Pixma pro-100 - papers?

divamum

Roll on a year from this thread, and I am the proud new owner of a (free after rebate) Pixma Pro-100. After the nightmare which was trying to get that bloody Epson to work consistently (I never did figure it out - every time I came back to it, it was like starting from scratch so I simply gave up and was, no kidding, using Walgreens for emergency headshots/snapshots instead) this is heaven.

Seriously: letting the printer manage the colour, it was perfect straight out of the gate. Images need a very slight exposure + contrast boost compared to my monitor, but the colour is absolutely dead on and even the first print looked GORGEOUS. Easy, reliable and oh-so-lovely. I may even start printing for fun and (shhh) for clients when needed! So impressed.

In any case, a couple of questions:

1. Is it possible to find 11x14 paper anywhere? Canon seem to jump straight to 13x19, and I hate waste. :deal

2. Has anybody used Epson semi-lustre in the Pixma, and what profile worked? I have a bunch of it left and... hate waste

3. What are YOUR favorite papers for this printer? I'm using a stash of Plus Glossy II that I happen to have (from my el cheapo Canon printer days) and it's lovely, but I don't really like gloss and prefer a pearl finish when I have a choice. Thoughts?

In any case I can't recommend this thing highly enough, and for the (eventual) $0 price tag it was a no-brainer. So pleased I went for it!!

kdog

Congrats again on the new printer, Diva. Glad to hear you got a great price (zero), but you'll be paying them back handsomely over time for the inks.

Have you tried the Canon Print Studio Pro plugins for LR and PS? It's easy to use but still has lots of extra control.

I generally print on 2x3 aspect ratio paper to match the camera. Although I also print 8x10's for portraits on occasion. I'm curious to hear your rationale for 11x14.

I pretty much use Canon Pro Luster almost exclusively. Although I probably should branch out and try different papers as well. I've also use Canon Platinum Plus in the past for Landscapes and really love that. It's similar to Bay Photo metallic from what I remember.

Check out Red River for your 11x14 papers. Everyone raves about their paper. As far as your old Epson papers, I'd certainly give them a try.

divamum

Thanks! I have the plugin installed, but so far have been using LR, with the printer handling details. I will play around more with settings in due course.

Just ordered a RR sample pack - sounds fun!!!

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

divamum

Oh and why 11X14? Big enough to make a statement without taking up too much wall space. I just like it as a size for matting and framing.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

kdog

divamum wrote: »

Oh and why 11X14? Big enough to make a statement without taking up too much wall space. I just like it as a size for matting and framing.

Got it. For my landscapes, I greatly prefer the 2x3 crops because I hate throwing away pixels that I've worked so hard to get. So this has typically transitioned to most everything I print, except for headshots.

divamum

I got a free box of 13x19 semi-gloss with the purchase, so maybe I'll change my mind once I've tried the larger size....

kdog

divamum wrote: »

I got a free box of 13x19 semi-gloss with the purchase, so maybe I'll change my mind once I've tried the larger size....

Mine came with Luster which I got hooked on. My most common print size is 12x18 on the 13x19 paper, so I can use the standard 12x18 mats. That's also a great size and crop factor for group photos which I do a lot of for events. When I shoot Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, I usually bring as a gift to the reception a fully retouched and framed 12x18 print that I took during their formals shoot we did in the morning, usually of the entire family. I then display it on a stand on the gift table without saying anything. Blows their minds when they notice it and impresses guests to no end.

divamum

kdog wrote: »

Mine came with Luster which I got hooked on. My most common print size is 12x18 on the 13x19 paper, so I can use the standard 12x18 mats. That's also a great size and crop factor for group photos which I do a lot of for events. When I shoot Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, I usually bring as a gift to the reception a fully retouched and framed 12x18 print that I took during their formals shoot we did in the morning, usually of the entire family. I then display it on a stand on the gift table without saying anything. Blows their minds when they notice it and impresses guests to no end.

I don't do events, but that is a GREAT idea, and I bet it does impress!

Thanks to being in an Amazon NOW city, without even getting out of my jammies I was able to get my hands on some smaller Canon semi-gloss this morning (ordered it at 10am - it was here by 11am. I may never have to leave my house again!! ). Printed my first bw (which I prefer on anything BUT glossy) and, once again, am blown away. I can't believe I'm getting this quality AT HOME ... without even having had to look at an ICC profile or tweak a single thing. It's just... perfect.

