Slowing down the Canon printer

Pabletto · Apr 6, 2003

I have read several threads from people enquiring how to slow down their Canon printers so they can use a wider range of papers.

So, I was browsing through a computer hardware website and I saw a very little picture of one of their items and this was when it dawned on me! Actually the item was a USB cable.

So, how about using a long USB cable? Canon recommends using a cable no longer than 3m (9 feet) long (that's what it says in the english i950 manual, page 2). What if we used a 5m (15 feet) long cable? Do you think it would make any difference?

Would this cause the printer to print slower? Oor would it just print at normal speed, then stop when the buffer were empty and then start again once it's filled up? What do you think? Any one with any 5m (about 15feet) USB cable care to experiment? I would if I had one.

I anyone tries, please let is know.

--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

stevebridgman · Apr 6, 2003

I own a S9000 with a 1 metre lead and a 5 metre repeater extension lead. Works just as quickly as with just the 1 metre lead, and no problems.

I'm not an expert but I would think if you used too long a lead (not sure how long you could go) you would get corruption of the signal with the end result of one very confused printer i.e. a misprinted print.

Steve

Pabletto said:
I have read several threads from people enquiring how to slow down
their Canon printers so they can use a wider range of papers.
So, I was browsing through a computer hardware website and I saw a
very little picture of one of their items and this was when it
dawned on me! Actually the item was a USB cable.
So, how about using a long USB cable? Canon recommends using a
cable no longer than 3m (9 feet) long (that's what it says in the
english i950 manual, page 2). What if we used a 5m (15 feet) long
cable? Do you think it would make any difference?
Would this cause the printer to print slower? Oor would it just
print at normal speed, then stop when the buffer were empty and
then start again once it's filled up? What do you think? Any one
with any 5m (about 15feet) USB cable care to experiment? I would if
I had one.

I anyone tries, please let is know.

--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

Pabletto · Apr 6, 2003

stephen bridgman said:
I own a S9000 with a 1 metre lead and a 5 metre repeater extension
lead. Works just as quickly as with just the 1 metre lead, and no
problems.

I am not sure I can understand this. Is that a 5 metre cable attached to a signal repeater/amplifier device? Or just a simple USB cable with a male socket at one end and a female socket at the other?

stevebridgman said:
I'm not an expert but I would think if you used too long a lead
(not sure how long you could go) you would get corruption of the
signal with the end result of one very confused printer i.e. a
misprinted print.

--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

Greg Fischer · Apr 6, 2003

April Fools Day is over, Pabletto

Richard Homeyer · Apr 6, 2003

Greg Fischer said:
April Fools Day is over, Pabletto

No, really. The new canon printers are blazing fast which is fine with nano-porus papers. The problem is that with resin coated and swellable polymer, they just can not absorb ink fast enough. The i series canons just dump it onto the page too fast. We are getting great results with nano-porus papers but would like to expand our paper options. It would allow use of some cheaper papers too. We have been discussing on other threads about how to slow them down to allow this. I would rather have the printer be fast but it would be nice if it could do both.

jerpat · Apr 6, 2003

Use the right papers (Canon) & you'll have no trouble. What is it with people buying a good printer & then masochistically using papers that are incompatible. I've printed hundreds of pictures, including many 13 x 19, with my S9000 without any trouble because I don't go looking for trouble. If your car's user manual says use high octane gas then do it. It would seem there are lots of people who think they're smarter than Canon & then they come to the forum to whine about the pitiful results of their folly. If you don't like the instructions in the Canon user manual then buy another brand & don't follow their instructions either. Probably 99% of the problems with Cannon printers are user error, just like the primary reason for auto crashes (not accidents since there are no accidents; someone or something is always responsible) is driver error, not mechanical failure.

