Thinking of buying a Epson 1500w(1430) and not sure what ink to go for

[craig carr]

Hi guys, I was originally running a all in one epson xp-860 for printing off artwork in A4 which when it came to black(90% of my work) I was more than happy with.
I ran a CISS in it and it worked a charm well except when I bought some poor pigment ink, the results were awful.
Anyway. I got a canon pixma pro 100 and using good third part inks from a reputable supplier in the UK and I just can't get on with the thing. No matter what I try I can't get close to the black I was getting with my epson. Everything else is lovely.
So I want to go back to Epson and I'm on a budget(fortunately I am still within my return timescale to amazon for the canon) Epson have yet to let me down and I like my comforts.
I've watched a ton of reviews and read a load of stuff on here about the 1500w and I'm pretty keen to get it but I have a couple of questions that i'd love various opinions on.

1. What ink? I'm really keen to get Pigment ink for longevity but I just love the vibrant results I get with the dye. Does anything pigmentwise compare or come even close?

2. CISS or refillable carts? whats peoples opinions? I have seen others on various forums had the odd bit of bother with magenta in the ciss and I had that also even although i was printing daily. Would that be less of an issue with carts?

3. I am interested in the powerchrome k3 from octoink in the UK after reading about it but there is 3 different black options. I usually print on lustre and matt with the odd gloss thrown in so would the hybrid black be the option? Obviously that depends on if I go for pigment obviously

4. Profiles??? Where do I start. I keep reading about them haha.

Sorry for throwing all that out but these are all things that I can't find definitive answers on.

Cheers

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Lots of questions - what black ink did you use with the XP860 which you want to get back - a dye ink ? which supplier ? What type of paper are you using to acheive this good black ?
The XP860 is a dye ink printer, switching to pigment can cause problems - what was it with the pigment black? not a good black level anymore ? other effects like bronzing ? Or did you get missing nozzles with the pigment inks ?

1. What ink - what do you want to achieve - are your prints exposed to light for an extended period ? Are your prints for sale ? You address longevity - did you get any problems with 3rd party dye inks ? Pigment inks can acheive a comparable gamut to dye inks, in general, but differences become visible in detail depending on your specific ink/paper combination. Just switching to pigment inks from dye inks won't resolve all those problems. If longevity of dye inks is your concern you might look to the Fujifilm DL
inks as tested in detail here
https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/which-pigment-ink-for-epson-1500w.9323/
https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...or-epson-stylus-photo-1500w.11748/#post-99580

2. CISS or cartridges - that's independent of the inks in use, the installation might be tricky for a CISS to get a stable guidance for the tubing. It may be recommendable to start with cartridges.

3. Powerchrome inks may be one choice of many inks , and it is probably recommendable to use separate cartridges for matte and photo black inks for matte and silk/lustre type papers.

4. Profiles - you either get them done by a service provider or get your own equipment - like the Colormunki as an entry level package and you do your own

'definite answers' - there are lots of options avaibable which you need to match against
your requirements

 

[craig carr]

Lots of questions - what black ink did you use with the XP860 which you want to get back - a dye ink ? which supplier ? What type of paper are you using to acheive this good black ?

The XP860 is a dye ink printer, switching to pigment can cause problems - what was it with the pigment black? not a good black level anymore ? other effects like bronzing ? Or did you get missing nozzles with the pigment inks ?

1. What ink - what do you want to achieve - are your prints exposed to light for an extended period ? Are your prints for sale ? You address longevity - did you get any problems with 3rd party dye inks ? Pigment inks can acheive a comparable gamut to dye inks, in general, but differences become visible in detail depending on your specific ink/paper combination. Just switching to pigment inks from dye inks won't resolve all those problems. If longevity of dye inks is your concern you might look to the Fujifilm DL
inks as tested in detail here
https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/which-pigment-ink-for-epson-1500w.9323/
https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...or-epson-stylus-photo-1500w.11748/#post-99580

2. CISS or cartridges - that's independent of the inks in use, the installation might be tricky for a CISS to get a stable guidance for the tubing. It may be recommendable to start with cartridges.

3. Powerchrome inks may be one choice of many inks , and it is probably recommendable to use separate cartridges for matte and photo black inks for matte and silk/lustre type papers.

4. Profiles - you either get them done by a service provider or get your own equipment - like the Colormunki as an entry level package and you do your own

'definite answers' - there are lots of options avaibable which you need to match against
your requirements

It was Coralgraph dye ink and I was using with olmec lustre 260 gsm paper.

