imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 Desaturated Colors

[Jedoyle]

Hi All,

Looking for help with the ImageProGraf 1100 I purchased a couple months ago. Printing has been great and I haven’t had any issues until today.

I tried printing multiple images I had printed previously and the reds/magentas were much less saturated than before. I ran a nozzle check to see if the print heads were clogged and it came back ok. I haven’t made any adjustments to the images on the computer. I’m printing with the same paper Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag. Using the Canson ICC profile and AM1X file. Everything is the same as before. No low ink warnings. Any thoughts on what the issue could be. 

[Jedoyle]

Adding in the two images so people can see the difference in color. 

 

 

[HOTSTONEHIKING]

Just out of interest, what are your ink levels? 

I have had a magic set of inks in my 1100. In other words, only two of the inks got to the point where it showed an "X" indicating I had to replace. But the other inks are miraculously at the exact same level, which appears to be about 10%. And it's been that way for two months.

I contacted Canon about this last week. They told me that all was good. My printer was just using those two inks more than the others. But that wasn't a reasonable answer since I am printing full color images and the others should be depleting at a similar rate. 

Today, I was printing with those magical ink cartrdiged and all the sudden the print was desaturated and lacking color. So, one working theory is that Canon has a malfunction with the ink levels reporting correctly. And it's possible your printer is out of one or more of the inks that give you a full color print. 

Would be interested if this resonates with anyone else. I'm going to have to deal with this issue, yet again. BTW, I should also mention that I am on my THIRD printer since having purchased in January. Canon is having some serious QC issues. It's a shame because I don't get paid to deal with these problems. And I teach hundreds of students a year and have to advise them on what hardware to purchase...

[Jedoyle]

Funny you mention ink levels. I tried doing a color calibration and right after that I had low ink warnings. I’m thinking that has something to do with it. I’m going to try replacing the low inks and see if that works. 

 

[HOTSTONEHIKING]

Let me know if that is it. I would appreciate it. 

What's different about your printer is that the inks are all showing different levels (for the most part). Whereas on my computer, as I mentioned, 10/12 have been stuck at the same levels for months... And I have made many prints (albeit small'ish).

[Bluesauce]

Hi there, I know this is a little old now, but I have just stumbled across this thread.

I am experiencing EXACTLY the same issue.  Your two images look exactly the same as to what has happened to mine, out of the blue!

I have done a nozzle check, updated the firmware and done a colour calibration, all without solving the problem.

I’s be very interested to know if and how you got it sorted.

TIA

Andrew

[HOTSTONEHIKING]

I had two printers, back to back, that had this issue. What I learned is that he printer wasn't properly tracking the ink levels. And therefore one, or many, of the inks were completely exhausted even though the on-printer screen and the software ink monitor were telling me that I had ink left. 

Canon is aware of this issue, but so far, they haven't offered a fix. I have had VERY frustrating experiences with them around this. Including a manager telling me that the ink-level monitoring is only an estimate and shouldn't be used to determine when to replace the inks. So, in other words, if I get an exclamation mark, instead of an X, that mean: a. I don't have to replace the ink, b. maybe I should replace the ink, c. you are wasting paper (and your other inks) and need to replace the ink immediately. I thought this was a very odd (w.c.) answer to receive.

[Bluesauce]

Thanks for getting back to me.

At the moment the on printer screen, and the software are showing quite low levels on all inks (+/-) c 15%, but no ! or X.

Tomorrow I will phone the company who supplied me with the printer.  I am in UK and they are called Fotospeed and have an excellent after sales and technical support. I will put this to them.

if that is the case, it is totally unacceptable. How am I supposed to know which inks to replace?! It means I would need to replace them all at a cost of over £500!

In this scenario, I will demand a replacement. Luckily consumer law in the UK is on my side!

I’ll post the outcome on here.  

Thanks again for replying.