Slowing down the Canon printer

Desert Rat said:

Desert Rat wrote:
Rick,

Thank you for sharing this program with us. I tried running it on
my P4(1.6) with 512 MB DDR. The print took the same time (about 4
minutes) on Normal, High, and Real-Time settings (50 and 50 for the
time kill and time delay settings). Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for trying to help us.

Click to expand...

Desert Rat said:

Also tried changing the time delay andand time kill and did not see
any changes in print speed.
Desert Rat

Click to expand...

Make sure you are clicking the Go button after changing the numbers.
I will double check that I put the correct version on the ftp site but . . .

I can garantee that you can slow your whole pc (Win 2K) down if you set the priority to realtime, time to kill at 50 and time to wait a low number - as you approach 0 your pc will stop responding entirely and you will have to use the power switch to kill it. The only possibility I can think of is that it does not work the same under Windows XP or something.

The time to kill can be any number, I picked 50ms as the default because that will keep your pc from being too jerky, if you get to 50/5 and your pc is still to fast (but the program is doing something) then try 100/??? (starting at 100 and lowering for the ???).

Good Luck
Rick K

cafemonaco said:

Seems to do the trick - I am using settings of 3 and 50
respectively, together with realtime setting.

Time taken for full bleed A4 c.15 mins (!) but perfect printing on
Ilf Class Gloss = 10 years longevity (+c. c.£18 for 100 sheets from
7 dayshop)

Will fiddle with settings to see if I can increase speed without
sacrificing quality.

Thanks again for the prog - saves thrashing the HD !

Click to expand...

cafemonaco

Do you mind if I ask your processor speed and system memory? My system is over a year old, andthe realtime setting with 50/50 did not slow the actual printing. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I did click on"go".

Thanks for your input.

Desert Rat

Rick K said:

Make sure you are clicking the Go button after changing the numbers.
I will double check that I put the correct version on the ftp site
but . . .
I can garantee that you can slow your whole pc (Win 2K) down if you
set the priority to realtime, time to kill at 50 and time to wait
a low number - as you approach 0 your pc will stop responding
entirely and you will have to use the power switch to kill it. The
only possibility I can think of is that it does not work the same
under Windows XP or something.
The time to kill can be any number, I picked 50ms as the default
because that will keep your pc from being too jerky, if you get to
50/5 and your pc is still to fast (but the program is doing
something) then try 100/??? (starting at 100 and lowering for the
???).

Good Luck
Rick K

Click to expand...

I think my wait time was set too high. Thanks for your advice.
--
Desert Rat

AMD 1000
500 Mb ram
40GB HD
XP Home

-1 slows the system down so as to be unuseable

Desert Rat said:

cafemonaco said:

Seems to do the trick - I am using settings of 3 and 50
respectively, together with realtime setting.

Time taken for full bleed A4 c.15 mins (!) but perfect printing on
Ilf Class Gloss = 10 years longevity (+c. c.£18 for 100 sheets from
7 dayshop)

Will fiddle with settings to see if I can increase speed without
sacrificing quality.

Thanks again for the prog - saves thrashing the HD !

Click to expand...

cafemonaco

Do you mind if I ask your processor speed and system memory? My
system is over a year old, andthe realtime setting with 50/50 did
not slow the actual printing. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I
did click on"go".

Thanks for your input.

Desert Rat

Click to expand...

Desert Rat said:

cafemonaco said:

Seems to do the trick - I am using settings of 3 and 50
respectively, together with realtime setting.

Time taken for full bleed A4 c.15 mins (!) but perfect printing on
Ilf Class Gloss = 10 years longevity (+c. c.£18 for 100 sheets from
7 dayshop)

Will fiddle with settings to see if I can increase speed without
sacrificing quality.

Thanks again for the prog - saves thrashing the HD !

Click to expand...

cafemonaco

Do you mind if I ask your processor speed and system memory? My
system is over a year old, andthe realtime setting with 50/50 did
not slow the actual printing. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I
did click on"go".

Thanks for your input.

Desert Rat

Click to expand...

If this program isn't working for you, you might want to try running a virus check on your hard drive (uses a lot of system resources). Do you have a dvd drive on your computer (doesn't have to be a burner, just read drive)?

jerpat said:

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.

Click to expand...

Slowing down a printer IS the path to great prints, or at least a step along the path. That is why some print drivers (any RIP, for the high end users, or the stock drivers for my Epson 2200, or the GIMP print drivers used on Linux machines) give you control of the print speed, by allowing you to specify a particular number of milliseconds of drying time at the end of each printed line (without having to use computer slow-down programs). This lets you tune the printer to your particular ink, paper, or unusual conditions (high humidity, low termperature, etc).

Ciao!

Joe

Hi Paul,

Paul Larson said:

I had a Canon i850 for a short time and had good success with Kodak
Ultima High Gloss Paper as far as initial print quality …..No clue
as to light fastness… ironically I ran some thru my much slower
Epson 2200 it came out extremely wet with roller marks all through
it…..

