Ink Cartridges

Tips for Perfect Prints (For Beginners) Undeniably, photo prints still remain the most popular way of sharing memories. With the right printer and a handful of simple techniques, your pictures can look as sharp as the lab-processed ones. Read on for some great tips for getting the best prints possible.

Start with a Good Image The first thing you need to get a good print — a high-quality image. An image that merely looks good onscreen is not enough. Here’s what a good image file would have:

Good Resolution Resolution refers to the number of pixels in an image {usually stated in dpi (dots per inch) or PPI (pixels per inch).}. The more pixels a photo has, the more clarity and detail it will retain as you increase its dimensions. Resolution can also be expressed by the width and height of the image, and the total number of pixels it contains. For example, an image that is 1500 pixels wide and 2100 pixels high (1500 x 2100) contains 3,150,000 pixels—or almost 3.2 mega pixels.

Most digital cameras offer a variety of resolution settings. It’s a good idea to use a higher-quality setting if you plan on printing large sized pictures. Here are some general guidelines: Less than 640 x 480 pixels = Wallet-size prints. Good for E-mailing to friends , picture displays on the refrigerator etc. 640 x 480 pixels = 4" x 6" photo prints. These are going to be best for photo albums, General usage including craft projects (scrapbooks, stickers, etc). 1152 x 864 pixels = 5" x 7" photo prints. These are good for framing for home display, screensavers and photo greeting cards 1600 x 1200 pixels = 8" x 10" or larger. Good for framing, screensavers for home or gallery display and photo calendars

Best Format

Even if your image is high resolution, you will still need to save it in the correct file format: TIFF or JPEG. For best printing results, always save your pictures in the TIFF format (example: myfriends.tiff). Although this format results in a slightly larger file size, it will produce the most satisfactory results. The JPEG format (example: myfriends.jpg) is preferable for e-mailing photos as it results in smaller, compressed files—ideal for sending electronically.

Quality Control

Use a good image-editing program to remove dust marks and specks on your photos. The printer will most definitely pick up imperfections even if they're very small. You can also use the sharpening option to more clearly define the edges of objects in your print. Use a Good Printer and Know How to Use it Once you are familiar with the features and settings of your printer, you will be able to get the best possible results.

Avoid DPI Dilemmas

Dots per inch (dpi) is a measurement of print resolution that indicates the number of individual dots a device can create on a page per square inch of area. For crisp, colourful, professional-looking prints, you should choose a printer with at least 600 x 600 dpi. Otherwise, your photos may turn out pixilated (objects will appear jagged and speckled).

Printer Drivers

Printer drivers play the role of translators, acting as a medium of communication between your printer and computer. To help fix problems and bring significant performance improvements, it is important to use the most current version available for your printer. Printer manufacturers regularly update drivers, and you can download new versions for free from the company’s website.

Resolution Settings

Refer to your printer’s manual to learn how to change quality settings. Usually, you would want ‘best quality’ resolution for photos; however, for wallet-size prints, ‘normal’ resolution may be enough. Experiment with your printer settings to see which ones give you satisfactory results.

Paper Settings

Paper settings control the amount of ink that is laid down on paper; therefore, using the setting that matches your photo paper is essential to making good prints. When you find a setting that works best for a particular paper type, make note of it so you will be able to get the same results when you use that paper again.

Clean and Clear

Running the ‘clean’ function in your printer every two to three months improves print appearance and prevents problems such as streaking and clogging. You can access ‘properties’ settings to perform maintenance actions such as cleaning the printer nozzles and aligning the print head. Understand Your Ink and Paper

Your choice of printing supplies, such as paper and ink, can make the difference between a good print and a great one.

Paper and Ink Selection Using Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) supplies would definitely assure you of the quality but they come with a price. Nowadays, Canon and HP boast of inks that deliver optimum colour and fade resistance up to 110 years. Non-OEM supplies are definitely cheaper, but its debatable whether they can achieve the same quality.