Pabletto said:
I have read several threads from people enquiring how to slow down
their Canon printers so they can use a wider range of papers.
So, I was browsing through a computer hardware website and I saw a
very little picture of one of their items and this was when it
dawned on me! Actually the item was a USB cable.
So, how about using a long USB cable? Canon recommends using a
cable no longer than 3m (9 feet) long (that's what it says in the
english i950 manual, page 2). What if we used a 5m (15 feet) long
cable? Do you think it would make any difference?
Would this cause the printer to print slower? Oor would it just
print at normal speed, then stop when the buffer were empty and
then start again once it's filled up? What do you think? Any one
with any 5m (about 15feet) USB cable care to experiment? I would if
I had one.

I anyone tries, please let is know.

--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

Cubuff · Apr 6, 2003

Pabletto said:
I have read several threads from people enquiring how to slow down
their Canon printers so they can use a wider range of papers.
So, I was browsing through a computer hardware website and I saw a
very little picture of one of their items and this was when it
dawned on me! Actually the item was a USB cable.
So, how about using a long USB cable? Canon recommends using a
cable no longer than 3m (9 feet) long (that's what it says in the
english i950 manual, page 2). What if we used a 5m (15 feet) long
cable? Do you think it would make any difference?
Would this cause the printer to print slower? Oor would it just
print at normal speed, then stop when the buffer were empty and
then start again once it's filled up? What do you think? Any one
with any 5m (about 15feet) USB cable care to experiment? I would if
I had one.

I anyone tries, please let is know.

--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

I got about 12 to 15 feet on my s9000 right now and it still prints full speed.

Jim R.

phils · Apr 6, 2003

A USB cable is not a garden hose. You can pinch it off and expect the bytes to come slower

.

However, there is an easy way to make the printer slow down on loads and ejects (not sure about print sweeps) - it's called 'quiet mode' and its an option already in the printer driver. Other than that, there is no way to accomplish what you're talking about unless you can reverse-engineer the data stream like Ink-Saver did and write a custom port monitor to inject a wait between each printsweep. R&D cost for something like that would be between $25-50K US. It's probably more cost effective to just Canon's paper

-phils

Greg Fischer · Apr 6, 2003

Thanks, Richard... understood

Drestin Black · Apr 6, 2003

Richard Homeyer said:
Greg Fischer said:

April Fools Day is over, Pabletto

Click to expand...

No, really. The new canon printers are blazing fast which is fine
with nano-porus papers. The problem is that with resin coated and
swellable polymer, they just can not absorb ink fast enough. The i
series canons just dump it onto the page too fast. We are getting
great results with nano-porus papers but would like to expand our
paper options. It would allow use of some cheaper papers too. We
have been discussing on other threads about how to slow them down
to allow this. I would rather have the printer be fast but it
would be nice if it could do both.

You can get great nano porous paper cheap also. In the uk I would check out the company that makes od paper, I'm having a memory lapse and can't remember the company name right now. Maybe someone else can. The resin coated paper isn't water resistant, sticks to glass and album sleeves. I won't touch it anyway.

m ha

jerpat · Apr 6, 2003

Pabletto said:
stephen bridgman said:

I own a S9000 with a 1 metre lead and a 5 metre repeater extension
lead. Works just as quickly as with just the 1 metre lead, and no
problems.

Click to expand...

I am not sure I can understand this. Is that a 5 metre cable
attached to a signal repeater/amplifier device? Or just a simple
USB cable with a male socket at one end and a female socket at the
other?

Pabletto said:

I'm not an expert but I would think if you used too long a lead
(not sure how long you could go) you would get corruption of the
signal with the end result of one very confused printer i.e. a
misprinted print.

Click to expand...

--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

Richard Homeyer · Apr 6, 2003

jerpat said:
Use the right papers (Canon) & you'll have no trouble. What is it
with people buying a good printer & then masochistically using
papers that are incompatible. I've printed hundreds of pictures,
including many 13 x 19, with my S9000 without any trouble because I
don't go looking for trouble. If your car's user manual says use
high octane gas then do it. It would seem there are lots of people
who think they're smarter than Canon & then they come to the forum
to whine about the pitiful results of their folly. If you don't
like the instructions in the Canon user manual then buy another
brand & don't follow their instructions either. Probably 99% of
the problems with Cannon printers are user error, just like the
primary reason for auto crashes (not accidents since there are no
accidents; someone or something is always responsible) is driver
error, not mechanical failure.

