New PIXMA ip8720 printer prints dark photos.

[ejjacobs]

I recently purchased this printer back in May and I have been happy with the printer for the most part, however it seems to print every photo considerably darker than what I am view on either my laptop or iphone.  All of my printing is done via wireless and I have printed directly from my iphone and my laptop, as well as printing from Lightroom.  In all cases the photos the printer creates tend to be on the dark side for the most part.  Any suggestions, ideas on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.

[Niki70]

Perhaps it is too late to add to this topic. My canon pixma iP8720 has been printing photos that are much darker than what is on my computer screen. I have used 3 different computers, windows 10 and 11, adobe photoshop and affinity 1 and 2. Until I came upon this thread, I didn't realize there were some possible solutions to try. However, I do choose the proper paper to match the paper I am using. I will try some of the other suggestions, I am not very optomistic they wil work based on what previous posters have said. Has ANYONE at canon come up with a real solution to this problem?????

[Kadman59]

Hi Niki70,

Canon support "Hector" replied once to ONE post in this thread and then disappeared.  His suggestions were followed but failed to resolve the issue.  At SIX years into this issue, I can all but assure you Canon will not be providing any fix or workaround.  IMHO this dark photo printing issue is rooted in the printer's firmware as multiple driver updates I've performed have NOT resolved it.  I've been a Canon products enthusiast for decades but this experience has ruined Canon for me.  To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement...I am frankly really pissed off at Canon and it's highly unlikely I'll be buying my next printer from them.

PS...I found somewhat of a workaround that doesn't require manipulation of the photo being printed.  In the printer settings, set the color setting to manual,  then within those settings manually change the color setting to "Light"

[DerrickL]

Problem can be caused by your printer, or monitor or settings or all three. First thing is to calibrate your monitor, this is really important when printing photos 

How to Calibrate Your Monitor in Windows

Calibrating your monitor is essential for achieving accurate color reproduction and optimal display quality. Here’s how to do it in Windows.

Basic Calibration Steps

1. Open Display Settings
   • Go to Settings > System > Display.

2. Access Calibration Tool

   • Select Calibrate display color to open the calibration wizard.

3. Adjust Settings

   • Follow the prompts to adjust:
   • Gamma: Ensures balanced grayscale.
   • Brightness: Adjust until details are visible without washing out the background.
   • Contrast: Set to see details without bright backgrounds.
   • Color Balance: Use sliders to achieve neutral gray.

4. Finish Calibration

   • Once satisfied with adjustments, save the new calibration profile.

 

Causes of Dark Prints from Canon iP8720

The Canon iP8720 may produce prints that appear darker than the images displayed on your screen. This discrepancy is primarily due to differences in how colors are represented on monitors versus printed media.

Key Factors Contributing to Dark Prints

• Color Representation Methods: Monitors emit light, making images appear brighter, while prints reflect light, which can result in darker appearances.

• Monitor Brightness: If your monitor is set too bright, it can lead to incorrect expectations for print brightness.

• Incorrect ICC Profiles: Using the wrong ICC profile for your printer and paper can cause significant differences in print output.

Solutions to Improve Print Brightness

To achieve prints that more closely match your screen, consider the following adjustments:

Adjustment Type	Recommended Action
Monitor Calibration	Calibrate your monitor to a brightness of 80–120 cd/m². Use a calibration device for accuracy.
ICC Profile Management	Ensure you are using the correct ICC profile for your specific printer and paper combination.
Color Management Settings	Choose either your editing software or the printer to manage color, but not both simultaneously.

[Niki70]

Thank-you for the suggestion to change printer settings to light. I will give this a try.

[Niki70]

I went through the steps to calibrate my monitor. Strangely, there is no way for me to adjust contrast. I'm not sure how to check the ICC profile, but I do choose the correct paper when printing. I understand about choosing either printer or photo editing software to manage color. Thanks.

[Niki70]

By the way, prior to this canon printer, I used an Hp wide format printer for 17 years with no problems, until the part that moves the ink cartridge back and forth broke. I took it to be repaired, but it would cost almost as much as buying a new printer. I would have stayed with Hp, but they were all much more complicated than I wanted. Keep it Simple! The Hp I had used ONE Three color cartridge and made 13 x 19 inch beautiful prints.

[Kadman59]

Please let me know if the "light" printer setting OR your calibrating your monitor helps to resolve the darkness issue for you.  Re monitor calibration, while I appreciate the 3rd-party response detailing this procedure, I don't believe monitor miscalibration is causing the dark 8720 printer output.  Because if it was, I'd expect to see the same issue with my smaller "all-in-one" Canon printer but I don't.  As I'd previously posted, I printed the same photo, from the same computer and from the same app/app settings on the same Canon paper as I specified in the respective printer settings.  All other printers' driver settings, ie quality, color management etc were the same but only the photo printed by my all-in-one Canon was fine...not dark at all.  As such, I stand by my conclusion that the 8720 dark issue is rooted in this specific printer's firmware OR its driver or both.

[DerrickL]

My MG3620 does not print photos on glossy paper darker than I want them to be. My previous Brother printer did. So I tweaked the image using a photo editor, I have a lot of them and any one did the same thing for my image. I simply adjusted the contrast and the brightness which may have looked too bright on my monitors but did correct the final printed image. 

[Niki70]

Thanks for the suggestion to change the printer setting to "light. This did help quite a bit. By the way, calibrating my monitor seems irrelevant when using Affinity photo two, since I can't  find any way to chose my monitor's color profile to print with. There are two choices. The printer (ip8720) or other. if I choose other, I get a browse button that takes me to an empty folder that is supposed to have icc color profiles in it for affinity photo 2. Hmmmmm. Choosing the correct paper is also a dilemma, since I am not using canon paper (gasp!), but either Hp or staples!