Printing problem - can you help?

[Lena G]

:aureola: Hello, I'm a new member with a strange problem that I hope somebody might be able to help with!

I'm using a Sony A100 (very happily) and printing on a Canon Pixma MP110. Much of my work is colour, but I do also do mono. Until recently I had no problem printing pure greyscale, or producing work toned as I chose. However, over the past few days all my supposedly black and white prints have come out distinctly sepia. I have tried several different ways of converting from colour via Photoshop Elements, and have also tried monochrome capture. I have run all possible cleaning and maintenance programs on the printer, with no change. I did wonder if it could be the quality of the ink cartridge - but when printed with a border, the border comes out in glorious solid black, while the print itself is still sepia!

Any suggestions would be welcome. I live in a very rural area of western France, so access to information/fellow photographers is pretty much limited to the internet!

Regards
Lena G

[freygr]

I had the same problem with my Epson C-80, and Kodak Paper. I have never had a color shift problem with any mat papers. The ink is reacting with the coating of the paper. Make sure to purchase Canon Paper, or other paper that you have tested for color shift.

[milhouse]

You should also have an option in the print dialog bot to print black and white. This way it wont use your color cartridges. If you still have the problem you are either using bad ink or paper.

[Lena G]

Thank you both. Paper could be the problem - I'm currently using Fuji bought in bulk when on half price offer at the local supermarket! Seems to me I got better results with the (cheap, supermarket's own brand) I used before. Could be that the change came with the change of paper. Or, have to admit that I'm using cheap ink at the moment. I'll try changing each, separately and see what happens. My only reservation is that black borders print perfectly black - it's only the image that's off colour!

Milhouse - when you say there should be an option to print black and white, do you mean by ticking "greyscale printing" in print options? I always do that. Or is there something else, that I've been missing?

Regards

Lena

[freygr]

Thank you both. Paper could be the problem - I'm currently using Fuji bought in bulk when on half price offer at the local supermarket! Seems to me I got better results with the (cheap, supermarket's own brand) I used before. Could be that the change came with the change of paper. Or, have to admit that I'm using cheap ink at the moment. I'll try changing each, separately and see what happens. My only reservation is that black borders print perfectly black - it's only the image that's off colour!

Milhouse - when you say there should be an option to print black and white, do you mean by ticking "greyscale printing" in print options? I always do that. Or is there something else, that I've been missing?

Regards

Lena

For production work never ever use any ink other than OEM. Most of the third party ink you will never get the color correct. I sell cards and prints and I have to have color correct output. One of my co-works used a refill kit, and he trash caned it, as he couldn't get the colors balance adjusted.

[milhouse]

Thank you both. Paper could be the problem - I'm currently using Fuji bought in bulk when on half price offer at the local supermarket! Seems to me I got better results with the (cheap, supermarket's own brand) I used before. Could be that the change came with the change of paper. Or, have to admit that I'm using cheap ink at the moment. I'll try changing each, separately and see what happens. My only reservation is that black borders print perfectly black - it's only the image that's off colour!

Milhouse - when you say there should be an option to print black and white, do you mean by ticking "greyscale printing" in print options? I always do that. Or is there something else, that I've been missing?

Regards

Lena

Lena, Yes, I meant Grayscale Printing. Canon is very fussy with the paper that works properly. I know on my Canon Pixma 660 I can only use canon photo paper or printouts look very bad. Cheap inks dont have the same pigments OEM have so its most likely the ink. If you printer takes separate cartridges for all the colors, then try just using Canon black ink. Having said that, I wouldn’t use anything but the manufactures inks because thts what works best and cheap inks can damage printers.

Dave

[Lena G]

Problem solved. It seems to have been a combination of ink and paper.

I went out yesterday and bought Canon paper and ink and have just done some comparative printing - i.e. the same image on each paper in both inks. Result is Canon paper/Canon ink is best, Fuji paper/Canon ink still warmer (i.e. sepia) toned but acceptable. Cheap ink on either paper, not acceptable (paler sepia, just looks faded). I've not been working seriously digitally for long and it hadn't occurred to me that there were the same variations in papers as in a wet darkroom. You live and learn!

Anyway, thanks for your help. Maybe now I can get on and worry about images instead of hardware!

Regards
Lena