Third-party inks

[ejwebb]

I have been a strong proponent of Canon inks and realize they provide the best prints in Canon printers, however...they are expensive!! Has anyone has had good experience with some of the higher quality third-party inks? My concerns are consistency and print quality/longetivity - but I would give up a little bit for the huge cost savings. I would like to profile the inks and feel comfortable that they will be the same from batch to batch.

I am also concerned about their potential impact on my printer. I keep reading that they have adverse impact on the print head but is that true for all of the third-party inks?

I came accross the following website which was very interesting and was wondering if anyone on this forum has had similar experience with high-volume printing using third party inks. I am sure there are others curious as well...

http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inktest.html

[Sathi]

If anyone has an recommendations for paper as well please let me know. I have a canon i960 printer. Very happy with the results, very unhappy with the price of paper and ink which is why it is collecting dust. Canon would make more money from me if they lowered the price of their ink/paper

[CyberDyneSystems]

The word was when the i950 first hit the streets (and the i9100) that the droplet size was so small that any of the cheaper no name inks were likely to clog the essentially non replaceable print head..

However.. I do not know that this is the case with the high end constant flow systems.. which may very well have a higher ink quality. ("Media Street" even used an i9100 as there "Cover model" for about two years running)

I would advise against trying any e-bay specials though. The current printers have even smaller droplet sizes now.

[ejwebb]

I have been happy with the Ilford Gallerie Classic (Pearl and Gloss) papers which are not rock bottom cheap but are about 1/2 the cost of the Canon paper - and I actually prefer the look/feel to the Canon paper.

In his comments at the link I provided, Neil slade also advises against what he called the "generic" third-party inks sold on ebay and even in the local office supply stores. He recommended a few online ink sellers in particular and suggested that there are probably others with good products as well. I think it is key to find a seller with a high quality and consistent supplier so that any profiles will continue to work.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Oh yes.. I love the Ilford as well.. :)

[terryt]

You might want to check this forum out, has tested different, even has profiles for some paper/ink combinations.
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/

[gasrocks]

I have been using bulk ink to refill tanks for years. Yes, you have to replace the tanks once in a while as they do wear out but....bulk ink can work fine. The main issue is knowing how to properly clean your print head. I don't remember the sites (off the top of my head,) but I found 2 that explained great ways to clean your print head. Print heads don't really wear out, they just get clogged. I can't imagine the $ I have saved by refilling !! And, yes, I am picky about print quality.