Canon i9950/9900 Printing Issues

[OzRay]

I've had a Canon i9950 (same as i9900 in the US) for at least seven years and never had an issue with printing. Today I tried to do some printing with it and just kept getting a very strong magenta cast throughout. I tried printing through Qimage, CS4, Lightroom with the same JPG and it was always the same, but when I tried using my other printers such as my Brother laser, with each application, the colours were spot on.

I haven't done any changes to the printer drivers, as far as I know, but I'm not sure if the last prints done was when I had Vista on my PC or after I updated to Win 7. To be sure, I downloaded the Win 7 drivers, unistalled the printer etc and did a reinstall. So with a clean install, I'm still getting the same problem, a very heavy Magenta cast. I've checked that only the photo software manages colour and that printer colour management isn't active, but nothing seems to solve the problem.

I'm at my wits end now, as nothing about this makes any sense whatsoever. The natural thought was conflicting colour management, but I'm sure that I've eliminated that. I just have no ideas as to what I should now look at, so I was wondering whether anyone else has experienced something similar?

Cheers

Ray

 

[Boyzo]

Ray did you run a nozzle check.

I uses canon Pixma 5 ink printers and always run a nozzle check when printing is off colourwise.

The grid and the colour bands will indicate ink strength.

I have found despite claimed long life by canon the heads get tired and invidual colors a ie particular group of jets can get tired and output can be weak in a particular colour and so upset colour balance.

 

[OzRay]

I've done a clean and something like at least 20 prints of the same shot, after looking at and changing a number of settings. Replaced one cart as well that became empty. It's just a consistent, very high magenta cast that I can't figure out how to remove. I've also used differrent papers and/or paper settings and it's the same every time. I just can't believe it.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Boyzo]

I've done a clean and something like at least 20 prints of the same shot, after looking at and changing a number of settings. Replaced one cart as well that became empty. It's just a consistent, very high magenta cast that I can't figure out how to remove. I've also used differrent papers and/or paper settings and it's the same every time. I just can't believe it.

Cheers

Ray

When I had a print colour cast problem the Nozzle pattern looked Ok and text b&w and colour was fine BUT photos were bad the jets could not deliver the heavy demand for large sweeps of colour ie the jets were tired and weak but text ok.
A new head and all was well.

 

[OzRay]

OK, I haven't done a full head clean and the print head is at least/over seven years old, so that could be an issue, so will now do a full clean and see what happens.

Cheers

Ray

 

[OzRay]

OK, just did a full deep clean and print head test and both came out OK. The odd thing is, the print test wasn't showing the magenta cast, but the prints are still full on magenta, so somewhere between the print programs and the printer, something is going astray.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Boyzo]

Generally the printer driver defaults results in a decent print on Photo paper and only slight tuning is needed for the particular paper used.

So with the new driver everything should be fine with the default colour management.

Try printing in windows using just windows and not CS5 or other.

Also try printing some CYMK intense colour bands on bond paper to see if full bleed printing is ok, jets could still be tired after 7 years

Its a great printer one of the best had my eye on one but the A4 5 ink PIXMA's are really very good with 1 pl drop size ... amazing stuff from canon

 

[OzRay]

Just tried that and there's no improvement. The jets are printing fine, but I just can't get rid of the colour cast. I e-mailed Mike Chaney, Qimage creator, to see if his knowledge of printing may pick up something that I've missed. Maybe it's just time for a new printer.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Boyzo]

Just tried that and there's no improvement. The jets are printing fine, but I just can't get rid of the colour cast. I e-mailed Mike Chaney, Qimage creator, to see if his knowledge of printing may pick up something that I've missed. Maybe it's just time for a new printer.

Cheers

Ray

Ok new printer may be the way because the heads are very expensive and 7 years on new models are often improved.

If you get a new one be interested in what you get
canon / epson / HP are the top players myself prefer canon

Cheers

 

[OzRay]

I have my eye on the Canon Pixma Pro9500 MkII (pigment) or Pro9000 MkII (dye), not sure which would be best, but thinking about the 9500, as it would complement my IPF5000 and would mean just getting one type of paper (Ilford Smooth Pearl). I've been really happy with the Canon printers and don't want to change. Though the other option is to make greater use of the IPF5000 sheet feeding capability and do away with the roll paper altogether. Might first see how that option works.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Boyzo]

I have my eye on the Canon Pixma Pro9500 MkII (pigment) or Pro9000 MkII (dye), not sure which would be best, but thinking about the 9500, as it would complement my IPF5000 and would mean just getting one type of paper (Ilford Smooth Pearl). I've been really happy with the Canon printers and don't want to change. Though the other option is to make greater use of the IPF5000 sheet feeding capability and do away with the roll paper altogether. Might first see how that option works.

