I’m not sure if this should be in equipment or processing. I’m curious as to what printers you all find best to print out your Astro photos. I’ve been using a Canon Pixma Pro-10 which is sufficient, but lately the colors have been off. For example, blues tend to come out violet, indigo, or purple. The inks are fresh and I only use the Canon brand when replacing a cartridge. I’m not sure if this is a calibration problem with my monitor or if the printer just can’t determine the proper color, from the image or even if the printer needs calibration. I’m unable to find a document that explains how to do that. Anyway, what make and model do you prefer and recommend for high quality prints?
Best printers for astrophotography prints and color calibration issues
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Might be clogged print heads, or time to replace the print head. I have an Epson P800 and have had the same poor color issue and cleaning the heads solved the problem…Dave
Canon Pro 300 is excellent.
Jerry Gerber · Aug 31, 2025, 01:06 AM
Canon Pro 300 is excellent.
Thanks, Jerry, I’ll check that out
CS….Pat
Dave Erickson · Aug 30, 2025, 10:28 PM
Might be clogged print heads, or time to replace the print head. I have an Epson P800 and have had the same poor color issue and cleaning the heads solved the problem…Dave
Thanks, Dave. I actually hadn’t thought of that. What solution or product would you suggest cleaning the heads with?
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Patrick Graham · Aug 31, 2025, 01:49 AM
Dave Erickson · Aug 30, 2025, 10:28 PM
Might be clogged print heads, or time to replace the print head. I have an Epson P800 and have had the same poor color issue and cleaning the heads solved the problem…Dave
Thanks, Dave. I actually hadn’t thought of that. What solution or product would you suggest cleaning the heads with?
Hi Pat, I have used Isopropyl alcohol and/or distilled water and a soft swab. The Epson P800 printer has a head cleaning feature and performs a head test to confirm the heads are clean.
Your printer has an automatic head cleaning feature as well. I looked it up and here are some suggestions:
1) The “ Maintenance tab” in your printer driver's setup has a "Cleaning" option
2) For manual cleaning, power off the printer, open the top cover, press and hold the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamp flashes once, and then release it. The printer will then begin the cleaning cycle.
As a side note: The Epson P800 is an excellent medium format printer with 9 inks and great color on prints to 17”×22”.
I use an older eye1 spectrometer for calibration…Dave
Helpful
Dave, Thanks again. I found the manual on the Canon website but it won’t open after downloading so I appreciate your help. I’ll use your suggestions as my printer is about 7 years old and due a through cleaning. I’m going to check out the P800 as well. Again, thanks for the tips.
CS
Pat
Patrick Graham · Sep 1, 2025, 03:34 PM
Dave, Thanks again. I found the manual on the Canon website but it won’t open after downloading so I appreciate your help. I’ll use your suggestions as my printer is about 7 years old and due a through cleaning. I’m going to check out the P800 as well. Again, thanks for the tips.
CS
Pat
Hi Pat, glad to help. Best of luck…Dave