PIXMA MP160 Borderless printing washes out image

[baga]

Hi,

I have a MP160 (Pixma Series) that works very well.

Today I've tried to make some bordeless printing and when I use this option — changing Paper Size from A4 to A4 (borderless), the colors of the images fades a lot, resulting on a very light printed image.

If I choose back the simple A4 (with borders), the images prints well again.

I found a way to resolve this, by changing Media Type from Plain Paper to Photo Paper Pro (Media Type under Quality & Media options) and changing Print Quality to High instead of Standard (this option is grayed out for Plain Paper when I set A4 bordeless). But this workaround makes the printer velocity goes down a lot, using more ink (I'm assuming that), even this printing a very little lighter imagem than the A4 Standard print quality.

Is there a way to solve that, printing borderless on standard quality?

I'm on Mac osX 10.8.5, printing from Preview app.

Thanks,

baga

[Michael]

Hello baga.

Unfortunately, when a plain paper setting is used with the MP160, less ink will be used to perform the printout.  This causes a lighter printout.  This is to prevent overestimation or curling of the paper which may lead to paper jams or other hardware issues.  You would have to increase the quality or use a photo paper for a higher quality printout.

If additional assistance is needed, feel free to call us at 1-800-OKCANON.

[baga]

Thanks for your reply, Michael.

But why I'm able to print nice images (to my purpose) using plain paper on standard quality, with all the colors ok?

The washed out thing just happens when I choose borderless printing...

I just wanna print with the same quality I print on default settings, except I don't wanna borders.

(Just to know, I'm not printing photos, but a kind of fanzine, that's why I'm using plain paper.)

Thanks again!

[MarkII]

Hi baga,

Assuming all the settings are the same, there should not be a difference in the quality when going from bordered to borderless.  With borderless the image is expanded slightly, but it should not appear washed out.  Be sure to check your quality and media type settings when changing from bordered to borderless.

When printing on plain paper, you will notice slight variations in quality (even from sheet to sheet in the same ream of paper).  Since plain paper is not designed for vibrant color prints, I don't recommend it for printing images where quality is a concern.  For printing your fanzines you might want to try matte photo paper.  Any type of photo paper (or even high quality paper) will work in conjunction with the inks from your MP160 to produce consistent clear borderless images.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to Contact Us

[kaerfull]

baga is right. I've had a couple of different Canon printers, including the one mentioned, and have always had an issue with borderless printing. You may believe, as anyone who is using your product would, that with all settings the same there should be no difference in print quality between bordered and borderless but I can assure you there is. I'm sure baga gave up quickly on this thread since you wouldn't acknowledge the issue. This is apparently the best Canon can offer and is as good a reason as any to avaoid the product if borderless printing is a priority.

[baga]

kaerfull, that's just what I did: changed to a HP printer and that's solved my problem.

[ncalishome]

Hi MarkII, you say: "Assuming all the settings are the same, there should not be a difference in the quality when going from bordered to borderless." This is false according to other posters, and my own experience with the Pro 100. Can you or someone at Canon respond to this or actually verify your statement internally? I assure you this is a problem.

Absolutely the only difference is borderless printing (same paper/settings/everything) and,  as others say, the colors come out different.

[jrhoffman75]

I can state that with my Pro-100 simply going to Borderless had no effect on printout quality. Not disputing what others have observed; just stating my experience.

[shelleym]

Im having the exact same issue with myMG3550. the normal print is beautiful and bright but as soon as i click borderless its dull.

[shelleym]