Canon printer media types advice needed.

[Justin]

Hi,

Could anyone tell me please if it's possible to add additional media types to those which are automatically there after installation of printer and driver?

The reason I ask is, I have a Canon Pixma iP4950 printer, I would like to start using fine art papers but I don't have the corresponding media types listed in the print driver. I've tried selecting those which I do have, such as Matte Photo Paper, Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss, etc. etc. but after printing various density charts, prior to having custom icc profiles created, I feel they're not ideal for the paper types I would like to start using, i.e. the charts appear to be less than perfect, i.e. blotchiness from too much ink being laid down, slightly blocked up shadows, reduced colour gamut, etc.

I know the A3+ printers and wide format models have a much greater selection of media types, including various fine art ones. Is there any way I can get these added to my printer?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[bez]

You can download third-party paper profiles which will then appear under Printer Profile in applications such as Photoshop etc. but they will never appear in your Canon control panel, which only shows the OEM profiles.
The third-party profile should tell you which Canon paper to select, often included as initials in the profile name.

However, profiles aren't always released for every printer model - as you say they usually concentrate on the main 'professional' machines, 13" and above. For example if I go to Innova http://www.innovaart.com/en/icc-profile ... Canon.html I cannot see your printer listed, in which case a custom profile is your only option although some paper manufacturers offer free profiling

The blotchiness and blocked shadows you report sound like mismatched paper & profile combinations, or even a paper that simply isn't suitable for your inks, which seem to be an odd combination of pigment and dye?
Reduced gamut or incorrect colour rendition may also be wrong colour management

[Justin]

Hi Bez.

It isn't icc profiles that I'm actually looking for, it's the media types listed in the print driver. I have a limited range of media types listed compared to the higher end printers and I was actually looking to see if it was possible to add aditional ones. The reason being, I wanted to select the optimum paper type, so as to get an accurate custom profile made.

Since posting this question, I've found out elsewhere that you can't add further media types to my printer, so it seems a case of making the best of what I've got, i.e. selecting Matte Photo Paper when printing on the thicker fine art papers and perhaps a Semi-gloss setting may suffice for the various Fibre-based and Baryta papers.

I guess the fine art papers are ideally suited to the higher-end printers, even though they are actually compatible with dye-based machines, such as the one I'm using.

I shall have a play around and hopefully be able to get some acceptable results.

I'm a big fan of the Innova range of papers and it's actually that particular make that I'm currently experimenting with

Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

[bez]

I’m not familiar with the 4950 but I can appreciate you may have fewer choices than the larger Canons. Matte Photo Paper (MP-101) appears to be your only option, compared to something like the 9500
The paper types you do have listed are effectively ‘profiles’ although the 4950 may not have the necessary ink control, or even be able to handle something as heavy as Innova Smooth Cotton High White 315? (there is a 215gsm version)

[Justin]

Thanks Bez. Looks like I've got some experimenting to do over the weekend

[Kevgermany]

Justin, it doesn't really matter, believe it or not.

As long as the same media type is selected when the profile is used, as when it was built, it'll work fine.

As for selecting the media type when you have a custom profile built, ask the profile builder. If you're doing it yourself, select the nearest type.

If you're buying/downloading pre-built profiles, the installation/use instructions with them will tell you which media type to select. This can also be a guide to which media type to use for getting some built...