Drying Time Before you frame a photo print or add it to a scrapbook, be sure to give it enough time to dry. Most OEM inks and papers are designed to dry within an hour or so, but it is best to allow the print to dry for about 24 hours prior to framing or placing it in a photo album. If you are printing multiple pictures, remove them from the printer slide as they come out and set them aside. This will eliminate any chances of accidental smearing or running.

An ink cartridge is the most obvious component of any ink jet printer. It actually contains the ink and is the part that most people will replace on a regular basis. Each cartridge will contain between one and five different colours of ink and certain manufacturers will also include a chip, print head and electronic contacts to communicate with the printer.

How Ink Cartridges Work

There are three basic types of inkjet printer all using different technologies. HP were the inventors of the technology and they along with Lexmark and Dell use a thermal inkjet technology. Inside the cartridge there is a heating element with a tiny metal plate or resistor. In response to a signal from the printer a tiny current is passed through the resistor which heats it up which vapourises the ink bubble surrounding the plate. As this process occurs the total volume of the ink exceeds that of the nozzle and an ink droplet is forced out of the nozzle onto the paper. This process takes a matter of milliseconds and in a colour cartridges happens for each individual colour.

Epson went down a different route and use a piezoelectric crystal. When the printer signals to the print head to print some ink, instead of heating up the area of ink, the Piezo Crystal expands which essentially squeezes the droplet of ink out of the cartridges. With Epsons latest print head technology the size of the ink droplet is measured in nanolitres (which is 10 to the minus 9 of a litre!).

And Finally Canon independently developed the Bubblejet technology. Canon's proprietary "Bubble Jet" printing technology is a world renowned, using special heating elements (micro-heaters) to eject ink from microscopic print nozzles. It was an accidental discovery during the 1970's at Canon's Research Centre in Japan, when a soldering iron came into contact with the needle of a syringe that was filled with ink. A researcher noticed that ink suddenly spurted from the needle. This led to the development of Bubble Jet printing, a high-speed, high quality ink jet printing technology.

I doubt many of you follow updates about printers, it’s not the most glamorous and inspiring of markets... but what about Google announcements? If you are not familiar with their cloud philosophy let me quickly summarise, Google believe the future of computing and data storage is NOT on your computer, phone or little memory sticks. Instead, imagine a “cloud” database, a series of always-on information servers used to store everything an individual needs. Meaning you can access your files no matter where you are.

A grandiose idea..... but how is it relevant to printing?

Google Cloud Print

All printers may in future be classed as “Cloud-Aware”, tied in to the Google database and accessible from any machine on the planet. No more drivers/installations/compatibility issues. The ability to print to any machine, from any computer. Beautiful.

Imagine....

We have all been there. You’ve purchased a new printer, plug it in and try to print a lovely photo in eager anticipation....

Error: Printer Driver not installed

My what isn’t installed?  Your printer driver, the thing that takes what you are printing, and puts it in a format your printer can understand.

Why doesn’t the printer do it itself, automatically? Why not indeed.... commence smashing of hardware

Google Clouds Solution

Now imagine that scenario but the printer driver is never installed on your computer. It is stored in Google cloud. All drivers will be. And will be linked to ALL cloud-aware printers. Now you simply send a print request, select the desired target printer, and boom – job done. No potential for driver errors, simple, hassle free printing.

Security Issues?

I think we need to give Google the benefit of the doubt and assume they will not be globalising access to any printer and enabling the freedom to print without permission... imagine if I could print this picture on every printer in the world :-D

In my mind it will be a double-barrelled process. Firstly, you will need a password and/or profile on the printer you are trying to send a request to. Secondly, the owner of the printer will need to confirm permission, so they get a list of all individuals trying to connect to the printer and need to filter out the inevitable spammers.

What are the benefits?

