UV "resistant" dye ink

[costadinos]

Found this listing on ebay, they claim their inks (dye based) contain a UV-resistant additive:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-x-250ml...omputing_Ink_Refills_Kits&hash=item564bc6ba46

Anybody tried/tested them? Can't seem to find any info on that particular inkset.

 

[The Hat]

I dont know about their Epson inks but I wouldnt touch their Canon inks with a barge pool.
Most sellers on EBay would say Mass if they had a Bible so their UV claims can be treated the very same.

My advice to you is to stick to known brands of ink and steer clear of all else,
its your money and your printer so you decide..

 

[Grandad35]

.... they claim their inks (dye based) contain a UV-resistant additive ....

Don't they all? Some additive packages do a good job and others not so much, but even if their additive(s) only improve the UV resistance by a day, they are being truthful.

Following this example, I could truthfully advertise a car as having "Four toroidal traction improving devices."

 

[costadinos]

What you say is true, no argument there, ebayers claim lots of things which 99/100 times are usually not true...

But anyway, I was hoping someone that actually used that ink could share their experience. Just because it's cheap it doesn't mean it's not good.
For instance, I ran a test with OEM Claria, OCP dye, Image Specialists Dye and the inkset that is sold by CityInkExpress, which is probably a "no-name" brand like those on ebay (maybe I'm wrong here, but they didn't mention anything about the ink).
Not anything scientific, just a regular photo printed on archival paper, left for a few months in the sun.
And to my surprise, this inkset outperformed the IS inkset in terms of light-fastness, and by a large margin in fact...
OEM was the best of course, followed by OCP, but if I had to choose between IS and that "no-name" ink I'd definitely go with the latter.

 

[The Hat]

Testing different inks on the same type of paper is not really a good test at all;
quite often the 3rd party inks will outperform the OEM ink by a country mile.

The paper has as much to do with light-fastness as does the inks so when you use OEM paper and inks together
thats a combination that cant be beaten, as far as I was told Cityinkexpress inks are a rebranded I.S. ink as FotoRite.

Cheap inks are not necessarily poor inks so the question is
can you afford to use it because that is the only way youll ever find out..

 

[costadinos]

I always test new inks on Hahnemuhle or other archival paper, I thought testing them on archival paper should at least give a good indication of their performance...
Which are the 3rd party inks you are referring to that outperform the OEM? Maybe they outperform them in gamut, but I'd be very surprised if a third party ink outperformed Epson Claria Dye fade resistance for instance, when used on the same (any) type of paper...

I don't think CityInk is using rebranded IS inks, I created some profiles with IS (from Octoinkjet) and others with "Fotorite" from CityInk, they weren't the same inkset (unless of course they were different versions)...

 

[The Hat]

The reason the print manufactures claim their inks are the best is quite simple really,
they are the best on their paper and no one can argue with that.

There are hundreds of different papers out there in including the Hahnemuhle range
but if youre going to use a good paper to print on you should strive to use the best of inks also.

Normally you should only test and profile your inks on the brands of paper of your choice
and the one that gives you the best looking prints, that way you avoid any problems.

I have never used any top brands of paper, OEM or otherwise I avoid them like the plague I just cant afford to use them,
besides I mainly stick with Canon to print on the cheapest of matte papers and very seldom on any gloss..

 

[osta2]

Some additive packages do a good job and others not so much, but even if their additive(s) only improve the UV resistance by a day, they are being truthful

+1 to that. UV dye is a better version than a "regular" dye (you can find a super-cheap chinese ink that is non-UV), but no affordable compatible ink will come too close to an OEM ink in terms of fade resistance. If you need a long-lasting picture - use a good quality 260g RC (resin coated) paper (and preferably laminate it). Imho.