Which companies supply the higher quality non-OEM inks for Canon printers?

arw4

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I have several mid-range Canon printers, and am trying to locate a reputable supplier of quality bulk inks. I am looking for inks as closely matched as possible to Canon OEM, as I want to avoid as far as possible going down the route of profiling. I live in the UK, but would consider all possibilities. I would just like to gain a little understanding of other people's experiences and thoughts...
 

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Octoink is in the UK and Precision Colors is in Canada.

Both are trusted sellers of refilling supplies and are members on this forum, Websnail the former owner/member and Mikling the latter.

Precision Colors" mikling has posted numerous times he tinkers with the ink sets, at least some of them, to improve color fidelity compared to OEM Canon ink. Unless you are selling your printed images or are very exacting, then most people seem to be happy with not profiling and using either of these ink sets straight out of the bottles. I do.
 

arw4

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Hi Stratman

Your guidance is valued and appreciated. Thank you. I know Precision Colors is well reputed, and I'm beginning to get a favourable impression of Octoink. I've also heard that InkExpress spoken well of elsewhere. Do you know anything about of them? I'm tending to lean towards Octoink at the moment, but am open to any suggestions. MIS inks were always spoken well of in the past, but having done a little reading elsewhere on the forum, I'm led to understand inksupply are not quite the firm they used to be. Thanks again.
 

stratman

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Have heard about InkExpress as well. Others will need to help you with that brand. I have used Precision Colors ink for years and am satisfied.

I think the best thing to do is to try a small quantity at first, especially if you have different printers that require different ink sets. Do not buy "Universal" ink. You can always get more or look elsewhere if not satisfied.

One nice thing about Octoink is they sell KMP pigmented ink. Our Moderator @The Hat swears by it.

Or maybe he just was swearing at me. :confused: (just kidding)
 

Ink stained Fingers

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inks as closely matched as possible to Canon OEM, as I want to avoid as far as possible going down the route of profiling.
Are you using Canon papers then ? The driver is set up for the best print output with Canon inks and Canon papers, 3rd party papers can as much influence the color rendition as the inkset does, so restricting yourself to inks closely matching but using 3rd party papers may introduce color shifts nevertheless. You may be able to correct those to your liking with color/saturation corrections in the driver but not in all cases. Just don't use the color profiles of the driver, via the ICM-option, in this case. You may be better off with dedicated profiles which let you use the available gamut of the ink/paper combination to its best.
 

arw4

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Have heard about InkExpress as well. Others will need to help you with that brand. I have used Precision Colors ink for years and am satisfied.

I think the best thing to do is to try a small quantity at first, especially if you have different printers that require different ink sets. Do not buy "Universal" ink. You can always get more or look elsewhere if not satisfied.

One nice thing about Octoink is they sell KMP pigmented ink. Our Moderator @The Hat swears by it.

Or maybe he just was swearing at me. :confused: (just kidding)
Again, excellent advice and I will follow through with what you suggest. I think some samples would be a useful starting point, and first on my list will be Octoink. I know that you have long been an active and respected member on this forum, and any endorsement from The Hat is, in my opinion, worth it's weight in gold!
 

arw4

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Are you using Canon papers then ? The driver is set up for the best print output with Canon inks and Canon papers, 3rd party papers can as much influence the color rendition as the inkset does, so restricting yourself to inks closely matching but using 3rd party papers may introduce color shifts nevertheless. You may be able to correct those to your liking with color/saturation corrections in the driver but not in all cases. Just don't use the color profiles of the driver, via the ICM-option, in this case. You may be better off with dedicated profiles which let you use the available gamut of the ink/paper combination to its best.
You are right, of course, in what you say about profiling. And I understand the fact that profiling equally applies whether using Canon OEM inks or third party inks. For the moment, at least, I am content to tweak the driver settings, and accept any minor inaccuracies. I am not looking to sell prints or achieve near perfection. My thinking is that if I can source inks that resemble as closely as possible Canon's inks, then I have a reliable standard benchmark to work from, and driver tweaks are likely to be more satisfactory and consistent across the gamut. In actual fact IMHO Canon's inks are formulated to appeal to the mass market, and I believe the same applies to their own ICC profiles within the driver settings. The result is a print which is vivid, and of course Canon inks are renowned for a bias towards the warmer colours - not one for the purist who seeks neutral colours!

I can see this is opening up a whole subject in its own right, and one I would be really interested in exploring in more depth with other members. Maybe this needs a new thread?
 
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Ink stained Fingers

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I would be really interested in exploring in more depth with other members. Maybe this needs a new thread?
Yes, discussing specific questions around color management/profiling should be in a separate thread, separate from selecting an ink supplier , and it is o.k. if you are happy enough at this time with color adjustments in the driver.
 

mikling

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IS did not produce any newer inks since the CLI-8 days. The midrange printers are now two generations past the CLI-8 and the color tones have changed in both these. It appears that some are treating the CLI-8 inks as universal Canon inks.
Paper composition has changed and pigment inks had to change with that was well. Today's printers actually accommodate this in how they use pigment ink and the composition of this pigment ink has changed as well to accomodate faster dry times and penetration characteristics.
BTW, there is a lot more than tinkering going on, PC actually works with ink labs to develop and achieve results not obtainable elsewhere.
 

palombian

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Have heard about InkExpress as well. Others will need to help you with that brand. I have used Precision Colors ink for years and am satisfied.

I think the best thing to do is to try a small quantity at first, especially if you have different printers that require different ink sets. Do not buy "Universal" ink. You can always get more or look elsewhere if not satisfied.

One nice thing about Octoink is they sell KMP pigmented ink. Our Moderator @The Hat swears by it.

Or maybe he just was swearing at me. :confused: (just kidding)


As I understand from the octoink site KMP ink is only used for the PGBK (the pigment black in Canon dye printers).

For the PRO-9500 pigment printers, in the old IS formula (now STS), sold by www.octoink.co.uk and www.precisioncolors.com, some colours have been replaced 2 years ago (due to imperfections in gloss difference, ink feed and adherence, and maybe end of stock).

Since then their inks are not the same (and probably from other suppliers).

Precision Colors replaced C,M,PC,PM,R and GY in a new inkset, while octoinkjet has v2 ink for M,PM,R,GY,PBK and G.

From my experience the old M had some feed problems, and M,PM,R and GY were rather matte on glossy paper.
C and PC were slightly more matte.
I did not have problems with PBK (adherence ?) or G.

No experience with PRO-10.
 
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