How to determine paper type and profile to use?

[André]

Since recently buying a printer, the papers I bought are all staples brand from their photo supreme line of papers. I know PC has an icc profile for the matte paper, I am not able to find profiles anywhere for their high gloss and satin papers and staples does not offer any recommendations on what settings to use for the printer driver or what profiles to use. I even tried writing to their support. Does anyone have any guidance on how to find the "right" combinations of driver and profiles to get the best results for the paper types? There are just so many options in both the drivers for paper type and existing profiles for other papers.

Note I know I could get custom profiles or make my own with the right hardware, but I'm more wondering how to get the best results with what exists already.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Are you using genuine ink cartridges ? You probably bought the paper in question for cost reasons vs. the original Canon papers .? You have some options in your case - you go and try various settings with test images , compare them and pick those settings which you like most. In case you don't have a matching icc-profile - matching to the ink and paper in combination - you rather may use the extended color settings in the driver and adjust those such that you get a printout which you consider the best, and you use those settings from thereon. Or you look for 3rd party papers for which the supplier makes matching icc-profiles available, premium brand paper suppliers typically make profiles available for their papers and popular printers with genuine inks. Or you plan to use refill inks in the future, as well for cost reasons, and get papers and inks from a supplier which provides as well matching icc-profiles - for their inks and papers. Or you look for a 3rd party ink supplier with icc support - some offer even a free profile made for your paper if you buy inks from them, you can continue to use the Staples paper in this case, with a matching profile. Or it could be that this Staples paper is so popular that somebody else already went through his own testing and can provide you with exactly the correct settings or a profile.

 

[André]

Are you using genuine ink cartridges ? You probably bought the paper in question for cost reasons vs. the original Canon papers .? You have some options in your case - you go and try various settings with test images , compare them and pick those settings which you like most. In case you don't have a matching icc-profile - matching to the ink and paper in combination - you rather may use the extended color settings in the driver and adjust those such that you get a printout which you consider the best, and you use those settings from thereon. Or you look for 3rd party papers for which the supplier makes matching icc-profiles available, premium brand paper suppliers typically make profiles available for their papers and popular printers with genuine inks. Or you plan to use refill inks in the future, as well for cost reasons, and get papers and inks from a supplier which provides as well matching icc-profiles - for their inks and papers. Or you look for a 3rd party ink supplier with icc support - some offer even a free profile made for your paper if you buy inks from them, you can continue to use the Staples paper in this case, with a matching profile. Or it could be that this Staples paper is so popular that somebody else already went through his own testing and can provide you with exactly the correct settings or a profile.

Thanks for the response. Yes, these are original Canon carts that I modified (with the exception of the yellow which was replaced by a CLI-8). I've read good reviews about the paper and the price isn't that far off of Canon paper but got them when they came on sale. We don't get the crazy deals on Canon paper in Canada like in the States.

Looks like I just need to spend more time testing out with settings.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

you have quite some range to adjust colors, brightness and contrast via the driver to get to a good result. You should check your settings with test prints at daylight, and use as well a B/W image or a grayscale ramp, that will show you quite easily whether the grays have a tint or stay neutral across the range. But please be aware that this only applies to the current setup of hardware and driver settings. If you change your monitor you'll most likely find that it suddenly looks different on the monitor.