Photo Printer Cartridge

The type of photo printing that you will be doing will play a large part in determining the type of photo printer cartridge that the photographer will use. Different print jobs might mean different types of inks are required. Ordinarily, a printer will utilize either dye-based ink printer cartridges or pigment-based ink printer cartridges.
Dye-based ink refers to water soluble ink, while pigment-based ink refers to non-soluble ink. Both types of ink are supposed to be environmentally friendly, specifically when compared to alcohol based ink or industrial oils. Which sort of photo printer cartridge should you pick when you are trying to determine which printer you should get?

Dye-Based Inks

Dye-based inks are by and large a great deal less expensive than pigment-based inks, easy to manufacture, and, as a consequence, they have by tradition been the choice ink for a digital photo printer cartridge. Dye-based inks are manufactured with optical brighteners which make their colors extra dazzling and vivid as they employ a colorant dye dissolve-in solution. The results of the use of optical brighteners are prints that are a great deal brighter in color and much more constant. However, the vivid colors may possibly lighten quickly due to a poor resistance to UV lighting; and given that the colors might take longer to dry, it can result in a blurry image.

Pigment-based ink is more resistant to UV light and water, but the dye-based ink is better at holding and projecting the brightness of colors. A dye-based photo printer cartridge will be best for photo and graphic print production, while a pigment-based cartridge for printer will turn out much better text documents. Key printer manufacturers such as Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Epson, and Lexmark normally will use pigment-based black ink to go alongside dye-based color ink.

Pigment-Based Inks

Pigment-based ink is made by means of resins, which are normally chemically based polymers. They are broken up into small particles and subsequently covered with a dispersant. The particles, or resin, are then suspended in water so that they can be used in a photo printer cartridge. The production system for making pigment-based ink makes the ink a good deal more resilient to UV light and gives it a longer life expectation than dye based ink. However, it does cause the printed colors to appear duller when compared to prints of dye-based ink. In addition has been common for black colored inks to be pigment-based inks since they dry fast and result in a clear, crisp printout.

Pigment-based inks are not as a rule used in a color desktop photo printer cartridge since their persistent usage would result with the color pigments massing together, causing the photo printer cartridge to become blocked. Color printers that employ pigment-based ink are generally more costly owing to the need to incorporate exclusive software to stop obstruction and make dense colors.

Which Type of Ink is the Best Choice?

Given the above explanations, take a look at the summary below of the desired qualities of every sort of photo printer cartridge and how these two kinds of ink compare:

1. Resistance to water: Dye-based inks have to be dissolved in order to work. They are regularly used as inkjet printer inks since they simply liquefy in water and flow easily with it. In spite of this, if a photo made from dried dye-based ink gets wet, the print colors will run. Pigment-based inks, on the other hand, soak up water but do not dissolve with it. Hence, they are more water-resistant.

2. Sharpness of color: A dye-based ink photo printer cartridge is ideal for brilliance and vivacity of the colors they give. As a result, they are more frequently used for printing photos and graphics. Pigment-based inks are more often than not limited to black colors only and are thus used for grayscale prints and text only documents.

3. Resistance to light: Dye-based inks have optical brighteners that produce bright colors. These optical brighteners, however, are vulnerable to light and other chemicals, and thus lose color more rapidly. A pigment-based photo printer cartridge is the ink of choice for archiving jobs because it can last for years even under light or chemical contact.

Knowing what kind of ink a printer’s cartridges are filled with will guarantee that the right printer is used for a particular job, whether it is pigment-based ink for black & white or dye-based ink for color work. Canon, Epson, HP, Compaq, Lexmark and other photo printer cartridge producers utilize dye-based inks in their less costly inkjet printers. Higher quality printers usually use pigment-based black ink and dye-based color ink cartridges. Be sure that you study the printer’s manual for exact ink specifications previous to purchasing the new photo printer.

• Posted by PhotoPrinterCartridge • Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 pm • (0) Comment



Filed under:
• Cartridges

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.