PRO-1000 printer firmware 2.05

[Kit Lens Jockey]

Recently my PRO-1000 prompted me to update the firmware. It now says it's at v2.050.

I don't know what the exact upgrades are, but the one thing I noticed is that in Photoshop there is now a "Highest" print quality listed in the printer menu, presumably a better print quality than "High."

Of course not one to want to settle for less than the best, I decided to try this setting on my next print. Well, I can't comment on the quality yet, but I can say that the print speed on "Highest" is glacially slow. And I mean, I started a 14"x21" print (on 16"x24" paper) over ten minutes ago, and the very leading edge of the paper is just now starting to come out of the front of the printer. I would estimate this will take 30-40mins to print, if not more.

Not knocking the printer or Canon. Honestly I'm pleased that they are basically saying "Well, we could make this thing print even better, if you've really got a long time to wait," rather than not being able to do that. After all, more options are better, and I have no time constraints for this print to be finished. I was fully satisfied with the quality and more or less the print speed on the "High" setting, so this is just icing on the cake. Boy, that thing sure is taking its time though... Must be placing each droplet of ink one at a time.

 

[Kit Lens Jockey]

Wow... So according to the logs in the printer, the total print time clocked in at an hour and nine minutes, at a print size of 14"x21".

Admittedly, it's been about a week and a half since I printed anything, so about 5 minutes of that was the time it took for the printer to go through all of the things it does to get ready to print after it hasn't been used for a while.

It doesn't seem like it took more ink than normal... 2.9ml of ink according to the printer. But, it was a very dark, nighttime shot, so it was never going to be easy on the ink.

I will probably keep using this setting just because, why not? I'm never under a time constraint when printing the photos, so if the printer can do a supposedly better job by taking more time, why not let it?

 

[AvTvM]

mabe you could print the exact same image twice: 1x highest quality, 1x high ... and maybe another two, different images that are representative for images you typically print ... to find out, whether "highest quality" produces noticeably better results ... or not.

should you run such a test, please post your findings - thanks!

 

[Eldar]

I am unable to upgrade the firmware on mine. I have it connected to an iMac, over USB and follow all the described steps. When I push Step 2 in the Printer Update Utility (Update the printer functions), the printer is being shut down. After a few minutes, the Printer Utility reports that the printer is inaccessible.

Did you do anything special to make it work?

 

[Kit Lens Jockey]

I have my printer connected to my wifi router, and I print through this, so the printer does have its own direct link to the internet, and I did the firmware update through the menus in the printer itself, no computer involved. In fact, I think the printer even prompted me to update the firmware on its own.

AvTvM,

But doing such a test would require me to print my images in a way that is somewhat less than the best possible manner. And my photos require only the most careful and meticulous placement of inkjet droplets.

Seriously though, I highly doubt I could actually see a difference. The quality of prints on "high" quality has never been less than stunning. I can't imagine there are easily noticeable differences. But as I said, nothing I ever print is at all rushed, so why not use the "highest" setting if it just seems to take more time?

 

[Kit Lens Jockey]

Well so much for that!

So I was printing a photo at about 12x18" on the "highest" quality setting, when just about half way through, suddenly the printer decided it didn't want to continue on, so it promptly spat the half-finished print out of the front.

No clue what happened. The job shows as "cancelled" which it most certainly was not. At first I thought maybe I was running out of ink, as I do have several cartridges low, but then I went on to print two more things on the "high" quality setting with no problem. My computer is set to put the display to sleep after a few minutes, but never the entire machine, so I dunno what happened. And either way, doesn't all of the image data get sent to the printer's buffer when it starts printing anyway?

Either way, obviously something is a little glitchy, so for now I guess I will just leave it set to "high" quality. Honestly I have a very hard time seeing the difference in quality between the aborted print on the "highest" setting and the completed one on "high" I made of the same image right after that.

 

[Eldar]

Well so much for that!

So I was printing a photo at about 12x18" on the "highest" quality setting, when just about half way through, suddenly the printer decided it didn't want to continue on, so it promptly spat the half-finished print out of the front.

No clue what happened. The job shows as "cancelled" which it most certainly was not. At first I thought maybe I was running out of ink, as I do have several cartridges low, but then I went on to print two more things on the "high" quality setting with no problem. My computer is set to put the display to sleep after a few minutes, but never the entire machine, so I dunno what happened. And either way, doesn't all of the image data get sent to the printer's buffer when it starts printing anyway?

Either way, obviously something is a little glitchy, so for now I guess I will just leave it set to "high" quality. Honestly I have a very hard time seeing the difference in quality between the aborted print on the "highest" setting and the completed one on "high" I made of the same image right after that.

I had that experience a number of times with the PRO-1. With the PRO-1000 (not updated) I have not had any issues. I am so happy with the quality it delivers, so I am a bit reluctant to upgrade the FW. However, I still have not resolved the issue I described earlier in this thread. Canon is on the ball, but no response yet.

 

[Dalsgaardfoto]

I had similar issues with the Pro 100, with long print time and canselled prints. Switching to a USB cable eliminated both, so try that.
I now own the Pro 1000 and have the latest firmware installed. Printing a A2 borderless on Luster paper took 13 minutes on highest quality through the USB cable.

 

[Kit Lens Jockey]

Was that 13 minutes on "high" quality, or the new "highest" setting? As I said, the "highest" setting is very very slow, and I don't think that's a problem with the printer.

Eldar, I don't think my problem was brought on by updating the firmware itself, I think it was that I updated the firmware and then used this "highest" quality setting it unlocks. When your print times are about an hour per print, it opens up the chance for errors.

Like I said, I don't really see a difference between "high" and "highest," so since now I see there's a possibility of errors during long print times, I'm not sure if I'll use it.

 

[Dalsgaardfoto]

That was on highest.
Again, try through the USB cable and see if print speed improves. I bet it does.

 

[longwalker]

The conversation about "highest" print setting is strange to me. I purchased a Pro-1000 printer Jan 2017 and upgraded to 2.040.

Since day one my printer driver always offered a"highest" setting. Some papers have "high" setting greyed out, but never the "highest".

This is with Windows 10 running LR, using Canon driver version 2.97 on the PC. Connection is via routed subnet using hardwired 1 gigabit Ethernet.

The printer job management reports that it takes about 13.5 minutes to print a 17x25 inch sheet on setting "highest". Source image 6000x4000 pixels. (Paper: Red River Polar Matt. Not exactly Hahnemühle quality, but still pretty good. Most RR papers come in 25" sheet size.)

The Pro-1000 is now asking me to update to 2.050. Hmmm....