Ignoring the advantage of no printer driver hassle and the return to plug-and-print machines, how else can it help? Well how about these for starters, and this is just off my unimaginative and limited mind:

• Waiting for a fax at the end of work hours, simply forward print requests to your home printer
• Unsure of your document layout before printing? Grant file access to colleagues in the Cloud and they can all edit the base file and print their own copies.
• Office printer servers become the epitome of simplicity. No more multiple installations across a network and undue fuss.

"What a Waste Of Time":

One interesting point was made by an affable chum of mine,

‘How is this different to just emailing the file to someone at that location to print?”

A surprisingly valid remark for the individual in question. But it completely misses the point of cloud printing, and to a larger extent Google Cloud itself. It is about bringing everything and everyone together, free access to data and computer functionality like never before. In regards to this specific comment, emailing would require the upload of the file to send, the downloading of the file to receive. Then a continuing back and forth until the final file is acceptable for both. With Google Cloud:

• The initial file is already saved in the cloud as it was created in Google docs – thus no upload and download time
• Changes made to the file? Anyone involved can make them and post updated versions for all to see

It is the simplifying of everything, the perfection of accessibility. What the internet is meant to be about!

Closing Points....

I can already see the complaints lining up now.

Why not just get a modern universal protocol for printing that all manufacturers can implement, the standardisation of formatting meaning no need for drivers? Why aim for small jumps instead of 1 giant leap?

What about those not connected to the internet? I would assume USB printing is still available. No internet means you are already isolated, you would be missing out on a perk not on a necessity.

Where do I go if I send a personal file to the wrong printer? Are my details safe? I am as eager as you to see the safeguards in Cloud.

But I think those nay-sayers should wait and see. When Google do something, they usually do it right, so I wait in anticipation for a potentially ground breaking move in the market, and suggest that the only question you should all be asking is:

When?

Disagree with me? Think I missed a valuable point? Leave a comment with your views or hopes for future printing capabilities

Think the Internet means we don’t print as much as we used to? Think again. Home printing is becoming more and more prevalent—people are just printing more than they used to. Here are just a few reasons why people print more today than ever before.

Printing tickets at home. It’s much more convenient to print tickets at home than to wait in line to pick them up at the counter. Travel companies are realizing this—and customers love the convenience. You can now get e-tickets for most train and bus services—and you can even check in and print your boarding pass online days before a flight. There’s plenty of printing going on among travelers—and most of us take a vacation or make a business trip once in a while.

Printing photos. Despite the cost of printer ink, people still love printing photos at home. It’s much more convenient than driving to the store to drop off, develop and pick up rolls of film. You can print out any size picture you want, and many photo printers can produce pictures that are just as good quality as what you’d get at the store. Plenty of ink is used printing photos from digital cameras these days.

Printing tax documents. You don’t have to go to a CPA to get your taxes done. You can go online to TurboTax or use home tax preparation software, and many do—it saves time and the cost of hiring an accountant, and it’s less accident prone than trying to handle the paperwork on your own. Those tax documents all have to be printed and stored, however—and that means more printing for the rest of us.

Printing school papers. Try to hand in a hand-written final draft of a school paper, and you might get more than incredulous looks from your teacher. Teachers and professors at all levels of education typically expect final drafts to be passed in as printed documents—even grade schoolers don’t hand-write their papers anymore. And with computers so accessible—most schools have computer labs with printers, and if they don’t, the local library does—it’s not unreasonable to expect. Still, many students do their projects at the last minute at home—and that means home printing of that ten-page report.

Printing cards and invitations. Planning a party or wedding? You don’t have to take your custom designed invitations to the printer. Today’s printers are capable of high-quality graphics and printing on a variety of media—including card stock. It’s possible to print pretty much anything from home, including those cards, family newsletters and invitations many families send out on a yearly basis. With home graphic design software making the job easier, production of these domestic direct mail pieces can be an entirely at-home job.

Printing marketing materials. If you run a home business, chances are you’ll have to print marketing materials. But you don’t necessarily have to use the printer. Like invitations and cards for families, marketing mailers, letters, card stock, and other collateral can all be printed at home on a modestly-sized desktop printer. Many home business owners print their own marketing materials to save on costs.

