Chromalife100 vs Chromalife100+ fading test, Update 18. June 2021

[Ink stained Fingers]

I take the little table from above and add the deltaE readings just for the middle gray spot on the target sheet

HP Premium Plus
Photo Paper__________7.67________5.86
Canon PT101________10.26________7.60
Sihl 0769____________10,33________8.80
Emblem 240g_______10.44________8.71
Glossy 240__________10.45________8.39

That's the numbers in the right column you get with the very much simplified method just to read the luminance/color shifts of a single gray patch, since it is a gray patch for which all averaging of colors is done upfront by printing gray, and you should get numbers with the same relation to each other by reading the changes via the histogram display, it's just on a different scale. This method may not be as accurate as using expensive hardware/software but it's free and rather quickly can show you step function performance differences between inks and/or papers.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Yes, there are more quality criteria beyond the fading performance with inks - like gamut size, black point, the mentioned scratch resistance - the visual impression of the glossy coating - pricing, and only a judgement of all those can lead to a good purchasing decision - I won't get the best of all parameters at 25% of an OEM paper.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I did a fading test over 4 weeks in this configuration - I used a cast coated paper Hayatec - via Ebay - to get quicker results on a paper which assumingly let the inks fade faster than on PE papers, with these inks - CI-53/Chromalife 100 - Chromalife 100+ - Epson 106 of the ET7750 and the Epson 114 ink of the ET-8550. This was the starting point using both a 96 field patch sheet and a sheet just with a black and a gray spot to compare color and luminance shifts over time, and these are some of the results for the average of the 96 deltaE color shifts over 4 weeks

Chromalife 100_____18.08
Chromalife 100+___15.88
Epson 106__________15.42
Epson 114__________18.81

This test - in this configuration - on this paper - shows that the Chromalife 100+ fares somewhat better than the Chromalife 100 and is almost identical with the 106 inks, the 114 ink is weaker and very close to the Chromalife 100 . This test shows variances to other tests with the Chromalife 100 and 100+ very close together - by @maximilian59 and other tests I did on different papers as well. This clearly shows that you cannot rate an ink just by one test only and test results are paper dependent.

Let me show you another variation between inks on this paper - I'm just reading the color shift deltaE of the Cyan and Magenta patches - no averaging at this time


________________________________Cyan___Magenta___C/M ratio

Chromalife 100_______19.83___11.94___1.66
Chromalife 100+______19.63____7.46___2.63
Epson 106____________23.30____4.08___5.71
Epson 114____________25.00___12.90___1.93

Different ink colors are fading with pretty different speeds - Cyan faster - much faster than magenta and different per ink type, I don't have an idea how that happens and how the dyes interact differently with the coating of the paper, but there are clear differences between the inks under test - the 106 ink shows the widest difference between C and M. These numbers are no outliers - the trend of the ratios remains stable over the weeks (with some reading tolerances)

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

And here is another cut through the numbers - I'm comparing the gray patch of the 96-patch sheet with the single gray patch measured via the histogram, these numbers use a different scale so I calculate a ratio of both, gray is printed as a mix of the CMY colors - no black included at a middle gray - which implies that a kind of averaging is done upfront already

______________________gray patch deltaE_________single gray patch
___________________ of the 96 patch sheet____measured via histogram___ratio

Chromalife 100_____________20.52______________________42______________2.04
Chromalife 100+____________17.91______________________34______________1.90
Epson 106__________________15.06______________________30______________1.99
Epson 114__________________17.30______________________49______________2.82

The ratio is about the same for 3 of the 4 inks, the ranking between the inks changes somewhat just by looking to the gray patches, the Epson 106 ink appears to be the most stable in this type of test - even better than the Chromalife 100+ ink, this shows a strong dependence of the results of the overall test setup - patch colors and the subsequent math - averaging etc and even more dependence on the paper(s) used in such a test.
I rechecked the readings for the 114 ink, these are actuals, but I just don't have an idea why the ratio is different to the other inks - I just may not use this paper ever again.............

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I found the refill ink for the Pro-200 which claims to solve all problems - no clogging - archival quality - Ultra Pro True color - brilliant and laser sharp

Ink Refill Kit For Canon Pro 200​

Refill Kits That Work! For Canon Pro 200, CLI 65 Cartridges
Our Ultra Pro True Color Dye-Based Ink™ OEM Quality Ink That Will Never Clog your Print Head Enjoy brilliant photos and laser-sharp text printing The end result is you will have archival quality prints that match the ink in your original OEM cartridges

You get it here

https://www.inkproducts.com/ink-store441/home.php?cat=330

 

[The Hat]

Ink Refill Kit For Canon Pro 200

Wow, nice find @Ink stained Fingers, Now we can have Mikling on contradicting their claims by saying all their inks are rubbish and that his inks are the best in the USA, that should put Canon ink out of business in no time..

P.S. It wound make you want to buy a new Pro 200.. isn’t the internet wonderful..

 

[Artur5]

Inkproducts.com sells also pigment ink for Maxify. It's a pity that they don't ship outside the USA or else you could purchase it there, instead of wasting your money on Canon GI-56 bottles.

 

[The Hat]

or else you could purchase it there, instead of wasting your money on Canon GI-56 bottles.

I’ve had dealing with Inkproducts before, and I wouldn’t touch their pigment ink with a barge pole.. inkjetcarts.us was the place to go for pigment inks. But not now sadly..
Besides between purchase price and P&P they would work out dearer than the Canon inks, which has Free P&P..

 

[Artur5]

So you know them and no OEM ink quality as advertised ?. You surprise me..

 

[peter D]

I found the refill ink for the Pro-200 which claims to solve all problems - no clogging - archival quality - Ultra Pro True color - brilliant and laser sharp

Ink Refill Kit For Canon Pro 200​

Refill Kits That Work! For Canon Pro 200, CLI 65 Cartridges
Our Ultra Pro True Color Dye-Based Ink™ OEM Quality Ink That Will Never Clog your Print Head Enjoy brilliant photos and laser-sharp text printing The end result is you will have archival quality prints that match the ink in your original OEM cartridges

You get it here

https://www.inkproducts.com/ink-store441/home.php?cat=330

Hi,
Has anybody actually given these inks a fade rest on Canon paper?
I'm still getting great fade resistance from Mikling's standard Precision Colors dye inks printed onto swellable paper from China.