imageprograf pro-300 printing not centered

[shadowzero26]

I noticed a couple months ago that my prints were not being centered all the time.  It appears to be a feeding problem but it could also be a printer head problem.  Image is good quality but left and top edges are smaller and in one run of about 20 prints it can be all over the board in terms of distance.  Some are equal with right and bottom edge, some are off only a little, some are way off more than 1/16th of an inch difference (a lot imo).  I noticed today that the ink refill screen display is different.  I looked up the date of the new firmware and I see that 2.00 may have come out at the end of last year.  This makes me suspicious that the printer has updated it's firmware recently and this has been a problem since update.  
Is there a way for me to downgrade the firmware or see when the newest firmware was installed?   Anyone else have the problem of off center printing?

[shadowzero26]

My Canon imageprograf PRO-300 has recently received a firmware update. Since update, printer does not print image in center of page consistently. Image is misaligned to left right and back edge. Image is always square, but image is not printing consistently in center of page.

The printer is 2 years and 8 months old and I would anticipate that the printer would at least live out it's depreciation cycle. I anticipated 5 years at least out of this printer, since 20% depreciation seems typical for a printer of this class. I have not made it to two years, lets round up to 3, that means I have 40-60% of the printer's life expectation left. (I am aware that the printer did not cost over $2500 and cannot meet guidelines for being a depreciated asset)

My instructions after two one hour long phone calls was to buy another printer. I was extended a %20 discount and told this was a non-typical issue.

The image printing quality is perfect, but the alignment is off, but it is always square. There are many things that have been changing recently, and the firmware being suddenly from 1.60 in 2022 to 2.0 in 2025, my estimate is October. I did not use the printer from October until March because I was out of town but we do regularly run prints on it to keep it functioning. Last month I noticed the paper was not printing center. Then I noticed the error message for changing ink was different then usual. It is possible this is a coincidence, however, i suspect that the firmware update might have had something to do with it.
This could easily be ruled out if Canon comments on the subject. Over the phone calls I only received the comment that the firmware would have nothing to do with it. I do not agree. The firmware could easily be sending bad calibration messages to the printer. If it is the printer maintenance, then I expect a solution to fixing the printer. It should last more than 3 years.

[shadowzero26]

Okay, this is a late response, but let me detail what happened:

My problem: prints coming out off center with paper border.

My suspicion: Firmware was rushed, auto-downloaded to my printer, and goofed up the settings

Attempt one: Reinstalled all new drivers.  Tried different computers.  Same solutions offered by call center.

Attempt two: LARGE number of tests run under direction of 2nd call center employee.  Employee (NATHAN) says I need to buy a new printer.  I'M NOT BUYING IT.

Attempt three: After PLEADING for real solution not "just fork over another thousand dollars and throw out all your ink" Third employee helps me clear printer settings on printer and sends me ARTICLE on website located here: 
https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/s/article/ART179898

either the refreshing printer settings or cleaning the ribbon as shown in the link FIXED the issue.

Where can you find this information if you need it? I CANNOT find it on the website without this link, and how would I know what to look for anyway? 0/10 Canon failed miserably.

My business depends on my printer and Canon failed to appreciate me until I was literally begging on the phone to WORK ON THE PRINTER MYSELF.

Horrible experience. Can't wait for the next rushed (probably ai-generated) firmware update that gets FORCED onto my printer so I can discover a new regularly scheduled maintenance routine that is not in the manual or available for discovery without PLEADING for help from multiple call center employees.

[SignifDigits]

So, the article doesn't really 100% align your wording of the symptoms, though it certainly makes sense that grease on the timing strip could do so and "mis-aligned or distorted characters, vertical lines or, in some cases, an inoperable error condition (such as 5100) or knocking / grinding noise." roughly falls into your symptoms.

The way you would find this is pretty simple:

1. Go to the support page at https://www.usa.canon.com/support/p/imageprograf-pro-300 
2. Choose "FAQs" (frequently asked questions)
3. In the "Search Knowledge Base" window type "mis-aligned" or "distorted characters" (or any of the other key words that are in the article).  I just tested it and it works great.
4. Unfortunately the results of typing in "off-center" doesn't result in the useful solution that you you were pointed to by the excellent Canon support team.

The FAQs and the  knowledge base can be hugely useful.