Printing dye inks on canvas, metallic?

[Vorkolor]

I tried some canvas "paper" from Clas Ohlson in my dye printer, using quality aftermarket inks and the printing software that came with the printer. A color print looked terrible, mud-like browns instead of blacks. BW printing looked OK, dark grey instead of deep black but not in a way that ruined the photo.

Can speciality papers such as canvas and metallic only be used with success in pigment printers, or are there also varieties that work well in consumer dye-ink printers? Would the color print looked OK if I had a proper profile for the canvas paper (and a way to apply it to the printing process)?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

papers, all specialty papers should be suitable for inkjet printing, for use with aqeous dye or pigment inks, that's what serious suppliers typically specify for their products, that includes papers with some metallic effect. Print media are as well available for other types of inks like solvent inks, eco-solvent inks or latex inks by HP. A specially made profile will assure correct colors but will not fix your black problem, that is an issue of the ink/paper combination. Profiles can be applied with typical photo editing/printing software with special color mgmt. settings.
What printer/software and inks are you using in this situation ?

 

[PeterBJ]

Could you upload a scan or a cropped scan showing the colour error? maybe the colours can be corrected using this?

I'm p.t. testing a set of refillable PGI-550/CLI-551 cartridges with intelligent ARC chips. I did not want to buy an ink set for these cartridges so I used Image Specialists dye inks for CLI-8 and KMP-U pigment. The inks and cartridges work well but the colours are very different from the CLI-551 colours. It took four or five attempts to correct a very strong blue-green cast. The applied correction was M+40 and Y+30, so it seems even strong colour casts can be corrected.

 

[Vorkolor]

There was no color cast on the canvas print, skin color and bright tones looked fairly correct. It was contrast and dark colors that were out of whack. I don't think I kept the bad image (it was a little while ago), but I can print another this weekend.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

I have printed a fair number of large prints on Canvas. Your results may vary, but my results which are consistent and reproducible are:

1: You mention canvas AND canvas paper by which I assume you mean a paper with a canvas finish. I have printed on both and can categorically state that in both cases a good ICC profile is essential for the exact reason you mention - low DMax and low contrast leading to muddy looking solid areas and three-quarter tones. Generally, the canvas surface will diminish the reproduction of fine detail. With correct subject and careful printmaking, the result can be outstanding.

In my case I printed the paper with a canvas finish using dye inks with good results. I did find a coating increased the black density and brightened the image. - I used Breathing-Color's Timeless Satin.

On the genuine canvas - I printed with pigment ink for the longevity, and again applied a coating - This time using Premier Eco Print Shield - Satin finish. My research indicates this is the same as the Timeless - merely rebadged and cheaper. Results were truly outstanding by my obviously biased opinion. The substrate was Red River Blanco Canvas and Breathing Color Lyve Canvas. Both supply their custom ICC profiles and I could not tell the difference between the two prints. The Red River product was half the price of the Breathing colour, at least when delivered to Canada.

You may find the following information of use. Relates to the effect of coatings on the final image complete with reference data. Mark McCormac is an impeccable source
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59079475
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59079475

2: Your original message also refers to metallic papers. Again the world of advertising muddies the waters, and a large number of differing products could meet the criteria.

My own experience has been pretty extensive with Red River Polar Pearl Metallic. Outstanding results with either Dye or pigment. Slightly better pop and contrast with the dye inks.

Have a few Moab metallic papers to test - but have not got around to them. They are so expensive here in Canada and I am afraid the test may be successful and consequently expensive.

rs