Canon Pro-1100 Banding Follow-up

Remko II · Mar 20, 2025

Gryphon69 said:
Remko II said:

Gryphon69 said:

nickbatz said:

Gryphon69 said:

I think that this change in pace is due to a mounting number of user complaints about the banding issue

Click to expand...

Well yeah.

But am I right that this is only the Pro-1100 and not the -2600 and -4600, or is it just that there are far more of the -1100s out there?

Click to expand...

There are reports of banding issues also for the x600 line, where users suggest it may be caused by ink starvation due to a potentially faulty ink pump:

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/...nding-on-new-imagePROGRAF-PRO-2600/m-p/499973

Click to expand...

Gryphon69,

It is great news that finally Canon is acknowledging the issue. About time!

I have a PRO-2600 since mid January and have not seen any banding in any of my prints.

There are of course differences in technology between the PRO-1100 and the PRO-x600 printers. One of them is that the bigger printers have sensors on the printer head carriage that constantly check the paper advancement during printing and correct on the fly if needed.
Canon's USA David Rice have said that paper feed adjustment therefor is no longer needed at all on these printers. And Canon here in the Netherlands acknowledge that to me when I asked. David Rice mentioned it in a video made by Lexjet.

I do hope the issue with the PRO-1100 will be solved soon!

Cheers,
Remko

Click to expand...

Hi Remko,

Thanks for weighing in - this is very interesting!

If I am not mistaken, Canon large format printers have (or used to have?) a setting where the user could choose between a paper feed rate that would prioritize speed or quality (with the quality setting being meant to minimize banding). Does your 2600 still have that setting or has it been replaced by the optical-mechanical system that you described (which sounds very cool, I’d say)?

I agree that it was about time for Canon to acknowledge the banding issue with the Pro 1100 - it took them almost 6 months in my case. I am glad to hear that you don’t have to deal with that problem with your 2600 and hope that some day I will be able to say the same about mine too! ;-)

Hi Gryphon69,

Thank you for your kind words.

I do not recognize what you are asking about being able to adjust the paper feed rate. I am not at my printer atm so cannot check if it is a menu based feature in the printer itself or something in the driver.

If I understand you correctly, than my assumption is that such a feature is redundant with the x600 line of printers as the sensors on the printer head carriage should auto correct for that. Dave Rice from Canon even gave the example of a user setting the wrong core diameter of the roll by mistake: a 2 inch core instead of a 3 inch core. The printer would automatically adjust the paper feed rate for that.

The quality versus speed paper feed you mentioned sounds to me as a choice for unidirectional printing versus bi directional printing. I use Mirage for printing. It has the printer driver incorporated in its software. Some features that the stand alone driver has, are not available in Mirage. Like the choice to select unidirectional printing. If I use Qimage than that choice is available of course.
One of the things I would do as a test when having banding is - apart from a paper feed adjustment if printing on the previous generation of large format printers or the PRO-1000/1100 - is to choose unidirectional printing. At least on the Epsons that is one of the things you would do when experiencing banding.

I have only read about one occasion where a user with a PRO-2600 complained about banding. That was on the site of Canon US. The reply from someone else was that the attached photos look like an issue of ink starvation. Which, if correct, is not banding. I have not heard from anyone else having banding issues with these new large format printers.
That does not mean there aren't any of course. But to me it might point in the direction of an issue with the paper feed mechanism with the PRO-1100. Especially when I searched for it and only the aforementioned case with a x600 printer came up. I am a member of a Canon Large Format Printing Group on facebook that is very active. And nobody there ran into such a banding issue with the large format printers.

I do mention the banding issue with the 1100 in other printing groups on facebook when people are asking for advice which A2 printer to buy. And post also a link to this discussion on DPReview. So they can make an informed decision. And the issue gets hopefully also more attention as in one of the facebook groups Canon US people are actively involved as well.

I wish that Canon comes up quickly with a good solution!

Cheers,
Remko

Ryan Mack · Mar 20, 2025

> quality versus speed paper feed

I think what you are referring to is the choice of whether to optimize for quality or exact length. See manual page here:

Canon : imagePROGRAF Manuals : PRO-2100 : Selecting Feed Amount Adjustment Method

Gryphon69 · Mar 20, 2025

Remko II said:
Gryphon69 said:

Remko II said:

Gryphon69 said:

nickbatz said:

Gryphon69 said:

I think that this change in pace is due to a mounting number of user complaints about the banding issue

Click to expand...

