Ubuntu – Color calibrate printer/ink/paper using the integrated scanner (without requiring a colorimeter/photometer device)

color-managementgnome-color-managericcprintingscanner

Ubuntu 15.04 has successfully recognized my All-In-One printer+scanner Canon PIXMA MG3550 as a Canon MG3500 series.

Scanning and black-and-white printing are correct 🙂
But color printing does not produce the right colors 🙁

As I do not find (or I do not know how to find) an ICC profile for my system, I tried to understand printer calibration, to use Argyll and also to install a GUI ([gnome-color-manager).

But it is too complicated, I am a beginner in color calibration!

Therefore, I am looking for a simple intuitive graphical tool to:

Print a complete CMYK
color reference test card/chart
Scan the printed result _{(assuming the scanner is calibrated)}
Compute (and install) the ICC profile
Repeat again until the ICC values are sufficiently stabilized

If no such tool exists on Ubuntu, I can download a recommended test image, run some command lines and manually install the new generated ICC profiles. Is there a website briefly providing these steps?

Best Answer

Solved by upgrading to latest Ubuntu stable release

I have not calibrated my printer but I post here how this issue has been solved as requested by Jens' comment.

In fact, the computer had been repaired by a shop and the Ubuntu 15.04 I had originally installed had been replaced by the 14.04 LTS release. As I did not notice the Ubuntu version downgrade I was thinking about a printer calibration problem...

This issue got fixed when migrating from that Ubuntu LTS release to the latest stable release.

As a complement, I can tell a story at my office in 2015: Nobody was able to print on the single printer of the floor from Ubuntu (we were all using Ubuntu LTS). We had to reboot on Windows :-(
One day, I installed the latest Ubuntu stable release, and I became the first to print on that printer :-) (see my tutorial). But I was not using the same official Ubuntu release as my other colleagues...

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Printer Color Management How to calibrate the printer

I am using canon mg6170. I have the same problems as you do. To be precise, I got a driver from Canon which print almost correct color. It cannot be used smoothly because bugs turn up when using rear tray and also it offer very few adjustment options. If i use guten-print driver, no bugs except printing dark color image similar to your situation. The problem is partially solved now -the hue of Blue and and Red colors are still not quite okay. The method i used is as follows.

Go to setup, printer Left click on the printer icon and choose properties from the pop-up Choose Printer Options form the Properties Menu Scroll up and down to find and adjust the followings Color Correction = Bright Color Brightness=1.7 Saturation =2.4

The situation is much improved after doing this. But I think different printer model might have different presentation for the Option Menu, you may have to make your trial.

Also, please noted that some names are translated from chinese since it is my locale, you have to make a good guess if you cannot find the exact name.

Ubuntu – Uable to print after upgrading Ubuntu 16.04 to 18.04 (HP MFC-7470DW)

I tried this answer which worked for some:

sudo rmdir /usr/share/ghostscript/9.25/iccprofiles
sudo apt-get install --reinstall libgs9-common

But it didn't work for me with Brother DCP-7065DN printer after fresh cloning of 16.04 and upgrade to 18.04 on October 14, 2018.

After reboot works

Purging the ghost scripts works, but not until you reboot. Then even before you sign on, everything that failed to print previously, suddenly prints out.

This is a huge security issue! Imagine a manager tries to print sensitive documents after 18.04 upgrade and it fails. The manager gives up and goes off to call Tech Support. Another user reboots the computer and even before they sign on the manager's reports spit out for the unauthorized employee to see.

After initial reboot I was able to print normally.

Others with similar problems

Many people are having problems printing after 16.04 to 18.04 upgrade: