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| Do not be tempted by Continuous Inking Systems (CIS) or aftermarket inks! |
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Article Details
Last Updated
22nd of August, 2011
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Epson is an ink company. And a brilliant ink company. Much like Gillette, the razors (or printers) are really only sold as vehicles for the delivery of the core product (razor blades, or in this case, ink). All the other major manufacturers are the same - they make their money in inks and the hardware is sold at or below cost to encourage you to get printing.
The OEM inks are very expensive, no doubt about it. It's very tempting to think of using aftermarket inks and/or continuous inking systems. Don't do it!
The original inks from Epson, Canon, and HP are really pretty special and have been extremely thoroughly research and tested. No matter what the aftermarket ink suppliers tell you, there ink testing doesn't come close to the OEM inks. We know, because we've been contracted on several occasions to test inks for these companies and they never like the results when they're compared to the original inks (which is why they never publish this research!).
The original inks are fantastically similar batch to batch, year after year. Indeed, even with sophisticated equipment, it is almost impossible to measure any batch variance in, say, Epson Ultrachrome ink. They are simply always the same, time and time again. Even the most expensive aftermarket inks have huge variance within a single year. The quality control is simply not there - the density of the inks is often a very good match for previous batches but the hue (ie. the actual colours) are quite measurably variable batch to batch.
Further, the design of the original printheads in the printheads is intimately correlated to the ink formulations for that generation of printer. Very slight tweaks in the ink formulation usually require a new design to the printhead for ongoing reliable results - you have to remember the printhead in a modern inkjet is a fabulously intricate and carefully produced device. If you start running inks through your printhead with even a slight variance to the intended inks, such as a slightly more viscous ink, or one with slightly bigger particles, you will begin to damage your printhead and degrade the performance of your printer.
With 10 years of experience specifically in this area, we can say with certainty that almost all CIS users have significant hassles over time. Sometimes you might get a year or two of reliable use, but the problems always arise eventually. We simply can't count the number of phone calls we have received over the years about colour change issues, lack of profiles, ink leakages, clogging issues, destroyed print heads, etc etc.
It simply is not worth it and if archival, high quality fine art prints is your goal, you simply must use the OEM inks.
Note we don't sell much ink, we don't have any real vested interest in this - we've just seen the pain and frustration (and expense) that aftermarket inks and CIS systems can cause because we specialise in print quality and people come to use to get the best results with printing.
(If all you do is prints that don't need to be archival, can change colour at random from day to day, and you don't care about replacing your printer regularly, then a CIS might be appropriate - we still don't think it is worth the hassle though!).
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