Canon i950/i960 color

[Dirtroadie]

I recently switched from a Canon i950 to an i960 for printing photos,
with the expectation that the printers and their drivers should be more
or less identical since they use the same printhead. I was somewhat
surprised when printing with the i960. Despite using the same driver
settings, the same paper, the same inks (and even the same printhead!),
the i960 prints displayed a yellow/green bias which was especially
noticeable in gray areas. I I used using the following sample image:
http://www.inkjetart.com/custom/4800test.zip.

In other words, the only variable would seem to be the printer driver.
I did try using the i965 driver by converting the i960 as described
here:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=70447&forum-
_id=40&highlight=i960+i965+tray
That resulted in output identical to the i960 settings.

Has anyone else experienced this? While I realize that I can do some
manual tweaking of the i960 to achieve output similar to the i950, can
anyone suggest how I might make the i960 driver use default settings
that would be the same as the i950 settings that seemed to be accurate
with minimal or no adjustment?

DR

 

[bmoag]

I presume you are unfamiliar with color management.
You do not clearly state the paper you use and the way you use the Canon
printer driver software or the photo imaging program you print from.
Canon printers, in my experience, are not reliable for color reproduction
unless you learn to calibrate your monitor with an external device, use a
color managed imaging program, and learn the arcane way Canon implements
color management in the i9x printer driver.
Unfortunately, even if you do this, you are stuck with the four not very
reliable paper profiles Canon supplies for the four paper types they
manufacture. Hence to really see what the printer is cabable of producing
you have to also produce your own custom paper/printer profiles.
I really do not know any short answer for the problems you are seeing.

 

[Dirtroadie]

I presume you are unfamiliar with color management.

Not true. But I am not using any of the commercial profiling software.

You do not clearly state the paper you use and the way you use the Canon
printer driver software or the photo imaging program you print from.

What I was trying to point out was how different the two printers are
despite all controllable variables being identical. I was under the
(apparentlty mistaken) impression that the printers would be nearly
identical in output.

Canon printers, in my experience, are not reliable for color reproduction
unless you learn to calibrate your monitor with an external device, use a
color managed imaging program, and learn the arcane way Canon implements
color management in the i9x printer driver.

I think you missed my point. There does not seem to be an "i9x"
driver so much as an i950 driver and an i960 driver and those two do
not seem to create the same result on paper despite using ALL identical
hardware, paper and ink. (I even swapped the head and inks from one
printer to the other. The printer body and driver were the only
variables.

Unfortunately, even if you do this, you are stuck with the four not very
reliable paper profiles Canon supplies for the four paper types they
manufacture. Hence to really see what the printer is cabable of producing
you have to also produce your own custom paper/printer profiles.
I really do not know any short answer for the problems you are seeing.

Again, I got very accurate results from the i950, and relatively
inaccurate results from the i960 using identical driver settings,
paper, ink, and printhead. Sure, I could profile the i960, but the
i950 driver settings are already acceptable without that complication.
So I'd like to see if the built-in driver settings for the i950 can
somehow be cloned to work with the i960.

DR