Digital Prints

Bulk Ink for Wide-Format
Third-Party Overview
The use of third-party inks is increasing on some fronts, especially as photographer-artists
become more sophisticated and more familiar with digital printing processes. However,
you must weigh the disadvantages as well as the advantages. A few observations:
■ Source: Who makes which brand of ink is a closely guarded secret. There are only a handful
of primary ink manufacturers, and they provide the finished inks or the raw ingredients
to the well-known OEMs and third-party marketers alike. Suppliers and percentages
of business held by each are constantly changing, so it’s fruitless to try to pin down the
ink sourcing with any accuracy.
■ Quality: With third-party inks, you may or may not get the same quality as you would
using the OEM-recommended inks that are made for the printer. OEMs maintain that
they are selling printer-ink-media systems, and that you forfeit consistent results and quality
if you break that chain. That’s why the best third-party inks try to exactly match the
OEM’s specifications for physical properties (density, viscosity, drying time, surface tension,
and so on). The only way to know is to try them and find out for yourself.
Conversely, this is also one advantage of a bulk-ink system. It’s well-reported that there are
sometimes differences in color and quality from one OEM ink cartridge to another.
Whether it’s due to changing ink suppliers or other obscure reasons, the fact is that two
Chapter 7 ■ Choosing Your Consumables 225
While bulk-ink systems have gained popular fame with users of desktop inkjet printers looking to circumvent expensive, single-use cartridges,
these systems are now also available from the major suppliers for wide-format printers as well. For example, MediaStreet, MIS, WeInk, M&M
Studios, and American Imaging (Symphonic Inks) offer systems for the Epson 7600/9600 and other models. Bulldog Products sells its Easy Fill
Pro system for both aqueous and solvent-based printers including—besides Epson—Roland, Mutoh, and Mimaki.
Pennsylvania printmaker Diana York of Hawk Mountain Editions and Hawk Mountain Art Papers runs Generations 4 inks in both an Epson
9600 with an MIS CFS and an Epson 9500 with a JetBlaster system (see Figure 7.9).
Figure 7.9 Diana York in her
printmaking studio standing
behind an Epson 9500 outfitted
with a JetBlaster bulk-ink system.
Detail at right.
Courtesy of Diana York
www.hawkmtnartpapers.com