iP4700 pigment vs black dye ink

[Stumped2]

I have a Canon iP4700 & sometimes print & send out club membership forms. They are folded into thirds to fit a #10 envelope. When I get these back there usually is some ink transfer from where the bottom third was folded onto the middle third. It looks as if they were folded when the ink was still wet. However I have been separating & laying out the forms for about an hour in order to make sure the ink is dry.

While the form is mainly black there is a colored logo at the top. I recall from using an older Canon printer that if there is color on a page then printer will end up using the color dye inks to also print out the black on the page. It will not switch over to the pigment black part way through the print. IOW if it detects color then it will stay in that mode.

Does this still hold true for the iP4700?
Or is there a way to force the use of pigment black for the majority of the form?
Why would the supposedly dry ink transfer when folded? Do I need to dry it overnight?

 

[ghwellsjr]

I don't know specifically about the iP4700 but if it is like the older iP4000, then if you are specifying plain paper, it will use the pigment black wherever black is called for, unless you are printing double-sided. In that case it uses half pigment black and a mixture of cyan and magenta to produce a black that is a little lighter than normal in an effort to reduce "show-through" where an image from the other side of the page shows through to the side you are looking at. If you are printing on both sides, you might get the problem to go away by printing just one side at at time.

 

[Stumped2]

I'm using plain paper & one side. I don't understand why the black ink would transfer onto the section of paper it contacts. It's pretty faint but it is there.

 

[The Hat]

Stumped2

There are a couple of ways you could try to stop the pigment ink offsetting onto your paper.
Print your documents on standard mode (instead of high) and or increase the drying time on
the printers custom settings this will allow more time for evaporation of the ink..

 

[ghwellsjr]

It sounds like you are printing a large block of solid black, is that correct?

Try making a test print where instead of most of the page being solid black, break it up into smaller blocks with white space between them. Let it dry for a day. Then dribble some water across the page and see if the ink from the black blocks runs. If it is 100% pigment ink it should not run.

Are you using OEM Canon cartridges or do you use compatible cartridges or do you refill? What brand if not OEM?

 

[Stumped2]

I am printing in standard mode.

I have been laying out the form letters all over my living room floor for about an hour in order for the ink to dry.

I am printing mostly text with a few thin lines. There are no large blocks of black. The text is getting transferred to the other parts of the paper. I noticed this when I get the form letters returned to me.

I am using OEM Canon ink.

Ill have to try water on the page the next time I print a batch & see what happens.

 

[The Hat]

Stumped2

The only other solution that I can offer is that the paper you are using is either damp or has
very high moisture content to it, its the only explanation that I can come up with to explain your extraordinary problem..

 

[Stumped2]

I printed some form letters last night. Again, the page has a color logo at the top and a few lines of blue & red text. The page is mostly black text & does have a box with black lines that are slightly less than 1mm width.

I let dry 1 hour & ran my wet finger over the black text & black lines & they both smeared. I did the same after 3 hours, 12 hours, 18 hours & 24 hours and the black text & lines still smeared.

I also printed a second test page of black text only and a third page of black text & selected Grayscale Printing just to be sure the text would be printed using pigment black. These two pages smeared the same as the form letter page.

I also wet smeared the color logo and the blue & red text and these seemed to hold up better than the black text. I dont have a lot color on the page so its difficult to do a lot of wet smearing on it.

When I had an i850 I wet the black & the color print to see how well each one held up. I thought the pigment black was more robust than what I am seeing now, however its been several years & perhaps Im just forgetting how it held up. The i850 had a pigment black cart for text and 3 dye carts for color printing. From what I remember on the forums & IIRC my email response from Canon is that if color was used in a document then the pigment black would not be used. The printer would use the C-M-Y colors to create black text. It appears things have changed over the years, as proven by ghwellsjrs thorough postings on the iP4000s ink usage.

Since my plain black text smears the same as the text in the form letter I have to say they both are using the same ink cart, which would have to be the pigment black ink. But why the heck does it transfer so easily onto other parts of a letter?

 

[ghwellsjr]

You wouldn't happen to be using a paper that says it's treated with ColorLok, would you?

 

[Stumped2]

Yes I am. It's Georgia-Pacific Premium MultiPurpose. The package does say "Now With ColorLok Technology". I'm presuming that's not good. What does ColorLok do?

I just looked & the HP paper I have also states ColorLok.