Do I need an ICC Profile? Pixma MP640 Lightroom PP-201 paper

[CADdict]

I have recently bought a Pixma MP640 wireless all-in-one. I've been hearing a lot about ICC profiles for paper/printers and was wondering how I might get the best configuration for my equipment.

I'm using Lightroom 2, on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard and mainly use Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II (PP-201)

After a quite painful installation, I have the printer working and there are some colour options available but none of them seem obvious to use with that paper.

Any info or suggestions would be much appreciated !

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: Do I need an ICC Profile? Pixma MP640 Lightroom PP-201 paper

Hello CADdict; welcome to the forum...

With the caveat that I use neither a Mac or Lightroom...

I would have thought it unlikely that you would need to download any ICC profiles if you're using Canon paper on a Canon printer....

Typically the Canon printer will ask you what flavour of Canon paper you want to use, so it can set the appropriate profile which should already be loaded...

You should only need to load a new profile to the printer if you will be using non-Canon paper...

That, at least, is my understanding...

When you say 'there are some colour options' are you talking about the printer's control panel under 'colour management' ? If so, at this point, I would leave it as 'Automatic' if that's an option...

What happens when you try a test print? Do you get a reasonable rendition to what you see on the screen - assuming that your screen is also calibrated...

[Dan]

Re: Do I need an ICC Profile? Pixma MP640 Lightroom PP-201 paper

Hi CADdict,

Canon-Fodder is right, you don't need a colour profile for Canon papers on Canon printers as the driver already contains them.

I own an MP980 and use the same paper as you. I also own a Mac but use Photoshop Elements. I must admit, I do find it a bit confusing as there are so many dialog boxes where you can set printer settings but for me I do the following:

-> in Elements I have to set the colour management / colour handling settings to 'printer manages colours'
-> in Elements Page Setup I ensure the correct printer is set (I have two) and then set the appropriate paper i.e. 4x6 standard or 4x6 borderless
-> when I click on Print I then get the Canon print dialog box - here's where you get full control over your prints
--> in the middle there should be a drop down box, initially 'Layout' but change this to 'Quality and Media' then in 'Media Type' select your paper

Not sure how you would do this in Lightroom but I can't imagine it being much different.

With that said, you can still profile the paper if you so wish but I personally find that the final print colours are a pretty close match to that of the print on my screen. I do use a Spyder Pro to ensure my screen is calibrated mind - this is the first step in getting your print colours accurate in my opinion.

Hope this helps!

Dan

[EOS_Jim]

Re: Do I need an ICC Profile? Pixma MP640 Lightroom PP-201 paper

I'd differ slightly from the comments above. Not every machine is calibrated the same and custom profiles will look better than the styandard ones that are provided by the companies. What you will get is a decent output rather than the best.

When using Lr, you should enter your profile into the "Print Job" section of the Print module. Under "Managed By Printer", select "Other" and select the correct profile.

If on the other hand you let the printer manage the colours you don't need to select a profile. This is not generally the best way to print but does work for some.

[Dan]

Re: Do I need an ICC Profile? Pixma MP640 Lightroom PP-201 paper

Hi EOS_Jim, I guess it's all down to what you're happy with personally - for me the Canon combination does actually work quite well. My Spyder Pro doesn't profile paper but in a few weeks I should have a color munki to play around with so will be able to perform a comparison then though I'm sure a custom profile will knock socks off the canon profile even with the canon paper!! :-)

[EOS_Jim]

Re: Do I need an ICC Profile? Pixma MP640 Lightroom PP-201 paper

Hi EOS_Jim, I guess it's all down to what you're happy with personally - for me the Canon combination does actually work quite well. My Spyder Pro doesn't profile paper but in a few weeks I should have a color munki to play around with so will be able to perform a comparison then though I'm sure a custom profile will knock socks off the canon profile even with the canon paper!! :-)

Not sure it would "knock the socks off it". If you are having problems yes certainly but the standard profiles aren't bad.... just not as good as they could be for your individual system and use.