Inkjet Ink

Differences In Inkjet Ink

Not all inkjet ink is created equal so you should be aware of the different types of ink before you purchase an inkjet cartridge or buy a kit to refill your own used cartridges. There are plenty of good options for quality ink, but different purposes call for different ink.

For example, Hewlett Packard has a line of quality photograph ink called Vivera. The HP Inkjet Cartridges filled with Vivera photo quality ink are advertized by HP as one of the best ways to achieve quality photos from your home Inkjet Printer. This particular inkjet ink is said to be specially designed with the photo print quality in mind. Information about Hewlett Packard inkjet ink and other HP products can be found at http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/welcome.html.

Epson claims a superior design of the print heads used in Epson printers, but also claims a superior chemical makeup of the inkjet inks used in Epson Inkjet Cartridges. The difference, according to Epson, lies in the pigment of the ink. According to information from the Epson company's web page, the pigment of the inkjet ink greatly affects the performance of the inkjet printer. Epson's ColorFast ink, and the newer released version called UltraChrome, both offer this superior design, according to the company. This inkjet ink provides better print quality for various kinds of printing needs and does not appear to be aimed only at photography printing. For more information about Epson products, including a tutorial on Epson inks, visit the Epson website at www.epson.com.

Understanding the basic principle behind the technology of inkjet printing allows you, as a consumer, to make a more informed decision about the kind of inkjet ink that will best suit your purposes. The inkjet printer falls into the category of printers known as no-impact printing. That means that the machine itself does not touch the paper as the document or photo is being printed. Instead, the inkjet ink is shot from the cartridge onto the paper to form the lines and patterns that make up the desired images. That may sound like a less-than-perfect way to create a perfectly printed document, but the results are a high quality print job. In actuality, the tiny dots that are used to create the image are so small that printing from an inkjet printer allows incredible detail not available with any other technology at the price one expects to pay for inkjet printers.