Drivers for using Canon paper in a Non-Canon Printer

Factual Questions
1

I bought an HP Printer today (8450). I did a lot of research and reading before picking my printer, and decided that this was the printer for me. What made the decision especially difficult is the fact that I have hundreds of dollars worth of Canon paper sitting around collecting dust. A test print verifies that out of the box, the two are not nicely compatible.

I’m fairly religious about using the printer manufacturer’s paper, because I know that it makes a huge difference. But reading the inserts in my HP Paper, there are drivers available for using HP paper in non-HP printers. What I can’t seem to find is the same thing for Canon papers in non-Canon printers. I’ve looked at their website, and can’t seem to find anything, so I thought I’d ask my fellow Dopers if anyone knows of any rivers out there that will save my high-quality Canon photo paper from collecting dust.

2

I don’t understand why you need special drivers to print but if you want to donate the paper I have a nice cannon printer I will use it for

3

What, specifically, is the problem you have when printing on the Canon paper? Too light, too dark, colors bleed too much, don’t render quite right, or what? Most printer untilities allow you to set a specific paper type, such as plain, photo, glossy and many others. Try selecting various paper types until you find one that prints acceptably.

4

As someone who prints for a living, let me tell you right out the gate that paper is paper, for the most part.

Check the lb. rating on your paper. Check the color.

There is a difference in quality in the different brands, but if you buy a good brand (we use Xerox paper at work) you shouldn’t have any problems.

For just basic use, for a home machine, paper is paper, in large part.

5

I apologize, I appear to have left out the important part of the equation - I’m talking about photo paper. Don’t know how I neglected to put that in.

The problem that I have in printing on the Canon paper is hard to explain. In a side-by-side comparison between the HP Paper and the Canon paper, both glossy, there is a slight difference in color; the Canon paper doesn’t feed as well through the machine, leaving a slight groove mark on the upper edge of the photo; and the ink doesn’t adhere to the surface as well.

All photo papers are not alike, and simply setting my printer to other settings doesn’t help.

6

Unless you can get HP ink into the Canon printer, you’re going to have poor results.

The surface of the paper has an “emulsion” (playing on the photo theme) that’s chemically tweaked to accept that maker’s inks. As you’ve seen, the colors come out a bit off and ink absorbtion is wrong.

AFAIK, generic photo paper is just plain paper with a matte or gloss coating and has no secret chmical properties so it can perform reasonably well in any printer.

**Tristan ** - I’m guessing you’re looking at this from an offset perspective. Offset inks aren’t chemically tuned to a specific paper. At least I’ve not heard of someone like VanSon selling special paper to match their ink.