Stupid Ink Question Alert......!

[kitten_with_claws]

Watching C&C this morning, I quite liked the look of a couple of the Debbi Moore CDs (luckily I did a forum search though! lol) & the Print Magic stuff but.......looking at some of the designs, background papers you can print out, do you not use oddles & oddles of ink with these CDs, (not just theses CDs but in general!), printing everything off yourself?

My current printer is a bit ink hungry (& fairly ink replacement expensive!) but I was thinking of swapping to one of the new Kodaks later on this year, which are expensive initially but have fairly low replacement cartridge costs - how do you lot manage to avoid spending the equivalent of a week's shopping on ink though....?

[Granny Penny]

Watching C&C this morning, I quite liked the look of a couple of the Debbi Moore CDs (luckily I did a forum search though! lol) & the Print Magic stuff but.......looking at some of the designs, background papers you can print out, do you not use oddles & oddles of ink with these CDs, (not just theses CDs but in general!), printing everything off yourself?

My current printer is a bit ink hungry (& fairly ink replacement expensive!) but I was thinking of swapping to one of the new Kodaks later on this year, which are expensive initially but have fairly low replacement cartridge costs - how do you lot manage to avoid spending the equivalent of a week's shopping on ink though....?

You cetainly can do but you have to weigh up spending money on ink or spending it on packs of backing paper where you only use part of the pack. I tend to mix and match using up some of my existing backing paper where appropriate and printing where it matters to the design.

[Pamela]

I print loads off. But even buying decent paper or card to print on it still works out way cheaper than buying patterned papers. I use compatible inks too which work out a lot cheaper. I used to have a lexmark many moons ago and the cost of the cartridges made me get rid of it. I make sure when I buy a printer now that I can use compatible inks.

I hope this is of some help

[kitten_with_claws]

I make sure when I buy a printer now that I can use compatible inks.

I am very nervous of compatible inks now, as I killed off an extremely expensive portable photo printer, when I used them for the first & only time.......probably coincidence but it was dead in the water immediately afterwards! :(
(I could try on my current printer though as it's only a cheapo one?) :)

Going off topic, does anyone remember the refillable cartridges they used to do on QVC? Sorry, bit random but it made me suddenly think of it.......! lol
(Is going a back a few years I think?)

[sheilaj]

yes we tried them and screwed up a printer :(.

We have a canon printer (our third one now) and its excellent. We stick to canon inks when they are under the year guarantee then switch to compatibles from phoenix inks purchased on the web. I try to keep the printing cost down by only printing out a bit the size i need and filling the a4 page with other stuff...that's the advantage of going a bit further than the cd's and using a photo editing program (PSP or PSE for instance) you can crop resize and manipulate jpegs and png's to your needs. BUT the dpi needs to be 300 for good results which is why i don't buy Joanna Sheen much as I would LOVE to.

[kitty]

I have just replaced my printer with a top loader for heavier papers, and i use 4 individual inks which so far seem okay.

I heard someone say not to use cheaper paper as it absorbs loads of ink being more porous, I suppose that makes sense. (Similar to stamping) the settings can be played with too for paper types, but I'm no expert!

[craftycat]

I'm another one who finds cds, reasonable quality paper/card and inks are the cheaper option. I've been warned about compatible ink cartridges so get the real thing. I haven't added up how many print offs I get to a cartridge but it is bound to be in the hundreds.

[kitten_with_claws]

I'm another one who finds cds, reasonable quality paper/card and inks are the cheaper option. I've been warned about compatible ink cartridges so get the real thing. I haven't added up how many print offs I get to a cartridge but it is bound to be in the hundreds.

Ah, OK then.......it's just when you first see some of the designs (& imagine the amount of ink involved!), your first thought is something along the lines of 'Bl***y h***!' :eek:

[Alice3_2009]

I confess to using cheap inks but my printer and scanner weren't expensive.

My only advice would be don't get carried away with the printing when you get a new cd. Even if you keep the print offs in boxes they can still get scrappy and sometimes you don't even use them.

I'm guilty!

[Fenpeper]

I do a lot of photography and so wanted a printer with separate cartridges. My Epson uses 6 ink cartridges. I do use compatible ink cartridges but only Jet-Tec. It saves me about £30 each time. I have had huge problems with other brands of compatible ink but Jet-Tec is no different from the Epson cartridges.

[kitten_with_claws]

I do a lot of photography and so wanted a printer with separate cartridges. My Epson uses 6 ink cartridges. I do use compatible ink cartridges but only Jet-Tec. It saves me about £30 each time. I have had huge problems with other brands of compatible ink but Jet-Tec is no different from the Epson cartridges.

That's useful to know Fenpeper, thanks for the tip!
My OH also does a lot of photography & although he prefers taking over the kitchen & splashing about in chemicals, he also does a fair bit of digital photography! :)

[Alice3_2009]

Mine's an Epson and the inks from Prink. It has worked fine until a second ago when it said the printer didn't recognise the magenta cartridge which I put in yesterday.

Do you think my laptop has learned to read? :confused:

[genierose]

I bought a Kodak printer a couple of months ago purely because the cartridges are the cheapest ones. I've found that the cartridges seem to last far longer than my old Lexmark ones. Only problem I've found is it's one of those suck it around the rollers printers so it will only print up to about 220gsm.

[Pamela]

I've had an epson and now use a canon and alway use compatibles never had any bother I always get the carts from the same place so I know the quality is good

[Alice3_2009]

I spoke too soon. This is a new batch I'm using now which were in a different box and I've had loads of trouble. I've emailed Prink to tell them!

[kitten_with_claws]

I bought a Kodak printer a couple of months ago purely because the cartridges are the cheapest ones. I've found that the cartridges seem to last far longer than my old Lexmark ones. Only problem I've found is it's one of those suck it around the rollers printers so it will only print up to about 220gsm.

Oh, you're kidding.......nooooooooo! :(

[kitten_with_claws]

I spoke too soon. This is a new batch I'm using now which were in a different box and I've had loads of trouble. I've emailed Prink to tell them!

Sowwy Alice, my comments obviously jinxed your printer.....! :o :(

[Alice3_2009]

Mmmm, as I said the new magenta replacement was put in yesterday afternoon and now it's calling for a replacement!

I've hardly printed anything as I've been faffing about with Master Card Builder... this may be my first ebay sale!

Reply from Prink

The need for head cleans after installing a cartridge does not indicate that a cartridge is faulty. Air can sometimes get trapped in the neck of the cartirdge at installation which can stop the ink from flowing to the print head. This is a common occurrence with both genuine and compatible cartridges and is caused by a limitation on the design of the printer itself.
If you refer to your printer manual then you find that it tells you that you should perform up to 4 successive head cleaning cycles. If the nozzle check patterns are still poor after the 4th cycle then you should switch off the printer and leave it for at least 6 hours before switching it back on and testing again. This allows any trapped air in the ink supply to disperse naturally and it resets the head cleaning facility back to its default shallow level. If you do not switch off the printer after the 4th head clean then it will go into a very deep cleaning cycle and use virtually all the ink in the cartridges. Once the cartridges are empty then the printer will not be able to recognise them

This may be of help to others

[craftycat]

I bought a Kodak printer a couple of months ago purely because the cartridges are the cheapest ones. I've found that the cartridges seem to last far longer than my old Lexmark ones. Only problem I've found is it's one of those suck it around the rollers printers so it will only print up to about 220gsm.

With some "up and over" printers, you can feed heavier card in through the back of the machine. The place where you have to remove a cover to get rid of blockages. I'd forgotten about doing this until someone else on this forum mentioned it. I think you have to make sure the feed tray is empty.:D