Home Printing
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Posted 24/06/2015 - 19:17
Strongly weigh manufacturers ink versus ANY type of replacement ink. I've used a variety of printers; from near entry level to two units costing well over 10k. Almost all of the printers out there; from Epson, to Canon, etc... most are able to clearly detect manufacturers replacement cartridges versus other ones. If anything is used outside of manufacturers ink and/or cartridge, then it voids the entire warranty on the printer,
There also are items such as paper. One gets what one pays for
There also are items such as paper. One gets what one pays for
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Posted 24/06/2015 - 20:11
Ive got a Canon MP7550 and it produces excellent prints. I tend to use Canon paper which again give great results and there is no problem matching profiles. A little while ago I started using inks from Go Inks (off Amazon) and they work well with no problems. The price of these inks is very cheap and regular printing becomes affordable. If maybe the printer blows up in the future because of these 3rd path inks then so be it but at the moment things are working well. One thing to take into consideration when using 3rd party inks is how long will the print last - but at least I can print more often than I would have done.
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Posted 25/06/2015 - 00:22
I don't print many at home as my printer is only A4, so not big enough, but it does produce high quality images with 6 inks (model is Epson PX720WD).
I always use 3rd party inks, it works without issues, I have refillable cartridges and the ink cost is a tiny fraction of the Epson cost. I've noticed no difference in colour fidelity and some of the prints have been on my walls for three years, no fading yet. Quite frankly, the printer warranty worries me not one jot, as I've already saved much more on the cost of ink than the printer cost me in the first place.
Regards paper, yes you do get what you pay for, but it's not always that straightforward. My genuine Epson paper is 5 times the cost of some other paper I bought on Amazon, and it does produce slightly more vibrant prints, but I actually prefer the colour balance that the cheaper paper produces; it's a slightly warmer tone.
Regards
David
Flickr
Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu
Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs
I always use 3rd party inks, it works without issues, I have refillable cartridges and the ink cost is a tiny fraction of the Epson cost. I've noticed no difference in colour fidelity and some of the prints have been on my walls for three years, no fading yet. Quite frankly, the printer warranty worries me not one jot, as I've already saved much more on the cost of ink than the printer cost me in the first place.
Regards paper, yes you do get what you pay for, but it's not always that straightforward. My genuine Epson paper is 5 times the cost of some other paper I bought on Amazon, and it does produce slightly more vibrant prints, but I actually prefer the colour balance that the cheaper paper produces; it's a slightly warmer tone.
Regards
David
Flickr
Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu
Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs
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Posted 26/06/2015 - 10:31
Manufacturers can only void a warranty for using non branded ink if it's an extended warranty provided by them. For the initial duration of the warranty - so 2 years in the EU, and 1 in the US, any anti competitive clauses are not valid. Don't have the number of the EU directive at hand, but you can Google it.
Now, what they can do, is try to blame the fault on the non branded ink, in which case it's considered misuse. That said, they are obliged to prove the ink was the cause of the failure which involves much higher costs than actually replacing/fixing an individual printer.
You obviously need to be careful when buying non original ink. I personally only buy from a well enough established company. That way, should the ink container 'spontaneously burst' rendering the device unusable, you have someone to hold responsible
I buy mine from PCWorld, they are well priced and efficient with good colors, at least for HP printers.
'Photography...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten....' (Aaron Siskind)
Now, what they can do, is try to blame the fault on the non branded ink, in which case it's considered misuse. That said, they are obliged to prove the ink was the cause of the failure which involves much higher costs than actually replacing/fixing an individual printer.
You obviously need to be careful when buying non original ink. I personally only buy from a well enough established company. That way, should the ink container 'spontaneously burst' rendering the device unusable, you have someone to hold responsible
I buy mine from PCWorld, they are well priced and efficient with good colors, at least for HP printers. 'Photography...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten....' (Aaron Siskind)
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Posted 26/06/2015 - 19:57
Thanks for the advice, will stick to manufacutrers inks for now and see how much i get through.
Printer purchased and a sample pack of diffrent types of paper ordered so i can do some tests. Looking forward to printing some of my pictures which i dont do enough of. I feel Looking at a photo on paper is a lot different to looking at it on screen.
Printer purchased and a sample pack of diffrent types of paper ordered so i can do some tests. Looking forward to printing some of my pictures which i dont do enough of. I feel Looking at a photo on paper is a lot different to looking at it on screen.
