Alternative printing suggestions for printing greeting cards on Pixma Pro 100?

[kubricks_cube]

I am currently using the Canon My Image Garden for template layouts for printing greeting cards (2 per 8.5x11" which I cut).

I purchased card stock from The Paper Mill website, but the prints come out faded or grainy. Right now on the My Image Garden program I am using the "Matte Photo Paper" setting, but have also tried "Plain Paper" - neither work great. I just purchased paper samples from Red River Paper in hopes that one of their products combined with their ICC profile helps resolve the issue.

Does anyone have any other suggestions to try to get better results? (for example: I know many artists print using customized settings using Photoshop, but it is not cost-effective for me to get a PS account)

[jrhoffman75 · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the forum.

The Pro-100 is a dye printer - think colored water. If you are using uncoated paper the ink is going to be absorbed by the paper and spread, resulting in less sharp images. Put a small drop of water on the card stock and see what happens.

Red River Paper does have coated photo papers in greeting card sizes.