Replacing dye based inks with pigmented inks

[telv]

I have an Epson P50 printer which uses Claria inks. These are dye based and although the print quality is good I produce a lot of greetings cards and the ink smudges.

What I would like to do is to refill the cartridges with pigmented ink. I would be grateful to know if anyone has tried this or has any advice. Thanks.

Although a lot of Epson printers now come with Durabrite cartridges which is a pigmented ink, the majority of compatible cartridges on the market for these printers contain dye ink. If pigmented ink can be replaced by dye then I'm assuming the reverse is also true.

 

[The Hat]

telv These are dye based and although the print quality is good I produce a lot of greetings cards and the ink smudges.

If your dye ink smudges on your cards then its probably the card that is the problem
and getting pigment inks wont stop the ink smudging..

 

[telv]

Sorry, I should have added it smudges if it gets wet!!

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

If it smudges while dry you should try a different brand card. Are you using a different manufacturer's stock, like HP or Canon?

If you mean it smudges while wet, even pigment won't necessarily fix this (you will be better off going and getting them run off on a laser copier), but it will be better than dye inks. I haven't been able to find much info on pigment conversions on the new 9-pin/Claria printers. Some people have done it, they seem to feel that it needs a color profile much more than the old 6-pin/R340 and older model printers (which should be profiled for photos but are fine for general printing without one).

 

[panos]

telv, I don't know if you can refill your printer with pigmented-based inks but they would probably solve the issue of water smudging.

This image shows the water resistance of Canon OEM dye colors -- the only only color that resists the water is the pigmented black.

I believe you are correct in that greetings cards should be water resistant.

 

[The Hat]

telv Sorry, I should have added it smudges if it gets wet!!

Would you not consider lamination your cards after printing using a satin or gloss sheet?

 

[telv]

Thank you panos for your very helpful input.

I think that the card we are are using is not the issue. Our experience using varous types of media is that Durabrite, Epson's pigmented ink has much more water resistance than dye ink which your photos show, and yes, selling the cards means we have to be up there with everyone else!

To answer the question from The Hat, the laminating of greetings cards done commercially is great but unfortunately too expensive and too time consuming as an 'in house' project.

Using pigmented inks seems to be our best way forward. We would like to continuing using the Epson P50 for the reason that unlike almost all of their models, even expensive ones, it takes 300gsm card. However, it is designed for dye inks.

If I may I would therefore like to come back to the central question. Is there anyone who has experience with swapping dye ink for pigmented ink in an Epson machine. Is the ink transport system the same for both types of machine or could we be damaging our printer.

Thanks to everyone who has taken an interest.

 

[panos]

Apparently those Brits support such a modification. And a Greek store as well!.

I've contacted the Greeks asking them to post a response to your question in the forum as they probably have more experience on the issue [than myself!]. The fact is that you may not get a response for this particular printer from the forum but I am certain that some stores would be very eager to provide you with more details.

 

[The Hat]

panos Apparently those Brits support such a modification. And a Greek store as well!.

The Greek ink and cartridges look ok but I wouldnt recommend the use a Marriot system for pigment ink in any printer..

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Look into color laser printers anyway and see if you can find a good deal. Some of them can run thick stock. For what you are doing, you really want the complete water resistance of a laser print. Pigment ink won't immediately turn into a blur when it gets wet but it's not going to look great once it dries out either. Also, the coating on the card itself may not be water resistant and even if the ink holds up the coating will become "sticky" or "flake off". You could look into water resistant inkjet labels such as the Papilio brand or get aqueous compatible vinyl with an overlaminate and then stick it over a piece of card stock, but this kind of workaround turns into a lot of work. I'd sell things from my pigment inkjet used as art or matte/satin photos that are going to be handled carefully and framed, but not for something like a greeting card where it's likely to be handled a lot and tossed around in the mail system.

Also, are any 3rd party pigments equivalent to the Durabrite Ultra? I remember there used to be a lot of complaints that the OEM ink was so "waterproof" that it would harden like a varnish in the printhead if it wasn't used daily and that people preferred 3rd party pigments because they were all Ultrachrome equivalent, not Durabrite Ultra and didn't dry out/harden nearly as fast.