Setting up your new PRO-300
Canon PRO-300 setup
Printer setup and installation
Using the Canon PRO-300 printer as well as the full specifications are covered in detail in Keith’s PRO-300 review
This article covers the initial setup and installation of the printer including network and space requirements.
PRO-300 setup
See the full PRO-300 review for more information about using the printer.
Unboxing
Don’t rip the plastic bag the printer is wrapped in.
It’s designed to lift the printer out of the box.
Yes, it is entirely strong enough with the ‘handles’. The PRO-300 weighs just over 14kg (~31 lbs), a noticeable reduction from the ~20kg of the PRO-10S.
Note that at 639 x 379 x 200 mm it’s also slightly smaller than the older PRO-10/10S (689 x 385 x 215 mm)
The 10 ink cartridges will need fitting in due course.
There’s also the print head assembly that will need fitting.
Prepare the printer by removing all orange tape and protective plastic sheets.
Anything orange needs to go
There are more bits inside….
The orange plastic lock, holds the carriage in place.
Space requirements
The printer has paper guides for the two paper input slots, which extend.
Note how you need space above – especially if you want to print A3+ or panoramic sizes (up to ~990mm/39″)
The rear feed slot is required for art papers (single sheet).
Turned round, it’s easier to see the space needed.
There’s also space needed at the front, unless you want prints on the floor.
Installing the printhead
The first major task for setting up the PRO-300 is to install the print head and ink carts.
Just connect power at this point – no USB or Ethernet cables yet.
Actually, on powering up the printer, the first thing is setting language to use.
I’d definitely suggest reading the manual – you can get it on your phone if you scan the QR code.
Then there is setting the time/date.
It’s around this time you’ll probably forget that the screen is not a touch screen.
If I had a pound for every user setting up the printer and gently cursing the lack of touchscreen at this point I’d probably be getting a new car ;-)
There is an animated guide for setting up the print head and ink carts.
It’s a simple process, but the guides are clearly drawn.
Note the locking lever that will hold the head in place.
The printer moves the carriage assembly over to the left to accept the print head.
I’ve lifted the light grey locking bar to make space for fitting it.
Take the print head from its sealed bag.
Remove the orange cover, by unclipping it.
This reveals the electrical connections and two print heads (5 inks per head).
Do not touch the connections or heads.
The assembly just fits in with the heads downwards and connections to the rear.
The grey lever can then be moved forward to lock the head assembly to the printer carriage.
Installing inks
The 10 ink carts need to be fitted next.
Each one has a removable orange protective cap.
Remember that no orange bits remain in the printer!
The ink pads under the orange caps will be wet with ink, so take care to do just one at a time.
Note that the grey locking bar has not been set down. The carts are installed and click into place with it down.
Use the coloured guide on the locking bar to make sure you’ve got the right carts in the right place.
Close the printer lid when done.
The printer now does its stuff, for 10 minutes or so. Lots of whirring and movement.
The printer is now almost ready to go.
Alignment
With any Canon printer I always perform the print head alignment at setup. I’ll also run it again when I replace the first cartridge.
You can delay this, but it is essential for optimum print quality.
At this point some normal plain paper will suffice.
I repeated the process a while later when all was up and running with two A4 sheets of photo paper.
If you’re printing much at the standard setting rather than ‘best’ then using a thicker photo paper will give a more precise alignment and minimise any slight banding in solid areas of colour.
Note that the PRO-300 does not have a densitometer like the PRO-1000 and above, so there is no colour calibration performed.
The printer is now ready to go.
The paper showing is the A4 photo paper I used for alignment. Note in the top RH corner that I’ve not yet set any network connections.
Nozzle checks
If you want to do a quick check that all’s well – the printer also has the usual nozzle check option via the maintenance menu option.
There is just the standard pattern.
A sheet of copier paper is fine for this.
Connecting the printer
The printer can work via USB, Ethernet or wireless.
For ease of testing I almost always connect up a new printer first with a USB connection. Both wired options have sockets at the side (above the power connection).
I’m just connecting the printer up to my MacBook Pro, and USB will do just fine.
Another reminder – this is in addition to the note attached to the orange plug in the USB socket.
There are wireless and web based options available as well. These are covered in the set-up documentation and in the main printer review.
I’ll finish of with one warning note if you’re connecting up to a Mac.
Avoiding the AirPrint Driver
You may see several printer driver options when setting up. Just make sure you don’t choose one with AirPrint in the name.
If you do use it, you’ll find a much reduced range of printer options in your print dialogs.
This first caught me out a few years ago (on an Epson printer as it happens) and I know it still causes questions of ‘where have all my printer options gone’ on forums…
Note the difference for the correct driver.
There’s a lot more about using the printer in the main review.
Questions/comments? Feel free to email me or use the comment form below.
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