Stationery Printing Dye or Pigment

[dudemansir]

I do a fair amount of Stationery printing. It's often folded cards with reproduced drawn/painted elements.
Been on the old but still very very capable Epson 2200. Poor old man. Kicking along but slow as a snail and OEM ink is gone scary quick. Also seeing some of the newer printers have a much high resolution and would love to see if I can get a little more ink coverage on the page.

Pigment (from what I've read) has more image stability than Dye. Stationery is often handled and exposed to the environment. I've also read Dye tech improvements have brought the differences between the 2 to be almost nothing. So in your opinion does it matter? I will say I often print on untreated art watercolor paper like Canson 140lb which takes ink quite well.

Been looking at the Epson P600 and Canon Pro 10 if for Pigment
Epson XP-15000 and Canon Pro 100 for Dye

Any help or recommendations are very very appreciated. Hitting a research brain brick wall here.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

There are a few questions about your printing acitvities - what is the overall volume you are handling ? sheets by week or whatever ? What is your experience and interest with refill for the printer in question ? Which max format should the printer support ? Are you using any glossy /semiglossy/silk/satin like papers as well or onyl matte papers ? Pigment inks overall have a better fade performance than dye inks, but do you or your customers have any problems in this respect currently with dye inks you are using ?

 

[dudemansir]

Volume is moderate. Sometimes slow, sometimes heavy. So it isn't a constant printing every single week. Typically printing on smaller sized media. Using 9 x 12 a lot but I suppose could be cut down to 8.5 x 11. Occasionally a larger need has come up so I guess it's nice to have there.
Rarely if ever use glossy media.
Customers haven't complained, we've been on the Epson 2200 Pigments since we started.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The 2200 got several successors - the latest one is the Epson P600 which can run with Epson cartridges or with refill carts. The corresponding Canon pigment ink printer is the Pro 10s, both of these printers use pigment inks.

 

[dudemansir]

Do you have a preference personally?

Will I notice an improvement in quality from the 2200 considering the picoliter size is smaller these days?

I also see people mention the canon is a bit more user serviceable than the epson.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Will I notice an improvement in quality from the 2200 considering the picoliter size is smaller these days?

The droplet size has not changed really over the last years, and the droplet size alone does not define the print quality. What do you expect in terms of quality ? More color saturation , more detail resolution or ?
Sure there are differences between Epson and Canon printers - there can be technical details or a personal preference of one over the other - what is meant with 'user servicable ' ? What did you miss on the Epson ? There are some diferences between Canon and Epson in regards to paper format settings - custom length - or borderless printing for this or that paper via the selection in the driver.

 

[The Hat]

Been looking at the Epson P600 and Canon Pro 10 if for Pigment

@dudemansir, you can pick up a Pro 10 for buttons at quite a few outlets offering discounts in the US, the Pro 10 can handle just about anything you can throw at it, and clogs are something you can forget about too...