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ipf5000 Set-up
Sam
Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
Today I got a nice cup of coffee and all the paper work / manuals / disks, and jumped into getting this monster up and printing.
Unwrapping, removing hold downs, installing printheads, ink cartridges, cassette, and output tray was very easy. Called Canon tech to find out what “ledger” size paper is. Turns out it’s 11” X 17”. They said just use plain paper. Like I have plain paper in that size sitting around the house. Oh well, 13” X 19” matte paper will have to do.
The first print in the series of 6 print head alignment prints was very dull, and to say the least disappointing. My mind (yes what’s left of it) stared remembering the comments about how pigmented inks aren’t as vivid as dye based ink printers. The rest of the series got clearer, and the colors while cleaner were still very much pastel.
Now for the real test, I loaded up the cassette with some gloss photo paper, and printed out the Smugmug test print. I was ecstatic to see the bright vivid colors, and crisp print. The graduations in the gray scale bar at the top were excellent. Yeah!!!! Then I sat and really scrutinized it. Humm, the reds are not quite there, and there is a bit of a flat look to it. Now what! Think, think,…….. It’s not very far off, maybe a levels tweak? Wait! Did I soft proof this? No I didn’t………OK soft proof with the profile used to print the image, and Walla! The screen looks just like the print! Success!
Using the printer menus, and getting all the parameters set to print is somewhat convoluted, and non-intuitive, but I knew that going in. That said there is a neat feature that provides info on your print jobs. I was able to find out that the Smugmug test print (I printed it out just shy of an 8” X 10”) used all of 0.3 ml of ink. I am hoping to be able to get a few prints out before I need to replace $900.00 worth of ink!
I’m gona upload 60 images to MPIX to print for a client, No way I want to sit and print 60, ” different 8” X 10 prints, take care of some errands, then come back and set up the roll paper feeder, and try a few B&W images.
Thanks for listening. If you guys don’t under stand, who will?
Sam
Unwrapping, removing hold downs, installing printheads, ink cartridges, cassette, and output tray was very easy. Called Canon tech to find out what “ledger” size paper is. Turns out it’s 11” X 17”. They said just use plain paper. Like I have plain paper in that size sitting around the house. Oh well, 13” X 19” matte paper will have to do.
The first print in the series of 6 print head alignment prints was very dull, and to say the least disappointing. My mind (yes what’s left of it) stared remembering the comments about how pigmented inks aren’t as vivid as dye based ink printers. The rest of the series got clearer, and the colors while cleaner were still very much pastel.
Now for the real test, I loaded up the cassette with some gloss photo paper, and printed out the Smugmug test print. I was ecstatic to see the bright vivid colors, and crisp print. The graduations in the gray scale bar at the top were excellent. Yeah!!!! Then I sat and really scrutinized it. Humm, the reds are not quite there, and there is a bit of a flat look to it. Now what! Think, think,…….. It’s not very far off, maybe a levels tweak? Wait! Did I soft proof this? No I didn’t………OK soft proof with the profile used to print the image, and Walla! The screen looks just like the print! Success!
Using the printer menus, and getting all the parameters set to print is somewhat convoluted, and non-intuitive, but I knew that going in. That said there is a neat feature that provides info on your print jobs. I was able to find out that the Smugmug test print (I printed it out just shy of an 8” X 10”) used all of 0.3 ml of ink. I am hoping to be able to get a few prints out before I need to replace $900.00 worth of ink!
I’m gona upload 60 images to MPIX to print for a client, No way I want to sit and print 60, ” different 8” X 10 prints, take care of some errands, then come back and set up the roll paper feeder, and try a few B&W images.
Thanks for listening. If you guys don’t under stand, who will?
Sam
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Comments
I am having a 32" X 48" canvas print done, and while talking to my printer he told me he just received new ink for his ipf9000, and the cost was $3600.00! Cost of ink is all a matter of perspective.
Sam
Very neat Sam, congratulations on the purchase.
There is a good article here on the printer. I think I would be more concerned whether the desk woill support it's weight
I understand...
Stan
SmugMug Technical Account Manager
Travel = good. Woo, shooting!
nickwphoto
Stan,
I did some research, and the numbers I have are not as good as your estimate.
From the Red River web site they have a ipf5000 log that shows using 1.9 ml of ink for a 13 X 19 print at the highest print quality. Different paper, and print quality settings will effect these calculations.
Theoreticaly if the printer has 12 ink cartridges with each cartridge containing 130 ml, the printer would have a total of 1560 ml. 1560 ml divided by 1.9 ml would be 821 (13 X 19) prints. Another way to look at is based on these numbers the ink cost to print is less than $0.005 per sq inch. I would add a factor for waste, reprints, printhead cleaning, operator errors
Still pretty reasonable costs for high quality prints.
Sam
That was my feeling. Even when you factor in the capital and depreciaion tied up in the printer, so long as you are getting a reasonable through-put, there is a good margin there. Plus you have no one else to blame if the prints are not as you expected. Giving you complete control of the finished product.
Enjoy
Stan
Sam, today M. Reichmann updated his report on your printer.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Too late! I already bought it! Do I realy want to read about it now? Ok.......You talked me into it. I'm off to read about.
Sam
I can relax................The review was very positive. One thing ya gota hate, is to buy a product only to find out it's a dog.
I didn't think I would find that. I had done some research! So far I haven’t had any real surprises, just trying to learn all the idiosyncrasies, and discover the tweaks necessary. I think at this point it would be easier if Canon skipped the included documentation, and just included a 1-800 number with a note in the box to call Canon. J First thing Monday morning I will be a calling them.
It’s all going to work out great. I just need to go through the learning curve, and motions.
Sam