Well yeah.

But am I right that this is only the Pro-1100 and not the -2600 and -4600, or is it just that there are far more of the -1100s out there?

Click to expand...

There are reports of banding issues also for the x600 line, where users suggest it may be caused by ink starvation due to a potentially faulty ink pump:

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/...nding-on-new-imagePROGRAF-PRO-2600/m-p/499973

Click to expand...

Gryphon69,

It is great news that finally Canon is acknowledging the issue. About time!

I have a PRO-2600 since mid January and have not seen any banding in any of my prints.

There are of course differences in technology between the PRO-1100 and the PRO-x600 printers. One of them is that the bigger printers have sensors on the printer head carriage that constantly check the paper advancement during printing and correct on the fly if needed.
Canon's USA David Rice have said that paper feed adjustment therefor is no longer needed at all on these printers. And Canon here in the Netherlands acknowledge that to me when I asked. David Rice mentioned it in a video made by Lexjet.

I do hope the issue with the PRO-1100 will be solved soon!

Cheers,
Remko

Click to expand...

Hi Remko,

Thanks for weighing in - this is very interesting!

If I am not mistaken, Canon large format printers have (or used to have?) a setting where the user could choose between a paper feed rate that would prioritize speed or quality (with the quality setting being meant to minimize banding). Does your 2600 still have that setting or has it been replaced by the optical-mechanical system that you described (which sounds very cool, I’d say)?

I agree that it was about time for Canon to acknowledge the banding issue with the Pro 1100 - it took them almost 6 months in my case. I am glad to hear that you don’t have to deal with that problem with your 2600 and hope that some day I will be able to say the same about mine too! ;-)

Click to expand...

Hi Gryphon69,

Thank you for your kind words.

I do not recognize what you are asking about being able to adjust the paper feed rate. I am not at my printer atm so cannot check if it is a menu based feature in the printer itself or something in the driver.

If I understand you correctly, than my assumption is that such a feature is redundant with the x600 line of printers as the sensors on the printer head carriage should auto correct for that. Dave Rice from Canon even gave the example of a user setting the wrong core diameter of the roll by mistake: a 2 inch core instead of a 3 inch core. The printer would automatically adjust the paper feed rate for that.

The quality versus speed paper feed you mentioned sounds to me as a choice for unidirectional printing versus bi directional printing. I use Mirage for printing. It has the printer driver incorporated in its software. Some features that the stand alone driver has, are not available in Mirage. Like the choice to select unidirectional printing. If I use Qimage than that choice is available of course.
One of the things I would do as a test when having banding is - apart from a paper feed adjustment if printing on the previous generation of large format printers or the PRO-1000/1100 - is to choose unidirectional printing. At least on the Epsons that is one of the things you would do when experiencing banding.

I have only read about one occasion where a user with a PRO-2600 complained about banding. That was on the site of Canon US. The reply from someone else was that the attached photos look like an issue of ink starvation. Which, if correct, is not banding. I have not heard from anyone else having banding issues with these new large format printers.
That does not mean there aren't any of course. But to me it might point in the direction of an issue with the paper feed mechanism with the PRO-1100. Especially when I searched for it and only the aforementioned case with a x600 printer came up. I am a member of a Canon Large Format Printing Group on facebook that is very active. And nobody there ran into such a banding issue with the large format printers.

I do mention the banding issue with the 1100 in other printing groups on facebook when people are asking for advice which A2 printer to buy. And post also a link to this discussion on DPReview. So they can make an informed decision. And the issue gets hopefully also more attention as in one of the facebook groups Canon US people are actively involved as well.

I wish that Canon comes up quickly with a good solution!

Cheers,
Remko

Hi Remko,

Thanks you for your detailed and insightful reply!

Yes, what you are saying makes total sense to me - also, the 2600 feature that you describe that it can even figure out by itself that the user inadvertently input the wrong roll core diameter is amazing.

Regarding unidirectional printing, it is one of the things that I tried earlier on in my 1100 saga and (in addition to making the printing process excruciatingly slow) it unfortunately didn’t help (in one case it actually resulted in even greater banding, which I thought was odd).

