Canon Pro-2000: Time to replace 10 of the 12 "Setup" inks! Alternatives?

[Lust4Life]

Given:  Archival quality of prints is important to me.
I do not do a lot of printing, hoping that will change when I start marketing my images in 2019.
Retired, so cost control is important, but must be careful not to be "penny wise and pound foolish".

Question:  Is there a high quality archival ink source for the Canon P-2000, etc printers that are dramatically more cost effective than the Canon inks?  Basically Canon IPF-1300/330ml inks running about $173.00 per cartridge and 10 of the 12 of my "setup" set are needing to be replaced.

[dehnhaide]

I too own a Pro 2000 but... I highly doubt there is any 3rd party offering better inks than the OEM for any of the well established brands in pro/archival oriented printers (Canon, Epson, HP, etc.).

Aside... I think that so far the worries about Canon inks time resilience have been greatly exaggerated. Basically each side has its own rocks thrown at their counterparts just to keep those where they deserve to be: below their own market / quality ratings.

Are you really into keeping your work up for more than 50-100 years (hard copies I mean)? Is it that valuable to you or the others? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to offend you or anyone else with these questions but rather trying to see how much snake oil is in these archival chores.

Given:  Archival quality of prints is important to me.
I do not do a lot of printing, hoping that will change when I start marketing my images in 2019.
Retired, so cost control is important, but must be careful not to be "penny wise and pound foolish".

Question:  Is there a high quality archival ink source for the Canon P-2000, etc printers that are dramatically more cost effective than the Canon inks?  Basically Canon IPF-1300/330ml inks running about $173.00 per cartridge and 10 of the 12 of my "setup" set are needing to be replaced.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Lust4Life]

Yes, I am very focused on the archival quality of my prints.
I have printed B&W primarily for decades and only in the last two years have I done any color work.

Part of the focus on B&W is the archival nature of the print compared to color.

I come from a family where there is very little known about any of the ancestors.
My mission and hope is that the prints will last for several generations and encourage my descendants to get out into Nature and explore.

[Panagiotis]

Yes, I am very focused on the archival quality of my prints.
I have printed B&W primarily for decades and only in the last two years have I done any color work.

Part of the focus on B&W is the archival nature of the print compared to color.

I come from a family where there is very little known about any of the ancestors.
My mission and hope is that the prints will last for several generations and encourage my descendants to get out into Nature and explore.

Then maybe you have to replace your Canon PRO-2000 with a HP z3200. Take a look at the permanence ratings in this report:

http://www.wilhelm-research.com/Canson/WIR_Canson_2018_09_20.pdf

[Lust4Life]

How about we get back to my original request?
Thank you.

[howardm]

since by your own admission, you dont print much, just get the smaller 110mL carts except maybe larger CO or some of the light blacks (both get used much more than the others) and then just wait.

There are some colors that just barely get used at all.

So, yea, the 110 carts are $97ish but thats a big difference and why tie up $$ in ink you'll never use?  If you do start selling prints in 2019, worry about it then since you'll have some cash flow.  Also, if it's a concern, save some $$ for the eventual head replacement that Canon requires every couple of years.  I think the PRO2000 has 1 head approx $500 or so.

No one ever said these are cheap to run    I'm just about to throw away an Epson 3880 maint. cart w/ 165mL of thrown away ink   ($115 thrown away)


PFI-1100 MBK    
$97.00
PFI-1100 PBK    
$97.00
PFI-1100 C    
$97.00
PFI-1100 M    
$97.00
PFI-1100 Y    
$97.00
PFI-1100 PC    
$97.00
PFI-1100 PM    
$97.00
PFI-1100 GY    
$97.00
PFI-1100 PGY    
$97.00
PFI-1100 R    
$97.00
PFI-1100 B    
$97.00
PFI-1100 CO    
$94.00

[Lust4Life]

I agree with you logic - just ordered 10 of the PFI-1100/160ml cartridges.

Thanks.

[howardm]

dont forget, dont replace the carts until the printer STOPS printing.  The warnings are just the printer's way of
saying 'order some new carts but dont replace yet'.

[Lust4Life]

LOL!  Yes, I have learned that lesson.

[enduser]

There are one or two possibles in the refill world that might be worth considering. InkTec in Korea is a very big enterprise that makes a wide variety of inks and printers. In South Korea their inks are widely used but longevity tests don't seem to be available. There are US distributers.

The other option is that there are now appearing ink tank destop A3 printers using pigment ink which have bottles of ink for refilling the tanks.