Calibrating my monitor so WISIWIG, ICCs and other joys

Paul Mohney

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I have my first grownup printer a pixma pro 9000.
So far I just love it.
Being new to this I don't know, half of what I need to know about how this thing works,what it can do, and how i can make it do them.
I would like to take on the first item on my on my quest for figuring out what the heck I'm doing.
I've seen a few sites that advertise, their test images being what I need to calibrate my monitor, and print like Davinci painted
So, probably ii is covered somewhere in the 300 pages of previous posts, and I haven't fallen over it.
If some kind soul would point me the right direction,in the FAQ's I would be grateful
I do most of my printing from a 5year old Dell Alienware, and I get amazingly good print quality.
I listen to Jose Rodriguez you tube chats, and I understand that an ICC is a driver for a particular printing situation. OK so how does it relate making test sheets., or vice versa. Again pointing me in he right direction, would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Paul in SoCal betwenDowntown Disney and Downtown L.A.
 

The Hat

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I have my first grownup printer a pixma pro 9000.
Welcome Paul, now for the bad news, you just can’t pick up colour management by looking at a few videos and calibrating your monitor and then expecting everything to click into place, it doesn’t work like that unfortunately.
OK so how does it relate making test sheets., or vice versa. Again pointing me in he right direction, would be much appreciated.
You need to walk and learn the basics first, and when you get consistent results then you’re ready to move onto the next level, the slower you go the more you’ll learn, and trying to take bigger steps first can only lead you into a cul-de-sac.

You can start by simply using one of the many test prints that are on the photo websites, and I’m sure some of the experts here will guide you directly to a site with such an image.
If some kind soul would point me the right direction,in the FAQ's
I don’t know of many FAQ’s on the subject, but here’s the most recent thread on photo print issues, it might help you off to a positive start. https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/canon-pro-100-printing-too-dark.12585/
 

stratman

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Welcome to the forum, Paul. The Pro 9000 is a beloved printer by many.

Moderator @The Hat 's tip to start with the basics and let it soak in before upping your game is wise advice from a man who is a professional printer by trade. If you have a new printer then leave the settings at default except for Paper Type, which you should match the type of paper you feed he printer.

In general, the results of printing is a partnership between the printer model and its software drivers, the ink used, and the paper used. Change any of these variables and results will change. The ICC printer profile is the software driver that has been made to match a specific printer, a specific ink set, and a specific paper to maximize results. If you are using Canon OEM inks then you might have best results with Canon brand photo papers using the installed Canon ICC profiles. Changing either the brand of paper or manufacturer of ink oftentimes results in less than satisfactory results. If you are using Canon OEM inks then use a Canon Photo Paper when printing a calibration image so that you do not introduce potential error.

Here is an interesting offer recently posted on the forum. Not only can you download of a calibration image to print out but also they will allegedly send you a printed image so you can visually compare.

Monitor calibration probably is best done by a device designed to do just that, such as a colorimeter like the Colormunki or the i1 Display Pro, or, better yet, a true spectrophotometer. There are various tutorials in how to "eye-ball" calibrate your monitor on the internet. If you want to remove as much potential error in the printing process then calibrate your monitor with a proper device. In the end, though, it is your satisfaction with your prints that matter, not if or how your monitor was calibrated.

Try your printer at default setting first and get to know her. By all means try various brands and types of papers, some of which may provide a custom ICC printer profile like Red River Papers,and appreciate the results.

This is not a sprint. It is a marathon, a potentially expensive marathon. ;)
 

Artur5

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The Pro9000 is a very nice printer, with the added advantage of having a service manual freely available. Not only that, entering service mode is a breeze. From there you can reset the waste inkpad counter when it reaches full and your printer won’t stop working, as it happens unfortunately with newer models..

On the gloomy side, Canon has decided recently to discontinue manufacturing printheads for the Pro9000 series. Probably a number of new units are still available from retailers but they will go soon.
My advice: care for this printhead as if it were your own eyes. Don’t let the printer sit idle for weeks. Print something every couple of days. Perform nozzle checks on a regular basis, If you see something wrong with any of the colors, stop printing at once and run one or two cleaning cycles until the fault is fixed.
if the printhead failed you’d be forced to fetch a refurbished unit from East Asia. A very risky gamble. In these conditions, it would be better to discard the Pro9000 and buy a new Pro100, which you can buy for very little money in the USA.
 
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PeterBJ

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@Paul Mohney The Canon Pixma Pro9000 and Canon Pixma Pro9000 MkII are different models and different procedures are needed for service mode operations. For the MkII model a special service tool software is needed. See this post. I think the old model service manual can be used for the MkII model except for service mode operations. The link to the old model service manual is still active. I tried a new search, but found no free downloads for the MkII model, so if you want the manual, you will have to buy a commercial download, like this.
 

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Bit off topic but..

I sell my soul for a service manual of the Canon Pro10s and a service tool that actually works on this printer.
Not holding my breath. In fact, I assume that what I ask for is nonexistent, so my soul is safe for the time being..:rolleyes:
 

The Hat

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I sell my soul for a service manual of the Canon Pro10s
Correct, no Service Manuals are available for almost every Pro printer in the Canon range, and getting into Service Mode has also been lock down too, basically you’re on your own and will have to send your printer in for service when you fill the waste pads...

Tip: to save on even more waste ink going to the waste pads, please remember to change all your cartridges when one is showing low, this has a 90% saving...
 

Artur5

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You’re right, of course. It was only wishful thinking. Miracles don’t happen in this Printerland of us.

I’m not totally convinced that the Pro10s does a global purge of all ten colors when you change a single cart. Giving that it has two separate purging pads for 5 colors each, it might be possible that the printer only purged a single block at a time. As we don’t have a service manual, there’s no official information on this matter. Nevertheless, better safe than sorry. I’ll replace all the carts when one of them is declared empty.
 

stratman

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Giving that it has two separate purging pads for 5 colors each, it might be possible that the printer only purged a single block at a time.
You might be able to determine new cartridge purge behavior by first flushing the purge pads with some water to whiten them up and then replacing a cartridge to see if both purge pads are darkened to the same extent with purged ink.
 
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