Why the Right Ink is Important

Different types of inkjet printer require radically different ink types. Printers designed for dyebased inks can’t work with pigment inks – and vice versa. Printers that rely on heat to force out droplets of ink need inks that can maintain a specific viscosity range through repeated heating and cooling, while printers driven by piezo-electric technology require inks with highly specific viscosities.

Inks that do not meet the print head’s requirements can either leak through the nozzles or clog the print head. To prevent potential problems, buying the manufacturer’s inks ensures you will be using an ink that exactly meets the requirements of your printer.
Although there may be cheaper inks on sale in supermarkets and department stores, using them for photo printing is risky for the following reasons:
1. There is no way to guarantee the performance of third-party inks and no evidence they were produced with adequate quality control or whether they are suitable for a specific printer.

2. Cheap ink cartridges are often poorly manufactured and may be susceptible to leakage, allowing inks to spread inside the printer’s electronics and mechanical components. This can damage cables, circuit boards and associated mechanical parts.
3. Many cheap inks are also too acidic and can etch the nozzles in the print head.

4. If you combine different ink types and formulations by buying from different manufacturers, the chemicals in the inks may react and coagulate. This will clog and damage print heads and may cause internal damage to the printer.
5. The only way to guarantee repeatable colour accuracy from print-to-print is to use the printer manufacturer’s inks because they are subjected to rigorous quality control.
This is an excerpt from Post Capture Pocket Guide.
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