Photos fade with cheap ink
INKJET
printers capable of producing brilliant prints are cheap. Unfortunately
the materials needed to make them work are ruinously expensive.
Canon,
Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark all make printers capable of
producing excellent prints and the hardware is remarkably affordable.
However, buying the gadget is only the beginning of the shock to the
credit card.Imaging’s Canon i9950 printer is a wonderful machine but it
uses eight ink cartridges that cost $24 each. Genuine Canon paper is
also expensive, particularly if you opt for the best Photo Paper Pro.
And the story with Epson and Hewlett-Packard is much the same.It is
understandable that the frugal photographer will be seduced by cheap
third party ink cartridges and refills. We proceed on the cynical
assumption that the printer makers are giving away the hardware in
order to get us addicted to their ink and papers but we are not fooled.
We’ll outsmart them by buying no-brand.It’s an appealing logic, but be
warned. For a few years Epson ran a series of advertisements intended
to scare their customers away from third party inks. With graphic
photographic proof the company claimed that if any but their own
genuine inks are used their printer heads would be ruined.

There was widespread hooting at the self-serving alarmist advertisements. But what if it is true?Imaging
can’t speak of Epson experience but we can report that third party inks
wreaked havoc on the expensive printer heads of a Canon printer we
owned. The heads clogged up and there was nothing we could do to clear
them.When we checked with Canon they told us that use of third party
inks does not void their warranty. They neither recommend nor warn. But
our experience turned us off no-name inks forever.

Now comes another persuasive reason for not using third party inks: prints made with them quite literally fade before your eyes.The
Wilhelm Imaging Research Institute – the de facto standard setter for
inkjet print longevity – has recently tested a range of alternative
inks from the big office supply companies in the US. The house brand
names are unfamiliar to us but presumably these inks come from the same
source that supplies our third-party market.Wilhelm found that where,
for instance, Hewlett-Packard inks used with HP Premium Plus Photo
Paper produce prints that last 73 years under standard illumination,
the cheap inks faded in five months or, at the most, six years. HP 95
and 99 photo cartridges produce prints with a life expectancy of 108
years. With the cheap inks the life of a print is 4.6 years at best.The
disparities are just as startling for Canon and Epson printers. Wilhelm
considers “the permanence of all the after-market products tested to be
unsuitable for printing valued consumer photographs”.Sadly, we get what
we pay for. And what we pay for when we buy genuine inks and papers is
a total system where the chemistry and physics of all the components
have been optimised to work together to produce the best results and
protect the microscopic ink jets from damage.

Aftermarket Inks Fading Fast?
Newton,
MA  May , 2006 — Lyra Research, the digital imaging authority, has
announced findings from Wilhelm Imaging Research showing that the image
permanence of photos printed with aftermarket ink jet cartridges and
photo papers is far inferior to that of photos printed with original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) ink jet cartridges and photo papers. The
results of this study were published in the May issue of The Hard Copy
Supplies Journal, The testing examined the image permanence of prints
made with store-brand ink jet cartridges, ink jet cartridges refilled
at franchise refill shops, and other aftermarket ink sets, using OEM
and third-party photo papers. It also compared the permanence of photos
printed with these aftermarket products to that of photos printed with
inks and photo papers from Canon, Epson, and HP using the respective
OEMs’ consumer photo printers.Charles Brewer, managing editor of The
Hard Copy Supplies Journal, explains the framework of the study.
“Wilhelm Imaging Research based the study on claims it found in the
advertising for many aftermarket ink jet cartridges and papers
indicating that aftermarket products generally provide equal or better
quality than products made by OEMs such as HP, Canon, Epson, and
Lexmark. According to WIR, image permanence is an intrinsic component
of ‘overall product quality,’ and its testing reveals that aftermarket
photo inks and media fall far short of these claims, with a gap of more
than 70 years in permanence ratings in some cases.” Brewer adds, “While
store-brand ink jet cartridges, refilled cartridges, and
Internet-purchased cartridges have achieved remarkable levels of image
quality, the test results indicate that in terms of the less obvious
issue of light-fading stability, these products are comparable to where
the OEMs were in the 1990s. It appears that the aftermarket’s
one-size-fits-all approach to making ink and compatible photo papers
doesn’t produce the same level of image permanence, especially when
compared to the optimized combinations available from the major printer
manufacturers. The WIR test results suggest that photos printed with a
combination of aftermarket ink jet cartridges and premium OEM photo
papers essentially negated the value of using the name-brand
paper.”Since no information regarding the longevity of photo prints is
available at the point of sale, consumers have no guidelines for
choosing printing supplies that will yield long-lasting photo prints.
Ink jet photo paper analyst Andy Lippman explores the market
implications of the WIR study. “Can printer manufacturers effectively
communicate the value proposition of image permanence to consumers who
are primarily concerned with price? As the aftermarket continues to
gain market share using a value-driven message, particularly with the
strength of office superstore-brand products, companies such as HP have
begun to employ more pointed language about the lower quality of
aftermarket products. With these test results in hand, the OEMs have an
even better tool to battle aftermarketers. Even the thriftiest consumer
may have second thoughts about buying a cartridge that produces photos
that will fade in only a matter of months. From an advertising
standpoint, the image of a faded family photograph gives the OEMs an
emotionally and rationally compelling message based on the WIR
results.Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR), led by founder and president
Henry Wilhelm, conducted the testing. Wilhelm is an expert on image
permanence and has worked on various issues related to the display and
preservation of photographic prints with a number of groups, including
the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Since 1995, he has been an
advisor to the Corbis Bettmann photography collection, which is owned
by Bill Gates and contains more than 65 million images

