Hi there, First post, first question! Clogged Pixma pro-1

[palombian]

I’m planning on making fine-art prints, starting off with working for a few friends and later on maybe start my own print shop. That’s why I started looking into the prograf series. Is the 300 that “not so special”?
Keep in mind, I work at Kamera Epxress. So, I can’t get discount on printers!

When you see the details the PRO-300 is only an upgrade of the PRO-10.
I you have higher ambitions go for the PRO-1000, for a few € 100 more you have a much better printer with lower ink costs too.


Edit:

 

[kaicoenen]

When you see the details the PRO-300 is only an upgrade of the PRO-10.
I you have higher ambitions go for the PRO-1000, for a few € 100 more you have a much better printer with lower ink costs too.

That was exactly the reason I didn’t pull the trigger right away. I will look into the pro-1000. But €540 for ink is a lot! Does anyone have a real world estimation of how much A4/A3 prints you can make with a set of cartridges?



Edit:

 

[Artur5]

That’s very difficult to say. Logically it depends on the kind of images you print usually and also the paper. The printer lays much more ink on thick fine art papers than on plain paper.
Once I read something about 2ml, of ink per average A4 print on glossy paper, but take this information with a grain or salt. It may be less or much more..
Anyway, taking this figure of 2 ml as real, if we consider that an OEM Pro1000 cart costs around €45 for 80ml of ink, it’s €1.12 per each A4 copy.

Apart from that, the printer uses a considerable amount of ink for self maintenance. How much ?. It depends on how much you use the machine, If you print only a handful of copies per month, the percentage of ink wasted by maintenance cycles will be very high. Maybe 40-50% of the total ink consumed. If you use the machine on a daily basis producing many prints per month, then the percentage will be far less.

Edit:

 

[palombian]

That was exactly the reason I didn’t pull the trigger right away. I will look into the pro-1000. But 540 euros for ink is a lot! Does anyone have a real world estimation of how much A4/A3 prints you can make with a set of cartridges?

1ml ink for 1 A4 photo is the norm (see tests by Red River paper).
Excluding ink used for cleaning and maintenance.
You have to print often and in batches to reach maximum efficiency.

As @Artur5 suggests, 2ml is a more realistic starting point.

 

[The Hat]

I would insist to look for a second hand PRO-10 or PRO-10S.

If you wish to use only OEM inks then any of the Canon printer range can do the job for you, BUT if your choice to use 3rd party inks to save on costs then, the only cost effective printer to get is the Pro 10, as ready stated by @palombian in post #9…
P.S. If you’re going to sell your prints then ink costs are irrelevant.. Paper on the other hand is where the real cost savings can be had.

 

[kaicoenen]

If you wish to use only OEM inks then any of the Canon printer range can do the job for you, BUT if your choice to use 3rd party inks to save on costs then, the only cost effective printer to get is the Pro 10, as ready stated by @palombian in post #9…
P.S. If you’re going to sell your prints then ink costs are irrelevant.. Paper on the other hand is where the real cost savings can be had.

I’m sticking with OEM inks, and right now I will not be printing much, I’m gonna put some extra research and calculation in my eventual choice. You guys are definitely awesome for being so helpfull!

 

[palombian]

P.S. If you’re going to sell your prints then ink costs are irrelevant.. Paper on the other hand is where the real cost savings can be had.

In large quantities you can find decent paper from € 0,50/A4 on.
Add to this 0,75/ml for PRO-10, 0,60 for PRO-1000, or 0,15-0,20 for PRO-10 3th party.
Double that for cleaning and maintenance and the paper is not the major cost.

When you say A you must say B and scout for affordable paper (many years ago I bought everything I could find and I am very lucky with it now).
It doesn't make sense to print with 3th party ink on Hahnemühle at over € 2/A4.

Of coarse you can't base a business model on non-renewable non-standard stock.

PS: that Aldi paper was gone very fast last week.