Violet is the new Gray

[pharmacist]

Not only Epson is now introducing violet ink to increase gamut in prints, but it seems Canon is also introducing PB (Photo Blue, which in fact is violet, likewise Canon is calling Orange (Epson) ink Red, but is in fact orange). Older Epson printers like the R800 and R1800 also had Red and Blue inks, but the Blue is in fact Violet. Later we had Orange and Red ink in the Epson R1900, R2000 and P400. So why are both Epson and Canon keen of this particular Violet/Photo Blue ink ? New insides in colour studies, as the former Gray ink is no longer available in the high end consumer desktop photo printers of Canon.

What about the green ink Canon has been used in their printers ? High end Epson LFP's still have Orange (Canon: Red) and Green inks, but I think these will be replaced by Violet in the upcoming new LFP's. The Canon Pro-1000 already has the Red and Blue (Violet) inks in the high end prosumer A2+ printer.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

It's the Adobe color space and the Pantone colours the printer companies try to reach as far as possible,
'With Violet ink 99% of the PANTONE®PLUS solid coated colors are achieved for accuracy in brand color matching ' copied from the P5000 sales brochure
https://mediaserver.goepson.com/ImC...assetDescr=Epson-SureColor-P5000_SRG_v3.0.pdf
The Epson P5000 is available in two versions - with violet or LLGray.
You find somewhat similar claims for the newer Canon printers - it has been the violet range in the overall gamut which was the weak spot.

 

[palombian]

Speaking about Canon, the 12 ink printers have indeed a colour advantage over the 10 inks (the PRO-1 with 3 greys and 2 blacks is targeted to B+W).
In the 9500 the green had only a slight advantage and could be dropped in the PRO-10 for CO.
This was mostly compensated by the higher gamut of yellow, cyan and magenta.
Also when using 3th party inks - or a mix - strong primary colours are, with black, a priority.