OCP black ink problem

[Ferdinand Mesmer]

Ok then if you insist that it’s the black, did you get BK black or PG black in your order of, can you check please, because your results are show incompatibility between ink/paper for some reason.

Does the image rub off the paper after 15 minutes ?.

The ink is BK159. No the ink does not rub off after it dries.

 

[pharmacist]

Actually I have the same problem with the OCP Photo Black. I am now using Inktec Photo Black as a better alternative.

 

[Smile]

This seems to be ink problem like the @Ferdinand Mesmer
said. The good quality photo black ink does not change like this at an angle. I had same effect using pigment black, when changed to dye there is no more problem.

It is a known fact that sometimes OCP sent wrong inks (I think that @pharmacist had this problem some time ago). So perhaps this is the cause. Try ink test using cotton stick paint ink from bottle on photo paper this will indicate if the black ink is really a problem.

 

[RogerB]

Yes it is a dye ink printer. I'm not sure how to call this effect. Is this bronzing? To illustrate it I am posting two shots of the same b/w print. The first image shows the normal appearance of the print (the light source is not reflected on the surface of the print). The second image is taken from an angle where the light source is reflected on the surface of the print (in this case it is the sky) and here the effect becomes visible.

It is like this regardless of the paper or profiles I use. Only black ink is affected. The greys are fine.

At an even more extreme angle (not pictured here) the black areas appear thicker and more uniformly spread. This effect reminds a little bit of a laptop screen seen at an extreme angle.
View attachment 2156View attachment 2157

I'm afraid I can't offer any explanation for the effect that you are seeing. However, just for the record, here is an example of what I understand to be bronzing. This compares two different pigment inks on the same paper - one clearly much better than the other.

 

[Smile]

Another test OP can do is print (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/img/files/Fade_Test_Chart.jpg) on plain paper with the print settings he now uses for photos, and then after it dried for an hour or so a simple water test running water from a faucet will revel if OP has pigment ink instead of dye for black. If the black ink will not run badly then it's pigment instead of dye.

 

[pharmacist]

It's actually OCP dye ink that has the problem. I have tested and It must be the very formulation of OCP dye black. Inktec doesn't suffer from this problem.

 

[Smile]

Another easy test would be to use OEM black cartridge and print a photo with it. If confirmed then Yes I think another ink would be the way to go.

I wonder what OCP has to say about this? Nobody asked them what is going on here?

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

I got a bottle of OCP pigment black mislabeled as dye black from R-Jettek. It's possible that you did too. Here's how you can tell:
1. Dye black appears a deep reddish color if you look at a light through a thin layer of ink in the bottle.
2. If you leave a drop of ink on a white saucer for a few minutes (or any piece of white glazed ceramic) and then rinse it off gently, dye ink will wash off instantly, while pigment will leave a black residue that you have to wipe off.
3. If you let a little drop dry on paper, and then put a drop of water next to it, the dye ink will run (and probably show you some colors), while the pigment will be waterproof.

If it turns out that you are using pigment ink, your next worry will be the cartridge and the print head. You could try flushing the cartridge thoroughly, but if it were mine, I would immediately replace the cartridge, and either ask for a replacement bottle or use a different brand of ink. If you buy another cartridge, I suggest you just start with Canon black ink.

 

[mikling]

The problem lies in the density of the colors that are being used intially and it will more likely appear after a custom ICC proflile is used. Here is why.
The ICC prolfile will attempt to produce the shade that it should be by increasing the density of the color if it needs to. If this happens to be in the region where the darker shade does not take over or if it is a shade where the dithering patterns mandates more light colors mixed with the darker to get that dark shade, then the potential of overloading the paper exists.

That is why someone has suggested backing off the ICC profile by 10%.

What has occurred is that the initial density of the ink is too light. The ICC ends up overloading the chosen paper by directing the printer to output more ink in an attempt to create the darker tone...however in this case..the paper is oversaturated with ink...ink limit has been reached.

Another way of testing this is to use the Canon ICC profile. If the effect goes away, then it indicates that the proper amount of dense ink will not oversaturate the paper and that the ICC causes the oversaturation as I've indicated.

Sometimes you can reproduce this effect on certain inks by dropping a blob of dye ink on a piece of photo paper and intentiionally overloading the paper with ink.

It may be another color other than black...only by sampling the area with Photoshop the OP can tell whether or not it is in fact black or the greys.

 

[Ferdinand Mesmer]

I got a bottle of OCP pigment black mislabeled as dye black from R-Jettek. It's possible that you did too. Here's how you can tell:
1. Dye black appears a deep reddish color if you look at a light through a thin layer of ink in the bottle.
2. If you leave a drop of ink on a white saucer for a few minutes (or any piece of white glazed ceramic) and then rinse it off gently, dye ink will wash off instantly, while pigment will leave a black residue that you have to wipe off.
3. If you let a little drop dry on paper, and then put a drop of water next to it, the dye ink will run (and probably show you some colors), while the pigment will be waterproof.

If it turns out that you are using pigment ink, your next worry will be the cartridge and the print head. You could try flushing the cartridge thoroughly, but if it were mine, I would immediately replace the cartridge, and either ask for a replacement bottle or use a different brand of ink. If you buy another cartridge, I suggest you just start with Canon black ink.

I just tried the ceramic saucer test and it washed off without any residue. So its dye ink I guess.

Anyway I just got another bottle of OCP black BK159 from the same supplier and the result is the same. He said he filled it from a different batch. I will print several more but doubt very much that it will be any better. I find it hard to believe that OCP have not noticed this. And what about the users? Only pharmacist and myself and not many more I assume since otherwise this would have been reported and a known issue. That is why I think that something may be wrong with the formula; perhaps it is an ink for another (Canon) printer (that somehow got mislabeled)?

I also wrote to OCP and they are looking into it. I will report back here when I get their response. I also ordered a black ink from OctoInkjet. Somehow I feel that is going to solve the problem as it has for pharmacist. I will report back on that as well.