Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: ed j on July 14, 2007, 12:15:59 am
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some magazines and test companys rate 3rd part inks as inferior to name brand epson inks. i'v had over 9 printers in the last four years 8 epsons and 1 roland eco solvent printer. i sold the solvent printer , quality and logjevity did'nt equal the epson.
my own experience with the 3rd pary inks is a s follows
blank refillable cartiges stay away from them had nothing but bad luck with them.
some fit correctly some dont
best 3rd party cartige with ink in them is g&g. reds and yellow are not the best on the 9600 hundred. colors are soft and they fade quickly. mis and micro enter have a good quality bulk ink in the reds and yellow.
what i do is use the epson reds and yellow cartiges and when they run empty i refill them with one of those brands of inks. i do that about 3 or 4 times and then get anew epson cartrige for the 2 reds and yellow 9600 model
epson 1800, 2200, 220 , c88 i used g&g inks and cartiges when they run low i refill them 2 times with the micro enter inks. for the 1800 i use the msi for the blue, and red inks . i found them to be better then the micro enter inks
99 % of what i do is sign and graphic related 99% of what i print is for out door use
i have customers that have signs that are over 3 years old that are facing south west in fl sun and have faded by about 25%. i consider that very good . most are printed on 3 mill vinyl or polypro vinyl and all are laminated with a clear uv vinyl.
i have my own set of test print i have laying about outside my shop and have gotten the same results. 1 sign i have is in the shade but exposed a lot of water from a irragation system and it looks like its about 3 months old only.
i dont know how the magazines and test companys are testing the inks. i do thing 25% fading over 3 years in direct sw sun is a good test on how long inks hold up in the real world. to me thats very good . my roland would be faded in 12 months or less and those where supose to be long life out door inks. thats why i sold it
as far as matching colors i have the same problems with the epsons as i do with the ginerics. u have to play around with your profiles and photo software to get it just right.
been printing now for over 4 years and i have it down pat by about 80% in color matching.
ounce u find a paper u like or what ever it is u print on and u get the colors tweek the way u want them. stick with that item. i use only 4 types of print material
and its the same brand. all are matt material except for my gloss poly. the gloss is used for indoor use only.
ps
i never had a hp but i do know they hold up quite well outdoors using the uv inks. only problem with the hp is that their 3 times the price. inks are less then epsons thow.
encad was another very good outdoor printer. but kodak came in and bought them out and from what i hear they screwed them up.
my epson 9600 just died a 2nd time needs a 2nd set of heads . decided to sell her and get a new 7800. i found 90 % of what i print is 24" or smaller or over 44".
any thing over 36" i had to everlap them. so i figured what the heck get a 7800 this time instead of a 9800. with the $ saved i'l buy myself a new camera or a couple of lenses.
ed
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I agree with you 100%. I have some laminated epson prints that have been facing south for over 2 years without any signs of fading. The prints are red (Canadian Flag) and are outlasting prints that I done on my old thermal Roland PC50!
I am planning on purchasing a HP Z2100 24" for printing signs for interior and exterior.
I too am a sign shop owner for the last 10 years mainly using cut vinyl and have been throwing around the idea of purchasing a eco or full solvent printer. I believe the HP will be all I need for a printer. If I need any prints over 24" I can always sub out.
I don't plan on doing wraps, so I don't need a cast vinyl. Although 2mil coated cast is now available!
What brand of coated vinyl and banner material do you use? I have been using Rexam 4mil with calendered laminate with great success. I have also used Oce vinyl and it to works great.
Really nice to hear from a sign guy that doesn't stress "only use eco / solvent" for signmaking as in other forums.
Thanks Ed.
Wes
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I agree with you 100%. I have some laminated epson prints that have been facing south for over 2 years without any signs of fading. The prints are red (Canadian Flag) and are outlasting prints that I done on my old thermal Roland PC50!
I am planning on purchasing a HP Z2100 24" for printing signs for interior and exterior.
I too am a sign shop owner for the last 10 years mainly using cut vinyl and have been throwing around the idea of purchasing a eco or full solvent printer. I believe the HP will be all I need for a printer. If I need any prints over 24" I can always sub out.
I don't plan on doing wraps, so I don't need a cast vinyl. Although 2mil coated cast is now available!
What brand of coated vinyl and banner material do you use? I have been using Rexam 4mil with calendered laminate with great success. I have also used Oce vinyl and it to works great.
Really nice to hear from a sign guy that doesn't stress "only use eco / solvent" for signmaking as in other forums.
Thanks Ed.
Wes
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i use kodak plus some lexjet stuff here are some links
the hp printet u r getting are those the same inks used in the 5500?
i like hp printers but i wast shure if the inks are the same
[a href=\"http://www.lexjet.com/lexjet/product_disp.asp?dept%5Fid=12077&pf%5Fid=PPSAPL]http://www.lexjet.com/lexjet/product_disp....&pf%5Fid=PPSAPL[/url]
http://www.macroenter.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=384 (http://www.macroenter.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=384)
4 mill vinyl matt .55 cents per sq/ft poly varies from .35 to .60 cents per square foot. i only use extruded vinyl
ed
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The Z2100 inks are the Vivera pigment ink. The same ink that is used in the Z3100 and the 13" 9180 and I believe the new Z6100, which replaces the 5500. Thanks for the links.