Ink and paper make a world of difference
APRIL 06:THERE’S a feeling among consumers that printer makers recommend their own ink and paper to make more money. Not so, say the major players.
Connect asked HP, Kodak, Canon and Epson: “Why should consumers always use your paper and inks with your printers? And what happens if they don’t?” Here are their responses.

EPSON
Tests show that third-party inks require more head cleaning on an inkjet printer and cause more blockages than genuine inks.
Every ink has some fixed and some variable characteristics. Viscosity and temperature are two key ones. Every type of paper has its own characteristics. Absorption rate and permeability are two key ones. To achieve optimal print quality, every printer vendor programs its printer drivers with the characteristics of their own ink and paper types.
Epson printers have a table of how viscosity of the ink in the printer (known by the printer talking to the chip on the ink cartridge) varies with temperature. The printer also has a small thermometer to measure ink temperature.
When these are known, the printer automatically varies the droplet size and shape (and sometimes angle of firing) to match the current viscosity of the Epson ink, so you get an optimal result according to the type of Epson paper the ink is being applied to. If either the ink or the paper is not genuine Epson, then their precise characteristics are unknown to the printer and it will then apply ink to the paper in the way that is optimal for Epson ink and paper, which in all likelihood will not be correct for an alien ink-paper mix. The result will be of less quality.

HEWLETT-PACKARD
Because HP carefully co-designs the printer, ink and photo paper together as a system, using HP inks and paper gives maximum reliability, ease of use and the best print quality. A non-HP ink can cause a multitude of problems within the printhead/cartridge. Glued areas can gradually delaminate because of chemical incompatibility. Tiny channels can get plugged because ink designs are not “torture tested” with the same rigour as HP inks.
A non-HP ink will not use the exclusive colourants contained in genuine HP ink, so colours are different to what was intended by the engineer who designed and optimised the “colour maps” in the printer. Wilhelm Imaging Research (wilhelm-research.com) shows that genuine OEM inks outlast after-market inks by a factor of 20x or more.

CANON
Canon has dedicated considerable resources to the research and development of Canon inks and photo paper to ensure Canon printer owners obtain best-quality photos. The combination of Canon’s ChromaLife100 inks and selected Canon photo papers allows photos printed at home to last as long as, if not longer than, photos developed by labs.

KODAK
Kodak has a range of high-quality photo paper available in a number of sizes. These have been optimised to be used with a variety of printers because Kodak doesn’t produce printers. Kodak’s EasyShare range of photo printers use a thermal dye-printing method where the ink is applied to the paper in layers. The final layer also provides a protective clear coating. The result is an instant waterproof and smudge-proof 6×4 borderless print that will last for decades. 

wow

i did not know that the oem are better than our compatible and recycled

good work

but we do not agrreed with you

ralph peralta

microjet technologies

CHEAP INKJET INK
Keeping your printer in ink is expensive.

A set of black and color cartridges from Canon, Epson, or HP costs 50 to 70 dollars.

So you decide if tis is a case of dont waste your money.

OEM Manufacturers find low profit in ink