Pro-1000 - Prints Not Accurate using Capture One

[Bloor]

Hi,

I've got hold of a PRO-1000 with a view to printing some of my photography. I use Fujifilm cameras; X-T4, X100V, X-H2S, so my software of choice (essentially no choice really) for a long time was Capture One (due to its proper handling of the Xtrans sensor raw). Now I know Lightroom does now do a better job, so theoretically I could use Adobe and ditch C1. But... I've grown to actually quite like Capture One! Please nobody just say "why not use LR!" 

Anyway. 

So I've got the PRO-1000. It's an impressive machine, mechanically. It feels worth what it cost. In that sense I am pleased with it. I am intending to try and do "fine art" type prints, which I believe typically are done on heavier and matte papers. So I got a box of Marrutt 316gsm. 

https://marrutt.com/product/316gsm-standard-fine-art-production-inkjet-paper/

Some of the prints do look pretty good. But some/all are just a bit (or madly) dark. And the other thing I seemed to find was that changing the paper profile made no difference at all. I found by googling someone else saying Capture One seemed to print crazy dark. No obvious solution, and from a long time ago, so assume it may be fixed, or never fixed?! I also discovered (again, google) that I needed to *turn off* ICC colour matching, with Capture One. So I did this, and the setting did seem to "stick". After doing that I could detect some slight differences based on paper setting in C1. But nothing massive. And a lot of prints seemed "dark". 

This leaves me in a situation where I don't know who to turn to for help. It could be Canon. It could be Capture One. It could be the supplier of the paper. Maybe I try ringing the retail supplier of the printer and just begging for assistance? 

I really don't feel like the prints are right. But I sort of don't know enough to know what to do now. 

Maybe I should use a separate printing app? And export from C1 as a TIF, then print that via this "other" app? Is that a thing? 

Any help greatly appreciated. 

B. 

[Bloor]

Silly followup question: 

When I've had photos printed by a commercial print shop, I've usually had 3 small variants done with different biases at the print stage; like "+1 brighter" "+1 contrast" etc. Then chosen the best of three before running out at full size. I kind of was expecting some basic settings to be settable. But all I can find is paper type profiles. Am I expecting something that just does not exist? Do the print shops just tweak in photoshop before running out on default settings? 

[Mbaker106]

Hi Bloor,

I use capture one, and also print on a prograf-1000. 

Can I ask what type of monitor you're using to color correct on? And what brightness level you're using?

I think oftentimes dark prints can be the result of color correcting on very bright monitors. I like to set my monitor to a 60 nit brightness level. Sometimes I'll do quick correcting just on my mac, and I setup a monitor profile that's also 60 nits. 

Also - capture one has the "proofing" feature, which can make a big difference on your monitor when correcting before printing. I assume you're using this feature, right?

When I'm making print, I usually do a quick test at a smaller size, about 4x6. I'll look at it, and then make further edits on the file, and then do another test. I'll do this until I'm ready to print it larger. 

When I print - I export a TIF with the exact size and also the ICC profile. I use a separate app to print, the canon Professional Print & Layout app.

I'm happy to try to help beyond the above info if needed. Cheers!

Matt

[jrhoffman75]

I am assuming you requested the appropriate ICC profile for your paper from Marrutt and are selecting the appropriate media type.

Have you tried printing a standardized test print like this: PrinterEvaluationImage_V002_ProPhoto.tif

Just open the file in your app and print it with the proper ICC profile and media type. Do not make any image adjustments regardless of how the image might look on screen.

How does the image look?