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Which type of ink has the darkest black??? pigment or dye???

3K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  sunra1081 
#1 ·
I need to know which type of ink has the darkest black ink??? pigment or dye???
 
#2 ·
What you need to know is what is the optimal density for film positives- answer 3.0 and up! You will know you've achieved this by taking a transmissive density reading with a densitometer. Configure your printer accordingly to achieve this. Find a transmissive densitometer on ebay for cheap and stop the guess work..
 
#3 ·
This was posted In the heat transfer section. So I will answer first as this is you intent. You need to use pigment for heat transfers dye may print darker but will most likely wash out or fade very quickly. If you want for films just get blackmaxx ink no meter needed print on photo setting and premium photo glossy paper.
 
#4 ·
YES sben763 I AM USING HEAT TRANSFERS!!! I AM USING MY EPSON 1400 WITH DYE INK BUT EVERY TIME I PRINT IT LOOKS FADED BEFORE THE FIRST WASH!!! THATS WHY I AM JUST WONDERING??? I TYPICALLY JUST USE BLACK VINYL, BUT I WANT TO START USING THE TRANSFERS... ESPECIALLY ON WHITE SHIRTS!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK???
 
#5 ·
What you need is pigment ink and jssp paper. Get a ciss or refillable cartridges with cobra inks. They have ICC profiles and all the info and support you need they even sell the paper but is cheaper other places.
.:: Cobra Ink Systems::. This is where the term CIS began

Check out their site You will need to print out of Adobe or Corel or other graphics program that supports ICC profiles to use them but you can get good print without profile also. A heat press is also recommended if you don't have one.
 
#7 ·
NOT DYE INKS. THEY DO NOT WORK FOR HEAT TRANSFERS. YOU NEED PIGMENT INKS.

The 1100 comes stock with pigment inks but you can simply change the 1400 to pigment inks but I recommend using new cartridges so no ink mixture. Sorry for the all caps but I wanted to make sure you understand the ink is your problem not the printer.

By having 2 sets you can go back and forth the 2 inks by simply doing a head cleaning so you can still print photos also
 
#8 ·
The only problem i have with converting my 1400 over is that the guy who i purchased my inks from at inkjetarts recommended that i don't do that(switch inks to to pigment in the 1400)!!! What is your opinion??? Do you use pigment inks in a epson 1400??? Have you every seen it done???
 
#10 ·
I have been running pigment inks in my 1400 for 3-4 years without issue. The ICC profile is not needed but helps give it that extra pop. This goes for the 1100 also. Cobra inks does a great job of ink production. The problem with most aftermarket inks is the particals ink the are not uniform and some are too large. Cobra inks have no more chance of clogging the head as the durabrite inks. The durabrite do a good job but do have some color shift when heat pressed.
 
#9 ·
From what I've heard, the only problem with doing this is that the 1400 needs a profile to print correctly... you can no longer use it as a general purpose printer since you can't ICC out of Microsoft Office or your web browser. Plenty of people here have pigment inks in it. I bought the Workforce 1100 because it's pigment already, but I don't like the color gamut so I'm trying to sell it off. Tons of people here love it, though.

All the major ink aftermarket ink resellers stopped recommending pigment inks in Epson photo printers when they switched to the Artisan/Claria inks. I don't understand why, but it's probably just so they don't have to educate customers who don't understand ICC profiling. The R340 and lower series worked without a profile.

Pigment ink is more likely to clog than dye but aftermarket ink is less likely to clog than the fast-dry Durabrite Ultra inks. I suspect most complaints are from people who go all out and buy a pigment CISS, etc, then only print once a week or less.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Cobra ink is the only supplier of cobra ink. Yes refillable carts. Cobra has dye and pigment so you would need to order the pigment. The ICC profile is on there page and full instruction how to use it. You would need a graphic program that supports printing witha profile. Adobe, Corel, you could check if Inkscape or gimp support them as those 2 are free.


***edit***. It appears both gimp and Inkscape might support profiles but cobra might not be able to help you but it would be the same basic setup as the other 2 graphics program. I'll check this out tomorrow
I have 2 ciss and switch back to the dye print a full color page when not in use. If you use it every few day this is not needed but I recommend no matter how you store a epson printer dye or pigment that you print every few days or even get Harvey head cleaner. There is a free program that does the same thing can't remember name. Either prints a page automatically on a schedule. And don't shut an epson off for long periods of time and you will have trouble free printing.
 
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