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Author Topic: iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?  (Read 5812 times)

TS-500

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« on: December 20, 2006, 04:48:52 am »

I have a problem when printing on matte media. I like to print a dark style portrait in b/w.
There are many dark grey tones on skin and background. My monitor is calibrated with Eye-One 3.
I tried original canon premium matte, matte coated and matte canvas with the correct paper settings at the printer and in the PS plugin. All dark grey tones are pure black and even the lighter tones are way too dark. I tried a glossy paper and all is OK like I see it on my monitor.
What can I do? When I turn the brightness in the printer driver (plugin) to +25 it gets better, but the highlights are then too bright.
Is this normal?
I thought about an online calibrating service. But this is expensive if I have to do this for each paper.
Are there generic profiles for original canon papers?
Are my settings wrong? Is there any information about the provided profiles (came with the driver)? What are the media types special 1 to 5?

Many questions, I know. …

Thanks,
Thomas
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David White

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2006, 10:44:30 am »

It could be several things.  What are the exact settings you are using in the printer driver?  Are you applying a profile or using the monochrome setting in the 16-bit driver?

Another area to look at is you monitor.  What is the luminance value that you set it to when calibrating/profiling?  If it is too bright you prints will come out dark.  I use 112 cd/m2 for my NEC 2190UXi.
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David White

Bill J

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2006, 01:13:01 pm »

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I tried original canon premium matte, matte coated and matte canvas with the correct paper settings at the printer and in the PS plugin. All dark grey tones are pure black and even the lighter tones are way too dark.

If you're using the built-in Canon profiles with the Print Plug-In, it won't work well. I tried using the "Canon iPF5000 Premium Matte Paper Highest" profile to print with the Canon Matte Coated Paper through the Plug-In, and got vitually no shadow detail - blocked up dark tones just like you said. I used ColorVision PrintFix Pro to build a custom profile for use with the Plug-In (600ppi, 16-bit) and got very nice shadow detail, even more than when I used that built-in profile and the print driver.
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dmg

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2006, 05:01:55 pm »

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If you're using the built-in Canon profiles with the Print Plug-In, it won't work well. I tried using the "Canon iPF5000 Premium Matte Paper Highest" profile to print with the Canon Matte Coated Paper through the Plug-In, and got vitually no shadow detail - blocked up dark tones just like you said. I used ColorVision PrintFix Pro to build a custom profile for use with the Plug-In (600ppi, 16-bit) and got very nice shadow detail, even more than when I used that built-in profile and the print driver.
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In the 2 days I have been using the 5000 I have discovered that dark shadows are very dark in fine art matte papers.

I downloaded the bookmark studio Hann. Fine Art Rag profile, and dark shadows are now more subtle. You might want to try this profile on the papers you are using just for the sake of experimentation.


dmg
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Bill J

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2006, 10:39:23 am »

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In the 2 days I have been using the 5000 I have discovered that dark shadows are very dark in fine art matte papers.

I downloaded the bookmark studio Hann. Fine Art Rag profile, and dark shadows are now more subtle. You might want to try this profile on the papers you are using just for the sake of experimentation.
dmg
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=91681\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Yes, those profiles are for use with the Print Plug-In. None of them are for the Canon papers that Thomas was testing with, though.
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dmg

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2006, 06:53:49 pm »

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Yes, those profiles are for use with the Print Plug-In. None of them are for the Canon papers that Thomas was testing with, though.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=91773\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I would still try them. They might give better results than the default Canon profiles.

dmg
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TS-500

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2006, 05:37:21 pm »

At first: thanks for your help.
I decided to buy a ColorVision PrintFix Pro.
But there is one last question.
@Bill J.: Can I print the targets through the PS plugin? What I see on online reviews is that you have to print the targets with the ColorVision application. Are there 16bit adobeRGB files to print from PS and then to calibrate?

Thanks,
Thomas
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Bill J

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2006, 12:41:24 pm »

Quote
At first: thanks for your help.
I decided to buy a ColorVision PrintFix Pro.
But there is one last question.
@Bill J.: Can I print the targets through the PS plugin? What I see on online reviews is that you have to print the targets with the ColorVision application. Are there 16bit adobeRGB files to print from PS and then to calibrate?

Thanks,
Thomas
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=92407\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been out of town.

Yes, at first this stumped me, then I decided to simply find the test image and print it directly. ColorVision never dreamed of a "Print Plug-In", I'm sure.

You can find the test targets in a sub-folder of the ColorVision folder where PrintFix is installed (under Program Files on a PC). I opened it up in Photoshop, upscaled it for 600 ppi, then printed it through the Print Plug-In with Output Profile set to None. The files have no color space assigned, and I left it that way. That's one thing I'm unsure of: should you convert the target to AdobeRGB if that's what your photos will be? Since I don't believe PrintFix Pro assigns a profile if you print the target in PrintFix (using your printer driver), my guess is that you don't covert the target to AdobeRGB first. If anyone knows for sure, I would rather be corrected than remain ignorant.

Bill J
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TS-500

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2006, 04:53:23 pm »

Thanks Bill, ... got my ColorVision PrintFix Pro today. .... the weekend is for testing ... I will post the results ... till then ... Thomas
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TS-500

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iPF5000 too dark with matte paper?
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2006, 06:38:56 pm »

So there is my report: complete success …
Now everything I see on my monitor is printed exactly like that what I see. The version 2 of printfix pro has an additional grey target. And this works excellent. A shame to canon, that they can’t adjust that at such a pro level printer and we have to buy a 600 €  calibrating tool.
 
Thomas

PS: excuse my bad English … I’m from Germany …
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