topic Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded. in Professional Photo Printers

imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 03:39:07 GMT

I have a new PRO-310. I recently printed a picture from Adobe Photoshop onto heavy artist paper. The print was beautiful with deep saturated colors. When I tried to print another, the colors were faded. I printed two more with different settings and they came out identically faded.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

SignifDigits — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:38:36 GMT

So you're saying you printed from the exact same application with the exact same settings on the exact same paper on the exact same printer and got different results, correct? Specifically, faded colors?

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 22:52:25 GMT

yes

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 22:56:45 GMT

Actually, I'm not sure about the exact same settings. I printed 5 different copies of the image and maybe tried different settings. All four of the last copies were identically faded from the first copy.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

SignifDigits — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:44 GMT

OK, so I think the best think to do is to start eliminating potential issues. It could be either the printer or the software at this point. Hopefully you have or can get some inexpensive Canon paper. I keep Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II 4x6" 400 sheets for this purpose. Less than 15 cents a sheet and not a lot of ink.

First, of course, run a nozzle pattern check from the maintenances menu on the printer and make sure it looks proper. You didn't mention the length of time between the first and second print, but it's good to run one of these at least a couple times a month to keep the ink flowing properly. It's a lot cheaper than the nozzle cleaning routines which use a lot of ink.

Provided that looks ok, then I suggest you print directly from Canon Professional Print and Layout software onto a Canon paper. You could use the PPL plugin for Photoshop, but I'd suggest running PPL standalone first. If the results aren't satisfactory you will have 100% Canon hardware, software and paper in the workflow. If you're still having the same problem in this scenario then you should contact Canon support via the site that you registered your printer with Canon.

If that step works properly, though, your issue is likely to be in PhotoShop setting or the paper profile. Others on this site would need to assist you with PhotoShop as I do not use Adobe software in my workflow.

I realize it must be frustrating and the steps that I've suggested will take some time, and if you're like me you'd like the solution a lot faster than that. But I believe these are the best steps to ensure that things are working properly on the Canon side of equation.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:25:06 GMT

Thank you for the suggestions. I will try them. I'm not sure it's a Canon printer problem. I working on it from the Adobe Photoshop side too.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:59:05 GMT

Actually, I'm no longer sure it's an Adobe problem. The Canon is printing all my images in a murky, graded down, faded tone, regardless of source: whether I print from Adobe, Word, or cntrl-p from the web. The colors are very desaturated and gray.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 03:10:22 GMT

the same is true when I print photos on Canon photo paper. they photos are faded.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

SignifDigits — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:05:23 GMT

Again, I recommend printing from PPL, then you can more authoritatively say you have a 100% Canon problem when you call Canon service. (not absolutely, of course, as there is an OS in the workflow to consider - be sure you're up to date on OS updates on that score).

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:49 GMT

Thank you. Will try this.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:55:31 GMT

Using Canon PPL did work. It gave me true colors. I still can't understand why I can't get good color from any other application.

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

SignifDigits — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 01:23:55 GMT

Well, at least you know it's not the printer. @DerrickL is the printer guru here. Perhaps they will drop in with some ideas. I was thinking perhaps the printer driver. I noticed you were printing from PhotoShop but did you say if you're printing from Windows or a Mac?

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

CMOYNIHAN — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 02:52:42 GMT

Printing from windows

Re: imagePROGRAF PRO 310 colors faded.

SignifDigits — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:44:48 GMT

OK, I'll take a stab at some checks to make. You may have tried them all, but I want to be thorough. It may make sense for you to skip over one or more of them. For instance you say the printer is new, so if you installed the Master Setup a couple weeks ago it may not make sense to do it again. On the other hand if "new" means you bought it 5 months ago and are just now using it you might want to rerun the setup. You can run a test print after each to find problem root cause if you wish, or just wait until the end to try them.

Make sure all of the MS updates are done and your OS is fully up to date.
I notice there was a firmware update released 5/18. You should ensure that's installed. Support page for your printer is at https://www.usa.canon.com/support/p/imageprograf-pro-310
Reinstall the Master Setup for your printer from the support page above. Probably most importantly, or perhaps even separately you'll want make sure you're installing the latest print driver from that same support page.
Make sure you have installed the latest 2/4/2026 version of PPL
Print from PhotoShop using the PPL plugin

I don't see why the PPL plugin from PhotoShop and native PPL should differ. If that works, then the problem is wholly PhotoShop. There is an article in the KB regarding disabling color management in PhotoShop and using an ICC profile at https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/s/article/ART170134

I hope this helps.