InkJet printing advice

[tedd]

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Hi gang,

I just ordered a Canon PRO300 printer as I'd like to start having physical copies of my images and like to be self-sufficient. I have a question regarding usage and Canon were not very helpful when I emailed them. I realise that this is a "pro" printer and designed to be used daily, though if you turn it off the print heads seal to prevent drying. Canon confirmed as much. My question is - since I won't be printing all day every day, am I better off staggering my printing and making a single 4x6 every day or do half a dozen of a Sunday afternoon and then fully shut down the printer until the next weekend? 

I plan to order Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton Rag 310gsm in 4x6 and A3+ tomorrow. 

Thanks!

[Stuart Richardson]

If you print every week, that is likely not going to be long enough to leave you with many problems, but staggering your printing is probably better if it is all the same. You would not need to do it every day. Maybe just twice a week. Generally in the modern printers with good capping, you don't see nozzle problems until it has been a few weeks. You might have some nozzles out, but it can be cleared in a quick cleaning. I have never really left my printers more than a couple of weeks at a time, however, and I do not recommend it.

One important factor is humidity (for both the paper and the ink). If you live in a drier climate, or a climate with winter (where you have internal heating), it is a good idea to keep a humidifier in the room, especially one with a control that allows it to keep the room at a constant level. If you keep the humidity between 40-60%, you are going to have a lot fewer problems with clogs from drying out nozzles. Additionally, the paper will tend to sit flatter. When it gets very dry, it curls, which means more headstrikes and loading problems.

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[Stuart Richardson]

Also make sure you print both matte and glossy every once in awhile, at least if you want to retain the possibility in the future. If you never use that color, that is not good. Nozzle checks are your friend in this way, as they will use every nozzle in every channel, so they are not a bad idea to do every printing session anyway. Better than doing a print, in most cases, as a print might not use every ink, depending on what it is of.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Stuart Richardson

[tedd]

Just what I wanted to hear, thanks. I'll stagger the printing but keep it semi-regular. Am I best to turn the printer off between use or just leave it on stand-by? 

Humidity is all good - I have a few nice guitars in my office so I like to keep it between 45-55% at all times anyway. 

Great tip on the glossy too. My plan was only to print matte, but perhaps I'll discover that glossy has a place. Do I need to buy some gloss paper for this or can I just tell the printer it is glossy and burn some cheap paper to keep it happy? Is a nozzle check a print or just a routine that the printer does?

Thanks again!

[Stuart Richardson]

You need not buy glossy paper, just tell the printer it is a photo black ink (not sure if Canon has a different term...I use Epson). A nozzle check is usually a printed out pattern that you can tell the printer to make. It prints a test pattern that uses all the print nozzles.

As for leaving it on...this depends on the printer. I think some Epsons will cycle their head every once in awhile if left on, in order to keep them from drying out. I do not do this, and I keep the printer off unless I am working with it that day.

[zeitz]

I have had a Canon Pro1000 for about 4 years.  The 1000 (17")and 300 (13") are pigment ink printers.  Canon pigment inks are not prone to clogging.  I have left the printer off for as many as 10 days multiple times and I have not experience clogging.  Note:  you cannot leave the printer on.  It automatically shuts itself off after a set period of inactivity which is about 4 hours.

There are some frustrations with Canon printers.  I found it hard to install on a Mac, but with persistence in the System Preferences/Printers and Scanners I got it to work.  Hopefully Canon software is improved.

I can't get the Print Studio Pro plug-in to work with the latest versions of Photoshop.  So my printing process is:  finalized the work in Photoshop, save the file in .psd format, Edit/Convert to Profile . . . (select the profile for your paper), and save the file in .tif format.  Then open the .tif file in the Canon Professional Print & Layout app.  You will get to Print Studio Pro after the layout page.  When you select Print Studio settings, use print without a profile because you have already applied the profile in the .tif file.

If you print from Photoshop print drivers, you have to set the printer, the Photoshop print driver and the Canon print driver to the same settings even if you are not using one of these.  Also the glossy paper profile for pigment ink printers is Photo Paper Plus Glossy IIA, not Photo Paper Plus Glossy II.  I had to find and install the correct profile myself.

And . . . make sure you are in Adobe RGB.  If you print with a sRGB file, the colors will not be correct.

The final frustration is that a lot of ink goes into the maintenance cartridge and is thus wasted.

The reward for the frustrations is great prints.

[Stuart Richardson]

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2 hours ago, zeitz said:

The final frustration is that a lot of ink goes into the maintenance cartridge and is thus wasted.

 

I run a printing service and the biggest misery I have is when I compare the weight of a used maintenance tank and a new one, and realize that I am throwing out over a kg of DRY ink...not even the weight of the water...just pigment. So the equivalent of hundreds of dollars of ink. Not to mention the maintenance tank itself could easily be reusable, but they are engineered to be disposable, which is both a cynical cash grab and a terrible environmental decision. It is literally just a plastic box with a sponge in it and a microchip that tells the printer that you can't use it anymore after a certain number of cleanings, whether it is full or not. The whole industry is either adjacent to a scam or an outright scam. But the results are very hard to argue with...both Epson and Canon printers can make exceptionally lovely prints. But they will take you to the cleaners while doing so...the lower volume and smaller machine you use, the poorer the value. But it is a trade off that many photographers are happy to make to produce their own prints.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Stuart Richardson

[milesstone]

You don't really need to buy flashing paper, just tell the printer it's a low ink photograph. A spout looks at is typically a printed plan that you can urge the printer to make. It prints a test plan that utilizes all the print spouts. Concerning leaving it on...this relies on the printer.I guess some Epsons spin their heads once for a while every time they are left on to keep them from drying out. I don't do this, and I hold the printer off aside back from accepting I am working with it that day.