It wasn't just the pigment black. It was all the colours. the whole print was just ugly. Side by side with the dye print, It was dull.

1. I do sell some prints so I'm not sure of light conditions and I haven't had my own prints up long enough to test the longevity of them. I have just read a lot about them not lasting long and I seen some of your(i think) previous posts on the lifespan of various inks including coralgraph so started to worry about some i've already sold.
I just read a fair bit about pigment inks working well in the 1500w but getting the correct ink and profile is a must?
Where do you buy these fujifilm inks and are they affordable? I see on one of those threads the guy mentions the lyson ink. might be worth a punt?

2. I done quite well with my ciss on the xp-860. Just had occasional nozzle issues on with magenta for some reason. I print a lot so it is more appealing than refillable carts but carts also have advantages.

3. I was just thinking the hybrid from octoink as apparently it's good on various papers and 90% of the time I use olmec lustre. Just love the paper. (never tested it's lifespan though) I just like how it looks and it's price

4. that sound expensive haha.

Thanks for taking the time to write such an expansive response

 

[apetitphoto]

You may be able to rent a colormunki and profile just what you use. If you're going to play around with lots of different stuff a purchase may make sense.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

'affordable ink' - what's your measure ? The Epson Claria and Canon Chromalife dye inks are the best in regards to fading but not available in larger volume, cartridges or else like the Fujifilm DL cartridges for the DryLab commercial photo printers - between 200-700ml. Just look on ebay.com (U.S.) for 'Fujifilm ink cartridge' and you'll get lots of offers including heavily discounted ones for more or less recently expired ones, some of the companies offer full export service, and they are still cheaper than those offered in your country at list prices. The Lyson Fotonic ink comes somewhat close to the Fujifilm DL inks in regards to fading, are available at smaller volumes but not really cheaper on a per litre price base, it all depends on your overall printing volume. All other 3rd party dye inks give you a lower/much lower UV light stability.
Profiles are necessary as soon as you are using 3rd party inks/3rd party papers , both influence the color representation, even more in combination, profiles are recommended to get the best out of the available gamut of the ink/paper, even more if you use a printer in a non-standard mode e.g. pigment instead of dye inks. Epson profiles coming with the printer driver only support Epson inks on Epson papers as selected via the driver. Other inks and other papers give you a different black level or a wider or smaller gamut which the printing program needs to take care off when rendering in and out of gamut colors correctly.

 

[craig carr]

Ok, Thanks for the replies. I may just jump in with the lyson to begin with mainly because it is a smaller investment to begin with and the pigment inks put the fear in me after the last time haha.

The price difference in those fujifim carts from my side of the pond us unreal. There is a few in the UK which are cheap but expired 2013-2015.
Most of the ones from america with £45 shipping are still cheaper

I'm going to do some research on colour profiles now

Thanks again

 

[craig carr]

What about these inks? Do you know if these will stand up to claria?
1. http://www.cityinkexpress.co.uk/che...1500w/photo-series/original-dye-ink/multipack

2. http://www.cityinkexpress.co.uk/cheap-ink-refills/epson/xp-860/xp-series/original-dye-ink/multipack

Or are any of these classed as claria. It doesn't say.

 

[craig carr]

Oh, Scratch that. It does say claria. Think they may be the option for me.
Apologies

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

It probably says something like Claria compatible or similar, but I can tell that none of the many dye inks I tested , probably 20 or more , as well those claiming similarity, compatibility, UV resistance etc don't match the genuine Canon, Epson, Fujifilm inks in terms of UV/ozon stability, the Fotonic black is equal, the colors slightly weaker, that's the only 3rd party ink exceeding all those other inks I have seen over quite some time. But you should not ignore the significant price benefit of all those over the original inks.
If you are not planning to specifically test this or that ink rather stay with the Lyson Fotonic ink, if longevity/light/UV staiblity is your concern, there are too many unproven marketing claims out.
You can get as well similar good performing Epson Ultrachrome D6 inks in cartridges for their Surelab photo printers, but they don't have any pricing benefit over the Fujifilm cartridges.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

@craig carr Hi craig welcome to the forum. Like yourself i am new to refilling and printing but i cannot recommend this forum enough the members will never let a post go unanswered and will always provide advice and ideas.I am also looking for a good priced printer and ink that will produce good results without the problem of fading. I was surprised to hear that the Canon Pro didn't produced the desired results that was always i my last resort if i could justify the cash. Can you please tell me what is the best printer refill ink combo that you have found to date. Any advice you can give me would be much appreciated.