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Posted 26/06/2015 - 20:19
Very true. If it's not too much hassle, some feedback would be appreciated 
i rarely print photos for display at home. Yet to find a solution that comes close to a professional printers.
'Photography...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten....' (Aaron Siskind)
i rarely print photos for display at home. Yet to find a solution that comes close to a professional printers. 'Photography...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten....' (Aaron Siskind)
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Posted 26/06/2015 - 22:25
Feedback will be good but as both myself and David states you can get good quality prints for reasonable cost if you are prepared to try 3rd party inks and paper.
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Posted 27/06/2015 - 16:33
jemx99 wrote:
Feedback will be good but as both myself and David states you can get good quality prints for reasonable cost if you are prepared to try 3rd party inks and paper.
Feedback will be good but as both myself and David states you can get good quality prints for reasonable cost if you are prepared to try 3rd party inks and paper.
you can also clog your print heads up possibly more so with Epson as their nozzles are reputed to be a lot finer than some of the other manufacturers plus if the prints do not dry due to ink not being absorbed by the paper correctly before it hits the exit rollers you will have real mess to clean up. also if you are not doing loads of printing and no larger than A4 the possible cost saving may well be outweighed by the problems that could occur. 7 day shop i have always found offer fair prices on genuine inks, Permajet Papers i have found to be of excellent quality and they will provide custom profiles for your printer/paper combination free i believe plus if you went to one of their open days as i did last year all the printers right up to large format were Epson
Last Edited by redbusa99 on 27/06/2015 - 16:34
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Posted 27/06/2015 - 17:47
Some third party inks can be dire and clog the heads in no time. Yet others can be just as good as originals and run for ages without clogging. What can help is to alternate between an original and budget ink so that if any clogging starts with the budget ink, the original helps clean the head when it is its go.
The refill kits can work well, especially if the cartridges aren't chipped (electronically that is rather than not damaged or come with fish) but they can be messy to handle and sometimes can flood the head if there's a slight air leak in the wrong place, but get them to work and you save a fortune compared to the cost of originals. If the cartridges are chipped, a replacement chip or device will be required to reset the data on them.
To solve a clogged print head, if the print head can be removed it can be washed through under running tap water. That can also be necessary after a leaky ink cartridge has been inadvertently installed (and that could have been a bad original manufacturers replacement cartridge just as much as a refillled cartridge or a brand X replacement.)
A seemingly completely clogged print head may respond to a few seconds in an ultrasonic cleaner. A boot sale printer required this treatment which proved completely successful. There's nothing to be lost by trying this.
John K
The refill kits can work well, especially if the cartridges aren't chipped (electronically that is rather than not damaged or come with fish
) but they can be messy to handle and sometimes can flood the head if there's a slight air leak in the wrong place, but get them to work and you save a fortune compared to the cost of originals. If the cartridges are chipped, a replacement chip or device will be required to reset the data on them.To solve a clogged print head, if the print head can be removed it can be washed through under running tap water. That can also be necessary after a leaky ink cartridge has been inadvertently installed (and that could have been a bad original manufacturers replacement cartridge just as much as a refillled cartridge or a brand X replacement.)
A seemingly completely clogged print head may respond to a few seconds in an ultrasonic cleaner. A boot sale printer required this treatment which proved completely successful. There's nothing to be lost by trying this.
John K
Last Edited by JAK on 27/06/2015 - 17:50
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Posted 28/06/2015 - 20:38
Finally got printer up and running today, am very pleased with the quality of the prints. They are better than then the prints i have done a boots. I did have a few disasters to though.
Printed a few 4x6 Photos (Mainly pet shots etc ) on kodak Premium gloss paper, these all cam out very well.
Printed A4 landscape on Permajet Smooth pearl this also came out very well.
I printed a black and white portrait on Permajet Ultra pearl - it think i made big mistake with print settings as the in did not fry properly and bled badly. The same photo was also printed on PermaJett Matt Plus (This was more like a thick sheet of typical paper/card) - I was pleased with the results = the contrast was a lot and the detail less pronounced than the less than on the more glossy papers.
Looking forward to trying some of the other papers out.
Printed a few 4x6 Photos (Mainly pet shots etc ) on kodak Premium gloss paper, these all cam out very well.
