Is your inkjet printer starting to make awful sounds and/or making a mess of the files sent to it? It could be that your print heads are suffering from "rail drag". This is one of the most common repair problem we hear of (often costing a minimum of $50 if your printer is out of warranty, or at the least, several days of down time even if it is under warranty).
The most common culprit is "rail drag" due to a dirty and/or dried out print head rail. If you're experiencing problems, try cleaning the rail (the chrome bar) that the print heads glide back and forth on -- before you go to the repair shop. Use WD-40 or a light sewing machine oil (some use gun oil) and wipe off the excess. (Yes, a repair shop has no problems with charging you $50 just for doing this simple procedure!) Do this with a clean cotton cloth about every three months, or monthly if your printer is under heavy use. Whenever the printer motor experiences any extra friction or resistance from the print head assembly it will "fail-safe" and stop, or go to a default position so as not to force the issue and damage the motor or the print head drive assembly. The cleaning of the printer head rail eliminates most of these problems.
MICRO-POROUS PAPERS: Advantages & Problems With This Technology
What is a "micro-porous" paper (sometimes referred to as a "nano-porous" paper)? Most of these papers have a coating that contains a layer of highly uniform ceramic particles. (That's a classy way of saying they they are really made of glass or silica - the most common substance found on our planet!). These ceramic or glass particles are arranged into a consistent pattern of pores within the coating. These pores act as vertical inkwells which receive ink just below the surface. Uniformity of the inkwells and a smooth coated surface facilitate quick ink absorption and prevent light from scattering on the sheet. The result is an image with an unparalleled level of detail and color depth. Unlike clay-based coated sheets, images printed on micro-porous coated sheets exhibit excellent water-resistant properties and there is little loss of gloss or luster across the surface, even in areas with heavy ink coverage. Micro-porous inkjet prints have a brilliance, color saturation, and a gloss or luster consistency that is better than almost any other coating technology. This technology works great for both dye and pigment inks. In fact, micro-porous coatings can often help raise pigment ink to the color gamut and saturation of a dye made print. Virtually all micro-porous inkjet papers also use a RC (resin coated) or polyethylene layer behind the micro-porous coating to eliminate the waviness or wrinkles that would normally come with heavy ink laydowns - thus allowing these papers to lay very flat. Pictorico's Professional Photo Gallery Hi-Gloss White Film (PGHG) uses a plastic "paper" (Made with Melinex polyester film).
This all sounds great, so where's the problem? The problem is that this same wonderful technology also acts as an "atmospheric sponge", wicking the ozone to the inkjet dyes, and accelerating the exchange of gases to the ink jet inks. The cyan dye of the Epson Photographic Dyes (used in the 1270/1280 and 10000 printers) are especially susceptible. This is what caused the infamous "orange" or red print problem with the 1270 prints on the Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper during the summer of 2000, before Epson upgraded the paper with an anti-oxidant in the coating (which only delays the problem, and does not fix it). A more complete discussion on this problem and its history is found on our web site http://www.inkjetart.com/news/premium_glossy_fade.html.
It should be noted that researchers are now beginning to discover that ozone is not the only culprit. Regular oxygen can do just as much damage to the inkjet dyes (pigment inks are also susceptible too, but at a much lower oxidation rate).
There are several ways to greatly slow down the atmospheric exchange to the ink jet dyes:
Place print in a frame, behind glass.
Place print in an album or book (unsleeved prints).
Place print in an album with archival sleeves (better)
If you do not want to do any of the above protective measures with your prints, then we highly recommend that you use a pigmented ink to make your prints, i.e. the pigment ink used in the Epson 2000P, 5500, 7500, 9500 or 10000 (Archival Ink version) -- or used a third party pigmented ink.
Another possible alternative: Epson's ColorLife paper uses a "swellable polymer" technology (the polymer swells around the ink when it hits the paper's coating) that helps to seal out the air that leads to oxidation problems. Although their "25 year" rating is based on "behind glass", we think this technology will also help extend the life of prints made with dye inks (pigment inks are NOT recommended with this paper) where the user does not want to put his or her prints behind glass.
