Bulk pigment ink prints very pale on Brother inkjets

[cube101]

I have several Brother printers in a business environment. We use refillable cartridges and CIS systems. We have recently started to change from dye ink to pigment ink for colour (black has always been pigment). The problem is that colours are very pale compared to dye ink.

Magenta and yellow are very pale meaning we cannot get vivid red (it comes out like salmon pink!)

We changed to pigment ink because our printouts (mainly posters) fade quickly using dye ink. We need a UV resistant ink solution and thought pigment ink was the best solution. We use Inkscape to design the sale posters - lots of them, all different.

Does anyone else have success with bulk pigment ink or other inks which are UV resistant

Note: This is the first time I have used an online forum. Hope I've included enough info.

 

[dougsewell]

It looks to me as though you need to have a profile set up for your printer/ink/paper combination and it may well be cheaper in the long run to have this done commercially. You can find out more about profiling on these forums by simply searching for "profile" or "profiling" As an aside I would hesitate to switch from dye based ink to pigment based inks because of the fact that pigment inks are basically a suspension of particles within a carrier liquid. These particles although extremely fine, still present the risk of clogging the nozzles designed for dye based inks which are in effect particle free. These dye nozzles are usually much finer than comparable pigment nozzles, hence the clog risk. However if you wish to continue, then a profile for the combination should sort out your problem. You may, as a precursor to profiling want to try manually adjusting the colour intensity and balance through your printer properties and see if this makes a difference. If so then a professional profiling will certainly be more accurate than simply tinkering with properties as I suggested.
Good luck

Doug

 

[cube101]

I have tried to set the colour intensity to full. This makes hardly any difference. Magenta is still pale lilac. Its as though not enough ink is actually been put on the paper - or the printer is expecting a deeper primary magenta.

I'll read up on profiles in case this can help.

Is there a colour profile maker software. It would be handy to makes several profiles for each of my many printers

 

[dougsewell]

Hello again. Sorry that my suggestions were not workable. I am no expert on profiling but from what I have read on these forums there are plenty of experts in this field. Look at "3rd part ink, CM, printer profiling"
Wishing you all the best in your quest for an answer.

Doug

 

[pharmacist]

I do have the feeling the topicstarter was using an el cheapo dye ink, because the higher quality dye inks should last at least 6 months and not a few weeks in bright sun light, before noticable fading can be observed and maybe he changed from el cheapo very quick fading dye ink into el cheapo pigment ink with a very muted colour gamut. High quality refill inks should have a similar gamut like the original: if not, then the quality is unsatisfactory for the purpose of the topic starter.

 

[ghwellsjr]

If you want to use pigment ink, you should get a printer designed for that. Epson makes a lot that would qualify. We have at least two experts on this forum that can probably make a good recommendation for you: websnail knows alot about Epson CIS and waste ink systems and mikling knows alot about inks for Epson printers and refilling them. I'm sure they will post something for you.

I agree with dougsewell that it is not a good idea to put pigment ink into a printer that is designed for dye ink. I would expect that you will soon get clogging if you haven't already. Not only should you match the type of ink, you also need to get an ink that is designed for the type of ink ejection. Some printers boil the ink to eject it while others use a mechanical process to eject it.

 

[cube101]

Thanks for the advice so far.

After another day fighting to get vivid reds I am becoming resigned to buying an Epson printer. I have used Epson inkjet before but not with bulk pigment ink systems. Could anyone suggest an entry level printer that uses pigment inks as standard and gives good results on matt coated inkjet paper.

Within the next 4 months I will need to have a good system in place capable of producing 5,000 A6 point of sale posters and they need to be vivid red and have a lifespan of at least 3 years in sunlight through glass.

Any suggestions on printers and pigment ink supplies that give a good colour to price ratio are also welcome.

We are not looking for archival photo quality, just decent business graphics with a 3+ yr life.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Any Epson printer that uses DURABrite ink will be pigment based.