Canon Pixma problems

Other questions
Post Reply
allen-uk
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:02 am

Canon Pixma problems

Post by allen-uk »

Hello.

iMac, Canon Pixma MP800, PrintFab, QuarkXpress. Photoshop.

All running fine till today. In fact I was recommending PrintFab to all my friends and acquaintances because it was SO good.

Then, for no apparent reason, all my prints are coming out very dark. I have run a colour photocopy on the Canon, and it comes out fine, so I think I have eliminated the copier as a possible problem.

Any ideas as to why both my applications should throw up the same fault at the same time? I suspect the PrintFab rip, so I have reinstalled it. Should I download another copy instead?

Thanks for your help.

Allen, London.
allen-uk
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:02 am

Post by allen-uk »

Hello.

Since I posted the above, I have tried some remedies, without success.

a) I switched USB ports on the iMac.

b) I downloaded another copy of PrintFab, ran 'uninstall', then reinstalled.

c) I tried running the same test job without PrintFab, and although the results are not as good as WITH PrintFab, they are much better than the current output.

d) I have tried two different makes of photopaper, both through the main A4 cassette and also through the A5 paper feeder.

e) I have output 4 pics to Photobucket, which can be viewed:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m62/ ... intfab.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m62/ ... intfab.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m62/ ... l-good.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m62/ ... y-good.jpg


The first shows current output witout PrintFab.

The second shows current output WITH PrintFab.

The third shows the original excellent output I had been getting, with PrintFab, up until last week.

The fourth is just a colourcopy run on the Canon, of the original good output, to show that the Canon ink is still working properly.

I hope this gives you enough to work on.

Do you agree that PrintFab is the most likely cause of the problems?

Allen, London.
zedonet
Site Admin
Posts: 2156
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:02 am

Post by zedonet »

Hello,

if prints from both applications (QuarkXpress and Photoshop) come out too dark, probably the reason will be found in the printing queue.
However, if this problem only occurs from certain applications, it might also be derived to a wrong "color management" setting in an application.

If you print from the "preview" application - are the prints also too dark then?

Please check if you have set the correct "intent", color mode and color space (e.g. sRGB or "CMYK Iso coated"). Please not that printing an RGB document in CMYK mode will in result in wrong colors.

If all settings are correct, you could also send us the PrintFab logfiles "/var/log/printfab_cups.log" and "/var/log/printfab.log". You can access the logfiles easily with the "Console" utility program of OS X.

Regards,

Stefan Donhauser
zedonet
Site Admin
Posts: 2156
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:02 am

Post by zedonet »

I received the log files. However, I can't find a reason for the problem there. Is there anything else that you might have changed in between:

- switched from setting "Apple RGB" to "sRGB" in the print dialog, section "PrintFab Settings"
- installed a new PrintFab version
- put in new ink cartridges into the printer
- used a different kind of paper
- installed an OS X update
allen-uk
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:02 am

Post by allen-uk »

Hello Stefan.

No, my settings were sRGB (default), and haven't been changed to Apple RGB.

Yes, installed a new PrintFab, but only AFTER the problem started.

Yes, put new ink cartridges in the Canon, but only used proper Canon cartridges. Also, making a PDF file in QXpress and running it straight to the Canon (i.e. not through PrintFab) gives reasonable quality print, so I don't think it is the printer.

Tried the two different papers I had already used, both through the front cassette and the rear paper feeder. No difference.

Yes, I installed OSX and other updates, but PrintFab problem developed some time AFTER those updates. I can get the details from the update log on Console if you wish.

I am taking delivery of a (second-hand) Mac laptop in the next day or two, and will load QXpress and PrintFab and see what happens. It might prove something!

Best wishes,

Allen.
Post Reply