Cannon Pro9500 images darker than monitor

[CanadianRocky]

I have a Cannon Pro9500 and the images are quite a bit darker when printed than they are on the monitor. In both Black and White and in colour.

I have checked the monitor and it is calibrated correctly. It is a Dell driven by an ATI Radeon HD 2400 video card.

I am using Hi Gloss Photo Paper

When I print in Black and White I am using

• Photoshop manages colour - Gray Gamma 2.2 (others seem to make it darker still)

In colour I am using

• Photoshop manages colour - ProPhoto RGB

Colour Management in the Printer Properties is set

• Automatic. - Under manual there are several different profiles.

It doesn't make a difference at what the printer is set for Quality - standard, high or Custom

Under printer profile in Photoshop I see Nine possible 9500 Profiles. Plus a couple of dozen others.

It is a huge waste of ink to try them all, if there is a quicker solution.

Thanks,

Rocky

[hotrod4x5]

I have an epson printer and I always let the printer manage colors when printing. Hard to tell from your post if you let the printer try, if not give that a try.

[CanadianRocky]

Originally Posted by hotrod4x5

I have an epson printer and I always let the printer manage colors when printing. Hard to tell from your post if you let the printer try, if not give that a try.

I did try it once, but I will again.

Thanks.

[Not4wood]

Originally Posted by CanadianRocky

I have a Cannon Pro9500 and the images are quite a bit darker when printed than they are on the monitor. In both Black and White and in colour.


Under printer profile in Photoshop I see Nine possible 9500 Profiles. Plus a couple of dozen others.

It is a huge waste of ink to try them all, if there is a quicker solution.

Thanks,

Rocky

I think those 9500 Printer Profiles are for your ICC Paper listings. You have to choose one of these that will match what paper your using.

You also mentioned that your Monitor is Calibrated but you had said you checked?? Did you Calibrate it yourself or are you relying on the store bought Monitor and you didn't do anything yourself to change these settings?

[kewk]

I have the same exact printer and I have all my settings for the printer to manage everything possible. Also, Lightroom 2 is light years ahead of photoshop for printing. If you do not have it I would highly suggest getting it and printing using that.

[CanadianRocky]

Originally Posted by kewk

I have the same exact printer and I have all my settings for the printer to manage everything possible. Also, Lightroom 2 is light years ahead of photoshop for printing. If you do not have it I would highly suggest getting it and printing using that.

I downloaded Lightroom. It is a great product and I will use it. I did print some images and I do see a change but I am going to have to do some testing.

Thanks.

[CanadianRocky]

Originally Posted by Not4wood

I think those 9500 Printer Profiles are for your ICC Paper listings. You have to choose one of these that will match what paper your using.

You also mentioned that your Monitor is Calibrated but you had said you checked?? Did you Calibrate it yourself or are you relying on the store bought Monitor and you didn't do anything yourself to change these settings?

I used QuickGamma and set it the way they suggested. I did not use a colorimeter, but I will probably get one pretty quick to make sure it is set right.

One thing I did change was the temperature of the monitor. But, it just made my images brighter on the screen.

Thanks.

[Not4wood]

Originally Posted by CanadianRocky

I used QuickGamma and set it the way they suggested. I did not use a colorimeter, but I will probably get one pretty quick to make sure it is set right.

One thing I did change was the temperature of the monitor. But, it just made my images brighter on the screen.

Thanks.

The one thing you have to understand about this whole Editing thing is:
You do remember the term WYSIWYG right?
Well, now that you are using programs that are capable of Advanced Color Management you are now above the level and outside the scope of What you see etc etc.
Welcome to the next Level!!

Using Profiles, and I mean Profiles for the Monitor, Printer, Paper and if I can get it done I also need to calibrate my camera to the ACR. I think it would make my life a bit easier but its not bad now.

Thanks for the "K".

[CanadianRocky]

Original image was reworked in PhotoShop to get the image lighter. The original shows up as quite nice on the monitor, but is mostly dark from the printer.

All four where printed using Lightroom set at 240 ppi, print sharpening - standard, media type - Glossy. Colour Management - Managed by printer.

No other changes except for the B&W.

The top two where printed using Automatic in the Colour Management tab in the Cannon Pro9500 series Properties in the Printers and fax's control panel.

The bottom right was using Manual with the driver set to Adobe RGB 1998 driver.