Printing CD labels. Digital downloading may be the wave of the future, but it hasn’t completely taken over CD and DVD burning yet. Many people still burn CD’s—including bands preparing collateral for their next gig. You can print out your own labels for discs and jewel cases as a part of the burn process, and even design graphics to go with it. Small independent bands do this, as do music and movie lovers who are creating their own home collections.

Printing at home has never been more prevalent. From printing your tickets to your important tax documents, more and more pieces of important paper can be printed easily rather than being mailed or picked up at the counter—saving companies postage and customers time. In addition, with the vast array of home photo printers and machines that can handle complex graphics, more and more people can design and print mailing materials at home rather than relying on a printer. This is good news for printer manufacturers as well as third-party ink sellers—it means business is likely to continue to grow.

We’ve made shopping for online ink cartridges as simple as can be. All you need to know is your printer model or ink cartridge number, we’ll do the rest.

Know your model of inkjet printer? Use the dropdowns or navigation above to find your dedicated inkjet printer page. All of the ink cartridges for your printer will be on that page, taking the hassle out of shopping.

Know your ink cartridge? Just type it’s name or product reference into our search bar above and you’ll see your ink cartridge in the results. Click through and you’ll find the ink cartridge you’re after, with all the relevant information and a list of printers that cartridge works in, giving you everything you need in one place.

Need ink cartridges quickly? We have free next day delivery

Not only is delivery free on all the ink cartridges we sell, but we ship all orders the very same day they’re placed up until 4pm. Order after 4pm and we’ll post it the next morning for you.

 - Jim orders some Epson ink cartridges at 3:50pm on Monday. They’ll be in the post Monday evening by Royal Mail First Class, arriving with Jim Tuesday.

 - Sandra placed her order for HP ink cartridges at 5pm on Monday. We’ll process and pick this order for her 8:30 Tuesday morning, so Sandra can get her much-needed printer ink on Wednesday!

We also make every effort to post your ink cartridges in a “post-box friendly” manner, so you don't even have to be at home when it's delivered.

After cheap ink cartridges?

We specialise in both manufacturer original ink cartridges and money-saving selections of cheap ink cartridges. When browsing our website for these cheap ink cartridges you will come across varying types, so we’ve outlined them below to help you understand what you’re about to buy.

- Original / Genuine Ink Cartridges

An Original / Genuine ink cartridge is one manufactured by your printer manufacturer, often referred to as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) ink cartridge.

e.g. An Original HP Ink Cartridge is one manufactured by HP for a HP printer.

These cartridges are the most expensive option for your printer, but if you're looking to do photo printing on dedicated photo paper (e.g. HP paper in a HP printer), genuine cartridges willl give you the best results.

- Compatible ink cartridges

Compatible cartridges are brand new ink cartridges that have been manufactured by a third party rather than the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and will tend to offer significant price savings over original ink cartridges.

These brand new cartridges will look almost identical to your OEM printer inks, contain at least as much ink in them (they can contain up to 4x as much ink), and are the industries favoured method of saving money when buying ink cartridges.

All compatible printer ink cartridges at Stinkyink.com are manufactured by ISO approved suppliers, meeting quality guidelines as stringent as genuine manufacturer cartridges.

- Refilled ink cartridges

A refilled ink cartridge is an original cartridge that has been used once, reconditioned and refilled. All parts of the printer cartridge that experience wear are replaced with new versions, guaranteeing a longer performance.

The refilled printer ink is again from ISO approved suppliers, guaranteeing you fantastic quality prints at an amazingly low price.

Why do you get both refilled and compatible ink cartridges? Is one better than the other?

There are no performance differences between these cheap ink cartridges, it is merely due to the kind of replacement ink cartridge.

Certain ink cartridges have their print head built into the physical cartridge instead of in the printer itself, traditionally in select HP, Lexmark and Dell machines.  Manufacturing a compatible ink cartridge with an integrated print head is very expensive, so these cartridges are reconditioned and refilled with printer ink as a money saving option.

