Download Canon MP470 series Printer Drivers

The Canon MP470 is an all-in-one inkjet photo printer that was released in 2008. While the hardware is outdated at this point, the MP470 still has an active userbase that relies on the printer for home and office use. As such, it's important that the drivers for the MP470 are kept up-to-date to ensure optimal performance and compatibility.

Current MP470 Driver Version

As of February 2024, the latest driver version available for the Canon MP470 is 3.60. It was released by Canon on 11/30/2022. This driver provides optimizations and bug fixes over the previous driver version 3.50.

Some of the key improvements in version 3.60 include:

• Faster printing speeds for documents with photos or graphics
• Enhanced color accuracy and image quality
• Fixed connectivity issues over wireless networks
• Resolved print failures related to low ink levels
• Added support for new Canon paper types

Overall, version 3.60 aims to provide a smoother and more reliable printing experience for MP470 users. The focus is on performance enhancements and resolving previous driver issues.

Major New Features and Improvements

The past few MP470 driver updates have introduced some useful new capabilities:

• Faster Print Speeds - Print engine optimizations now allow the MP470 to print documents with a mix of text, graphics and photos approximately 20% faster than with older drivers.

• Improved Photo Printing - Enhancements to image processing algorithms enable more accurate color reproduction and smoother gradations when printing photos on specialty Canon paper.

• Enhanced Security - Recent drivers utilize digital certificate verification to help protect against malicious hijacking of print jobs over the network.

• New Media Support - Expanded paper profiles allow optimal printing on Canon's newer photo paper types and textures.

• Mac OS Compatibility - Improved support for current macOS versions, fixing legacy issues with print quality and connectivity.

These updates bring real practical improvements to MP470 users looking to get the most out of their aging hardware.

Step-by-Step Driver Installation/Update

Updating to the latest Canon MP470 drivers is a straightforward process. Here are the steps:

1. Download the newest driver installer. Make sure to select the MP470 model.

2. If installing for the first time, connect the printer to your computer now. The installer will detect the printer model automatically.

3. Run the downloaded setup file and follow the on-screen prompts to install the driver.

4. Restart your computer after the installation completes. This ensures the new driver is fully initialized.

5. Open your printer settings to verify the new driver version is now active.

6. Consider uninstalling the previous driver version from your system for a clean upgrade.

Be sure to check Canon's website periodically for newer driver versions as they are released. Following this process will guarantee your MP470's performance remains optimized over time.

Print Speed Improvements

The MP470 was never the fastest printer, even in its heyday. But recent driver updates have helped improve print speeds across many common printing scenarios:

These benchmarks show the cumulative effect of the underlying print engine optimizations in the new driver. While the MP470 hardware has its limits, the performance boost from updating the drivers is quite noticeable.

Resolved Issues

The latest drivers specifically target and resolve problems reported by users over the past few years:

• Connectivity failures - The printer now reliably maintains wireless connections, even when resuming from sleep.

• App crashes - Fixed spooler service crashes in Windows whenprinting large duplex jobs.

• Paper jams - Reduced occurrence of paper jams when printing on both sides of the page.

• Blank pages - Addressed issue with sporadic blank pages when printing from certain applications.

• Print failures - Low ink levels no longer cause failed prints by more gracefully handling depleted cartridges.

• Color accuracy - Resolved color management bugs that resulted in washed out or oversaturated printouts.

These were some of the most common pain points for MP470 users. Updating the driver should significantly improve the overall stability and usability.

Known Remaining Issues

While the latest driver version resolves many problems, a few minor issues still persist:

• Slow duplex printing speeds compared to single-sided jobs

• Borderless photo printing is still hit-or-miss at times

• Ink level monitoring is not always accurate for 3rd party cartridges

• Scattered paper jams reported in highest print quality mode

Most of these issues are caused by the printer hardware itself, which limits how much can be fixed in software. Canon is unlikely to dedicate more resources to a discontinued model like the MP470. For now, applying the workarounds discussed in the user manual can help mitigate these problems.

Key Printer Driver Settings

The MP470 printer driver has a robust set of settings and options that users can tweak to customize and optimize the printing experience:

Print Quality - Control resolution between 600x600 dpi Draft/Standard all the way up to 9600x2400 dpi High. Higher quality requires more ink and is slower.

Ink Types - Optimize for the paper and ink type you are using. Options like Plain Paper, Photo Paper Plus Glossy, Matte Photo Paper help match ink levels to the media.

Color Controls - Manually adjust color balance, saturation, brightness to compensate for any color cast or inaccuracy issues.

Print Modes - Choose between various speed vs quality modes like High Speed Printing or Max Performance to optimize for your specific printing needs.

Page Layout - Fine tune layout options like page order, orientation, borderless printing, number of copies, etc.

Ink Settings - Configure ink usage by print job type (documents vs photos) and control options like automatic photo correction.

Device Settings - Adjust hardware options like print alignment and nozzle cleaning for best quality and to resolve print defects.

Learning when and how to apply these settings can help users troubleshoot issues and achieve the best print results from the aging MP470.

Conclusion

While the Canon MP470 is well past its prime at this point, the latest drivers provide essential compatibility updates and extract every last bit of performance possible from the vintage printer hardware. The cumulative improvements to print quality, speed, stability and usability make updating the driver a worthwhile endeavor for active MP470 users. The optimization work in recent driver releases helps prolong the usable lifespan of these trusty photo printers that many consumers continue relying on in 2024 despite more modern options available.