I think you are misunderstanding what we are trying to do here. First of all, canon papers are not nessasarilly the right papers for canon printers. There are papers that are much beter than canon that work great with their printers. There are also papers that are as good as canon for less money.

Second, I am not likely to follow what my car manufacture or my printer manufacture says unless it makes sence. Most car manufactures recoment using their over priced dealer brand of oil and they recomend 5-30 weight. I think castroil or any top major brand will do just as well. As far as weight, they recomend such a light weight because it polutes less and gives very slightlly beter gas milage. This keeps the epa happy, and thus reduces tax on the car, making it cheaper to sell just because they recomend a diffrent weight of oil. They don't tell you that such a light weight oil will drastically reduce the life of your engine if used in a hot climate. Canon recomends canon ink. I use inkjet goodies. It's every bit as good and 1/10th the price.

Canon papers are nanoporus. Most of the papers that work well with canons are nanoporus. nanoporus papers are more water resistant and take the fast laydown of ink from these printers well. Resin coated and swelable polymer papers are more resistant to fading but don't seem to be able to take the fast ink laydown of these printers. We are trying to slow down our printers, not because we cannot find papers that work well, but because we are trying to expand the capabilities of our printers. On another thread we have initially found a solution, but it's not the best solution. Is there something wrong with us discussing it and comparing notes, so that perhaps we can come up with a beter solution to expand the capabilities of our printers?

Richard Homeyer · Apr 6, 2003

phils said:
A USB cable is not a garden hose. You can pinch it off and expect
the bytes to come slower .

However, there is an easy way to make the printer slow down on
loads and ejects (not sure about print sweeps) - it's called 'quiet
mode' and its an option already in the printer driver. Other than
that, there is no way to accomplish what you're talking about
unless you can reverse-engineer the data stream like Ink-Saver did
and write a custom port monitor to inject a wait between each
printsweep. R&D cost for something like that would be between
$25-50K US. It's probably more cost effective to just Canon's paper

-phils

I already did test's with quiet mode. It prints at the same speed. It may slightly slow down feeding to reduce noise, but the diffrence is not more than one or two seconds on a two minute print. Thanks for the sugestion though. Actually we did find a possible work around. Somebody on another thread ran a program that tied up his system resources and it did slow down printing. I would have thought that the printer would just print fast with all the information in the buffer, pause waiting for the computer, then print fast again repeadedly. I was wrong. Canon printers actually print slower if the system is boged down. I did the same test with diffrent software and got the same improvment. He posted scaned pictures of the improvment. His are blown up, but I am using diffrent paper and the results are easilly clear to the naked eye on mine. here is the link to that thread.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=4801448

By the way, I have the i850 which has both parallel and usb. Everything I have is usb and it has been so long since I have used parallel on anything, I cannot remember the speed. Do you think using a parallel conection might slow down data transfer over usb?

Paul Larson · Apr 6, 2003

LOL 1st the Epson’s & HP’s are to slow and now the Canon’s are to fast……..I’m not sure I buy into your speed theory as a solution to the ink drying on your paper…….I have owned a i850 and currently own a Epson 2200

I had some Kodak Ultima Gloss Paper that did ok in the Canon i850….and that sucker was fast…however when I tried to use it on the 2200 set at 2880dpi it came out wet if I printed at 720dpi it almost dried enough to keep the roller marks off of it.. (and yes I know one is dye and the other pigment) …..the bottom line is I feel your problem is more of ink issue and not speed……..just my 2cents worth……….

