Profiling a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-6000

[ColorMonkey]

So we bought this printer to replace our imagePROGRAF 9100. Well I built the profiles for that machine and all was great. Prints were outstanding and matched beautifully. No issues with color matching.

Now we have a slight problem. Profiled the 6000 and everything went well profiles appear to be solid. In fact on 99% of what we are printing we are happy however detail in shadows on our matte paper seems to get a tad muddy. The real issue is this and I have never experienced this so I am not sure what is going on or better yet, how to resolve it.

We have an artist that we have been doing work for for several years. She has 3 particular pieces that she has reordered. The color in question is a very rich purple and blue. When we soft proof the file using the profile for the paper everything is out of gamut (purple-blue). However where it begins do get darker on the edges, when soft proofing, it turns grey? When you print it it prints just like it displays.

This same image I can take to my laser printer and understandably it soft proof out of gamut however the grey does not show in the image. It prints fine given all the obvious expectations, conversion, paper, process, etc. The thing is it does not soft proof with the "grey" using the custom profile for the laser as it does with the inkjet.

I use an xrite isis with xrites profiling software i1 Profiler. I am using the 2945 patch set.

Just wondering if anybody has experienced this sort of problem before and can explain what's going on and possible remedy.

Appreciate the help as always

BTW With the inkjet, the image is tagged adobergb and was sent with perceptual as in the past on the other inkjet but out of curiosity also relative colormetric which helped a tad with the lessening the "grey" but tbh same result. I have also tried to build a profile a few times but the end result is always the same.

Here are two of the profiles created and a wedge of the image

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ax8kengxdtois93/profiles.zip?dl=0

 

[Correct Color]

The issue you're having is what's known as "capping." Basically capping happens when an inking condition is created in which the single channel ink limits are set so that they can't be supported by the multi-channel ink limits, so that in certain conditions, the profile then "caps" and just prints grey.

Since you're not using a RIP and are just generating RGB profiles, that means this is going on inside the printer, and you don't have any control over it. About all you can do in this instance is try some other front panel paper settings and see if you can find one that works. In all cases, the inking strategy has to be created to create the printing dots. Two huge aspects of inking strategy are the limits of each primary color channel, and then the overall inking limit. When you're making "RGB" profiles, what that really means is that the inking strategies you're using are the ones built into whatever media you selected on the front panel. In this case, whatever media setting you're using isn't working very well on this particular media.

Or, alternately, you can get a RIP and take full control of the printer.



Mike Adams


Correct Color

 

[ColorMonkey]

Thank you very much for explaining that to me Mike. I really do appreciate you taking the time to explain that and was hoping you would post.

So now I'm not sure what to do HA. I built another profile based on another paper type canon has listed when you go to build a custom profile however the gamut volume was smaller than this media type. Again the paper is the same as we used on the 9100 but yeah, I guess things are very different with this PRO4000.

Not sure how to tackle this one properly tbh. With the other printer it seem to profile well and we were more than happy with the match/outputs. Now for some reason this is an issue and it literally is screwing us on some prints, not many, but some.

Thanks again Mike

 

[Correct Color]

Try a heavier-weight material. The heavier the material the more ink it's likely to take. That's about your only hope in the front panel.

The problem is that on all these aqueous machines that can profile "RGB" the inking settings that are built into the media in the front panel were made for a particular media sold by that machine maker. And they know what they're doing, so they work very well. So if you use their media, you're usually fine. However, their settings aren't made for any third-party media, so then all you can do is try to find one that works.

The alternate is to use a RIP that allows you control of all the inking settings in the RIP. It's a steep learning curve -- frankly, you're better off not even trying to learn and just hiring me to come do it -- but the results are well worth it.


Mike

 

[DYP]

When I went from the iPF9000 to the iPF8400 I found that there was software from Canon (imagePROGRAF Media Configuration Tool) that let you setup custom media which allowed you to print a test of ink densities which you could see the affects of and make a choice. There are also some paper suppliers https://www.lexjet.com/icc-profiles that have already defined custom papers that you can import into your printer. The Pro-6000 has the same software and functionality. If you haven't looked into that it might be something you want to check out. Make sure you download and install the latest software from Canon.

 

[Correct Color]

DYP,

The problem with all of those is that none of them actually change any of the internal inking configurations. They make them somewhat easier to sort through for various third-party media, but they don't add any settings that aren't already there. No paper manufacturers are able to get into the "black box" of the printer and add inking strategies.

For that, you have to have a RIP.


Mike

 

[DYP]

I was talking about Maximum Ink Usage of which there are 5 or 6 settings which could be helpful in this situation if the problem is simply to much ink being laid down. Yes you are correct that ink limits per channel can not be set or changed by any Canon software.

 

[stavewillson9]

I am also using a Canon printer. For that, I am also having this issue for a few days and I solve the problem by my self. However, after solving this issue my Canon printer doesn't print properly, it says that canon printer error 5200 I hope you will provide me a proper solution for that.

 

[ColorMonkey]

I assume you already saw this but I'll post it anyways

https://www.canonsupportnumber.org/how-to-resolve-canon-printer-error-5200/