Pixma TS3450 not printing true black

[bellanight95]

I just purchased this printer and I'm having trouble setting it to print a true dark black. I am using a Mac and the print options seem very limited, and there is no manual on what the settings are on the printer itself. I am coming from an HP printer which prints beautiful dark blacks, but smudges badly. The new Canon ink is smudge proof which is perfect, but as I am printing illustrations with a thick black border I need it to print more vibrant colors and a true black. I feel like if I set it to print "normal" the blacks are dark but the quality is too poor, and set at the highest/photo quality the print is perfect except the colors are dull. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need to print asap. Thanks.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

What version of MAC OS are you using the printer with?

What application(s) are you printing from?

Which drivers did you install?

Please review the user guide, if your driver is "appears limited" and does not resemble the images in the guide, you might not have the full set of drivers for your device?

TS3400ser_OnlineManual_Mac_EN_V02.pdf (c-wss.com)

You can scroll down this page to see all of the drivers available for your printer:

Canon PIXMA TS3450 Driver Download | IJ Start Canon

[bellanight95]

Hello, thanks for your response. 

I'm using Mac OS 13.4 and I went through an installation that was outlined in the guidebook. On the Canon website it states my version of Mac OS does not require a driver as it uses AirPrint only. I'm using Silhouette Studio to print from, but have the same issues printing from Photoshop to Pages. Blacks are not black, just a very dark grey, and my vibrant colors are coming out dull. When I hit print the only settings available to select are print quality and I always select Best, and paper type (I have tried them all). 

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

I returned to the downloads and realized the links for Ventura don't actually go anywhere.  Indeed Air Print is the only option for this device under current MAC OS.  Unfortunately, this means limited control.  Are your inks OEM?  PG545 and CL546?  Thats the only other thing you might have control of unless you have different color profiles to select from in the software programs you are printing from.

[bellanight95]

Thanks for your reply. The black is PG545 and color is PG545. Where can I find information about the differences between the ink types? Thanks.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Likely on the support portal for the device.  It should have information about its consumables.