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.

[Devin]

Hi PeterD,

You may receive a slight hue when printing in black and white because the printer is a dye based printer.  It has to do with the way that the ink is laid down on the paper.  You would receive less of a cast if you were printing on a non-Glossy paper like Matte Photo Paper.  The printer you would want to use to print black and white images is the PRO-10 which uses LUCIA pigment inks.  This would allow you to print your black and white images without the cast.

Another thing I believe is happening is your software program that is converting the image is causing this cast to appear.  Try printing a black and white image that does not need to be converted and see how this prints. 

I look forward to assisting you.

[PeterD]

Thank you for the reply to my enquiry.

I have corresponded with Red River Paper in Texas on this issue as they were one of two professional the reviewers of the Pro-100. For their tests they printed on Red River paper using their profiles and Canon ink. They report that no perceptable colour hue appeared in the trials they made when printing black and white prints with the printer's colour management set to neutral. Rereading their review of the Pro-100 it is evident that they probably used a colour image and let the printer software convert it to B&W.  

The observation made by one of  two professional reviewers of the printer that I have read so far is that the use of matte photopaper for this printer has generally been less satisfactory than for gloss or lustre in their experience and that art papers are pretty much out of contention as shadow detail suffers amongst other things.  Red River paper however didn't report problems using a range of their papers and profiles.

Are you suggesting using a B&W image generated in camera by the camera's software from the RGB colour output of the sensor as the image source for a B&W print or are you suggesting using a colour image and letting the printer software convert it.  Whilst such methods might produce a more tone free result (if say a Canon camera was used to generate the image as a jpeg) this is definitely not the choice a serious amature or professional photographer would normally make as the options for enhancement of the image during the conversion process with Photoshop are the main artistic reasons for choosing a B&W image over a colour one in the first instance.

As I explained in my previous post one of the B&W images I trialed extensively had been Gray Scale converted using Photoshop CS5 prior to output as an RGB file for printing selecting the printer to mamge the colours as well as printing it as a Gray Scale dot gain 25% file (using Photoshop to manage the colours). To my understanding  In both cases the image should have no colour information present in it at all only shades of gray, however the prints were still noticably sepia toned.

Also in my earlier post I raised the issue of a noticable warm cast to the normally white areas of a colour image when printing on Canon Paper Plus Glossy II using the correct media settings and profile for that paper.To remove it required a colour management setting of -5 Magenta and -10 yellow. I would have thought that the printer should be accurate for whites provided my monitor is calibrated as well which it is.

I seems strange to me that you would recommend the purchase of the Pro-10 printer to get colour cast free B&W images as Canon designers seem to have gone to the trouble of using additional grey inks in the place of primary colours in this their latest model of their range of dye based printers. In fact I recall during their release to the market that a Canon representative made the comment that he could see very little advantage now to choosing pigment over dye ink printers now that the Canon Chromalife 100 ink system had been perfected.

Please can you advise whether you have actually tested the Pro-100 printer and noticed this problem with B&W images as I'm really keen to get to baottom of this problem.

[Karl1]

Hi PeterD,

We  have tested the Pro-100 with Canon paper and under optimal conditions the printer does print the black and white pictures correctly.  Devin only recommended the Pro-10 over the Pro-100 because it has a decidated ink takn for black and white printing whereas the Pro-100 is designed more for color prints.  That being said, I would recommend using our Contact Us link to get in touch with our tech support staff.  They may be able to go through some things with you to help get the printer to print the way you want.

[Gemini061270]

I am having the same issue, I get a magenta cast in my b&w and this is unacceptable, I spent $400 on a printer which is a lot of money and not to have a cast of magenta when printing b&w, has anyone figured out how to correct this? 

[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.

[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.

[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. 

[gse53]

I had the same problem, but thanks to another user., not anymore. If you are printing a B&W image converted in software, like Silver EFEX Pro, UNCHECK the B&W print checkbox in the driver. Only check that box if you are printing a color print as a B&W and want the driver to do the conversion. Canon should have made this clearer. I am now getting neutral, or much more neutral, prints from the Pro 100.  See the 8-09-13 post by blumb that is 4 pages long. I was getting very frustrated, until I read that whole post.. BTW, I tried printing a color print as a B&W, with the box checked,  and the driver did a decent job. You just do not have tonal control in the conversion.

[Gemini061270]

Actually It was converted image to b&w but I did not print with the B&W checked but than did try it both ways and both are terrible. Found slight problem even though it's converted to b&w using Nik Silver, if you than open the Hue/Sat click on eye dropper and click on your image mine showed there is Red Hue still embedded, after desaturing that and re-printing it's much better , not 100% but more like 95% better.