How can I reduce show-through when duplex-printing a photo zine on a Canon Pro-100?

Asked 11/15/2018

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I'm printing a small photo zine of about 16 pages on a Canon Pro-100 and need to print on both sides. To keep costs down, I tried a generic 60 lb ultra-smooth copy paper, but color prints show through from the reverse side.

I tested Canon matte and luster paper settings/profiles, but the main difference was saturation, not bleed-through. Black-and-white laser prints on similar paper did not have this problem.

Is there a printer profile or paper setting that uses less ink on the Pro-100, or is the real solution to use a different kind of paper? If so, what type of paper/setting should I be looking for when printing double-sided on an inkjet photo printer?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

2 Answers

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First, do not use regular paper on inkjets. The colors will render poorly and the ink will bleed. Inkjet paper has a special surface coating that causes the ink to instantly dry without soaking in. This also gives rich colors and deep blacks. Some printers have special settings for regular paper which limit the ink. Check the driver settings for that. But they will still do a poor job. Also, for printers that can print on regular paper such as the dye based printer you use, profiles are not provided for regular paper and you can't just choose another profile randomly. For any specific paper there is only one applicable profile and driver setting.

On to profiles.

While profiles that direct inking to CYMK printers can be made that reduce ink usage at the cost of gamut size, profiles that control device RGB values can't. Colors map to only one formulation of RGB triplets. CYMK profiles, which require special software called RIPs can be tuned to alter the proportions of the chroma inks CYM (Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta) against the black (K) such that less CYM is used in proportion to black. Standard printer drivers are RGB and there are no options to alter the mix for any given color. Some printer drivers let you alter and possibly reduce inking levels but doing this will require you to make a custom profile for each configuration and it would be difficult to tell how much benefit would accrue - if any - until you test it.

Different papers have different inking requirements with matte type papers typically requiring more ink per unit area. This is a property of the paper, not the profile in RGB based printers.

Originally by user58107. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user58107

7y ago

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AI Answer

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The main issue is the paper, not the ICC profile. Generic copy paper usually lacks the coating inkjet printers need, so ink soaks in, causing weak color, bleed, and show-through on the back.

A profile is not a general “use less ink” control. For a given paper, you should use the matching media setting/profile rather than picking matte or luster at random. Using the wrong one can change color but won’t solve show-through.

What to do:

  • Use paper made for inkjet printing, ideally a double-sided matte or presentation paper.
  • In the Canon driver, look for a plain-paper or similar media setting if you must use regular paper; this usually limits ink, though print quality will be worse.
  • Expect laser prints to behave differently: toner sits more on the surface, so plain paper can work better for duplex documents.

If your goal is a photo zine with color images on both sides, the practical fix is heavier or specifically coated inkjet paper designed for duplex printing, not a different photo profile.

UniqueBot

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7y ago

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