Requesting information with 9000 mark II

One thing to try is a color test chart -- you can create your own with Photoshop or download one from one of numerous Web sites (Google "print color test chart" to see a bunch). There are, you will see, articles discussing this and other color management issues. Try printing one letting the printer manage the colors and one letting Photoshop manage the colors with the proper printer/paper profile and that could give you an indication of where things might be amiss.

Check out my thread:
"Is there a "best" paper for green subjects? "
I have a similar situation; my greens are certainly not "gray-green" but they're also not what I see on the screen. They are acceptable (which means they look good), but they're not what I see on screen. You might try a different paper and also different rendering intents.

But it's not because something is out of whack on the printer (nozzle stuck, etc) because I also can't get the greens to match in soft-proofing. Have you tried soft-proofing with different papers?

Seems like everybody that has a 9000 says they rarely see any of the actual green ink used. I sure don't, and I print a lot of green! (Hah! Wish my photography could make me a lot of green!)

scmitch wrote in post #11458728
What's up??? I'm at my wits end and ready to "can the Canon" for my old Epson 2200.

Thanks in advance for any clues.

Have you tried printing a standard printer test image to isolate and test the printer? If not, download one here and print it, with no editing. (Do NOT alter the test image).

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk …le_pages/test_i​mages.html

After all this discussion of green print performance, I wonder if Canon will make a change to the inkset of the 9000 mkII. Epson added an orange ink to the R1900 to make colors more vivid. My own HP has an extra blue ink to extend the blue print performance beyond the sRGB gamut.

Has this problem the OP and others have had with this printer and green been resolved? I would like to see a happy ending to this one with the actual problem explained.

I've had the same probllem printing from PhotoShop on my 9000 mark ii. Thurned out I had to disable printer color management, let PS do the management. Without doing that both were trying to manage it and screwing up the greens. Now the pics come out great.

Wayne

dba1954 wrote in post #11463451
I've had the same probllem printing from PhotoShop on my 9000 mark ii. Thurned out I had to disable printer color management, let PS do the management. Without doing that both were trying to manage it and screwing up the greens. Now the pics come out great.

Wayne, would you please share all your printer settings with us as I'm sure there are many new Pixma Pro 9000 mkII owners who would appreciate them.

scmitch, there's another thing that can make the colors look really wrong on your prints, which you may know about: The color you're viewing them under.
I've got this one print that looks okay in sunlight, looks okay under the proofing light, but under ordinary halogen lights one part of the print just kinda falls apart. The rest of the print looks okay but that one area turns into a kind of flat gray mush. It's really weird!

ncjohn,

You are correct. I have noticed a very different look when viewing my prints under tungsten, and daylight. I'm currently using OEM Canon inks, with Canon Glossy Plus II paper.

I just ordered a sample set from Red River, which many have recommended.

I'm beginning to think it is a color gamut difference between the screen and printer capabilities. Maybe a different paper would help.

At the same time, why would Canon have separate Green and Red ink tanks if they are not going to use them???? Both my red and green tanks are completly full after 100 or so various prints. If I get a chance today I will call Canon to see if they can shed some light on this. (bad pun)

scmitch wrote in post #11468967
ncjohn,

You are correct. I have noticed a very different look when viewing my prints under tungsten, and daylight. I'm currently using OEM Canon inks, with Canon Glossy Plus II paper.

I've gotten to like Canon Pro Platinum a lot. It's nice and rich and doesn't require much correction to match my screen. Just a suggestion.

Yeah, I agree, and I don't know. Those inks are supposed to give you better reds and greens.

Be sure and get back to us on what they have to say.

I will try to post my printer setting later. I would like to know what program you are using for printing, it can make a difference. PhotoShop has color manage, programs like Picasa do not. If the program you have has color management them you need to disable the printer color mangement or they will fight with each other. Greens can turn out brown or super bright because both are trying to manage them. Also, you need to pick the correct paper profile. Some of the profiles are listed below for canon paper.

Canon Pro9000 Mark II series MP1 (Matte Photo Paper Print Quality 1)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series PR1 (Photo Paper Pro II Print Quality 1)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series PR2 (Photo Paper Pro II Print Quality 2)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series PR3 (Photo Paper Pro II Print Quality 3)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series SG1 (Photo Paper Plus Semi Gloss Print Quality 1)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series SG3 (Photo Paper Plus Semi Gloss Print Quality 3)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series SP1 (for Photo Paper Plus Glossy)
Canon Pro9000 Mark II series GL1 (for Photo Paper Plus Glossy II)

Just had a very revealing conversation with Canon. They were great to talk to. Quick response, knowlegable, and spoke English.

The gal on the other end went through the litany of doing a nozzle check, head alignment, and printing directly from EZ photo print. Printer is working fine. She also acknowledged that I will use very little red and green (unless I'm printing Christimas colors, in her words).

In the process of comparing a picture she had me print with printer color management, one I printed with my Spyder profile, and one printed at Costco, the real issue came forward. I had been comparing all my prints under tungsten light because I work all day and play at night. Today I laid the prints on my desk in direct (cloudy sky) daylight and OMG the greens in the Costo and my own profile matched perfectly! Put them under a desk lamp and the greens go grey.

The Canon Plus Glossy II paper looks completely different in tungsten vs daylight. She said other papers, even third party papers will behave differently.

For those of you who already know this I guess this was a great learning experience. I'm now very satisfied with my printer, and look forward to trying different papers.

For those that asked, I'm using Photoshop PS3, with Windows XP, and normally letting PS3 manage colors. That is I turn off all color management in the printer setting.

Thanks all, for your input.

That's great news, scmitch. Nothing sucks quite as much as spending a lot of money for a great toy and then thinking there's something wrong with it. Glad you like your printer now.
I'm also glad to know the Canon person was so helpful. My only experience was them has been by email and it's left a lot to be desired.

scmitch... Do a POTN search on "Solux".

That's interesting!

You know, something I considered earlier but didn't bring up is the idea that the software/printer/drive​r could a couple ways of processing a "green" color. If you have a dedicated green ink, then the printer would use it for some greens, but if you have a blue ink and a yellow ink, the printer could lean toward mixing them for some greens. And, when you talk about viewing under tungsten lights, think tungsten = yellowish, and yellowish light on yellowish colors will reflect back as grayish...does that make sense?

An interesting test could be to make up a "Greens Test Chart" where you have patches of shades of greens that are made up in various ways, like the "Christmas colors" green on one end and on the other a more "leafy natural" green that would tend to have more yellow. I'd imagine that the first would use more of the green ink and the last more of a mix and would look more grayish!

scmitch, did that person at Canon address the question of why the green ink seems to never get used?