Click to expand...

Ultima paper should render stable ink to fading (both gas and light). Perhaps your prints are not mid-tone to shadow heavy, thus you don't find ink pooling that much...

Paul Larson said:

Also I think that if you are putting more ink on the paper then it
can handle often enough that you will have to clean the roller
wheels in the printer as I feel they will get excessive ink
buildup…I have no evidence of that but it is my gut instinct….

Click to expand...

I agree that the amount of ink laid on the paper plays a big part in pooling. It's got to do with the adsoprtion (note the d) and absorption (note the b) properties, and thus has little to do with print speed...

--
Fotografer
...like, a total himbo

fotografer said:

Hi Paul,
I agree that the amount of ink laid on the paper plays a big part
in pooling. It's got to do with the adsoprtion (note the d) and
absorption (note the b) properties, and thus has little to do with
print speed...

Click to expand...

adsoprtion (note the d)

I had to look this one up

What is adsorption?

The use of solids for removing substances from either gaseous or liquid solutions has been widely used since biblical times. This process, known as adsorption, involves nothing more than the preferential partitioning of substances from the gaseous or liquid phase onto the surface of a solid substrate. From the early days of using bone char for decolorization of sugar solutions and other foods, to the later implementation of activated carbon for removing nerve gases from the battlefield, to today's thousands of applications, the adsorption phenomenon has become a useful tool for purification and separation.

Adsorption phenomena are operative in most natural physical, biological, and chemical systems, and adsorption operations employing solids such as activated carbon and synthetic resins are used widely in industrial applications and for purification of waters and wastewaters.

The process of adsorption involves separation of a substance from one phase accompanied by its accumulation or concentration at the surface of another. The adsorbing phase is the adsorbent, and the material concentrated or adsorbed at the surface of that phase is the adsorbate. Adsorption is thus different from absorption, a process in which material transferred from one phase to another (e.g. liquid) interpenetrates the second phase to form a "solution". The term sorption is a general expression encompassing both processes.

Physical adsorption is caused mainly by van der Waals forces and electrostatic forces between adsorbate molecules and the atoms which compose the adsorbent surface. Thus adsorbents are characterized first by surface properties such as surface area and polarity.

A large specific surface area is preferable for providing large adsorption capacity, but the creation of a large internal surface area in a limited volume inevitably gives rise to large numbers of small sized pores between adsorption surfaces. The size of the micropores determines the accessibility of adsorbate molecules to the internal adsorption surface, so the pore size distribution of micropores is another important property for characterizing adsorptivity of adsorbents. Especially materials such as zeolite and carbon molecular sieves can be specifically engineered with precise pore size distributions and hence tuned for a particular separation.

Surface polarity corresponds to affinity with polar substances such as water or alcohols. Polar adsorbents are thus called "hydrophillic" and aluminosilicates such as zeolites, porous alumina, silica gel or silica-alumina are examples of adsorbents of this type. On the other hand, nopolar adsorbents are generally "hydrophobic". Carbonaceous adsorbents, polymer adsorbents and silicalite are typical nonpolar adsorbents. These adsorbents have more affinity with oil or hydrocarbons than water.

From http://ias.vub.ac.be/General/Adsorption.html

--
Paul

Gosh, Paul! You really surprised me here. Others would not even have bothered!

--
Fotografer
...like, a total himbo

Paul Larson said:

A large specific surface area is preferable for providing large
adsorption capacity, but the creation of a large internal surface
area in a limited volume inevitably gives rise to large numbers of
small sized pores between adsorption surfaces. The size of the
micropores determines the accessibility of adsorbate molecules to
the internal adsorption surface, so the pore size distribution of
micropores is another important property for characterizing
adsorptivity of adsorbents. Especially materials such as zeolite
and carbon molecular sieves can be specifically engineered with
precise pore size distributions and hence tuned for a particular
separation.

Click to expand...

Zeolite, Paul, is a non-organic substance, can be made into a nanoporous material. So now you know...

I am still very impressed you bothered to look this up!

--
Fotografer
...like, a total himbo

Joseph S. Wisniewski said:

Slowing down a printer IS the path to great prints, or at least a
step along the path. That is why some print drivers (any RIP, for
the high end users, or the stock drivers for my Epson 2200, or the
GIMP print drivers used on Linux machines) give you control of the
print speed, by allowing you to specify a particular number of
milliseconds of drying time at the end of each printed line
(without having to use computer slow-down programs). This lets you
tune the printer to your particular ink, paper, or unusual
conditions (high humidity, low termperature, etc).

Ciao!

Joe

Click to expand...

At last! Some real foundation and usefull knowledge to our assumptions!
Thanks Joe and also thanks to those who experimented and reported their results!
So, it IS possible, it IS true and it DOES happen!