Here is a LIST OF THE MICRO-POROUS MEDIA that we currently carry:
Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper
Epson Premium Semigloss Photo Paper
Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper
Lyson Professional Photo Gloss
Lyson Professional Photo Satin
Lumijet Ultra Gloss
Lumijet Genuine Pearl
Legion Photo Gloss
Ilford Galerie Smooth Gloss Paper
Pictorico Professional Photo Gallery Hi-Gloss White Film (PGHG)
LEXAR DIGITAL FILM (DIGITAL CAMERA MEMORY, i.e Compact Flash & SmartMedia)
Inkjetart has finally decided to offer Lexar's line of "digital film" media. Although there are many cheaper brands of digital camera memory today, Lexar offers unmatched consistency, reliability and SPEED. This is the digital film designed specifically for the professional photographer, who can't afford to lose even one shot. For more info, go to:
All of the Lexar media we carry is designed to be more reliable and faster than typical digital media. Lexar's latest professional line carries a 16X speed rating (1X=150KB/sec.). Their recently introduced 12X line (3 times faster than most media cards that typically have a 4X rating or less), is being closed out by Lexar, and great savings can be had with this line. Although the 12X cards are only 25% slower than the latest 16X cards, the 256MB and 512MB cards are priced about $90 less than the 16X cards; and the 128MB 12X cards are priced only 31% more than their 4X cards. This is one of their best deals in our opinion, because you get a 3-times faster card for only 31% greater cost than their 4X card!
NOTE: We have a limited supply left of the 12X cards (Lexar is totally out of the 12X, and is only carrying the 16X).
SALE! ON SELECT CONTINUOUS INKING SYSTEMS MODELS
While current supplies in stock last (no rain checks), the following Continuous Inking Systems will be on sale:
PI-CIS750 Compatible with the Epson Photo 750
PI-CIS880 Compatible with the Epson 880
These models are currently reduced to $100, from the regular price of $125 -- while supplies last. The following models are currently reduced to $190, from the regular price of $225.00 -- while supplies last.
PI-CIS870 Compatible with the Epson 870, 890
PI-CIS2000P Compatible with the Epson Photo 2000P
When these supplies are gone, all of our CIS models will return to their regular prices. After this time, we will only stock the 1200 and 1270/1280 CIS models. All other CIS models will be by special order (this usually adds 1 to 2 additional weeks to your ship time). To take advantage of this sale and current supplies, go to:
C80 PRINTER REBATE EXTENDED THROUGH March 31, 2002
The $30 mail in rebate on the Epson Stylus C80 printer has been extended through March 31, 2002. This effectively reduces your cost for the printer from $179.95 to 149.95! Photographers and other artists everywhere are raving about this printer's plain paper printing capabilities, even though it uses very lightfast and durable (DuraBrite) pigmented ink. Our own tests show that on plain paper, the black density of the C80 ink is much greater than the D-Max output from any other Epson pigmented ink printer (i.e. the 2000P, 5500, 7500, 9500 or Archival Ink version 10000). This DuraBrite pigmented ink apparently must have a completely different formula than the pigmented ink used in these five other printers. For more info to:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Inkjet NEWS & Tips" is published by
Royce Bair, Editor royce@inkjetart.com
Inkjet Solutions for Photo-realistic & Archival Fine Art Printing
http://www.inkjetART.com/
Inkjet Art Solutions
8100 s. 1300 w., Suite A
West Jordan, UT 84088
Phone: 801-256-0360 Fax: 801-256-0369
(c) Copyright 2005 The Stock Solution, All Rights Reserved
No portion of this publication may be reproduced or re-published
without written permission from Royce Bair or his stock photography agency, The Stock Solution.
Send your comments to Royce Bair royce@inkjetart.com.
To SUBSCRIBE to "Inkjet NEWS & Tips" go to:
http://www.inkjetART.com/news.html
To be REMOVED from our list, or to UNSUBSCRIBE, go to:
http://www.inkjetART.com/news.html
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
All longevity estimates should be treated as such, Inkjet Art Solutions is not liable for pre-mature fading of prints or damage to printers through use of our products. Be sure to properly research your purchase and follow the directions given. If you need help, please contact us.
For more information regarding our policies, including our return policy, please visit our Policies Page
Tracking
My Account
Cart Contents
Checkout
Home page
Forum
Contact us
Links
Newsletter
Finishing