In printers where the ink cartridge is simply a tank, compatible ink cartridges are manufactured instead.

Buying Printer Ink Online? Find Out What You’re Buying

Printer Ink cartridges can make up a significant chunk of a home offices running costs, so it’s nice to know where your money is going. We’ve put together the following information on ink cartridges for inkjet printers, so you know what you’re getting for your money - happy reading!

Did You Know?!? - a judge at Strasbourg ruled that ink cartridges are a form of ink. Epson previously claimed they were ‘parts’ which attracted 0% duty rather than ‘ink’, which attract 6.5% duty, so now you know ink cartridges are actually ink!

Inside an Ink Cartridge

Ink cartridges are made up of partitioned ink reservoirs, the number of partitions dependant on the type of cartridge.

Black cartridges, and individual colour cartridges, have a single tank containing just their respective ink colour.

Tri-colour and five-colour ink cartridges contain three and five chambers respectively, each with individual colours for your printing in. For example a tri-colour contains three partitions of Magenta (red), Cyan (Blue) and Yellow inks.

Technology in an ink cartridge

There are two main types of ink cartridges produced; Thermal and Piezo electric

• Thermal/Bubblejet ink Cartridges are manufactured by HP, Canon, Lexmark, and Dell
• Piezo Electric ink Cartridges are manufactured by Epson

Thermal Ink Cartridges:

Developed in the early 1970’s by HP, this printing methods involves a heating element with a tiny metal plate or resistor within the cartridge, and is used by the vast majority of ink cartridge manufacturers.

When printing, a pulse of current is sent through this resistor, heating the element. This heat causes the ink surrounding the heated plate to vaporize into a tiny air bubble inside the nozzle.

The sudden expansion of this air bubble creates significant pressure within the cartridge, forcing some ink through the nozzle of the ink cartridge onto the paper, hence the name “Bubble Jet”.

The sudden contraction of this vapor bubble pulls a further charge of ink into the ink cartridge chamber, meaning your printer is ready for the next pulse nigh-on instantly.

This process takes a matter of milliseconds, and will happen millions of times in a single print. So next time you look at your printout, just remember how many pulses were sent through your ink cartridge!

Piezo Electric Ink Cartridges:

Piezo electric print technology is a patented Epson design which is used exclusively in all of their printers. Each ink cartridge contains a piezoelectric crystal instead of the heating element we described in thermal printing.

When a current passes through this crystal it changes shape. This expansion creates the same pressure imbalance within the ink cartridge as thermal printing produces with an air bubble, resulting in a droplet of ink to be released from the nozzle.

While not too dissimilar to the thermal printing method (confined space, expansion of a material forcing ink out of a nozzle) it does have its benefits! Printer inks which react badly to heat become possible, and the technology can produce a smaller ink drop in some situations than thermal inkjet methods.

Types of Ink for your printer

Printer ink is typically an aqueous solution with colourant molecules, so that you can enjoy your high quality colour prints from a liquid that is easily dispersed on a page. Not many people know that there are two types of ink for inkjet printers: pigmented and dye-based.

- Pigmented printer ink

Pigment ink has much larger colourant molecules, which means they tend to sit on the surface of the paper as they can’t squeeze between its fibres.

With much faster drying times, pigmented inks are renowned for crisp, exact prints as they don’t soak into the paper. Additionally, the large molecules in the pigmented ink are more resistant to ozone attack and are generally more fade resistant, so your prints last much longer visibly but often produce duller colours in your printouts.

- Dye-based printer ink

Dye-based prints tend to look brighter, because they form a smoother coating on the paper, and have a wider colour range. They have much smaller molecules, so can fit down between the paper fibres and sink into the body of the paper, resulting in slower drying times.

This slow drying can be a problem when printing duplex pages, as the print speed has to drop to avoid smearing your prints.