New to Pixma Pro 100

[Mikeman21]

I just purchased a pixma pro 100. I am planning to use it on my Mac running OS Big Sur.

I have the Adobe creative suite. What are the best ways to print? Should I do it through those applications? How do I get better profiles, what are the best settings? Etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[jrhoffman75]

Welcome to the forum.  A couple of thoughts/suggestions.

1. if you are connecting via wifi, when you add the printer in System Preferences wait until you see the Canon IJ Series version of the printer. It could take a while and is usually tghe second to appear. TYhe first one that shows up is the AirPrint version - you don't want that.

2. I recommend printing from the applications and letting the applications manage the color. You do that by selecting the paper profile in the print dialogue. I will post a screenshot.

3. Red River paper has a good discussion on this printer. I have been using my Pro-100 since 2013. Never had a problem.

4. I am connected via wifi, so this happens automatically, but if you are connecting via USB I recommend that you disable Auto Off. The Pro-100 carries out various types of cleaning cycles depending on the power on/off history. A cold start from power off runs a clean/purge process that consumes a lot of ink. If you shut it down and then restart it that process is repeated. If you leave it powered on it may run a cleaning cycle the next time you go to print, depending on how long it was idle.

0-60 hours idle - no cleaning cycle.

greater than 60 hours - minor cycle

greater than 120 hours - more aggressive cycle

greater than 240 hour  - major cleaning cycle

They are not cumulative - just one will activate depending on downtime.

5. As inks start running down you will get a warning with an exclamation point saying ink is getting low and recommending you prepare a cartridge. If you have a spare cartridge ignore that. If you don't order one to have on hand. As you continue to print next you will get a red x warning that ink has run out. At that point you need to stop and install a new cartridge. What I recommend is that when that happens, if there are any cartrdiges with an exclamation point you replace them all at that time. The reason is that when a cartridge is replaced the printer runs a purge cycle on all eight cartridges. depending on the level in an exclamation point cartridge that purge cycle may drive it to empty and then you need to replace that. Folks call it the "domino effect". You may waste a little ink by discarding early, but in the long run you would be ahead.

Choosing your profile here is how you get the application to manage color.