PS I have switched to Epson 2200 approved papers 98% of the time and have never been happier ……some of the things a person evaluating any new printer should consider before they decide are ink cost, print quality, paper selection, print life expectancy etc…..speed IMHO should be way down on the list …..If you are doing high volume tweak your photos put them on a CD and take them to decent lab………

Paul

Pabletto · Apr 7, 2003

Richard Homeyer said:
jerpat said:

Use the right papers (Canon) & you'll have no trouble. What is it
with people buying a good printer & then masochistically using
papers that are incompatible. I've printed hundreds of pictures,
including many 13 x 19, with my S9000 without any trouble because I
don't go looking for trouble. If your car's user manual says use
high octane gas then do it. It would seem there are lots of people
who think they're smarter than Canon & then they come to the forum
to whine about the pitiful results of their folly. If you don't
like the instructions in the Canon user manual then buy another
brand & don't follow their instructions either. Probably 99% of
the problems with Cannon printers are user error, just like the
primary reason for auto crashes (not accidents since there are no
accidents; someone or something is always responsible) is driver
error, not mechanical failure.

Click to expand...

I think you are misunderstanding what we are trying to do here.
First of all, canon papers are not nessasarilly the right papers
for canon printers. There are papers that are much beter than
canon that work great with their printers. There are also papers
that are as good as canon for less money.
Second, I am not likely to follow what my car manufacture or my
printer manufacture says unless it makes sence. Most car
manufactures recoment using their over priced dealer brand of oil
and they recomend 5-30 weight. I think castroil or any top major
brand will do just as well. As far as weight, they recomend such a
light weight because it polutes less and gives very slightlly beter
gas milage. This keeps the epa happy, and thus reduces tax on the
car, making it cheaper to sell just because they recomend a
diffrent weight of oil. They don't tell you that such a light
weight oil will drastically reduce the life of your engine if used
in a hot climate. Canon recomends canon ink. I use inkjet
goodies. It's every bit as good and 1/10th the price.
Canon papers are nanoporus. Most of the papers that work well with
canons are nanoporus. nanoporus papers are more water resistant
and take the fast laydown of ink from these printers well. Resin
coated and swelable polymer papers are more resistant to fading but
don't seem to be able to take the fast ink laydown of these
printers. We are trying to slow down our printers, not because we
cannot find papers that work well, but because we are trying to
expand the capabilities of our printers. On another thread we have
initially found a solution, but it's not the best solution. Is
there something wrong with us discussing it and comparing notes, so
that perhaps we can come up with a beter solution to expand the
capabilities of our printers?

Well said Richard. It seems that my post gave the opportunity to some people to start bashing and not think broadly with a grown up mind. However, it really is no problem to me. It is not MY mind. They can bash all they want. As long as they do not give any useful advice I am not interested.

I would like to thank you and some others (very few though) who answered to this thread with useful and enlightening info.
Thanks.
--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

jerpat · Apr 7, 2003

Since no one has posted an answer to your original post, how do you conclude that the answers were "useful & enlightening." As for only listening to the mfg instructions when they make "sence"sic (the word is sense)why would you buy a product from a mfg whose info didn't make sense. I think the people who are trying to screw up good Canon printers need to take a look in the mirror & ask who has more sense, Canon, who markets marvelous technological advancements, or someone who really thinks slowing down a printer is the path to great prints. You guys are entitled to discuss anything you like while I observe incredulously the lack of plain old "horse sense," or common sense in society.

Pabletto said:
I would like to thank you and some others (very few though) who
answered to this thread with useful and enlightening info.
Thanks.
--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

Rick K · Apr 7, 2003

I created a program which will slow down your PC.
Find it here:
ftp://ftp.civision.com/pub/outgoing/
SlowPC.exe

Copy this link into your Windows Explorer address bar (not internet explorer) and you can drag and drop the file onto your desktop.
Just run it and it will suck up processor time for you.

It is written in VB6 and I did not package it so I am not sure if you need any runtime DLLs - if so I can put those up there as well.

Just run the application, change the settings then click Go. It is pretty self explanitory so just try it. You may need to use the realtime setting to slow down the USB transfer.