Cheers

Ray

Cool Ray
I like Dye but pigment has advantages and presumably fine for the Ilford Pearl.

btw I imported 2 Pixma heads (5 ink) online from USA far cheaper than Canon Aus. the price can be so high here that a new printer is probably more sense.

Cheers
The heads here

 

[OzRay]

Cool Ray
I like Dye but pigment has advantages and presumably fine for the Ilford Pearl.

The new Canon dyes have a very long life, but the prints do need to be looked after, as they aren't as durable as pigment ink prints. It's kind of swings and roundabouts nowadays when it comes to choice of ink.

btw I imported 2 Pixma heads (5 ink) online from USA far cheaper than Canon Aus. the price can be so high here that a new printer is probably more sense.

Cheers
The heads here

Yes, I've been looking for inks elsewhere, as the prices can be quite stupid here. The cheapest i9950 inks I've found are about $15 each compared to about $25 retail. I haven't yet found a really cheap source for the IPF5000 inks, but that said, volume wise, they come out much cheaper than the smaller carts.

I've just ordered some A4 and A3+ sheet paper (Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl) and I'm going to disconnect the roll paper and see whether it's better using A4 sheets from the bottom tray and A3+ (and larger) from the top feeder than using the smaller printer. I perhaps should have been trying this out earlier, but I liked the roll feed system and, changing from roll to sheet and back again was a right pain.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Boyzo]

"Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl"

Not used this paper at all, I do like pearl I use either Canon or Kodak, ant reason particular reason for liking Ilford (I did use Ilford paper in Film days)

You could get an canon electronic print head overseas as I did for my pixma a4 5ink printers, this may solve your old printer magenta cast, way cheaper than canon Aus (mine were $50 ea) for your A3 canon probably more like $150 but you need to be sure its the heads (the constant heat and pulsing on the nozzles after time weakens there output you can also get minute dry ink buildup in the fine nozzles over time)

For sure the new canon will be great I don't like Epson despite the piezo head which is good they tend to be ink wasters constantly cleaning the nozzles as for Hp well used them in the past but canon are just too good mechanically

The new Canon dyes have a very long life, but the prints do need to be looked after, as they aren't as durable as pigment ink prints. It's kind of swings and roundabouts nowadays when it comes to choice of ink.



Yes, I've been looking for inks elsewhere, as the prices can be quite stupid here. The cheapest i9950 inks I've found are about $15 each compared to about $25 retail. I haven't yet found a really cheap source for the IPF5000 inks, but that said, volume wise, they come out much cheaper than the smaller carts.

I've just ordered some A4 and A3+ sheet paper (Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl) and I'm going to disconnect the roll paper and see whether it's better using A4 sheets from the bottom tray and A3+ (and larger) from the top feeder than using the smaller printer. I perhaps should have been trying this out earlier, but I liked the roll feed system and, changing from roll to sheet and back again was a right pain.

Cheers

Ray

 

[OzRay]

Mike Chaney sent a reply and I tried things out, but still no joy. I then loaded the printer drivers etc onto a noterbook that had never had the i9950 installed before and still the same problems. It looks like the print head is gone and I don't know if I want to go to the hassle of finding a replacement, only to then find it's not the problem. Will see how the larger printer goes and then decide.

I've been using Ilford paper for a long time, pretty much since I got the i9950. The Classic Pearl paper is for dye inks and the Smooth Pearl for pigment inks. The pearl paper has a really nice look, much smoother than matt paper, but enough texture to allow quite good viewing angles. It prints nicely in colour and B&W. It's also well priced compared a lot of papers and comes in a very wide range of sizes. And since I've profiled the paper, I don't really want to go through the hassles of same with other papers, though I have been toying with trying out some cotton paper.

Cheers

Ray

 

[photoSmart42]

I have my eye on the Canon Pixma Pro9500 MkII (pigment) or Pro9000 MkII (dye), not sure which would be best, but thinking about the 9500, as it would complement my IPF5000 and would mean just getting one type of paper (Ilford Smooth Pearl). I've been really happy with the Canon printers and don't want to change. Though the other option is to make greater use of the IPF5000 sheet feeding capability and do away with the roll paper altogether. Might first see how that option works.

Cheers

Ray

Just picked up a Pro9000 MkII the other day for $180 brand new. Bunch of those on the market because of the Canon rebate where people get the printer basically for free, so they sell it on eBay for cheap. I know the 9500 does a better job on B&W prints because of the 3 inks instead of just 1, and it's archival ink, but for that price I couldn't pass up the 9000.

 

[OzRay]

The new Pixma printers are reportedly outstanding, much better than the i9950 range, and the new dye inks are virtually archival. I don't particularly care for Canon cameras, but their printers I've found to be excellent.

Cheers

Ray