[Jeff S]

On 5/17/2022 at 5:18 PM, Stuart Richardson said:

I run a printing service and the biggest misery I have is when I compare the weight of a used maintenance tank and a new one, and realize that I am throwing out over a kg of DRY ink...not even the weight of the water...just pigment. So the equivalent of hundreds of dollars of ink. Not to mention the maintenance tank itself could easily be reusable, but they are engineered to be disposable, which is both a cynical cash grab and a terrible environmental decision. It is literally just a plastic box with a sponge in it and a microchip that tells the printer that you can't use it anymore after a certain number of cleanings, whether it is full or not. The whole industry is either adjacent to a scam or an outright scam. But the results are very hard to argue with...both Epson and Canon printers can make exceptionally lovely prints. But they will take you to the cleaners while doing so...the lower volume and smaller machine you use, the poorer the value. But it is a trade off that many photographers are happy to make to produce their own prints.

Well, it seems the Pro300 has no replaceable maintenance tank, so the OP needn’t get stressed weighing or replacing it.

The 14.4ml ink cartridges would not be economic for higher volume printing (my Epson P800 inks are 80ml).  Also the 300 needs Canon inks as the chips can’t be reset for third party refills.  But not a big deal for occasional light home use, which is the apparent intent for this model.  

Jeff

[250swb]

On 5/17/2022 at 12:22 PM, tedd said:

Hi gang,

I just ordered a Canon PRO300 printer as I'd like to start having physical copies of my images and like to be self-sufficient. I have a question regarding usage and Canon were not very helpful when I emailed them. I realise that this is a "pro" printer and designed to be used daily, though if you turn it off the print heads seal to prevent drying. Canon confirmed as much. My question is - since I won't be printing all day every day, am I better off staggering my printing and making a single 4x6 every day or do half a dozen of a Sunday afternoon and then fully shut down the printer until the next weekend? 

I plan to order Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton Rag 310gsm in 4x6 and A3+ tomorrow. 

Thanks!

After many years of using Epson printers I switched to Canon because my Epson's kept clogging up and requireing either an official maintenance visit or regular head cleaning. I don't print everyday, or even every week, but my Canon just fires up and  works each time. I also find the ink management better with my Canon Pro10, and I haven't yet found a situation when the prints are inferior for B&W or colour compared to my Epson's. So while there may be a recommendation for keeping everything working all I can say is that sitting next to a radiator my Canon shrugs it off. For example my printer has never needed a head cleaning session, so the lack of a maintenance  tank possibly shows Canon's confidence in their product.

Edited May 23, 2022 by 250swb

[Jeff S]

On 5/23/2022 at 1:50 PM, 250swb said:

After many years of using Epson printers I switched to Canon because my Epson's kept clogging up and requireing either an official maintenance visit or regular head cleaning. I don't print everyday, or even every week, but my Canon just fires up and  works each time. I also find the ink management better with my Canon Pro10, and I haven't yet found a situation when the prints are inferior for B&W or colour compared to my Epson's. So while there may be a recommendation for keeping everything working all I can say is that sitting next to a radiator my Canon shrugs it off. For example my printer has never needed a head cleaning session, so the lack of a maintenance  tank possibly shows Canon's confidence in their product.

Your Canon runs a mandatory cleaning cycle after passing 60 hours, upon first print thereafter, whether you make one print in that time frame or 100 prints in that time frame.  Better to use the inks to make prints than cleaning cycles.  Unlike Epson printers, which ‘cold fire’, Canon has thermal print heads that require regular cleanings, not based on clogs.  You can’t turn them off.  Epsons are different, and can clog if idle too long, requiring one or more cleanings.

Both are fine machines these days (the Epson 4900 was a dud, but none since).  One just needs to adjust print habits accordingly.  I rarely have had clogs in my Epson 3800 or P800, running a test print at least once every few weeks if idle. But I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Canon either, now that ImagePrint works with both.
 

Jeff

Edited May 28, 2022 by Jeff S

[Jeff S]

On 5/23/2022 at 1:50 PM, 250swb said:

For example my printer has never needed a head cleaning session…

Yes it has, like all Canon pigment printers (see above).  The machine runs them…regularly… whether or not you like it or know it.  Longer idle times generate deeper cleanings, using more ink.  Different tech, and different operating philosophy and requirements, than Epson.

Jeff

[250swb]

15 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Yes it has, like all Canon pigment printers (see above).  The machine runs them…regularly… whether or not you like it or know it.  Longer idle times generate deeper cleanings, using more ink.  Different tech, and different operating philosophy and requirements, than Epson.

Jeff

So that's why it doesn't clog like an Epson, brilliant! Thank you for telling me twice. 😆

Edited May 29, 2022 by 250swb

[Jeff S]

Epsons don’t clog either with quick cleanings, or a print now and then.  Just different approaches.  Thanks for responding once. Again, different approaches. 😉

Jeff

[Jeff S]

Btw, both Canon and Epson store wasted inks from cleanings inside the machine.  The difference is that these can be removed by the user on the Epsons.  Not having a removable maintenance tank doesn’t mean that Canon doesn’t expect wasted inks. Nor do they expect clog-free machines, which is one reason why the Canon prints heads are user replaceable.  

Again just different tech and approaches.  But both are fine, generally reliable, options with recent generation machines. 

Jeff