Pc inks still the best?

[Ink stained Fingers]

One cannot avoid the crap.

the choice of aftermarket inks is between crappier and even more crappier.

I don't think you even a choice - your supplier won't be able or willing to tell you how weak the inks are so it's all your risk, and you don't have a chance to return the ink for bad performance some time later.

 

[stratman]

I don't think you even a choice

You have a choice of what you buy but will not know what the fade characteristics are until used (or someone else reports their results). One is worse than the other and all end in fading rapidly compared to OEM.

To continue my craptastic analogy... longevity of aftermarket inks is a crapshoot played with the croupier's loaded dice.

 

[Artur5]

There's also the main role played by the paper in this fade away movie.

 

[palombian]

There's also the main role played by the paper in this fade away movie.

Indeed, but why buy expensive paper for a slight gain in longevity ?

IMO refilling is finding good quality for an acceptable cost.
Most people only want to print cheap, and there is nothing wrong with it, as long as they do not expect OEM quality.
As Jose Rodriguez told many (many, many, many... ) times you can have a lot of fun and learn more about printing when you must not fret about the expensive ink.
I made marvelous glossy prints with all dye inks a ever used (Prodinks, OCP, octoink.co.uk,...) on cheap paper. Kept in folders they are still good after 5 years. But on the wall they faded within weeks.
I quit also because sponge carts are a pain in the a.. to keep in good condition (and the printheads of the cheap Canon printers didn't live long).

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Most people only want to print cheap, and there is nothing wrong with it, as long as they do not expect OEM quality.

I think the core point is awareness of the fading risk , potential buyers are not informed at all about it and don't have an option to balance the lower price against the risk of deterioration, lots of photos are just printed for the next party to be viewed and then discarded or taken home and then thrown into a black hole. And I do the same printing on cheaper cast coated paper in particular cases when pictures are not supposed to be stored for the 'next generations to come'.......We all in this forum know about it and can take the right steps, select the materials fit for the printing jobs, but some users are just lured by the low price

 

[The Hat]

Example of photo fading with time…

I came across these two Pic that had been on the wall of my computer room for years.

The pic of the single dog must be 15-18 years old and was printed on an old HP inkjet (3 colour cart) with OEM inks on Epson Matte Photo paper.

The next Pic of the 3 puppies has been beside the other one for 10-13 years and it too was printed on Epson Matte Photo paper, this was printed on my iX4000 using IS inks. (3 colours)

These prints have never seen the light of day and were only expose to normal lighting and both have clearly faded, but one not as bad as the other, and it goes to show that any inkjet photo will fade regardless whether you use OEM or 3rd party dye inks..

click to enlarge..

 

[stratman]

Black Irish labs! Even faded they rock.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I don't think the left image looks that bad after such a long time actually, your prints show that different colors fade with different speed, do you emember which HP printer did you use at that time - possibly a 'Photosmart' model ? I have seen prints like that after a year already with no-name inks.

Canon is quoting a longevity period of 100 years for the Chromalife 100 inks on a specific paper - with the prints kept in an album - and there whithin sleeves - this cuts off all light and gaseous components like ozone, nitrogenoxides , formaldehyde etc which you find in very low concentration everywhere - e.g. formaldehyde emanating for decades from wall paintings or glues - at a very low level but nevertheless active enough on prints. That's why framing under glass will reduce such effects to a degree.

@palombian just confirms the effects of album storage

Kept in folders they are still good after 5 years. But on the wall they faded within weeks.

any inkjet photo will fade regardless whether you use OEM or 3rd party dye inks..

That's the essence of all this, but the user has quite some control over the process by selecting the right materials

 

[maximilian59]

and it goes to show that any inkjet photo will fade regardless whether you use OEM or 3rd party dye inks..

At the moment it shows that the combination of ink and paper you used are fading. It is not a proof for all inks and papers. It doesn’t say anything about Chromalife 100 inks, which already existed at that time.

 

[The Hat]

do you remember which HP printer did you use at that time - possibly a 'Photosmart' model ? I have seen prints like that after a year already with no-name inks

I can’t remember back that far, because I didn’t have the printer very long, and all I know was it used a Tri-cart with OEM inks (Very expensive) and the Epson paper was very good quality too, the other Pic used Image Specialists in C,Y,M CLl-8 carts with no black.

Both these Pics are way past their quality time and needed replacing many years ago, but I’d be Fecked if I know where to locate the original images, if I could nail down the exact year then I could find them, but I’m not much into archival record keeping, there’re on one of 75 CD’s..

Kept in folders they are still good after 5 years. But on the wall they faded within weeks.

I don’t use photo albums, just spare space on any wall, and only replace a faded Pic when asked too, these two photos were size 15 x 10 cm..

That's the essence of all this, but the user has quite some control over the process by selecting the right materials

I have long since switched to pigment ink use for all my Photos and only use dye inks for stuff that get disposed of very quickly and 3rd party inks are ideal for that..

It is not a proof for all inks and papers. It doesn’t say anything about Chromalife 100 inks, which already existed at that time.

Over the last 20 years or so I have never purchased any OEM inks to print with, because they were always too expensive for the amount of printing I did back then.. 2 to 3000 a week..