Most printer buyers are unaware that the number of inks a printer uses influences the range of colours and tones it can reproduce. The simplest printers use only four ink colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This ink set is known as ø¢â‚¬ËœCMYK’, with the K standing for ø¢â‚¬Ëœkey’ and representing black.
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Most printer buyers are unaware that the number of inks a printer uses influences the range of colours and tones it can reproduce. The simplest printers use only four ink colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This ink set is known as ‘CMYK’, with the K standing for ‘key’ and representing black. In theory, this combination should be capable of reproducing all colours. However, in practice it is impossible to produce inks with totally pure colours and full saturation and four colours isn’t enough to provide the subtle tones we expect in larger prints (although it’s adequate for snapshot-sized prints). To improve tonal reproduction and provide greater colour accuracy, manufacturers introduced two additional inks: light cyan and light magenta. These six-colour inkjet printers are the first step towards ‘true’ photo quality printing and the first inkjet printers capable of matching the quality of traditional photo prints.  A typical six-colour ink set with light cyan and light magenta added to the basic CMYK set. However, if you want to print black-and-white photos, having only one black ink limits the range of tones the printer can reproduce. Consequently, some of the coloured inks are called upon to make up the deficiency. This leads to undesirable colour casts. To overcome this problem, additional grey (‘light black’) and light grey (‘light light black’) inks have been added to the ink set.  A typical eight-cartridge ink set with yellow, magenta, cyan, light magenta, light cyan and three levels of black ink (black, light black and light light black). Two types of black ink are included: Photo Black and Matte Black for printing on glossy and matte papers respectively.
Summing up: if you only wish to make colour prints, a six-ink printer will do the job. But, for printing black-and-white photos an eight-ink set containing two shades of grey is essential.  Visit epson.com.au for the latest Epson printers.
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