Paper & inks

[HarryS]

OK I just bought a Canon i965
Nice prints etc.
Now I'm looking for inks & papers etc.
Firstly I appreciate that Canon want my money.
I also follow that Canon Paper + Canon Ink could/should be a "matched pair."

So my question is , what do people like Kodak recommend?
They sell paper, not Canon paper or Epson Paper....just "Paper".
is their paper more "universal" than Canons?
(BTW I'm not even sure if Canon have a paper factory! )

And of course the next question is....
if Kodak paper gives good / great results
what about the ink?

Do the "refill" bottles work OK?
I've read the marketing that says "universal" inks are no good, only get
ink to match the printer model. Is this a truth, or just a "marketing fact"?

Is it important to 'match' paper & ink (thinking refills here)
if so any web links to tests etc appreciated.
or of course personal experience.
eg calidad inks? any good? & on what photo paper??
I'm mostly interested in Photo prints, although plain paper info would alos
be useful.


BTW The HP I have, has always been fed new (expensive) genuine carts....
The 2x's I tried refilling didn't work, just left banding etc. I think I now
know why
and hence thought I might try refilling the Canon's.

Thx in advance

 

[Larry]

I use 100% Canon Ink and Red River paper. Excellent results on my i950, and
it has sit as long as 2 months with no printing and I've had ZERO head
clogging issues.

-Larry

 

[Burt]

I've tried Kodak paper on my Epson Stylus Color 900 with epson inks with
terrible results. For all color prints except those I want to do as
exhibition quality I use Epson glossy paper that I get at Costo - 120 8 1/2
by 11 sheets for $20. Works great on my wife's Canon printer as well with
canon inks. It takes an extra few minutes to cut to size with the paper
cutter from my darkroom, but it is much cheaper than buying precut sizes and
produces good quality prints.

 

[Ron Cohen]

You've made a great choice. The Canon "I" series printers are very reliable
and refilling is a no brainer. Since you have purchased the i965 that would
indicate that you are outside of North America and as a result my favorite
ink - Sensient Formulabs from www.alotofthings.com and paper from Red River
www.redrivercatalog.com would be unavailable to you. I highly recommend
refilling and have a short pdf file I can send you that shows how easy the
process is with Canon BCI-6 cartridges. Send me a private email and I'll
send a copy back to you. Keep watching this newsgroup or do a Google search
for ink and paper recommendations outside the US. FWIW, there are several
papers I don't care for. Kodak Ultima and Premium top the list.

 

[bmoag]

A lot depends on how finicky you are about color managment.
If you use color management ala Photoshop the most predictable results, I
have the same printer and have been experimenting, have been with-no
suprprise- Canon papers using the profiles that come with the printer. There
is a pretty good correlation between soft proofing and the final product if
you check the difference, for example, between relative colorimetric and
perceptual color profiles.
As you know Canon makes a very restricted range of papers.
Canon's Photopaper Plus Glossy prints beautifully using their profile and PS
color managment, if you like glossy finishes. But it runs around $12 for 20
sheets. However it is so nice that it has almost cured me of my Epson 1280.
The Canon printer will print nicely on just about any decent matte paper
using the Canon profile for its own matte paper.
The cheap Costco Epson glossy, for which Epson does not even provide a
profile for its own printers, prints reasonaby predictably well using one of
the Canon glossy settings, but not as nice as the Canon papers (which cost
more than twice as much).
This printer is reasonably stingy with ink: why would you use anything other
than Canon ink cartridges?

 

[HarryS]

Hi Bomag,
Many thanks for great info.
I've been searching for web sites that have done print testing Paper &
ink combos, but have yet to find a site. guess must be to many permutations!

Canon carts? OK I just ordered a spare set, due to arrive today. I also
ordered a "no name" set to try out.
The canon carts are $22 each here, which is a lot better than my old HP
carts.
But from what I have seen 3rd party carts are 1/4 of that price and
refiling even less.
Hence my desire to learn more about it.
Like I org said, people like Kodak (& others) sell paper for *all* photo
printers
does that mean their paper works with all inks? I have nmy doubts, but
if it does then the story that I should use only canon ink & canon paper
must be a falicy.
Not sure if the whole ink & paper think is "marketing truth", or maybe
I'm cutting a little close to the bone?

I haven't looked at the "profiles" as yet, just pleased to be able to
print great pics with default settings..

Harry

 

[DFSeattle]

test

 

[Ray R]

A lot depends on how finicky you are about color managment.
If you use color management ala Photoshop the most predictable results, I
have the same printer and have been experimenting, have been with-no
suprprise- Canon papers using the profiles that come with the printer. There
is a pretty good correlation between soft proofing and the final product if
you check the difference, for example, between relative colorimetric and
perceptual color profiles.
As you know Canon makes a very restricted range of papers.
Canon's Photopaper Plus Glossy prints beautifully using their profile and PS
color managment, if you like glossy finishes. But it runs around $12 for 20
sheets. However it is so nice that it has almost cured me of my Epson 1280.
The Canon printer will print nicely on just about any decent matte paper
using the Canon profile for its own matte paper.

Some nice paper I found recently is Konica at Fry's. It is $15 per 100
8.5 x 11 sheets. It compares favorably with the Canon and Epson premium.
It is quite a bit better than Costco's Epson.

 

[Rob]

I've been refilling my i9900 with no problems so far and I can't see
any difference in the results. I've printed before and after versions
of a picture and honestly can't see any difference. If there are
differences they are subtle...at least to my eye.