Red and Green used for what, exactly?!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Miss Perspicacia Tick
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Miss Perspicacia Tick

Canon i9500

I've been printing a commercial job (postcards featuring a red-brick village
church, which is surrounded by grass). I've just had a message that my photo
cyan is low (figures as there's a lot of sky) and I'm surprised to see that
the red and green tanks are still full as I would have thought they'd have
been used for, erm, the church and the grass. If it isn't using them, I fail
to see the point of an 8-colour printer. Or does it use them in such minute
quantities they'll last me forever?
 
Miss Perspicacia Tick said:
Canon i9500

I've been printing a commercial job (postcards featuring a red-brick village
church, which is surrounded by grass). I've just had a message that my photo
cyan is low (figures as there's a lot of sky) and I'm surprised to see that
the red and green tanks are still full as I would have thought they'd have
been used for, erm, the church and the grass. If it isn't using them, I fail
to see the point of an 8-colour printer. Or does it use them in such minute
quantities they'll last me forever?
Click to expand...

Probably you have to use the "Vivid" setting in the print driver
Preferences to use those two colors. In my i9900 driver it's under the
Effects tab. But it is also a choice in the Canon Easy Photo print
program on the page where you choose the Paper.

I've been printing quite a few pictures and it's only really made
inroads on Photo Cyan and Photo Magenta (both of which I've refilled).
Meanwhile it just indicated ordinary Magenta is now down to half and
Yellow is down to 1/4 and both Red and Green are still showing full
because I haven't bothered with "vivid" since the pictures of sky and
grass look fine without.

However, I did try one picture with vivid setting and it does make a
difference.

Rob
 
Rob said:
Probably you have to use the "Vivid" setting in the print driver
Preferences to use those two colors. In my i9900 driver it's under the
Effects tab. But it is also a choice in the Canon Easy Photo print
program on the page where you choose the Paper.

I've been printing quite a few pictures and it's only really made
inroads on Photo Cyan and Photo Magenta (both of which I've refilled).
Meanwhile it just indicated ordinary Magenta is now down to half and
Yellow is down to 1/4 and both Red and Green are still showing full
because I haven't bothered with "vivid" since the pictures of sky and
grass look fine without.

However, I did try one picture with vivid setting and it does make a
difference.

Rob
Click to expand...

I'm having a play now. I'll do one with and one without and compare the
results.
 
Those two inks probably are only used where the expanded gamut in those
directions require their use. Overall quality can be better NOT using them
unless required. The 'alternavive' lighter "photo" inks
make for smoother coloration when they are able to "hit" the color
wanted. For colors outside what those other inks can do, the new inks
are required. If it weren't for photo-cyan and magenta, it'd make
more sense to use the green and red inks "routinely". With the smaller
and smaller dot sizes, the need for photo-versions may go down with
smoothness gotten by sheer smallness of the dots. Like iin the new Epson 800.

Mike
 
Those two inks probably are only used where the expanded gamut in those
directions require their use. Overall quality can be better NOT using them
unless required. The 'alternavive' lighter "photo" inks
make for smoother coloration when they are able to "hit" the color
wanted. For colors outside what those other inks can do, the new inks
are required. If it weren't for photo-cyan and magenta, it'd make
more sense to use the green and red inks "routinely". With the smaller
and smaller dot sizes, the need for photo-versions may go down with
smoothness gotten by sheer smallness of the dots. Like iin the new Epson 800.

Mike
Click to expand...

Well the Canon i9900 uses 2 picolitre droplets which is pretty small
and it still uses way more PhotoCyan and PhotoMagenta than any other
of the colors. I've refilled both while the ordinary Cyan is still 3/4
full and the Magenta is 1/2.
 
Rob said:
(e-mail address removed) (Anoni Moose) wrote:

Well the Canon i9900 uses 2 picolitre droplets which is pretty small
and it still uses way more PhotoCyan and PhotoMagenta than any other
of the colors. I've refilled both while the ordinary Cyan is still 3/4
full and the Magenta is 1/2.
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly! They're using the two-level cyan and magenta for their
dithering to smooth the color transistions and improve accuracy. Best thing
to do if the inks are available for use (which they are).

Mike

P.S. - I understand that a 2 picoliter drop (like in the R800) is effectively
smaller than the 2 picoliter i9900 drop (printer I have) because dye
inks "spread" a little more than do pigment inks which tend to sit on
the surface a bit more. Next generation Canon, if they go to 1-pl
drops may do away with the photoCyan and photoMagenta and maybe add
blue -- or something like that. Do RGB *and* CMYK at the same time
(yes, I know it's technically not because RGB, per se, is additive
while in this example it isn't, but it's still amusing to me). :-)
 
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