Warning - using realtime can lock your pc so save things before changing to realtime.

If you need the source let me know.

p.s. no install is required, no uninstall is required either. Just delete the file if you don't want it anymore.
Rick K

JJ (Mo) · Apr 7, 2003

It took 5 minutes and 35 seconds to print a 8 x 10.

His post April 3rd:

Media type: High Gloss Photo Film Quality: 1
Halftoning: Diffusion

Color adjustment: All set at "0" with -6 density (my setting worked best at "0" density).
ICm: Off
Print type: Photo
Brightness: Normal
All other effects and enhancements: Off

In order to use "Quality: 1" I had to change from "High Gloss Photo Film" to "Photo Paper Pro" otherwise my Quality setting would be "2". I used Ilford Classic Pearl.

I printed from PSP7 and Qimage with the same results. Didn't this slow down your printing Pab?

JJ

Richard Homeyer · Apr 7, 2003

jerpat said:
Since no one has posted an answer to your original post, how do you
conclude that the answers were "useful & enlightening."

I don't know how this discussion got split up onto two threads, but on the other one we found a workable solution and his question was answered.
As for only listening to the mfg instructions when they make "sence"sic

jerpat said:
(the word is sense)

For give my typo or spelling error. I'll beat myself appropriatlly (did I mispell that, I gess I'll have to beat myself again)

why would you buy a product from a mfg whose info didn't make sense. I think the people who are trying to screw up good Canon printers need to take a look in the mirror & ask who has more sense, Canon, who markets marvelous technological advancements, or someone who really thinks slowing down a printer is the path to great prints.

Canon is going to do the same thing all printer manufactures do. They are going to recoment their paper and their ink because they make a huge profit on it. I am sure they are quite happy with your brand loyalty and love lining their pockets with your hard earned money.

How could you possibly consider expanding your printers capabilities screwing it up. When it is all done, the prints I produce on resin coated paper will be much more fade resistant than yours on canon paper. I will still have the option to print on canon or other nano-porus papers any time I want. I fail to see how that is screwing anything up. By the way, the word is manufacture, if it is an abreviation, it's suposed to have a period at the end (see how annoying and petty that is).

You guys are entitled to discuss anything you like while I observe incredulously the lack of plain old "horse sense," or common sense in society.

The only thing in lack of "horse sense" here is your limited perspective. Have you always done everything you were told to? Do you supose the designers at canon came up with these great printers using such a limited perspective as yours, or do you supose they experimented and broke the rules of what is normally done to come up with great new ideas. Go ahead, if you cannot find a decent argument to refute me, start tearing apart my spelling. That will at least give you something, right? You could be a little more mature here. If you don't want to contribute to our discussion and what we are trying to acheive, be an adult about it and stop interupting.

jerpat said:
jerpat said:

I would like to thank you and some others (very few though) who
answered to this thread with useful and enlightening info.
Thanks.
--
Pabletto
http://www.pbase.com/pabletto
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 22 October 2002 (Flower shots)

Click to expand...

Richard Homeyer · Apr 7, 2003

Rick K said:
I created a program which will slow down your PC.
Find it here:
ftp://ftp.civision.com/pub/outgoing/
SlowPC.exe
Copy this link into your Windows Explorer address bar (not internet
explorer) and you can drag and drop the file onto your desktop.
Just run it and it will suck up processor time for you.
It is written in VB6 and I did not package it so I am not sure if
you need any runtime DLLs - if so I can put those up there as well.
Just run the application, change the settings then click Go. It is
pretty self explanitory so just try it. You may need to use the
realtime setting to slow down the USB transfer.
Warning - using realtime can lock your pc so save things before
changing to realtime.

If you need the source let me know.
p.s. no install is required, no uninstall is required either. Just
delete the file if you don't want it anymore.
Rick K

I haven't tried it yet but thanks in advance for going to the trouble for us.

Slowing down the Canon printer

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