Canon printer resolution

I've used many Canon printers over the years, and I always followed the conventional wisdom, that is, that the native resoution of Epson printers is 360 dpi, while the native resolution of Canon printers is 300 dpi.

 

However, I recently checked the specs for my current Prograf Pro 1000, and it lists 600 dpi in both directions. (the number of ink droplets, of course, is much higher.) I called Canon this morning, and the tech confirmed that the nozzle pitch is 600 dpi.

 

I haven't yet had a chance to test the difference and won't be able to for a few days.

 

Anyone have any relevant experience?

I thought that Canon printers have had a 'resolution' (head-step increment) of 600 per inch for a long time. While Epson's has been 720 - regardless of claims of 2880 and such stupidity.

 

Whatever it is, it's fine enough for most purposes, and stands up to quite microscopic scrutiny.

Part of the issue is confusing and inconsistent terminology.

 

The higher numbers are sometimes either droplets per inch (up to 2400 in the case of the prograf) or the number of nozzles: 1,536 nozzles x 12 inks, total 18,432.

 

My question is what the optimal software setting is. I have read countless times to use 300 dpi for Canon printers. Is there an advantage (or disadvantage) to specifying 600 in printing software?

My question is what the optimal software setting is?

 

See: Finding the Right Print Resolution - Digital Photo Pro

Not really. Almost 15 years ago, I bought a Canon Pixma MG6200 because it was affordable for me and had a 600 dpi scan & print resolution. But TBH I've hardly ever printed any photos except for the occasional Birthday card. Up until now, choosing the Windows 10 'high quality' print option for photos has delivered results that have been good enough for Birthday cards. But I've never been sure about the dpi. And I've never compared 'normal quality 'photo prints with 'high quality' prints.

 

So your question made me wonder about the relationship between Windows 'photo print quality levels' (draft/normal/high) and dpi. I don't know of any way in Windows to assign or adjust a dpi value to a print quality level. Your question interested me enough to Google and I've now discovered that there is also a 'custom' photo quality print setting. On a 5-point sliding scale between 1 (fine quality, slow print) and 5 (low quality, fast print). What's interesting is that my scale is limited at the 'fine' end. I can print at quality level 2 but not 1

 

With my 600 dpi max scanner/printer, my guess (and no more than that) is that W10 'normal' photo print quality is point 3 on the custom scale scale and represents 300 dpi. Points 1 and 2 on the 'custom' photo scale might represent 1200 dpi and 600 dpi resolutions respectively. I have no idea how 'draft quality' is mapped to custom quality levels 4 & 5.

 

The fact that I'm unable to print at custom sliding scale point 1, suggests that the custom print quality scale is absolute (related to dpi) rather than being relative to a specific printer. It took me a while to find this in Windows but this is the Canon blurb

 

I'm interested in what you discover! Not only in terms of the 'technical' print resolution but also in terms of the 'perceptual difference' between 300dpi and 600dpi prints.

Andrew, thanks.

 

At a quick reading, the article left me a bit uncertain where the limitation occurs. I have always done my serious printing at the "highest quality" setting, which the article implies is 600 dpi, but with Lightroom or photoshop set at 300 dpi. I assume the lower resolution is determinative. In any case, those prints have been very well received. The only comments I've received about print quality (as opposed to what I was printing) have been positive.

 

My take-away from that quick reading is that for larger prints, the choice isn't likely to have a substantial effect.

Andrew, thanks.

At a quick reading, the article left me a bit uncertain where the limitation occurs.

Resampling (if done) through the OS.

Ming Thein used to try to sell high resolution prints which I think were printed at at least 600 dpi. He gave it up. It's difficult to know whether this was because the pics were uninteresting, the price was too high, or the results were not so radically different. If you wish to use a magnifying glass you may get something more out of a 600 dpi print (assuming you have the resolution to spare), but generally that is a strange way to look at a photo unless you are engaged in forensics.

I did a test using this image:

 

 

I printed it from Lightroom on my Prograft Pro 100. I printed three times, changing only the two resolution settings:

 

1. 300 ppi in LR, "high" as the media setting in the printer firmware

2. 300 ppi in LR, "highest" in the firmware

3. 600 dpi in LR, "highest" in the firmware.

 

The three were very similar, but to my surprise, #2 was sharpest. #3 was appreciably less sharp.

 

I don't entirely understand this, but it was somewhat reassuring, as #2 has been my standard way of printing serious prints.

 

I don't know, of course, whether this would generalize to Epson printers.