First Printer

[lunaticitizen]

My wife wants a multifunction printer, so I ordered this.

It can print up to A4 size.

I'm going to try printing this pic of mine.

Ginzan Onsen

It might be the beginning of a new journey for me. Who knows?

[DanK]

As far as I can tell, the XK500 is a model that isn't sold in the US, at least by that name, so I don't know what its capabilities are.

But enjoy the journey. Photo printing is a bit intimidating at first if you want real control, or at least I found it so, because there are a lot of details to learn about--e.g., ICC profiles, making sure that you don't have double profiling (where both the printer and the software try to control color), soft proofing, etc. However, I found that once I learned how to do it, I found it very enjoyable. There is something much more gratifying about holding a print than seeing an image on the computer.

I first printed many years ago with a Canon 4-ink multifunction printer, and while it couldn't rival a dedicated photo printer, it produced prints that were very nice, nice enough to hang on our walls. However, independent paper manufacturers don't usually provide ICC profiles for multifunction printers, and if that's the case with yours, you'll either have to stick with Canon papers (they have a nice variety) or pay for creating an ICC profile for any other paper you want.

The only part of the printing process I still dislike is framing. It's exacting but boring.

[Manfred M]

The only part of the printing process I still dislike is framing. It's exacting but boring.

And custom framing can be quite costly too!

[lunaticitizen]

As far as I can tell, the XK500 is a model that isn't sold in the US, at least by that name, so I don't know what its capabilities are.

But enjoy the journey. Photo printing is a bit intimidating at first if you want real control, or at least I found it so, because there are a lot of details to learn about--e.g., ICC profiles, making sure that you don't have double profiling (where both the printer and the software try to control color), soft proofing, etc. However, I found that once I learned how to do it, I found it very enjoyable. There is something much more gratifying about holding a print than seeing an image on the computer.

I first printed many years ago with a Canon 4-ink multifunction printer, and while it couldn't rival a dedicated photo printer, it produced prints that were very nice, nice enough to hang on our walls. However, independent paper manufacturers don't usually provide ICC profiles for multifunction printers, and if that's the case with yours, you'll either have to stick with Canon papers (they have a nice variety) or pay for creating an ICC profile for any other paper you want.

The only part of the printing process I still dislike is framing. It's exacting but boring.

Just like taking pictures, I understand that printing is also something that has to be learned and experienced in order to master the craft. I don't know if I have the patience (and the monies) to do that but since we have to have a printer anyway, I decided to try.

I have also ordered Canon Photo Paper Gloss Pro [Crystal Grade]^specs for testing. I guess the ICC profile thing should be supported. 1 USD per piece of paper

I forgot that I'll also have to do framing so I haven't really thought about what are needed

[DanK]

And custom framing can be quite costly too!

Indeed. I buy frames and mat that are cut to my specs, which is far cheaper than having prints framed but still very expensive.

have also ordered Canon Photo Paper Gloss Pro [Crystal Grade]specs for testing. I guess the ICC profile thing should be supported. 1 USD per piece of pape

I don't know what crystal grade is, but most Canon papers are considerably cheaper than that here. For example, Canon Photo Paper Pro Luster (as it's named here) is a good general purpose paper for many uses (I use lusters quite a bit), and here in the US, you can get 8.5 x 11 inch (roughly A4) for $0.42 per sheet in boxes of 50. The luster paper I use for non-archival work (which, sad to say, is now most of mine) is Moab Exhibition Luster 300. That one does cost about $1/sheet in that size.

At least here, the Canon printer installation programs automatically install the ICC profiles for all of the Canon papers sold here.

[Geoff F]

Framing is something which drives me crazy. Using shop bought standard sizes, I trim my image to size and carefully add it to the frame. Then turn over the framed result and find a large dust spot. Undo the back, remove the spot and try again only to find two more spots or a tiny sliver of glass.

Going over the inside frame and glass with a vacuum cleaner still results in more spots. It often takes me several attempts before I am satisfied with the result.

[Manfred M]

Framing is something which drives me crazy. Using shop bought standard sizes, I trim my image to size and carefully add it to the frame. Then turn over the framed result and find a large dust spot. Undo the back, remove the spot and try again only to find two more spots or a tiny sliver of glass.

Going over the inside frame and glass with a vacuum cleaner still results in more spots. It often takes me several attempts before I am satisfied with the result.

Your process sounds familiar... I think we all run into the same issue.

When I work with a glossy metal frame, I find wearing cotton gloves while handling it helps by avoiding finger prints. I use a large micro-fibre cloth to clean the glass and find it works better than anything else.

I sometimes have to resort of to spot-cleaning with a liquid cleaner if there is a dirt spot that cannot be removed by just rubbing with the micro-fibre cloth. I avoid using paper towels as they tend to shed paper fibres that cause more issues than they solve - old worn out cotton tea towels seem to work best here as they tend to be "lint-free".

[DanK]

Indeed. I have sometimes had a frame completely done, with even the hanging wire attached, and then found that I had to disassemble the entire thing to get rid of a spec of something between the mat board and the glass.

