...more of a discussion than any specific question.

With Windows 10 I've always had prints a bit darker than I'd like. The usual advice, that I've often given to people myself, is to adjust the monitor to match the prints. That leaves it too dark for other purposes. I recently got a Calibrite device and set my monitor to 100 nits, which is reasonable for my room and lighting. Prints still too dark. I've used Red River profiles and Prism profiles I make myself with the same results. Soft proofing was never close. You don't really want to know how much paper and ink I've used over the years making test prints and profiles. A few weeks ago, I upgraded my computer to something faster and with Windows 11. Shouldn't make any difference, but now my prints are perfect and soft proofing matches well. Go figure.

I bet I got my Canon PRO 100 about ten years ago, maybe more. I print sporadically, from every week to several months of no activity. I recently did a nozzle check and head alignment. Perfect as they've always been. In the entire time I've had the printer I've never run an unclog or cleaning. Am I just lucky or do people do a lot more unclogging than is really needed? Note that I only use Canon inks.

Sorry, couldn't sleep this morning!

edit- still have some dark prints, hard to predict!

For fun, here's an image that looks good on-screen, but prints dark. Curious if anybody else sees a big difference there. My printer is the PRO-100 using Canon ink and Red River #1656 UltraPro Gloss. For the curious, it's a tractor designed for use in orchards and such, with everything smooth so as not to damage the branches and vines.