Pixma Pro-100 Printer

[PeterD]

Can any one please advise if they have had difficulty getting colour cast free B&W prints from the Pro-100 when printing an image file that has been converted to B&W using Photoshop CS5 even when using Canon paper (Paper Plus Glossy II) and the correct profile.

I even have tried printing the image after Gray Scale conversion in Photoshop (output for printing as an sRGB image) which removes all colour information from the file and I still got a sepia toned print.

Even with colour prints I noticed that at default settings the prints were slightly warmer than they should have been in the white areas of the image.

I have tried printing with Photoshop managing the colours and the printer colour management turned off and with the printer managing the colours with the B&w box ticked both from Photoshop and using the Canon Studio Print Pro software supplied with the machine.

One reviewer on Amazon states that he found it impossible to get a tone free B&W image even after trying all the tweaks to the machine that a Canon tech of ten years experience could suggest.

I realize that it is possible to mostly correct for the colour cast using the colour management sliders in the printer driver but that of course negates the objective of printing using the correct profiles and the settings may have to be changed for every paper type.

[Gemini061270]

I did that also and it was aweful, i found removing the hue that PS still detects even though its not visible to the eye helped a great deal .

[gse53]

How are your color prints? What paper are you using?

[Gemini061270]

I use Ilford papers, few canon papers. Color Prints are awesome!

[gse53]

If color prints are awesome, it does not sound like a color management problem, but a B&W printing workflow problem. I have not tried my Ilford papers to print B&W. Other than double checking if the "print B&W image" check box is UNCHECKED I have no other ideas. Try printing a color image as a B&W with the box checked, and let the driver do the conversion. That worked well for me.

[dianaostphoto]

I am having exactly the same problem, and have tried all of the same things this poster has. There is a setting in the printer profile for "Black and White Photo Print" which is marked OFF.

My image is black and white and I am using Photoshop CC. It was converted to black and white with Nik Silver Effects Pro. There are NO color layers in this TIFF file.

I have only 5 Print Settings: Default, Current, Last Used Settings, Fast Printing on Plain Paper, and Fine Printing on Plain Paper.

I bought this printer * specifically * to use for black and white printing. The reviews were good, but it is not working for me. If I can't get a good black and white print, this printer is going back to Adorama, and I am buying an Epson instead.

[dianaostphoto]

Where is the B&W Print checkbox? I haven't found that yet.

[gse53]

Do not return it yet. You need to learn about color management or you will hsve the same problem with the Epson. Based on your post, you do not seem to be choosing the right paper you are printing on, or color profile. Make sure you are not double profileing. Cololr managment has to turned OFF in either the printing application OR printer driver. Google is your friend. These are just suggestions. I cannot solve your problem in a forum. There is a learning curve. My prints from this printer are OUTSTANDING, after I learned.

[gse53]

There is a setting in the printer profile for "Black and White Photo Print" which is marked OFF.

This is the setting

[jrhoffman75]

Watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlV7cqqladQ&feature=youtu.be

[dianaostphoto]

I understand color managment. I have other color printers and have been printing color and black and white photographs for film since 1976 and digital for over 5 years. 

My Epson does not print sepia-toned "Black & White" photographs from my (calibrated) monitor and from Photoshop CC. What I see on my monitor, I get on the Epson, and on my HP printer as well. The Canon does not print a true black and white print without intervention with their Canon software. That should not be happening when printing from Photoshop on a calibrated monitor.

My point was that Canon Pixma prints a color cast (magenta, brown) "black and white" print, as others have also pointed out. To get a true "black and white" print, I had to use the Canon Printing software--not Photoshop CC--and set up a custom printing profile where I set the print to "Cool" on the Cool-to-Warm scale, indicated by the 1, 2, 3 bar setting in the middle of the settings panel. (Note that I was not printing a color print as black and white, I was printing a true black and white photo that was converted digitally to black and white in Photoshop without any color or color layers whatsoever.) Changing that checkbox had no effect on the color cast at all. 

Note that the "Cool" setting (1 on the 1 to 3 scale) has to be selected in the printing properties *BEFORE changing any other settings* in the Canon PrintingPro properties (or whatever it is called--the Canon Printing Utility). If you don't do this first, Cool to Warm settings are dimmed (grayed out--not selectable). I could not find that info in the Help file or in the forum; not saying it's not there, but I didn't see it. 

It's not optimum to have to use the Canon software instead of Photoshop in my opinion. But that appears to be the case if I want to print black and white, which is why I bought the printer in the first place. The prints are fine since I figured it out. 

Additionally, the tech support person who said you have to buy the Pixma 1 to get black and white prints? Incorrect. And that answer seemed biased toward selling a more expensive product. It is possible to get a good black and white print, but it's harder than it should have been to get there.