I am very happy to hear that not only your own 2600, but the x600 line in general is not affected by the banding issue, which probably means that the root of the problem is not to be found in the new ink set because (if I am not mistaken) the x600 printers not only use the same inks as the 1100 but also the same print head. So I agree that based on the data gathered so far, the most likely culprit appears to be something in the paper feed system. I really hope that Canon can figure things out quickly and resolve the issue.

Finally, thank you so much for spreading the word about the banding issue with the Pro 1100: it is only through increased visibility that Canon will be incentivized to do something about it (on top of that, you are also doing many potential buyers a favor by presenting the facts to them so they can make an informed decision as to whether or not to buy the printer before the issue is resolved).

Gryphon69 · Mar 20, 2025

Ryan Mack said:
> quality versus speed paper feed

I think what you are referring to is the choice of whether to optimize for quality or exact length. See manual page here:

https://ij.manual.canon/ij/webmanual/Manual/All/PRO-2100/EN/UG/ug_paperfeed01_0101.html

Yes Ryan, that’s it - thank you for pointing it out and apologies for the imprecision, it was quality vs. length accuracy, not quality vs. speed. Thanks!

Remko II · Mar 20, 2025

Ryan Mack said:
> quality versus speed paper feed

I think what you are referring to is the choice of whether to optimize for quality or exact length. See manual page here:

https://ij.manual.canon/ij/webmanual/Manual/All/PRO-2100/EN/UG/ug_paperfeed01_0101.html

Thank you Ryan!

Just found it is differently phrased in the x600 manual, but the function is still there. When I asked Canon about the workings of these sensors on the print head carriage the other day, they said it should take care of anything paper feed related. Not sure why the function is still available then.

cheers,
Remko

Ryan Mack · Mar 20, 2025

Remko II said:
Not sure why the function is still available then.

Paper changes size when it gets damp and I expect that's also true as you lay down ink. So if you print a meter long page and try to precisely align the dots for quality then if the paper changes size it won't be exactly a meter long. Alternatively, if you allow for a bit less precision in the dot placement, then you can make the print exactly a meter long which may be critical for some jobs. So the sensor may allow the printer to be precise, but you have to tell it what goal it's aiming for.

Remko II · Mar 20, 2025

Ryan Mack said:
Remko II said:

Not sure why the function is still available then.

Click to expand...

Paper changes size when it gets damp and I expect that's also true as you lay down ink. So if you print a meter long page and try to precisely align the dots for quality then if the paper changes size it won't be exactly a meter long. Alternatively, if you allow for a bit less precision in the dot placement, then you can make the print exactly a meter long which may be critical for some jobs. So the sensor may allow the printer to be precise, but you have to tell it what goal it's aiming for.

Many thanks for the explanation, Ryan! Yes, it now makes perfect sense.

Cheers,
Remko

nickbatz · Mar 20, 2025

Remko II said:
But to me it might point in the direction of an issue with the paper feed mechanism with the PRO-1100.

Totally plausible, but the cartridges are above the printhead in the large-format printers, so you'd think that gravity would come into play.

mdwcox80 · Mar 20, 2025

Hey, have you or anyone else gotten vertical bands? I'm getting about 1/2 in. vertical bands the entire width near the end of print. Seeing on both Canson Platine Fibre Rag and Baryta Photographique II. Mainly see in sky on B&W prints.

Pro 1100 my first digital printer. Im bummed. Wish i was in my old darkroom.

Ryan Mack · Mar 21, 2025

mdwcox80 said:
Hey, have you or anyone else gotten vertical bands? I'm getting about 1/2 in. vertical bands the entire width near the end of print. Seeing on both Canson Platine Fibre Rag and Baryta Photographique II. Mainly see in sky on B&W prints.

Pro 1100 my first digital printer. Im bummed. Wish i was in my old darkroom.

Yes, unfortunately this is a big part of the problem for me too. I would recommend returning the printer if you still have the option and buying the older 1000 model. My 1100 is unusable for this kind of black and white image and that’s mostly what I print.

Gryphon69 · Mar 21, 2025

mdwcox80 said:
Hey, have you or anyone else gotten vertical bands? I'm getting about 1/2 in. vertical bands the entire width near the end of print. Seeing on both Canson Platine Fibre Rag and Baryta Photographique II. Mainly see in sky on B&W prints.