So, for now the semi-gloss I have to hand, the RR papers are on order (very interested to see what their metallic is like, as I have a shot that SCREAMS for metallic paper!), and I'll figure out next steps from there. In the meantime, I am becoming a print-a-holic. And not a SINGLE sheet wasted so far. NOT.ONE.

kdog

Soooo.... how are those ink cartridges holding up?

divamum

RR sampler on back order, so will have to wait a couple of weeks for metallic. In the meantime, this arrived. Fits and works exactly as required. Now I can move it around and get at it, I should probably try a larger print. But have to decide WHAT to print!!! I don't have a lot of wall space in my house, so figuring out what I want to actually *hang* This is FUN!!

duff65

I have been using the RR papers for some time now and happy with them, be sure to download the ICC profiles they are free, also i did try the metallic paper it is great . Amazon seems to be cheaper for ink. And RR has the 11x14 paper.
Troy

divamum

Does anybody else do a metallic? I have an image screaming for that effect.


Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

divamum

Sample pack finally arrived. RR metallic - YYYAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Love it. TIme to order for real, methinks!

divamum

And... just printed a bunch of gifts. This printer is LIFECHANGING (printwise, anyway ). If you're thinking about it, just do it!! Everything plain works right out of the box, and the prints rival any standard lab. Love, love, love, love, LOVE this thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kdog

Glad to hear it, Diva. I admire your adventurousness in experimenting with other papers. I haven't ventured past the Canon papers yet. Are you using Print Studio Pro and loading custom paper profiles?

divamum

kdog wrote: »

Glad to hear it, Diva. I admire your adventurousness in experimenting with other papers. I haven't ventured past the Canon papers yet. Are you using Print Studio Pro and loading custom paper profiles?

I've only printed on the RR Polar Pearl Metallic out of the sampler so far - I just followed their instructions for loading their profiles. I shouldn't have run my test sheets on a day I didn't have LOTS of time to play with it, so I screwed up one of them (forgot to change the paper size in the printer as well as lightroom, and I had previously been using 13x19 - oops), but it was still fine for testing. Came out a little bit darker than I wanted, but I think that was user-error- I'm finding I REALLY have to use my histogram to be sure that my brightest tones are hitting as high as possible without clipping (always true, but more so with printing, I'm learning.) I also just got an unplanned upgrade to a new monitor (hubby's died three days before the holiday and mine was 6 years old and showing some "watermarking" that was making me crazy when editing - and won't bother him at all - so I used the opportunity to replace mine with a beeyoootiful Dell U2414 I found on sale for a great price). I'm noticing that it is a little darker than the previous one, which would be consistent with the settings I've needed for printing. So, "printing too dark" may have been "displaying too bright, even calibrated" and will now be a non-issue. Will run some test prints to check.

All of that to say, the metallic paper itself is GORGEOUS, and I really want to order some as I have a couple of prints begging for the metallic effect. I'd wanted one of their heavily-discounted "seconds" (the fault wouldn't have bothered me), but looks like they sold out; I'll keep checking back. Otherwise, I'll wait until I need a bigger batch and order it all at once to save on shipping. I plan to get the 11x17 - each sheet will then give me 8.5x11, but it will work out cheaper (it comes out to about $1.20 a sheet that way). I still have many papers in the sample pack to try, and look forward to seeing how they work out!! The Fine Art papers are magnificent.

#rambling #printnerdsunite

Edited to add: I have printed out of the Studio Pro plugin, but am finding it just as easy to use the native LR module. It's nice to have both as options, but I'm so familiar with the LR interface - and it doesn't require opening the plugin at all - that it's quicker and easier for me at this point.

r9jackson

I've used the RR metallic for about a year on that printer and you are right they are great. I use RR's ICC profile on the metallic, but I usually let the printer control the color on satin papers, I can't tell the difference from their ICC profiles. Have fun with the printer. I used an Epson R3000 for a couple of years and it finally clogged with ink and the head needed changing which would have cost me more than the printer cost, time to abandon Epson for a really dumb design.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.