Using ink from a different printer model of the same brand

[Ink stained Fingers]

Both the matte and the photo pigment inks print through the same nozzles or nozzles with the same droplet size so you can assume that the pigments have a somewhat similar size. Photo pigment inks are advertised as encapsulated which create the glossy look and may provide better adherence to the paper surface/coating. Matte inks are not encapsulated . I'm not aware of serious tests which prove that matte inks cause more nozzle problems than other inks - hearsay statements are missing in most cases additional information like the type of printer used - the ink brand or the printing habits of the user. It may very well be in particular cases but I doubt that the ink is causing the effects in all cases.

Let me clarify the operation of the cartridge chips and the resetter, there are two types of chips on the market - one which you can reset with a separate resetter at (about) any time. You trigger the driver to let the printer move the carriage into the exchange position, you take out the cartridge(s), refill them and do a reset which sets the counter back to the full status, this allows you to fill up several cartridges at the same time with variying ink levels.
And there are ARC chips - Auto Reset Chips - which report as well the ink level - that's not a function of the chip but the driver /firmware counting droplets and their size, and the firmware writes the actual levels to the chip. The ink level drops during printing to the point that the cartridge reports empty/not available . You take out the cartridge, refill it and reinsert it into the carriage and the ink level status jumps to full again.

You can take out and refill such cartridge at any time in between at any ink level but you cannot cause a reset this way , the firmware acting together with the chip data does not let you to get a reset this way, the printer firmware remembers the last ink level data before you take out the cartridge.

K3 inks on matte paper , I don't hink there is really much you can see in an image of such print, it's more what you can measure - the black level you can acheive. The black level on matte papers is typically not as low on matte papers as on glossy papers with the resp. inks, but it's as always - it depends - on the paper and the brand of the ink.

You can measure the luminance of the black level of various inks on various papers and you'll find that ink 1 delivers the best black on paper 2 , but ink 3 a better black on paper 1.
I made some measurements with the Conecolor 'blackest black' ink - as claimed - it's not always the blackest black.

https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/matte-inks-for-epson-printers.14396/#post-126861

 

[Floydian]

Once more, thorough and plenty of information. Don't you ever get tired?

That explains a lot. I suppose opting for a resetter ensures a more streamlined experience than with an ARC and, if I read you right, there's no need to worry about syncing issues and warning messages at all with a manual resetter, as long as I keep the ink above the recommended 10-15% level.

I was curious to see how the K3 Matte BK ink is considered darker on the same matte media, as opposed to Photo BK. If there's not so much of a difference, maybe the Photo BK would be a safer option, being compatible with glossy paper. I'm mostly interested in matte or satin surfaces, but you never know. Anyway, thanks for the link and, again, for your insights.

EDIT: I read on a post there, that you consider the T850 Photo BK as the darkest glossy black yet. I wonder how it compares to the Photo K3 or another.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I don't see any cartridges at this time with ARC chips for your printer, you need to use a resetter; it takes a while until ARC chips get on the market, deciphering the data exchange between the chips and the printer firmware is tricky in some cases, and it can happen that ARC chips don't become available for all cartrdige types at all - or only much later.

Be aware that the ink level status display of the driver only shows appox. values, and you cannot differentiate between 5% or 8% or 12% in the display , that's the reason for the warning not to let the ink level indicator to drop below the mentioned 15% level.

You need to print with the photo black on all papers which are not really matte or of the velvet type; silk, lustre, semiglossy , glossy , metal etc all need the photo black.

I read on a post there, that you consider the T850 Photo BK as the darkest glossy black yet. I wonder how it compares to the Photo K3 or another.

Not necessarily - general statements like that are not possible - it always depends on the ink-paper combination, the same ink - pigment or dye - can give you quite wide variations of the black level on different papers, and the 'best' paper for a pigment ink may not deliver the best black level for a dye ink, so it's up to you to test if you are interested in this particular parameter. Again - it all depends.

And there is another parameter - the cost of a sheet of that photopaper which delivers the best black level - that may be the most expensive one you can get but another paper - at 30% of the price - delivers you a pretty good value already - wlhich one will you take ? And let me add some info to the complexity - the overall acheivable gamut for this 2nd paper may be better than the gamut with the darkest black level - again - which one will you take ? This just shows that you need to collect all that information, you do your tests , try to find info here etc, and you decide at the end.

 

[Floydian]

There are ARC and non-ARC cartridges for 7310 straight from China. For example, the one I was looking at first is this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001698210123.html
It comes in CISS, ARC cartridges, and chipless cartridge variants. Many times a printer model is supported but isn't on the compatibility list. But they tell you after you contact them. The downside is that it takes a month or maybe more to arrive at your house, and the same goes if you want to return it for some reason. But I never had any problem with anything I ordered through the years.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Yes, you are right, there are the cartridges with ARC chips.