Pro 1100 my first digital printer. Im bummed. Wish i was in my old darkroom.

Sorry that you are experiencing this vexing issue too.

I agree with what Ryan recommends, which is the simplest and most efficient thing for you to do under the circumstances.

Of course you could also decide to contact Canon tech support, but at this time there is no resolution for this issue. If you have read the posts on this thread, you may have seen that the problem has recently been escalated to Canon Japan.

I would also suggest two things:

1. You may want to try to follow the steps that I have summarized on this page and see if they make things better for you: https://www.lightquill.com/m/-/gall...on-pro-1100-actions-to-maximize-print-quality

2. Whatever you decide to do, please take the time to report the issue to Canon and send them the picture of the print that you included in your post. This is a critical step to put pressure on Canon to fix this issue.

focal yokel · Mar 21, 2025

Gryphon69 said:

"Of course you could also decide to contact Canon tech support, but at this time there is no resolution for this issue. If you have read the posts on this thread, you may have seen that the problem has recently been escalated to Canon Japan."

Keep in mind that this thread is a continuation of an earlier thread that had reached it's comment limit. (Not sure of the title of that thread, though).

This has been going on for quite a while.

nickbatz · Mar 21, 2025

mdwcox80 said:
I'm getting about 1/2 in. vertical bands the entire width near the end of print.

That blows my theory about the ink being the problem.

mdwcox80 said:
Pro 1100 my first digital printer. Im bummed. Wish i was in my old darkroom.

That sucks. Sorry to hear it.

mdwcox80 · Mar 21, 2025

thanks Ryan, i think i will return this one and go with the tried and true 1000. i waited and waited for the 1100, what a bummer. It is my second. the first one locked up on setup.

mdwcox80 · Mar 21, 2025

thanks Gryphon69, ive talked to Canon suport and also have tried the all of your recommendations with very little change. Think i will be returning for a Pro 1000.

Thanks so much for your help

m

Gryphon69 · Mar 21, 2025

mdwcox80 said:
thanks Gryphon69, ive talked to Canon suport and also have tried the all of your recommendations with very little change. Think i will be returning for a Pro 1000.

Thanks so much for your help

m

You are very welcome: I think you are doing the right thing considering all the aggravation and waste of time, paper and ink that I went through in the past six months. In hindsight I would do the same thing. Such a shame though, because the Pro 1100 prints that are not ruined by banding look absolutely gorgeous.

And thank you for reporting the issue to Canon!

Philip Eihuyar · Mar 23, 2025

Gryphon69 said:
Ryan Mack said:

Gryphon69 said:

Gryphon69 said:

Gryphon69 said:

Gryphon69 said:

What did they suggest you change?

Click to expand...

This is what they suggested I test:

From the home screen of the printer, navigate to Various Settings > Printer Settings > Print Settings > IPP Print Settings > Print Quality Settings > Color Mode
Within this menu, the default setting is Color (perceptual). Please try each of these in turn:
-Color (correct off)
-ICC Profile (perceptual)
-ICC Profile (absolute)

Click to expand...

That’s incredibly dumb. Those settings only apply when using IPP to print. That wouldn’t be relevant to anyone using the Canon drivers.

Click to expand...

Thanks Ryan - apologies for the dumb question, but IPP is a network protocol, right? So are you saying that those settings would only be relevant to users who had access to one or more Pro 1100’s over a network? I just want to make sure that I understand.

Click to expand...

It’s a standard network protocol for printers like http for web. Any modern computer can print to an IPP printer without needing a printer-specific driver installed. Without a driver there is no color management settings sent to the printer, which is why the printer needs to be set via the menu. As long as you install the canon or apple driver then the driver lets you set the color management mode so the printer won’t rely on what you set in this menu. This is true whether the driver uses usb or the network.

Click to expand...

Got it! Thank you so much for the explanation - and for keeping me from wasting more paper to run a pointless test!

OK . . . but did it work???

Gryphon69 · Mar 23, 2025

Philip Eihuyar said:
Gryphon69 said:

Ryan Mack said:

Philip Eihuyar said:

Philip Eihuyar said:

Philip Eihuyar said:

Philip Eihuyar said:

What did they suggest you change?

Click to expand...