Printed A4 landscape on Permajet Smooth pearl this also came out very well.
I printed a black and white portrait on Permajet Ultra pearl - it think i made big mistake with print settings as the in did not fry properly and bled badly. The same photo was also printed on PermaJett Matt Plus (This was more like a thick sheet of typical paper/card) - I was pleased with the results = the contrast was a lot and the detail less pronounced than the less than on the more glossy papers.
Looking forward to trying some of the other papers out.
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Posted 29/06/2015 - 12:24
Don't think anyone has responded to your question regarding ICC profiles. I'm a novice in this area but hopefully can explain. An ICC profile is effectively a colour management profile that is particular to the inks/printer/paper combination you are using. If you go into the print options there will be a section for colour management where you can change the overall colour balance etc. The ICC effectively does this for you. You need to use software which is capable of utilising ICC profiles though when printing (eg Photoshop Elements). You also need to read up on how to use them.
The advantage is eliminating colour casts to prints and getting the best out of the prints.
HOWEVER
It needs to be matched with a calibrated monitor or you still might see a difference between the shots on screen and on paper. You can use a calibrated print to hold up against the monitor for a rough calibration.
Permajet have a very quick and simple system to provide ICC profiles for their paper. There's a simple guide on their website. Took me about 15 mins to prepare 3 of them. You use 1 A4 sheet up for each one but they sent me the profiles via email the day after I posted them in! I've used them over the weekend on the Permajet Oyster and the photos look fantastic.
You will only prise my 43Ltd from my cold, dead hands...
The advantage is eliminating colour casts to prints and getting the best out of the prints.
HOWEVER
It needs to be matched with a calibrated monitor or you still might see a difference between the shots on screen and on paper. You can use a calibrated print to hold up against the monitor for a rough calibration.
Permajet have a very quick and simple system to provide ICC profiles for their paper. There's a simple guide on their website. Took me about 15 mins to prepare 3 of them. You use 1 A4 sheet up for each one but they sent me the profiles via email the day after I posted them in! I've used them over the weekend on the Permajet Oyster and the photos look fantastic.
You will only prise my 43Ltd from my cold, dead hands...
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Posted 29/06/2015 - 19:38
That sounds like good service, i will try getting ICC for some of the paper types i like most. I have done a bit more reading on it so have an idea on what to do in elements.
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Posted 29/06/2015 - 22:10
I use Signal Inks, available on ebay and they have never clogged my Epson printer, even though it goes for weeks sometimes without being used. Also, the quality of prints I find as good as or better than images printed commercially, the only restricting factor is the size. I've never had any problems with the ink not drying quickly enough and getting stuck to rollers, I suspect this is more down to the paper than the ink.
Regards
David
PS: I convert my images to the Epson Premium Glossy profile in Photoshop, this is designed specifically for the printer I use and they come out great with either the genuine Epson paper, or an alternative, both with non-genuine inks. I've just had a 30*20 inch print done on aluminium by DS Colour Labs and although it is very good, the quality is not better than I can get at home.
Flickr
Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu
Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs
Regards
David
PS: I convert my images to the Epson Premium Glossy profile in Photoshop, this is designed specifically for the printer I use and they come out great with either the genuine Epson paper, or an alternative, both with non-genuine inks. I've just had a 30*20 inch print done on aluminium by DS Colour Labs and although it is very good, the quality is not better than I can get at home.
Flickr
Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu
Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs
Last Edited by davidstorm on 29/06/2015 - 22:15
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Posted 30/06/2015 - 23:01
print at least i item a month or even fortnightly, it only needs to be a nozzle check, done it ever since i have had it and never had a problem but i have not followed my own advice and not printed for about 3 months resulting in dried and blocked up red which took 7 cleaning cycles and a lot of ink to fully restore. another tip i found was do not switch the printer off as it may do a cleaning cycle everytime you switch on which results in more ink usage
odd lens or 2
Flickr
odd lens or 2
Flickr
Last Edited by redbusa99 on 30/06/2015 - 23:03
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punkrockemo
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In the thread mentoned above ICC profiles are montioned, what are they.
There are lots of diffrent types of papers, do some of them work better for different types of printers or photography or is the choice mainly a personal one based on how you like the results.
What other things are there that people new to home printing should think about.