Printer Ink

What ho one and all,

I have a Canon Pixma colour printer that I rarely use, so generally buy compatible ink cartridges for it.

Recently, I wanted to check a photo so fire her up; the colours are really dull and somewhat lifeless. i tweaked the embedded colour profile settings in Photoshop, I allowed the printer to manage colour, then Photoshop to manage colour. Nothing made a significant difference.

I now wonder if the ink cartridges that i last bought are just dull colours rather than bright? First , could this be the case?

Secondly, for either compatible cartridges or refilling myself (never done but thinking to trying) what is the best ink to buy? Does one retailer offer a better ink than any other?

Thanks, toodle pip and stay safe,

Rex

Your best bet would be to use that Cannon ink cartridges that they designed for your specific printer. Along with their recommended photo paper.

Thanks for your reply. Of course you are correct but the limited amount I use the printer v. the cost of the cartridges does not make economic sense. I usually have a 'dried' ink' issue when i do use it as it probably only gets fired up around once every six months!

Perhaps you should buy a laser printer. They make color ones but they are not for prints.

And I suggest the sames as Doc, use only canon paper and canon ink. And to keep the printer ink fresh, print a test page either every day or at least once a week.

If you only occasionally use the printer, then what you are printing would dictate the printer to use. For standard printing of documents, a laser printer is the only way to go. Costs are much less and you never have dried or expensive and small cartridges to worry about. If you want quality photos, a dye sublimation printer like the Canon Selphy is the way to go. If you want 8.5 x 11 or the UK equivalent size prints, a print shop is the answer for those unless you want to spend a lot more money.