used, These being , black, light black and light light black. The first generation to have this mode was the R2400. The R2200 which preceded it, also carried only light black BUT it still used CMY when printing B&W. I am not 100% sure without looking it up, but I believe even the HP B9180 and the Pro 9500 still uses CMY when doing B&W despite carrying grey inks.

If the 980, has an advanced B&W setting, then the prints should be scanned as a B&W and printed in B&W and this would represent the first foray into B&W for the dye ink crowd.

It is possible to output neutral B&W when using color inks. However, it is very difficult to do. The blending of the CMYK needs to be extremely precise to carry this out, and from what I have seen, it is even more difficult when using dye ink as compared to pigment. To date, the only color dye printer that I have seen that does a tolerable job of printing B&W is the old and long retired Epson R200 etc. Even the old i9900 with as wide a gamut and the multitude of color inks, still had problems. Given enough patience and some luck with custom profiles it can be done, but is hardly reliably repeatable on another printer. Again the production varances between printers, inks and papers will see to that and even variances in measurement when profiling can easily throw out the color balance. HP has printers that can print B&W using a Gray cartridge that contains three shades of gray. The issue here is permanence as compared to pigment.

That is the reason why third party suppliers will supply Black and White inksets for printers. Here all inks are replaced with various shades of gray for printing B&W photos. To date only Epson printers appear to be supported and all inks are pigment based. Thus serious B&W photographers gravitate to this brand. There is also accompanying software that allows B&W printing and calibration,

To date, I have not seen any support for Canon printers in the B&W segment. I have experimented with printing B&W using Canon 5 cartridge printers that support CMYK and using 4 shades of gray ink. The results I obtained were very good and offers casual photographers the ability to occasionally output B&W without casts though selecting different papers will vary the degree of coolness and warmth. The problem with using Canon printers is that once gray ink is introduced into the head, and color reintroduced, the gray ink is not completely removed in one head clean. It will take at least two. The reason for this is that the design of the printhead keeps a generouf buffer pool of ink above the nozzles and one head clean will not completely clear the pool in one go. Thus having a second dedicated B&W printer is ideal.

Another issue is that for the photoblack ink, I had to look long and hard to find a formulation that matched the neutral tone of the gray inks. Thus all four colors CMYK had to be replaced. Just replacing the CMY was not sufficient. After this, I was able to obtain neutral grays for B&W. Using the standard photoblack for the CLI-8 I was getting hints of pink cast in my photos. ..Which makes me wonder if this is the similar issue you have? I had to use a different photoblack to match the gray.

Alas, it is not a solution but don't get too bothered about B&W unless you REALLY want to get into it.