This is what they suggested I test:

From the home screen of the printer, navigate to Various Settings > Printer Settings > Print Settings > IPP Print Settings > Print Quality Settings > Color Mode
Within this menu, the default setting is Color (perceptual). Please try each of these in turn:
-Color (correct off)
-ICC Profile (perceptual)
-ICC Profile (absolute)

Click to expand...

That’s incredibly dumb. Those settings only apply when using IPP to print. That wouldn’t be relevant to anyone using the Canon drivers.

Click to expand...

Thanks Ryan - apologies for the dumb question, but IPP is a network protocol, right? So are you saying that those settings would only be relevant to users who had access to one or more Pro 1100’s over a network? I just want to make sure that I understand.

Click to expand...

It’s a standard network protocol for printers like http for web. Any modern computer can print to an IPP printer without needing a printer-specific driver installed. Without a driver there is no color management settings sent to the printer, which is why the printer needs to be set via the menu. As long as you install the canon or apple driver then the driver lets you set the color management mode so the printer won’t rely on what you set in this menu. This is true whether the driver uses usb or the network.

Click to expand...

Got it! Thank you so much for the explanation - and for keeping me from wasting more paper to run a pointless test!

Click to expand...

OK . . . but did it work???

Well, based on Ryan’s explanation I didn’t even bother trying and wasting more paper for something that doesn’t apply to my use case (I don’t have my Pro 1100 on a network and I print through the Canon printer driver, not IPP).

Bart on earth · Mar 23, 2025

I'm another one watching this from the sidelines, waiting for an unambiguous resolution to the banding issue. I was originally going to buy a Pro 310 but started considering a Pro 1100 and I am still undecided.

Two things are puzzling me:

1. Currently, you could not buy a new Pro 1100 if you wanted to - it has been out of stock at all the major retailers for several weeks (at least in the US). I know that, initially, new releases sell faster than the supply can keep up but this seems different. I wonder if Canon has halted shipping the 1100 because of the banding problem and will resume when it has been corrected.

2. The Pro 310 has been out for at least a few months, and there are no reviews on YouTube (that I have found), only product announcements. It's very odd for any large company not to get a new product into the hands of reviewers by its release. Of course, I'm wondering if it has the banding issue also.

Gryphon69 · Mar 23, 2025

Bart on earth said:
I'm another one watching this from the sidelines, waiting for an unambiguous resolution to the banding issue. I was originally going to buy a Pro 310 but started considering a Pro 1100 and I am still undecided.

Two things are puzzling me:

1. Currently, you could not buy a new Pro 1100 if you wanted to - it has been out of stock at all the major retailers for several weeks (at least in the US). I know that, initially, new releases sell faster than the supply can keep up but this seems different. I wonder if Canon has halted shipping the 1100 because of the banding problem and will resume when it has been corrected.

2. The Pro 310 has been out for at least a few months, and there are no reviews on YouTube (that I have found), only product announcements. It's very odd for any large company not to get a new product into the hands of reviewers by its release. Of course, I'm wondering if it has the banding issue also.

I think these are two very legitimate questions/concerns.

To tell you the truth there is one more thing that I have been wondering about ever since this banding nightmare started. With the caveat that it may be just me being paranoid here, if you look at the page of the Pro 1100 on Canon USA’s website, it is listed in the “Consumer” section: https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/im...9FjEpS8lQ5XIb1BdlEFgMz15GYLMNLO7A-VK9oDohmVJn

Now, if you navigate to the “Pro” section and the imagePROGRAF line, you still find the Pro 1000 listed as the 17” desktop printer - no mention of the Pro 1100: https://www.usa.canon.com/pro/printers/large-format-printers

This could well be due to a mistake considering that the Pro 1000 has now been discontinued and the Pro 1100 has been touted as its replacement, but the suspect that the banding issues in the 1100 may be due to looser tolerances in the paper feed system, coupled with the fact that the Pro 1000 did not have the issue, make me wonder whether with the introduction of the Pro 1100 Canon has sneakily dropped the 1100 to the Consumer segment, which MIGHT explain the looser tolerances and potentially a switch to different/cheaper suppliers for certain parts of the 1100.

Once again, it is probably mere speculation on my end and I have zero basis to support the theory, but after six months of release, you would think that somebody at Canon USA would correct the misplacement of the 1100 on the website, right?

Canon Pro-1100 Banding Follow-up

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