Today while printing on my iPF6400 I got the message that I should prepare to change my Yellow cartridge, that it was almost empty. I was about to print a 2'x5' print and didn't want to run out of ink in the middle of the print. (I know there is a separate ink reservoir in addition to the cartridge but I don't know how big it us.) I had prepared for this and had a brand new 300ml Y cartridge ready and installed it. I started the print and left the room. When I came back I had a 2' x 5' print with incorrect color - the yellow is weak. Greens that should be slightly yellow-green are not, they are more green or blue-green. I was stunned since I had changed nothing. I looked at my Lightroom history file to confirm that nothing had changed since I last printed the file several days ago. Then I picked another file and printed a small 8x11 version of it and it has the same problem. I called Canon tech support and, after doing a nozzle check and a head clean and confirming that my cartridge is apparently a genuine Canon cartridge, they said they were stumped. I've had this printer for a little over a year. This is the third Y cartridge I've used. I purchased both replacement Y cartridges from IT Supplies and they appear genuine. The cartridge that just expired says to install before 2016-02 and the one I just installed says to install by 2017-08.
I'm in a pickle as I have a collection of print-proofed files I need to print for an upcoming exhibit and have neither the time nor the desire to go through the laborious process of proofing them all over again so they look right with this cartridge.
I have checked to make sure that all my rendering settings, both in LR and in the Canon Printer driver (no color correction there), hadn't somehow gotten changed. I have been printing almost daily for the past two weeks and this happened coincident with the cartridge change. I am printing on Moab Entrada Natural Rag and have confirmed that the printer knows this.
I'm stumped and very concerned. It appears that either the new cartridge, or the previous cartridge that I used to proof my proofs, is out of spec. At this point my only option appears to be to order another Y cartridge and have it express-shipped, then drain the Y tank and install the new cartridge; hoping that the one I just installed is out of spec. I am saving my old cartridge, which is not completely empty, in case it comes to sending it and the new one back to Canon for inspection.
I know it is highly unlikely (isn't it?) that colors would ever differ noticeably between cartridges. I also know that I have only a little over a year experience using LR and this printer.
Am I overlooking something I could have done to cause this? Has anyone ever experienced a color shift after changing cartridges?
