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Author Topic: Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL  (Read 14271 times)

neil snape

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2010, 04:12:18 am »

Are the x300 printer printing true black inks only for BW or is it composite as Epson are?

I can understand that with a rip that can control the black channels you could print on Epson in K only but the ABW still has some composite. HP in that regard is pretty good although I really think it's best to use ICC profiles with the HP Z, so some composite can be in the mix depending on profiles.
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iCanvas

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2010, 09:04:45 am »

I just recently bought an Epson 9900 and am very pleased with the results. I am also impressed with the new Canon printers. I would like to know from anyone who prints on canvas with the new Canon's how the Canon canvas might compare with Epson's. I use the Epson Premium Satin canvas and have gotten very good results from this. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Gar
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Scott Martin

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2010, 12:22:32 pm »

Quote from: neil snape
Are the x300 printer printing true black inks only for BW or is it composite as Epson are? I can understand that with a rip that can control the black channels you could print on Epson in K only but the ABW still has some composite.
Canon's "Monochrome Photos" mode is just like Epson's ABW mode. It prioritizes the black and gray inks and uses a super low amount of color inks - just enough for toning purposes (with hue control in the driver).

Of note is Bowhaus' "True Black and White" RIP software.  For "no-compromise black and white work" it's absolutely fantastic and far superior to QTR.

http://www.trueblackandwhite.com/
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Scott Martin
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neil snape

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #23 on: May 02, 2010, 12:26:53 pm »

Quote from: Onsight
Canon's "Monochrome Photos" mode is just like Epson's ABW mode. It prioritizes the black and gray inks and uses a super low amount of color inks - just enough for toning purposes (with hue control in the driver).

Of note is Bowhaus' "True Black and White" RIP software.  For "no-compromise black and white work" it's absolutely fantastic and far superior to QTR.

http://www.trueblackandwhite.com/


Nice, reasonably priced, and a working demo. I like the fact you can read in a lin chart directly.

Now just have to get a x300.
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JeffKohn

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #24 on: May 02, 2010, 01:06:39 pm »

Quote
Of note is Bowhaus' "True Black and White" RIP software. For "no-compromise black and white work" it's absolutely fantastic and far superior to QTR.

http://www.trueblackandwhite.com/
Looks interesting, too bad it's Mac-only and doesn't support the x300's yet (according to the documentation on that page, at least).

I find the Canon's monochrome mode to be good, with better linearity and DMax than printing with RGB profiles.  I use QuadtoneRIP and my Eye1Pro to create profiles for the monochrome mode. The toning controls make it pretty easy to get the warm-tone prints I like for most of my B/W work, and from what I've seen the toning controls don't have any effect on density/linearity, so I can use a single QTR profile and vary the toning if I want (understanding that the soft-proof only shows the toning of the original profile settings, of course).

If you prefer a dead-neutral print and you're using 3rd party papers, you might be better off with a custom profile for the RGB printing pipeline, because using the simple x/y-axis controls in monochrome mode it might be difficult to get a truly neutral result on papers that don't quite match up with the Canon media types. It might work well with some papers, but not so well with others. For instance on Photo Rag Baryta, the "Neutral" setting in the monochrome driver produces prints with the 'a' channel in the -.2 to -.4 range, with the 'b' channel in the 1.5-2.5 range. The result doesn't look particularly neutral. I could probably improve on that with some iterative tweaking, but since I usually prefer warmer tones it's not something I have pursued. If I want a neutral print I'll just use my RGB profile.
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Jeff Kohn
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Scott Martin

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #25 on: May 03, 2010, 02:14:35 pm »

Quote from: JeffKohn
Looks interesting, too bad it's Mac-only and doesn't support the x300's yet (according to the documentation on that page, at least).
Bowhaus tells me the x300 printers are supported in the current version and their website should be updated shortly. It's sweet software and a delight for the demanding B&W printmaker.
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deanwork

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #26 on: May 03, 2010, 06:00:11 pm »

Bauhaus really is a nice well thought out software and has been for a long time. These guys are master printmakers too which makes me like them even more. I saw an exhibition they did a few years ago of the great jazz photographs of Herman Leonard from 4x5 drum scans, with an earlier version of that software and a custom MIS monochrome inkset on Crane Silver Rag. It was just beautiful. Even then, like 5 years ago, everyone thought they were 30x40 silver prints. I wish they supported my HPZ series  :-( .

It doesn't seem to be available for newer Epson models either?

They must be working closely with Canon on this. If so, then Canon is the smartest most innovative printer company out there now. I will definitely take a close look at them for my next printer. They are getting all their ducks in a row with speed, gamut, polymer encapsulation and better gloss rendition on the fiber gloss media. Good for Canon.

john



Quote from: Onsight
Bowhaus tells me the x300 printers are supported in the current version and their website should be updated shortly. It's sweet software and a delight for the demanding B&W printmaker.
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neil snape

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Review of New X300 Canon Printers on LL
« Reply #27 on: May 04, 2010, 02:26:43 am »

I don't mind at all that there is a specific RIP for Canon. They have always been jaded by support. HP were on the underdog side but have enough pull and money to make things work with the companies usually geared toward Epson. HP of course always was and still is huge in the CAD market where all the others trail.

Since I love Qimage so much for what it does, and the studio version is 100$ , 200$ for this just for Canon and runs on Mac is a fair deal.

If it stays a plus exclusively for Canon that may be a unique option. Canon need the chance to get their products into mainstream. Their marketing isn't as strong as it should be.
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