Canon printer problems

[Muffin]

I use a Canon i9950 A3 printer fuelled by genuine Canon inks (even though they are incredibly expensive)! I also use Canon Pro paper and a Canon 40D or 7D camera. I seem to have been canonised!

The only thing I have that is not Canon is the monitor. I have the NEC LCD 2690WUXi2 and it would seem to be very good but I cannot get the image on the monitor to appear out of the printer. The printed image seems to lose its 'vibrancy' and be a shade darker than the monitor image.

I have tried everything to deal with this problem but to no avail. However much work I put into creating the print on screen (using Canon DPP and CS2) the prints I get from the printer are not as good. I am reluctant to print an A3 which is flawed given the price of the inks and the paper!

I am not very computerate but I have loaded profiles etc etc. Anyone have any idea what I could be doing wrong? I shall be most grateful for any help!

[GlennH]

I don't know what you're doing wrong but there are several possible things to look at. Print darkness is often caused by a monitor with too high a luminance level.

Not sure what you mean by vibrancy, but prints have a far lower contrast ratio than monitors - so a precise match in screen-print appearance is only likely if you soft-proof with the 'simulate' settings ticked in PS.

You might also look at your printer profile - if it's a canned/generic profile it may be less accurate than having a custom-profile produced for your printer output.

You need good monitor and printer profiles to achieve a precise match. Prints should also ideally be evaluated in suitable light.

[Roy5051]

My first thought is, what profile are you using for your files? Many DSLRs default to sRGB, which is fine for showing pictures on the web, but prints need Adobe RGB to bring out the colours when printing.

In Photoshop, check the profile in Colour Settings (Edit>Colour Settings) and make sure the Working Space is set to Adobe RGB (1998). When opening files into Photoshop, make sure that they have the same profile. Photoshop can do this for you by you ticking the Profile Mismatches Ask When Opening box, found in the same Colour Settings window.

The other thing to check is that your monitor has the correct profile. The best way of doing this is to use monitor profiling kit, like ColorMunki, Pantone Huey or Spyder, though reasonable results may be had by using Adobe Gamma.

Try things one at a time, and look at the results.

[Muffin]

Glenn and Roy - my thanks for your advice. I should have said that I calibrate the monitor with a Spyder3Elite.

How do I adjust the luminance on the monitor? Sounds a good idea.

I have done what you said about Adobe RGB etc!

[Roy5051]

I would have thought that if your monitor is calibrated, that would include the luminance. I must admit to not really understanding luminance, but there seems quite a good explanation at www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/histograms2.htm that may help you.

[john_g]

Until I saw the effect of soft-proofing, I didn't think it would significantly change the way my photos looked, but I was wrong. What it does is present your images on the screen as they will appear when printed, imitating your particular printer/paper combination. I was shown how, by switching soft-proofing on, the saturation and brightness of the pictures change significantly. The good news is that you can then adjust them back to something that matches your expectations. From what you describe, I suspect this may well resolve your difficulties.

[Roy5051]

To look at how to set up soft-proof go to:-

www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/soft-proofing.shtml

Alternatively, Go to View>Proof Set Up and pick Working CYMK

[Muffin]

More thanks! I have always known that CS2 is incredibly complicated and now I am even more convinced.

John - I had never heard of 'soft proofing' but I am convinced that it may be the way forward for me once I get it sorted!

I am sure I have the kit to get decent pix and it is just a matter of learning how to do it. Some of the explanations I have read are very convoluted and clearly written by experts for other experts to pick over. I will persevere and I will report back. It may help other people in the same boat as myself.

I also use Canon lenses and it may be of interest to some folk to know what I did with my none IS 70-200mm lens. I sold it for £290 and bought the IS version! It really is quite a different lens and can be hand held successfully. I wasn't sure about the 1.4TC but it works perfectly and on my 7D the lens becomes a 190mm to 448mm lens. The images I am getting do not seem to be degraded by using the 1.4TC.

[GlennH]

You usually have the opportunity to adjust luminance during calibration, and some calibrators I think let you define a target luminance (100-120cd/m2 being commonly used). Luminance is altered by adjusting your monitor's backlighting, which is usually done via the brightness setting.

The idea is to match the display to ambient lighting (and hence also the conditions you view prints in). Some of the Spyder calibrators have the ability to measure ambient light for this purpose.

I've posted this link before, which leads to a video tutorial about soft-proofing. The link may invite you to download an Adobe application before it runs, but it's worth pursuing.

[Muffin]

Glen - My thanks for your comments. I am sure the 'link' is a good site but typically American! I stuck with it for about 20 minutes and then quit. It is probably an hour long and incredibly convoluted.

I'm afraid I'm still struggling with soft proofing!

[GlennH]

I take your point - it's not gripping viewing, but the tutor is one of the more knowledgeable on the subject there is.

Here's the five minute version:

1) Drop your printer profile in the 'spool' folder in Windows

2) Use Adobe RGB as your working space in PS

3) Open image

4) Duplicate image

5) Go to Proof Setup>Custom

6) Select your printer profile from the drop-down menu

7) Tick black point compensation and simulate paper and ink settings (picture will appear dull to replicate dynamic range of paper - counteract a little by using a black working background in PS)

8) With 'proof colours' ticked, tweak duplicated image so that it looks as close to the original as poss (place the two side by side for comparison as you work).

9) Toggle between rendering intents ('perceptual' and 'relative colorimetric' being most commonly used) and decide which looks better.

10) Choices - either convert your adjusted duplicate image to the printer profile straight away using 'convert to profile' (in which case you can subsequently switch off colour management for printing), or save in its existing colour space for conversion later.

That's it I think.

[Muffin]

Glen - my thanks. I will try to do it again -given your help!

[Muffin]

Glen - I'm afraid I have quit on the soft proofing. I cannot make any sense of it and my prints are still nothing like the monitor image.

I may have to fork out for a profile that is made for me. Canon should do this! I will ask on another thread about buying profiles.

My thanks for your help. I am only sorry I couldn't get it to work for me!