Pro-100 Black and white driver

[rtknu]

Would Canon please reply:

Many Pro-100 photographers would happily pay for a driver that uses black and gray inks only for BW photos.

Alternatively, we would like to know how to trigger the existing driver to do that.

Absent that we all need to make so many adjystments to avoid color casts.

Or at least, could we see a technical note on why that simply will not work.

[jrhoffman75]

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@rtknu wrote:

Would Canon please reply:

Many Pro-100 photographers would happily pay for a driver that uses black and gray inks only for BW photos.

Alternatively, we would like to know how to trigger the existing driver to do that.

Absent that we all need to make so many adjystments to avoid color casts.

Or at least, could we see a technical note on why that simply will not work.

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I do not represent Canon.

Frequently color casts are caused by OBAs in the papers and reaction with the OBAs to various types of lighting.

I sometimes get colorcasts that are different depending on whether I take the print outside in sunlight or view in my work room with an LED bulb.

You can use the Windows printer driver to fine tune printer output.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Black is the presence of all colors.

Pro-100

So it makes sense that all colors (including gray and black) would be used to accomplish the highest degree of tonal variations. 

The Pro-10 is a better option for B&W printing since it has the Photo Black and Chroma Optimizer inks. 

[jrhoffman75]

See this discussion.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64710834

[shadowsports]

Thanks john,

I see now what he's asking.  Not tonal variation in output but the actual cast which is directly affected by kelvin color temperature when the image was captured.  

So many ways to address, color profile, white balance, gamma correction.

[jrhoffman75]

Your info was correct Rick. One of the mods posted a response on this site a few years ago stating that color inks are used when black and white printing is selected. I read somewhere else that the reason is that the black dye is not truly black, as compared to pigment inks. 

The second issue that discussed in the DPReview posting - impact of lighting on the print. 

I get excellent, no color cast B&W prints using Red River Palo Duro SoftGloss Rag - independent of lighting type.

Similar results with Canon Photo Paper Pro Luster.

Ilford Galerie Prestige Gold Mono Silk looks good under "standard" room lighting (probably ~2700K) and outside in daylight.

Greenish color cast using ~5000K LED and CFL lighting.

[rtknu]

OK, from the responses, I have learned

1.  Dye inks of black and grey like those of the Pro-100 cannot make  a perfect black, like pigment inks can.

2.  OBAs will interact with the BW print, variously depending on paper and ambient light

3.  It might take some experimenting to get the right combination of settings for a given paper.  Once you have a combination that works, Save it and lable it clearly; avoid frustration of re-generating it

4.  By the way, I found that Printer  Handles Colors works nicely on Matte BW

[jrhoffman75]

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@rtknu wrote:

OK, from the responses, I have learned

1.  Dye inks of black and grey like those of the Pro-100 cannot make  a perfect black, like pigment inks can.

2.  OBAs will interact with the BW print, variously depending on paper and ambient light

3.  It might take some experimenting to get the right combination of settings for a given paper.  Once you have a combination that works, Save it and lable it clearly; avoid frustration of re-generating it

4.  By the way, I found that Printer  Handles Colors works nicely on Matte BW

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Hi. 

I would phrase #1 as 

: Dye inks require all inks, including color inks, to create shades of black. Dye inks do not create blacks as "deep" as pigment inks due their reduced opacity. 

For #4, I agree, from my tests, that if you are using Canon papers letting the printer control color works as well as application controlling color. Letting the application control color gives more flexibility since you can use third party papers as well as custom generated ICC profiles for Canon papers. 

[rtknu]

Thanks. My matte was not Canon, and since some report frustration with matte bw, I threw that in. Might be useful generally for matte.

[jrhoffman75]

Keith Cooper at northlight-images-dot-co.uk is a great printing resource.

here is a short posting on B&W printing with the Canon Pro-200, successor to the Pro-100.

Re: When I'd choose dye over pigment inks: Printers and Printing Forum: Digital Photography Review (...

Here's a good video:

https://youtu.be/D-ZDWIlRAJA

If you Google Pro-100 in the search box on the site you get a review and evaluation of the Pro-100 including a discussion of B&W printing with the printer.