Help with Canon color output

[dvdit]

My first post here. First of all, I would like to say thank you to all who contribute to this forum. I was having a problem with a bad case of a clogged printhead and using the wealth of information found here I was able to resolve it using the windex soak solution. Now, I am hoping that there is a solution to other problem I am having with my two Canon printers, ip5200 and ip4700. The issue I am having is on both printers, using OEM Canon ink ( I have also used G&G ink) and OEM Canon glossy photo paper, no matter what profile I chose under printing preferences, when printing photos everyone comes out like they have a sun burn. So I did a test print and the result I got is as follows:

1. Cyan comes out more like blue
2. Magenta comes out more like red
3. in the black greyscale patterns, instead of grey all the patterns have a hint of brownish color tint to them. I am having a very difficult time to get grey to come out as grey. They come out more as dark brown.

The only time I can get what appears to me as accurate color, and get a perfect black greyscale is when I print on a plain paper using the photo glossy paper plus setting under printing preferences. Is there any thing I can do it correct this problem. I just went through an a set of new cartridges, trying all the available profiles and none helped. Thank you all.

 

[Grandad35]

A few questions:
1. Are the nozzle checks perfectly clean? If there are missing bands, the colors will be shifted.
2. What test print(s) are you using?
3. What software package are you using to print?
4. Is your monitor calibrated?
4a. Does your printing software support soft-proofing? If so, have you compared the soft proof with the print (assuming that your monitor is calibrated)?


It is unusual for two printers using OEM ink and paper to have a significant color problem if the settings are correct.

 

[dvdit]

A few questions:
1. Are the nozzle checks perfectly clean? If there are missing bands, the colors will be shifted.
2. What test print(s) are you using?
3. What software package are you using to print?
4. Is your monitor calibrated?
4a. Does your printing software support soft-proofing? If so, have you compared the soft proof with the print (assuming that your monitor is calibrated)?


It is unusual for two printers using OEM ink and paper to have a significant color problem if the settings are correct.

1. All nozzel check perfectly clean. No missing band. I had a clogging problem with the ip5200 but I have since got rid of it. The ip4700 works perfectly.
2. I am using jetink printer test Image provided by Meta Watch and another verbis-toneridotcom. I am unable to post a link but google will provide the test page.
3. I am using Canon own printing software and windows wizard for photo and I use mspaint and undercoverXP for printing covers.
4. Monitor is not calibrated.

Yes, I agree that the both printer have the same problem but more so on the ip5200. What's is most unusual is that all the ramps on the Black Greyscale have a pronounced brownish tint to them rather than being grey. I am thinking this is a color profile problem and if I can get the correct profile, I am be able to have a solution. If the problem lies is not related to profiles, why would I get the correct colors when printing on plain paper with photo glossy paper profile ? I am a newbie so be gentle with your questions.

 

[msmart]

What program are you using to print your photos?

 

[dvdit]

What program are you using to print your photos?

I am using Canon own printing software and windows wizard for photo and I use mspaint and undercoverXP for printing covers. I don't print professional quality photos but nonetheless color issues should not be present whether I print photo or not. The color deviation are present even when I print web pages. I wonder what profiles canon users are using when printing photos and as default.

 

[Grandad35]

I couldn't locate your test image, but the important thing is that the test image was generated by a professional.

Canon's printing software ignores lots of settings in the driver, but defaults to their own profiles for the specified printer and paper. This software normally does a decent job of getting the right color, but it is rather limited in how much you can do with it.

The standard MS software isn't really color aware, but if everything in the driver is set to "Auto", the driver will normally select the correct Canon profile (installed when you loaded the printer software supplied with the printer).

On MS machines, the "printer profiles" are normally loaded into the "CWindows\System32\spool\drivers\color" folder. Do you see some files that look like "CNB5pEAA.ICM"? Google each file name (without the ".ICM") and you can find which printer(s) each profile is designed for. Do you have the appropriate profiles for your printers on your system?

Another possibility is that some hidden setting has been changed in your drivers. You can try removing the drivers and reinstalling them, but this has a low probability of being the problem since it happened on 2 printers (and drivers).

If too much ink is applied to a "slow drying" paper, it will tend to puddle and form a muddy brown color. However, this would only occur with a heavy ink laydown, not on the lighter grays. Do the lighter grays also exhibit the brown color?

Getting the colors right isn't simple, but using the default settings and OEM ink/paper will normally get you close. Did these printers ever print the correct colors? If so, when did the colors go off and what else changed at that time?

 

[PeterBJ]

There is a 24 hour quarantine period before new members can post links and upload pictures, so tomorrow you will be able to upload a scan of a printout of a greyscale. You find instructions here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36&p=1

Canon printers and Canon OEM inks are good, but they are not perfect. You often see a magenta cast in greyscale with Canon OEM inks, but you normally only notice it when printing B/W photos.

Could you inadvertently have changed some settings in the printer properties? If for instance you have checked the Vivid Photo option in Canon Easy Photo Print colors will be exaggerated.

 

[dvdit]

I couldn't locate your test image, but the important thing is that the test image was generated by a professional.

Canon's printing software ignores lots of settings in the driver, but defaults to their own profiles for the specified printer and paper. This software normally does a decent job of getting the right color, but it is rather limited in how much you can do with it.

The standard MS software isn't really color aware, but if everything in the driver is set to "Auto", the driver will normally select the correct Canon profile (installed when you loaded the printer software supplied with the printer).

On MS machines, the "printer profiles" are normally loaded into the "CWindows\System32\spool\drivers\color" folder. Do you see some files that look like "CNB5pEAA.ICM"? Google each file name (without the ".ICM") and you can find which printer(s) each profile is designed for. Do you have the appropriate profiles for your printers on your system?

Another possibility is that some hidden setting has been changed in your drivers. You can try removing the drivers and reinstalling them, but this has a low probability of being the problem since it happened on 2 printers (and drivers).

If too much ink is applied to a "slow drying" paper, it will tend to puddle and form a muddy brown color. However, this would only occur with a heavy ink laydown, not on the lighter grays. Do the lighter grays also exhibit the brown color?

Getting the colors right isn't simple, but using the default settings and OEM ink/paper will normally get you close. Did these printers ever print the correct colors? If so, when did the colors go off and what else changed at that time?

Thanks for the detailed reply. I have installed and uninstalled the driver to no avail. In addition to what is installed by the Canon software, I have added many profiles that I can find on the net and added those too. I then set color management to auto and i chose the paper I am using under printing preferences and let windows or Canon, whoever is doing the job, to choose the correct profile for the kind of paper I specify. I am not trying to get dead accurate colors at all but to have colors way off like that and have a brownish greyscale ramp all the way from 100 % to 10% is just bad.

 

[dvdit]

Here is a link to the test page. http://www.metawatch.ca/c200448.2.html

 

[dvdit]

There is a 24 hour quarantine period before new members can post links and upload pictures, so tomorrow you will be able to upload a scan of a printout of a greyscale. You find instructions here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36&p=1

Canon printers and Canon OEM inks are good, but they are not perfect. You often see a magenta cast in greyscale with Canon OEM inks, but you normally only notice it when printing B/W photos.

Could you inadvertently have changed some settings in the printer properties? If for instance you have checked the Vivid Photo option in Canon Easy Photo Print colors will be exaggerated.

It is possible I may have changed some settings in the printer properties but if I did I wouldn't know what it is. Since I am having the problem when I print the page form the link above, the problem exists when printing everything not only photos.