Using Kodak Ultima Paper with the Canon i960

[Wojo]

Does anyone have a print profile for Kodak Ultima Paper used with a Canon i960. I looked on the Kodak Website for the printer settings, and they haven't been posted yet. Kodak Tech Support said they haven't tested it with the i960 yet. I tried using the the i950 print settings and had poor results. Photo's were much to dark and the color was off.

For kicks, I tried printing through exif directly from my 10D and had good results. No graininess, and better color quality than the HP Premium Plus Paper. When I use the HP paper, the print has a yellowish tint. The question is, what profile are they using when printing through the exif interface. I called Canon Support, but I couldn't get an answer out of them.

I noticed a couple of other things with the i960 when I compared it to my old HP Photosmart P1000. First, The i960 images come out slighly blurry compared with the P1000 prints of the same size(8x10). I used both Canon Premium Plus and Ultima paper with the same results. I thought that with 4800 DPI vs 2400 for the HP, that my images would come out sharper. The image was definitly less grainy, but not as sharp. I tried aligning the print head again but it didn't help. Canon Support sent me out a new print head but that didn't work either. The second thing that I noticed was that the P1000 seemed to print flesh tones better than the i960. Faces seem to come out very flat ( my wife says they look dead ). The same picture on the P1000 comes out great. I'm not sure if this is because I don't have the correct printer profile yet, or the P1000 is just a really good printer.

If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it.

[Longwatcher]

Since the i960 uses the same ink set as the S9000, you might try using those settings. Also of note, one thing to remember is each paper/ink combination will be different as well as each monitor/printer combination will need to be calibrated to each other.

A quick final note on Kodak Ultima Paper, make sure to set the printer for slower modes of printing (fine versus fast) as fast printing will sometimes result in pooling of the ink with this paper.

It is my favorite paper for use with the S9000.

[rizla]

hi longwatcher,

Just got the s9000 and would like any tips you could pass over to me as i'm new to digital photography.Will try the Kodak Ultima Paper :D

What Matt or Pearle papers do you use?

regards
rizla

[John_T]

I have found HP papers to be pretty incompatible with my i9100, or really the Canon inks, and have read many reports of similar problems with Kodak paper. It seems the HP and Kodak papers just can't take the ink at the speeds at which the Canon i9 series print. I use Canon, Ilford and Tetenal papers with outstanding results and no problems.

[CyberDyneSystems]

As you suspected, the i960 is more like the i950 than anything else.

I did not really like ultima on the i950 as much as either Canon or even Epson paper.. perhaps it is just not a good match?

HP apaers on Canon printers is a complete disaster! Avoid at all cost!

[Wojo]

The strange thing is, when I printed through the exif interface directly from the camera, I had great results with the Ultima paper. I think it rivaled the quality of the Canon Premium Plus paper. That makes me believe that I don't have the correct printer profile. I tried setting the print quality to fine (1), but the print still isn't nearly as good as printing directly from the camera. I wish there was a way to see what the printer settings are when printing directly from the camera.

[Longwatcher]

hi longwatcher,

Just got the s9000 and would like any tips you could pass over to me as i'm new to digital photography.Will try the Kodak Ultima Paper :D

What Matt or Pearle papers do you use?

regards
rizla

here is my quick paper test results from last year.
All results use Canon OEM INK BCI-6 cartridges.

:( HP paper smears and pools at any setting I have used. But they did do well in the attic and back of the car window tests.

8) Kodak Ultima paper (Glossy and Satin* finish) works great in slower print modes, it seems to give me the best color, although some might think it is over saturated. Other Kodak papers do not work as good. Kodak Ultima paper was the worst in the back of the car window test; the resin coating broke down and cracked faster then the image faded. Note: The lesser Kodak papers do not work as good I have noticed, but if printed in slower modes will usually work fine. Also very high-humidity may also cause problems during printing.

:) Ilford gallerie Pearl and glossy were basically overall second best except in the harsh environment test I did where I found them to be the best. If you need to leave the print in the sun, use Ilford.

:D Epson papers worked fine, I especially like the photo matte paper for B+W images as it seems to have the best results for B+W and greyscale printing. I prefer the Kodak paper, but don't mind substituting Epson when I am low on Kodak.

:? Office depot paper, similiar to Epson, but cheaper. It is okay, but I just don't like this paper, no objective reasoning though.

:roll: Canon Paper, good, but fades really, really fast under certain lighting conditions, I always recommend spray coating this paper if I want the print to last. I use this paper primarily for 13x19" prints.

So in summary,
Kodak Ultima for 4x6, 5x7 and 8 1/2 x 11 (8x10) (print in fine mode)
Epson Matte for B+W prints
Canon photo pro paper for prints upto 13x19 (always spray coat)
Ilford for harsh conditions.

Just the results of my unscientific paper tests from last year. The original results are somewhere else on this site.

[* Satin finish is similiar to Pearl finish]

[Wojo]

Tim,

Do you remember what your printer settings were for the Ultima Paper when you did your test?

What was your paper setting: Plain, Photo Paper ...

How about your intensity setting? Kodak recommends +10 for plain paper ( using S9000, I'm not sure if this the same for i960 )

Quality setting: fine (1)


I tried setting the paper type to Photo Paper Plus, the quality to fine (1), the intensity to 0, and selected ICM. I get some pooling of the ink but the color quality is very good. I also tried setting the Paper type to plain, intensity to +10, ICM selected, and quality to fine(1). I get a little less pooling, but the color quality doesn't seem to be as good. I'm wondering if you found a better combination of settings for ultima paper.

[rizla]

wojo,
Found this the other day, don't know if it's any good to you :?:

http://wandb.com/icc.htm

regards

rizla