# [SOLVED] Canon Pixma MP470 prints too light



## mosey

I bought two Canon Pixma MP 470's and both have the same problem. Each machine was purchased at a different time and different place. One machine was a gift and is in another state installed by a different person. They print everything too light. I have not tried printing photo's. The colors are correct but not nearly dark enough. 

I have tried using the manual settings to increase the color intensity to full bright and contrast to full dark. All prints still come out exactly the same . I also have the "vivid" box checked. No matter what I do, it has no effect. Both printers are using plain paper.

Both printers are installed on computers using Windows Vista Premium.

Any suggestions appreciated.


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## ISZ

*Re: Canon Pixma MP470 prints too light*

Yes... Go to "preferences"

Under the "main" tab,in Print quality, click Custom". Move the slider one notch to the right, and try that. That should do it.
Post results here, please...


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## mosey

*Re: Canon Pixma MP470 prints too light*

Thanks ISZ for the reply. I followed your instructions and it printed one picture perfectly, the next picture was back to the same old washed out print. 

I checked the settings and they're still in the settings you suggested. I clicked "defaults" and tried again but to no avail. I also checked "vivid" but that didn't help either.

Now that I know the printer can print properly, what am I doing wrong that it performed correctly only once.

Totally perplexed.


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## mosey

*Re: Canon Pixma MP470 prints too light*

Hey, ISZ, I think I'm on the right track. When I print a picture using Windows Photo Gallery as the viewer, I get a washed out picture, when I open the picture with Internet Explorer or Irfanview, I get a good copy.

After printing about 20 bad pictures, it looks like Windows Photo Gallery is the problem, not my printer.

Any ideas what the problem might be there, otherwise, I'll just have to get used to one of the other viewers (which I sometimes do anyway).

Thanks for the help, you got me on the right track


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## ISZ

*Re: Canon Pixma MP470 prints too light*

Glad to help in any way I can. There must be a hidden low-quality default setting in Windows Photo gallery, but it is not a program I am familiar with. Kudos to you for continuing to work on this problem. Keep checking out your settings on the printer driver - it can only help you in the long run.


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