3:00 “The big advantage to dye inks is the vibrancy you get. If you print on a dye based printer on say luster gloss, baryta type papers, you will get this lovely, rich color, and it just pops off the page to you. It almost just looks a little bit 3D. When you compare it to the pigment equivalent, the pigment inks just look a little bit flat.”

Archivability: “Canon says their [dye based] prints will last in kind of average conditions on the wall, not in direct sunlight for around 30-40 years. If it’s in direct sunlight, that can go down to years, like one or two years before it starts to fade.”

“Canon will say with their new inks they released for the Pro-200, these inks will last well over 100 years if they’re in an acid-free box….

5:50 “Pigment based inks will last well over 100 years without you even having to do anything to them.

7:45 “To sum up, dye inks give lovely, vibrant colors. Pigments will give you full archivability and perfect black and whites.”

NOTE: metal prints are printed with dye ink, often with an Epson printer that has only 3 colors plus black. Less inks reduces the color gamut, especially in the lighter tones. Printers who print metal in Anchorage, Alaska only use these Epson sublimation printers. Sawgrass makes 8-ink printers for metal, which some printers in the lower-48 use.

The Canon Pro-200 dye based printer, mentioned in the video has 8 inks, 5 color, 2 grey and 1 black..

Which ink is better, Dye inks or Pigment inks – Fotospeed | Paper for Fine Art & Photography

Oct 13, 2022

Join Tim this week for the next part of the printing basics.