The bottom left was using Manual with ProPhoto driver.

There is a bit more difference in real life, but this is pretty close to the prints.

[iconoclast]

Gah!

You need to read up on color management...!
Here's a thread i started not long ago and there's lots of suggestions for resources.

Color management was created so that you can have 'what you see is what you get'. WYSIWYG is the 'next level'

As has already been stated all those profiles that came with your print driver are for corresponding papers name brand papers and name brand inks. You can't go out and buy staples glossy photo paper and expect things to go smoothly when using that glossy icc profile that came with your printer. However one way to save money while getting things sorted out is to buy 4x6 paper; I've tested 3 canceled print jobs on a single sheet with a little help of my trusty xacto.

Those visual calibrating programs don't really cut it when you're printing. They're fine for average users surfing the web and want to see colors a little closer to the way they were meant to be seen.

Which also brings up another consideration not explicitly mentioned thus far; the color space. A dirty rule of thumb is.... sRGB is for images intended for viewing on the web/computer and Adobe RGB images intended for printing.

I have an epson printer but I believe its basically the same procedure....

1. monitor is calibrated with an external device (like an eye one display 2) on a ~3 wk basis
2. printer is using its name brand inks and paper; or 3rd party printer-ink-paper combination which has been profiled; or a 3rd party paper that has has profiles profiles for your printer and its name brand inks
3. software is configured with your monitor profile
4. software is configured to proof and print with the icc profile for your printer-ink-paper combination
5. when printing all color management is handled by the software. in your printer driver make sure you set color management to icm/icc, and no adjustment

I hope all that makes sense...! haha

[CanadianRocky]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

Gah!

You need to read up on color management...

....I hope all that makes sense...! haha

Yes it does.

And thanks, this and the other suggestions from above are exactly what I need to get going on this.

I am going to get Cannon paper and a colorimeter and go from there.

[riha]

Do not forget that an monitor emits light, while paper reflects light. That means that either you might have your monitor to brightly callibrated, or you are viewing your prints under bad lightning.
An advice that works most of the time is to look at the prints nearby an window as the natural sun light is an good bright source with quite good white-balance to check your prints in.

Also, you need to decide what white point you wish to have in your callibration. I use 5000k (reason is that that is the defacto standard for repros and printing plants and they are our customers) which gives a little bit more reddish look. Most home users and photographers like to use 6500k, but i think that gives me to much blue, specially as most of my prints are used indoors under artificiall light (also an reason for using 5000k).

[CanadianRocky]

I just finished some printing and here is the result.

I got Canon paper, both matte and high gloss. When I went to the Canon website I found which paper is recommended specifically for my 9500 but could only find one of those at the local Staples store.

I printed from Photoshop and set it to Printer manages colors and Relative Colorimetric.

In printing preferences it is set to

Print Quality - High

Color - Manual - ICM

Input profile - Standard

Brightness - light.

I tested some black and white on 4 x 6 in paper, then printed to 8.5 x 11. I also did it with color.

This is the best result I have had so far.

I am going to order some paper from Canon that is specific for the 9500 and print at the same settings to see the differences.

Next is to get the calibrator and get the monitor where it needs to be, but this will require another thread which I will start up in Image Editing and Color Management.

[iconoclast]

Hey, I'm glad you're getting pleasing results.

I don't know the specifics of the Canon printer driver so I did a quick search and found an old pdf from canon with directions on how to properly use icc profiles and some printer driver settings. it was published back in 2003 and apparently hasn't been updated since. But people say it still comes in handy.

[photoshooter49]

there is an acticle in this months shuttlebug magazine.
the article talking about the same subject.

[Not4wood]

Glad its all working out for you.

I have one question that hasn't been addressed. Why are you letting the Printer manage colors?

Everything I've always heard, especially since Light Room has come on the scene and has been commented on time and time again that it is a better way to get better prints. Is that you LET Photoshop, other programs that are Advanced Color Management or probably Light Room manage the colors.

[photoshooter49]

I dont let my printer manage my color. I let photoshop manage it. I was adding a coment of what I read in shutterbug magizine.

[trapman]

Are you using Vista, or XP Pro OS?

[photoshooter49]

I use XP

[SRead]

Are you using a preview before printing? Also I used an eye-one display.2 on my 38"LCD TV. Works great.(needs to have the right specs.) Aloha, Steve