Questions before I purchase a Pixma Pro-100

[7D5D]

Haven't spent any time over here on the printer side of the forum and I didn't see my questions posted so I will post them here hoping they aren't repeat questions.

Been researching photo printers and found the Pixma Pro-100 to suit my needs.  This will be my first "photo' printer.  I will be printing high res images from Lightroom (hopefully the plug-in works great).

1.  Since I will be a light user (maybe printing once a month or even every other month), I'm concerned about plugged print nozzles or dried up ink.  Does anyone have any experience on plugged nozzles or dried up ink?  I do have a Canon iP100 for work which gets light use (also about once every other month) and I have not had any plugged nozzles so I'm optimistic that I will not have issues with the Pro-100 but I sure would appreciate some experienced feedback.

2.  I see the printer comes with "Setup" ink tanks.  Any idea  how much printing I can get from these or should I just buy a set of ink tanks right up front?

3.  Which refill set of tanks?  If I'm only doing color printing, should I just buy the 5 color set plus black?  I'm assuming the 8 color set (which includes the two shades of gray) are for gray scale printing.  Once I get rolling, I'll obviously buy whatever is most economical but right now I don't know.

4.  Paper -  I see Canon has listed their paper plus all tested compatible paper on their web page.   I do have some HP photo paper (not listed as compatible) that I would like to use up.  I used this in the past on standard inkjet printers including the Canon ip100.   Any idea how this paper will hold up on the Pro-100?  Paper is HP Premium photo soft gloss and HP Premium photo high gloss.  Of course I can try it but rather not waste ink if someone out there knows better.

5.  I'm sure this is a dumb question for most, but is it best to print from RAW or convert and print JPG?

Thanks in advance, appreciate any feedback.

[ebiggs1]

I have three printers that don't get used 'everyday' and I haven’t had any dried up cartridges.......yet.

A large part of my clients want DVDs anymore.

Unfortunately you never know what colors you are going to print so it is difficult to determine what color inks will be consumed first.

My advise is to use all Canon supplies if you buy a Canon printer. It is just easier to get good results than the trial and error method of making other companies stuff work. But it can be done.

It is also best to turn off all print handling by the printers driver and let Light Room or much more preferred Photo Shop do it. It seems that Canon printers then to have a warm (red) bias to them. Sometimes it is good to add a little 80 filter (20-25%) in PS.

Done correctly and carefully, they can produce stunning and very beautiful prints.

[7D5D]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

My advise is to use all Canon supplies if you buy a Canon printer. It is just easier to get good results than the trial and error method of making other companies stuff work. But it can be done.

It is also best to turn off all print handling by the printers driver and let Light Room or much more preferred Photo Shop do it. It seems that Canon printers then to have a warm (red) bias to them. Sometimes it is good to add a little 80 filter (20-25%) in PS.

Done correctly and carefully, they can produce stunning and very beautiful prints.

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Thanks ebiggs1 for your comments!

I certainly plan to only use Canon ink.  The more I think about it I'm not going to fiddle with the $30 or so of HP paper that I have.  I'll just add some fresh Canon paper to my printer order and start learning without unnecessary variables.

Great driver tip, and info on the red bias!

Printing images is new ground for me.  It will be interesting to see how my images will look on paper compared to my display.  I do have my Dell Ultrasharp calibrated with a Spyder 4 Pro so I guess I will find out soon how close it is.

Thanks again

[ebiggs1]

Yes, it is essential your monitor shows you what you are printing.

Do you just have Light Room 4.3 or do you have Photo Shop, too? PS is a little easier to get good prints faster than LR is. But you can do it in LR. Remember LR does not change the file so if you print from it, you must do all reprints from it also.

[7D5D]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Yes, it is essential your monitor shows you what you are printing.

Do you just have Light Room 4.3 or do you have Photo Shop, too? PS is a little easier to get good prints faster than LR is. But you can do it in LR. Remember LR does not change the file so if you print from it, you must do all reprints from it also.

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LR 4.3, no PS.  Good point, does it make sense to export the final edit to a TIF, DNG, or JPG for printing purposes or just print the edited RAW?

[ebiggs1]

If I were going to use LR 4 to print, I would let it do it's thing with the proprietary file LR uses. I would not try it from a RAW or convert to tiff. Not to say you can't get good results but to lessen any more issues into it until you get comfortable with the new printer.

One thing about LR, remember to set your page size in the "page set-up" tab first.

[7D5D]

Thanks again for your time and help ebiggs1!

[jessesimp]

hey guys I was just hoping for a little advice from some people that probably know a lot more than me about this stuff. I've never bought a printer and I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for, but I know I want a good all-in-one printer and I don't want to spend a million bucks, just like anybody right? I found this site http://www.squidoo.com/best-all-in-one-printers2 and I'm leaning towards the Epson Expression Home XP-400 Inkjet Printer, I've read a lot of reviews but I was hoping to get some instant feedback from you guys about Epson or that exact printer and let me know what you guys think before I make the purchase? Thanks a lot!

[ebiggs1]

First off I have never used the XP-400, so take this for what it's worth. All in one printers are exactly that. All in one printers are good all-around but not great at any single thing. So if your goal is pro level photo prints forget one. This thread was started about the Canon Pro-100 which is a fantastic pro level photo printer but not good as a general printer.

I currently use three printers. Two are photo dedicated and do nothing else really well. Plus I have a 11x17” Brother all-in-one. It will print color and it will print photos but they are not in the class of the other two dedicated photo printers. The Brother does all my general printing and I save the other two for photography.

Since this is the Canon Forum, you may get better results and answers if you find an Epson web site.