Ultra K / Ultra black pigment ink from Precision Colors

[The Hat]

nche11
I found that it makes very little sense to recommend to print text documents using a black dye ink. Whoever made such recommendation should understand why HP, Canon Lexmark and Brother printers are all made with a black pigment ink cartridge for printing black text documents

I for one can honestly put my hands up for recommending the use of printing
dye black ink instead of pigment; in fact I do it all the time.

Yes I do understand why the manufactures have pigment ink in their printers,
but nche11 what you dont understand is freedom of choice here and what works best in certain conditions.

I have and will continue to have no hesitation in recommending the use of dye ink in the pigment cartridge
to guys who for whatever reason may need to do it to solve a problem they may be having.

Its a case of whatever works for these particular guys, doesnt harm their printers
and they can continue to have that choice to print away all day without any trouble, thats all.
Happy Printing guys..

 

[stratman]

I just got a ream of HP Multipurpose paper with the Colorlok techno-thingie business. It was free after Easy Rebate from Staples. I love America!

Don't recall having this stuff before, but will try it out with both pigment and dye ink for text - using the Print To Matte Paper trick - and then waterboard it like a terrorist.

So we're in agreement over methodology, anyone care to propose the ground rules before I test the paper out?

 

[The Hat]

stratman anyone care to propose the ground rules before I test the paper out?

Why do you want to spoil a good sheet of paper by pouring water all over it?

Why not just use toilet paper..

 

[stratman]

stratman anyone care to propose the ground rules before I test the paper out?

Why do you want to spoil a good sheet of paper by pouring water all over it?

Why not just use toilet paper..

Ever try to wipe yer bum with printer paper?

Toilet paper is more valuable than printer paper. Much more valuable, especially that pillowy, quilty, softy kind!

 

[Stumped2]

I did a water torture test on plain paper (Georgia-Pacific) & ColorLok (HP) paper using the Canon OEM pigment black & dye black inks. I printed several lines of text on both sides of each paper & labeled each section while printing so things would not get mixed up. This gave me 4 samples on each sheet. All ink was dried for 5 hours. I cut each paper into 4 strips & held each one under running water & gently rubbed for a few seconds. I tried to contain the water so it would only affect half of each strip.

Looking at the original sections of dry ink using a small magnifier I could not see any difference between sides A & B of either paper, or between plain & ColorLok paper, except for one. Side A of the plain paper was not quite as sharp as Side B. IOW sides A & B of ColorLok look the same sharpness as side B of plain.

All 4 samples of the dye ink look the same under magnification. The dye was not quite as dark as the pigment but it was just as sharp.

After the water test, and allowing papers to dry, heres my results.

The wetted section of the plain paper looked almost the same as the untouched section. Hardly any pigment loss. Other than wrinkled paper you might think nothing ever happened to it.

The wetted section of the ColorLok paper had some pigment loss compared to the untouched section. Not a whole lot and the casual observer may just thing it was a bit lighter print.

The wetted sections of all the dye inks bled a lot. It was difficult to control the water flow & some sections of the paper got more water and those areas looked worse. And the plain paper was quite a bit worse than the ColorLok one.

I realize this was an extreme test of how my papers & ink react to moisture. But it did show that plain paper was better for my pigment ink & ColorLok was better for my dye ink. However when using pigment ink the difference in papers was not that great. I still have to try a different pigment ink to see if it solves my real-world problem.

 

[nche11]

Good test, Stumped2. The result should point out a direction for the cure of the problem.

For anyone who do not understand why wash the print with water for testing here is the hint. Try to put a $10 bill ($100 would be even better) in a self addressed envelop with the mailing label printed with his /her favorite dye black ink. Wait until a rainy day then mail it. There is a very good chance that he/she will find out why printer manufacturers give us black pigment ink for printing text. Don't use dye black ink if it were to be mailed to me.

 

[Tin Ho]

It is an issue related to moisture. The correct strategy is to deal with moisture not switching ink. Dye based ink has its place of applications. I like the idea of filling up my fat tanks with dye based ink to print stuff that need not to be archived. Yes, it's freedom of choice. Just make sure you know what you are doing.

 

[The Hat]

stratman Ever try to wipe yer bum with printer paper?

Toilet paper is more valuable than printer paper. Much more valuable, especially that pillowy, quilty, softy kind!

Does your toilet paper come with the Colorlok logo or just the plain softy stuff and no free highlighter pen..

 

[ghwellsjr]

Ghwellsjr, what I said wasn't a claim. It is generally true that dye ink stands no chance against moisture. I did not specifically say any specific paper. I don't know HP bright white inkjet paper is so different. Can you do a test to dip a print in water for a minute and see what happens? Will the dye ink hold up? Print half a page with pigment black ink and the other half with dye black ink. You can compare and find out which one is not washes off. I would love to know the answer. Thank you.

As requested, here are images of the test. I used two sheets of paper, the first is Staples 20 lb plain paper, the second is HP Bright White Inkjet 24 lb paper with ColorLok. I printed the same text using pigment ink on the top half of each sheet, then I flipped them end for end and reprinted the same text (after changing the word "pigment" to "dye") on the other half of each sheet telling the printer it was matte paper so that it would use the dye black ink. Finally, I soaked one half of each sheet in water for one minute and set them out to dry on a towel. The first set of pictures are soon after they were set out on the towel and the second set were taken more than a day later after they were totally dry.

Here is a picture of both sheets of paper, plain on the left and ColorLok on the right, after soaking the left half of each sheet in water of one minute:

Here is a closeup of the dye portion of the plain sheet on the wet side:

Here is a closeup of the dye portion of the ColorLok sheet on the wet side:

Here is a picture of both sheets of paper, plain on the left and ColorLok on the right, after drying for more than a day:

Here is a closeup of the dye portion of the plain sheet after it has dried:

Here is a closeup of the dye portion of the ColorLok sheet after it has dried:

 

[stratman]

Fantastic pics, ghwellsjr. What about the pigment ink sides? Pics please.