How Different Printer Inks Can Affect A Home Printer

2010-12-09

When selecting a printer inks for your home printer, it is important to know how different types of ink can affect your printer. Most home printers use either dye-based or pigment-based inks. While both of these are considered to be much more environmentally friendly than industrial oil or alcohol based inks, they can affect your printer in very different ways.

Pigment based ink is produced using a method that makes it much more resistant to UV and gives the printed product a much longer life expectancy. Because of their quick drying nature, they result in a much clearer and crisper printout when using just black inks. However it is not too often used in color printers because the colors that it outputs tend to appear duller when compared to other similar options. Another downside to using pigment based printer inks for color is that constant usage of them causes the color pigments to mix together causing blockage in the print cartridges. There are some pigment based printers that incorporate special software and instruments to prevent this clogging, but this causes the printers to be much more expensive.

Dye based inks are typically much more affordable and easier to produce and thus have been the traditional choice of ink for digital home printers. Because the inks are made with optical brighteners and use a colorant dye dissolve-in solution, the colors are sharper. Unfortunately they are the opposite of pigment based inks black print outs in that they may fade quickly because of their weak UV resistance and because it takes these colors more time to dry, they can sometimes result in a blurry image. But using dye based inks for color will not result in any clogging in your printer.

Another type of option for your home printer is a self-refill kit. These contain a tank of ink and a syringe. These tend to be cheaper than having to purchase an entire new cartridge when you run out of ink. You have to do the work yourself but you can save a good amount of money. However, without any previous experience you may find it difficult to refill the cartridge without spilling any ink, especially the first few times.

The type of printer you are using can also affect how the ink reacts with it. For example, thermal inkjet printers require heat to drop ink out of the cartridge nozzle and if there is no ink being supplied, the heat can have a negative effect on the printer head itself. This means you will have to immediately refill the cartridge when you notice it getting low in order to prevent any long term damage to your printer.