I find that a rocket blower, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ir_Blower.html, is an essential tool.

I first clean dust off the table surface. I usually also work on a large piece of cardboard, not to avoid dirt, but to avoid scratching the frame.

I clean the glass if needed, using a standard window cleaner. I find paper towel does work for the cleaning stage, but as Manfred says, you then have to get rid of any remaining paper fibers. For that, and for miscellaneous dust and grit, the rocket blower is very useful.

I use cotton gloves in parts of the process, but they too can leave fibers, so one still has to be ready to blow the surfaces clean.

In a few minutes, I'll be framing a pastel (one of several given to me), which makes framing photographs look like picnic because the pastel itself sheds colored dust. Normally, I frame these backwards, with a double mat but with the larger opening contacting the art. The top mat has a smaller opening so that dust that falls off hopefully falls behind the top mat. The last stage is the hardest: ideally, you insert the art facing up, rather than my usual, which is to have the glass on the bottom and slide the art and mat over it. Then you have to transport it facing up.

[Round Tuit]

A couple of years ago, I decided to change a print in one of my framed picture. As I took the print out of the frame, I was surprised by the immediate increase in contrast and sharpness of the print. I had not realized before how much a plain sheet of glass reduces the visual appearance of the print. All my prints are now glass free. It makes the framing process so much easier and the prints look much better.

So far, I have not noticed any degradation in print quality due to exposure to the atmosphere. I intend to do a side by side comparison with a fresh reprint at some point in the future.

[DanK]

A couple of years ago, I decided to change a print in one of my framed picture. As I took the print out of the frame, I was surprised by the immediate increase in contrast and sharpness of the print. I had not realized before how much a plain sheet of glass reduces the visual appearance of the print. All my prints are now glass free. It makes the framing process so much easier and the prints look much better.

So far, I have not noticed any degradation in print quality due to exposure to the atmosphere. I intend to do a side by side comparison with a fresh reprint at some point in the future.

Thanks for posting this. I was recently thinking about trying framing without glass but haven't tried it yet. What got me thinking about it again is the release of the new Canson matte baryta (my samples of which haven't arrived )

[lunaticitizen]

Will you guys look at this!



Lightroom -> Print module -> click Print

[DanK]

Will you guys look at this!



Lightroom -> Print module -> click Print

Congratulations!

Although some people look down their nose at printing from Lightroom, I think it's a superb printing module, and I now do all of my printing with it.

However, 'click print' is not taking advantage of it. It's very powerful and lets you control all of the key dimensions of printing other than soft proofing, which you have to do in the Develop module. Some are managed directly in the right-hand panel. Others are handled via the printer setup using either the "page setup" or "printer" icons. These include the paper medium, print quality, color management, output (print) sharpening, perceptual/relative rendering, and more. My unsolicited suggestion is that you gradually work through these. There is very good documentation on the web, but you can also post questions here if you get stuck.

[Manfred M]

A couple of years ago, I decided to change a print in one of my framed picture. As I took the print out of the frame, I was surprised by the immediate increase in contrast and sharpness of the print. I had not realized before how much a plain sheet of glass reduces the visual appearance of the print. All my prints are now glass free. It makes the framing process so much easier and the prints look much better.

So far, I have not noticed any degradation in print quality due to exposure to the atmosphere. I intend to do a side by side comparison with a fresh reprint at some point in the future.

I have several prints that have been framed without glass. They are in an area that is well away from kitchen fumes and they are never hit by direct sunlight. They are also around 36" x 44" in size and it is pretty standard to not use glass in very large sizes because of the weight involved. There is limited risk of damage from anything hitting them.

These were printed on Canson Baryta Photographique II paper, with Epson pigment inks. The older product Baryta Photographiqe) was rated as 64 years by Wilhem Research, with Epson pigment inks. I don't see any results for the newer paper yet, although I seem to recall seeing a 40 year number somewhere. I would not expect to see any noticeable change in this prints during my lifetime, so no surprise at all that you have not noticed anything.

In general, using a non-UV glass roughly doubles the expected life span of prints, so one would expect lower deterioration, but again, none of this is going to make any real-life difference to me. I do use glass in frames with sealing (edges are taped to prevent harmful fumes from getting to the prints), in areas with more light and closer proximity to kitchen fumes.

[lunaticitizen]

Congratulations!

Although some people look down their nose at printing from Lightroom, I think it's a superb printing module, and I now do all of my printing with it.

However, 'click print' is not taking advantage of it. It's very powerful and lets you control all of the key dimensions of printing other than soft proofing, which you have to do in the Develop module. Some are managed directly in the right-hand panel. Others are handled via the printer setup using either the "page setup" or "printer" icons. These include the paper medium, print quality, color management, output (print) sharpening, perceptual/relative rendering, and more. My unsolicited suggestion is that you gradually work through these. There is very good documentation on the web, but you can also post questions here if you get stuck.

Thank you for the advice. I don't know any other way to print other than from Lightroom

I haven't had the chance to review all options on the module, I just changed the output sharpening option to normal and chose the right paper (Canon Photo Paper Pro Crystal Grade), that was it.

