PIXMA PRO-100 Reds and oranges are off, prints are a bit muddy

[jimor]

Canon Pro-100 Print Studio Pro MacOS Photoshop/Lightroom Print Problem

I have had the Pro-100 printer for 4 or 5 years and the problem has persisted over the entire time. Reds tend to be printed more orange, and oranges are a bit brown, prints in general are often a bit muddy.

Let's say I start with a color test image with all the colours in it, including red strawberries.

1. I open the image in Preview (on a Mac).

2. I then open the Print dialog, set the paper size and orientation, then open Color Matching. I select ColorSync, then Canon PRO-100. <LU> 1/2 Photo Paper Prop Luster as the profile. I then open Quality & Media and select Photo Paper Pro Luster as the Media Type.

3. I click on the Print button and get a print. It comes out slightly dark, but otherwise good. I can correct the brightness before printing, so this is good.

I then open the same test image in Photoshop and select File->Print to open the Photoshop Print Settings dialog.

1. If I select Printer Manges Colors in Color Handling: and click on the Print button, I get quite a good print.

2. If, instead, I select Photoshop Manages Colors and do the following:

(a) Set Canon PRO-100 <LU> 1/2 Photo Paper Pro Luster as the Printer Profile.

(b) Click Print Settings... to open the Print dialog:

    (i) In Color Matching, ColorSync is already selected and both options are grayed out.

    (ii) In Quality & Media, I select Photo Paper Pro Luster. 

    (iii) I click OK to close Quality & Media, Save to close the Print dialog, and then Print in the Printer Setup dialog. Boom! Lousy color, including orangish reds, somewhat brownish oranges, and generally muddy colors overall.

I have followed the procedures outlined for Canon Pro printers in various books, YouTube videos, web articles and posts, instructions on Canon websites, and Canon hosted forums. As far as I can tell, I am doing exactly what they say to do, but for 4 or 5 years, lousy prints from Lightroom and Photoshop.

As a final note, I calibrated my monitors yesterday, and I downloaded and installed the latest Print Studio Pro today, so those two things should be eliminated from the discussion.

So what do I have to change to get good prints?

[jimor]

I have done further investigation, as in, I have watched more YouTube videos about this problem. Here are some things I have learned:

1. The problem often happens following a major MacOS upgrade (version 14 or 15 for instance). Not in my case; it has always existed.

2. Delete and then reinstall the printer. Worked for some, but not for me.

3. Reset printing system, then reinstall printer. Use the latest driver and other software. Worked for some, but not for me.

4. Canon claims it is specific to the Pro-100 and is Adobe's fault. In other words, there will be no fix for this. Export the image as a JPEG or TIFF file and open it in Preview or other software. Print from there. As I stated in the first post, that works. It is just a bit of a PITA.

Has anyone actually gotten printing from LrC/Ps on the Pro-100 to work permanently on MacOS? What did you do in addition to anything I have tried?

[jimor · Accepted solution]

Next step:

I deleted and reinstalled all Adobe apps (Lr, LrC, Ps).

I reinstalled Canon Print Studio Pro.

OK, no longer applies profiles twice. Well, at least for now. I wonder how long that will last.