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

Rick K said:

Rick K said:

Desert Rat wrote:
Rick,

Thank you for sharing this program with us. I tried running it on
my P4(1.6) with 512 MB DDR. The print took the same time (about 4
minutes) on Normal, High, and Real-Time settings (50 and 50 for the
time kill and time delay settings). Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for trying to help us.

Click to expand...

Rick K said:

Also tried changing the time delay andand time kill and did not see
any changes in print speed.
Desert Rat

Click to expand...

Make sure you are clicking the Go button after changing the numbers.
I will double check that I put the correct version on the ftp site
but . . .
I can garantee that you can slow your whole pc (Win 2K) down if you
set the priority to realtime, time to kill at 50 and time to wait
a low number - as you approach 0 your pc will stop responding
entirely and you will have to use the power switch to kill it. The
only possibility I can think of is that it does not work the same
under Windows XP or something.
The time to kill can be any number, I picked 50ms as the default
because that will keep your pc from being too jerky, if you get to
50/5 and your pc is still to fast (but the program is doing
something) then try 100/??? (starting at 100 and lowering for the
???).

Good Luck
Rick K

Click to expand...

Rick.

I tried "realtime 50/15" and managed to double the prinitng time. Is it worth the effort and extra time? That can still be debated. I think that I see a little less pooling, but it was barely noticeable with the bare eye. I need to experiment a little more.

Thanks for all your help!

--
Desert Rat

Desert Rat said:

I tried "realtime 50/15" and managed to double the prinitng time.
Is it worth the effort and extra time? That can still be debated.
I think that I see a little less pooling, but it was barely
noticeable with the bare eye. I need to experiment a little more.

Thanks for all your help!

--
Desert Rat

Click to expand...

Glad to hear you are on the right track. I was going to recomend other programs that are safe and might help but it sounds like you dont need it.
I just read this on ilfords site

This effect, often referred to as "coalescence", is related to the way in which the ink is absorbed into the media.

Several things can be done to reduce it, the most important is to choose the correct print mode in the printer driver.

In general terms the highest quality settings available will give the best results.

Choose the highest resolution possible and the finest drop size possible. Choose the highest quality media such as Glossy Film (not transparency film). Choose the best dither method such as error diffusion (for Epson use super microweave if it is available).

I think I am going to play with the dither settings to see what effect it has.
Good luck.

You're pretty much correct. If the cable is too long, the data traveling across it can be altered by external interference and/or it will become to week to be usable from resistance in the wire.

stephen bridgman 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.

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)

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
dgrogers

http://www.pbase.com/drog

(nt) is a double entendre. There is "no text" and I'm typing this from a Windows NT systerm.

Has anyone tried Rick's app under XP with success?

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

Pabletto said:

Has anyone tried Rick's app under XP with success?

Click to expand...

I am using Windows XP Home Edition. Warning....I have had some sytem freeze up problems that Rick warned about, but that is to be expected with the purpose of the program.
--
Desert Rat

Yeah, Joe, I somehow click on your nt post to see if there's any text anyway... I normally put on a smiley face when I type nt, which is technically still correct because is an emoticon.

Joseph S. Wisniewski said:

(nt) is a double entendre. There is "no text" and I'm typing this
from a Windows NT systerm.

Click to expand...

--
Fotografer
...like, a total himbo

Desert Rat said:

Pabletto said:

Has anyone tried Rick's app under XP with success?

Click to expand...

I am using Windows XP Home Edition. Warning....I have had some
sytem freeze up problems that Rick warned about, but that is to be
expected with the purpose of the program.
--
Desert Rat

Click to expand...

Have you been able to ctrl,alt,del and use task manager to escape from it, or do you have to kill power to reboot? I have other programs that are giving some results but I think Rick's program would give more control on how much I slow the system down if ti will work ok with xp.

Richard Homeyer said:

Desert Rat said:

Pabletto said:

Has anyone tried Rick's app under XP with success?

Click to expand...

I am using Windows XP Home Edition. Warning....I have had some
sytem freeze up problems that Rick warned about, but that is to be
expected with the purpose of the program.
--
Desert Rat

Click to expand...

Have you been able to ctrl,alt,del and use task manager to escape
from it, or do you have to kill power to reboot? I have other
programs that are giving some results but I think Rick's program
would give more control on how much I slow the system down if ti
will work ok with xp.

Click to expand...

I don't see any reason it would not work fine with XP, and no ctrl,alt,del will not work if you have it set to realtime and don't give the operating system enough time to process the ctrl-alt-del. Setting a programs priority to realtime makes it more important than the operating system, so if my program is not giving the operating system enough time to process its normal interrupts, then the system freezes and there is no way out. You should only get the lockup condition when you press the Go button with settings that slow the pc down too much, if the system still works after that, it should remain working with those settings.

If you actually intend to use this for real, please let me know and I will create a version which takes the times in on the command line so you can make a shortcut which will start it with your settings.
Rick K