One thing I realized after I printed out that particular picture was that the cat is so out of focus
I've got only one Nissin flash (75 Ws), and I had to open up the aperture of the lens to f/4 to be able to shoot at base ISO.

[DanK]

Thank you for the advice. I don't know any other way to print other than from Lightroom

I haven't had the chance to review all options on the module, I just changed the output sharpening option to normal and chose the right paper (Canon Photo Paper Pro Crystal Grade), that was it.

One thing I realized after I printed out that particular picture was that the cat is so out of focus
I've got only one Nissin flash (75 Ws), and I had to open up the aperture of the lens to f/4 to be able to shoot at base ISO.

In my view, the single most important next step is learning how to avoid double profiling. I can explain this for Windows, but if you use a Mac, things may be different.

With a PC, control of color is found in two places, and you have to coordinate them. The general rule is to let software control color for color prints and let the printer control color for B&W prints. One place is in the color management box at the bottom of the right panel of the lightroom print module. The other is in the printer firmware, which you access via the "properties" button in the paper setup or printer routines in LR (buttons at the bottom).

For color:

1. set LR color management to the profile for your paper.
2. Under printer properties, select the Main tab, go to the color/intensity box and click "manual". On the next page, pick the Matching tab, and set matching to none.

For B&W:

1. Set LR to "managed by printer" instead of the profile for the paper
2. On the first page of the printer properties (Quick setup), select B&W print.

[lunaticitizen]

In my view, the single most important next step is learning how to avoid double profiling. I can explain this for Windows, but if you use a Mac, things may be different.

With a PC, control of color is found in two places, and you have to coordinate them. The general rule is to let software control color for color prints and let the printer control color for B&W prints. One place is in the color management box at the bottom of the right panel of the lightroom print module. The other is in the printer firmware, which you access via the "properties" button in the paper setup or printer routines in LR (buttons at the bottom).

For color:

1. set LR color management to the profile for your paper.
2. Under printer properties, select the Main tab, go to the color/intensity box and click "manual". On the next page, pick the Matching tab, and set matching to none.

For B&W:

1. Set LR to "managed by printer" instead of the profile for the paper
2. On the first page of the printer properties (Quick setup), select B&W print.

Thank you for the advice. I use Macintosh, by the way.

It might be because my printer is a multifunction one; there're only "Managed by Printer" and "Others..." for Profile.


When I clicked "Others..." there was nothing there.


So from LR I clicked "Printer..." and set the correct paper there.

[DanK]

Thank you for the advice. I use Macintosh, by the way.

It might be because my printer is a multifunction one; there're only "Managed by Printer" and "Others..." for Profile.


When I clicked "Others..." there was nothing there.


So from LR I clicked "Printer..." and set the correct paper there.

What you selected was the paper media type, not the profile. The media type controls things like how much ink is laid down but not the color profile.

At least in Windows, the box that was empty on your computer shows all of the ICC profiles installed into the operating system and lets you choose which ones you want to have show up in Lightroom. Here is most of the Canon paper section of that box on my computer:



Because I don't use Canon papers often, there is only one checked. That one shows up as a choice under managing color in Lightroom.

In windows, installing a Canon printer automatically installs the Canon ICC profiles into the operating system. I didn't manually install any of the ones you see here (unlike all of the ones you don't see for non-Canon papers, which I entered manually and are checked in that part of this list).

So, step one is that you need to find out how to install the Canon profiles you need into the Mac OS. I'm afraid I can't help, but a google search (well, in my case, DuckDuckGo, not google) should find an answer.

Second, you need to find out whether on a Mac, specifying that the software should control colors using a profile is sufficient to turn off the printer firmware's attempt to control color. Under Windows, it isn't, but it might be under the Mac OS.

[LenR]

As Dan mentions Canon ICC profiles should automatically be installed with a Canon printer.
That being said I am not familiar with the printer you have or with the Mac o/s.
However a quick online search brought up the following article from Canon which may be of help.......

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/ind...t&id=ART164229

[lunaticitizen]

Hmm..

This particular printer was added to my Mac using the instruction in its manual, which uses AirPrint technology. This means there is no driver required. I couldn't find any specific instruction to install printer driver manually.

This printer has a USB B interface but didn't come with any USB cable. So I ordered one to see if anything changes if I use USB connection.

Here's the printer manual (translated using Google Translate). Manual driver installation is not required nor supported, apparently.

Next I looked for the ICC profile for my printer. I found this (again, Google translated). For my printer (XK500) there's no ICC profile for Macintosh. There's one for Windows (CNBTCRN3.icm), though.

Removing and re-adding the printer resulted in the same situation. Only Bonjour Multifunction was visible.


Trying to manually add the printer using the standard Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) will result in a generic PostScript printer being added, so I didn't proceed.

Second, you need to find out whether on a Mac, specifying that the software should control colors using a profile is sufficient to turn off the printer firmware's attempt to control color. Under Windows, it isn't, but it might be under the Mac OS.

I don't know how to look up the information for that, yet..

[lunaticitizen]

Ready to be framed and hung, somewhere...