bkr2 Loc: Hackettstown,New Jersey

I have canon Pro 100. I use ink from Compandsave.com. The ink cartridges are about 60% cheeper.
But I have an HP Photosmart D7460 and I had to return a batch ink becouse of errors. I had to order from
Amazon. It is guessing game. Good luck.;

kenabr Loc: S.E.Wisconsin

I had an Epson 1430 printer and tried non Epson ink after spending so much on their ink. After a short time the ink jets clogged up. a purchased a cleaning kit but it didn't work. I could have changed out the print head but it's a butcher job with the Epson. I bought a Canon Pro 100 and am using their ink. If the Canon has trouble the print head is easily replaced. Why I wonder are none of the printer manufacturers making tank ink systems for standard photo printers. They make all in one printers only. You can buy tank system addons but I don't think you can get OEM ink for them in 6 or 8 colors needed for photo printers.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I look at it this way, I have thousands in my camera equipment (to get the best pictures I can). I buy a good printer, for the same reason, buy good paper, spend time and money to get to places and take pictures, time and money for the software and processing. So why cut corners on the ink. The manufactures ink is exactly mixed to the color program of the printer. Now buy a green , red or even a black that fits the Canon, Epson etc. printer.
To me it makes no sense.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

3rd party inks fall into the same category as out of date inks. I once accidentally put a one month out of date cartridge into an Epson printer after agitating it per the instructions. Immediately plugged up one nozzle and after $600 of intervention had to throw the printer out as a new printer was cheaper than replacing the print head.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

I have an HP printer that I have been using 'other' ink in for well over three years and very successfully. I've been completely happy with ink from '499ink.com' I do lots of color printing and have compared their ink to HP's and find it to be equally as good (or even better in some regard) than the HP factory ink. The savings has more than paid for the price of the printer. Never a single problem. No clogs- no smears, etc. Correction: I did have one cartridge foul-up and refuse to emit ink. I got full credit for it just by calling 499ink.com
You'll hear many oposite replies I'm sure, but that's been my experience.
God Bless,
Papa Joe

WayneL Loc: Baltimore Md

I have been using JARBO ink cartridges for 2 years in my Canon printer, no problems

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

I guess it's worth a shot. Thanks. I'll try that. I would have thought that Canon Cust. Serv would have suggested that. but they probably prefer I BUY A NEW ONE every 3 years. LOL

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I say: "Better safe than sorry!"
The concept to save a few $$$ are are far outweighed by the grief, time and money spent to figure out what went wrong and then realize you need a new printer. I always use OEM ink. Have never had a printer problem. Peace of Mind!

Spiney Loc: Reading, PA

I have a Canon Pro-100 & Pro-10 that I use Precision Color Inks with for over 3 years. No issues with clogging. The Pro-10 dye inks last long, though not as long as OEM inks.

The Pro-100 inks if subjected to sunlight or ozone from the refrigerator motor do fade faster than OEM. But when stored in subdued light or framed behind glass seem to hold up well. I’d stay away from the least expensive, no name inks.

Come to think of it I did use 3rd party inks in my Mother in laws Kodak AIO printer and the results were poor. Dull colors, ran out faster than OEM and had to replace the heads 2x which luckily are cheap.

Spiney Loc: Reading, PA

Two ways to go. Once a week print a Windows / Mac test page. Or my Canon Pro-100 & Pro-10’s have a print head test function. It prints a pattern of every color and used little ink, but keeps the heads / lines unclogged.

Or you can do what I did to do the same. Created a text file something like:

This is a Head Color Test 😀💧❤️🌎🌴

Every letter I made a different color. Uses very little color but keeps the print flow open.

Last but not least many owners of Photo printers ones with 5 or more ink carts. Use a program called Q-Image Pro cost about $50.

It’s original use is for great color match and maximum use of paper. You can gang print multiple images on say 13”x19” paper and it figures the most efficient layout.

Also it has a utility to print a test pattern every XXX amounts of hours or days, you decide. You set once and forget it. You need to leave the PC and Printer on, but it will wake it from a Sleep. Perfect for people who don’t use their printers daily. You load up plain paper in between photo jobs and walk away. It will periodically print the test prints.

Hope this helps

Dean37 Loc: Fresno, CA

I had an HP 7180 printer that produced acceptable photos for just day to day use. I took my printing to a local camera store for photos I wanted to be kept for long term.

The HP 02 cartridges became very difficult to find, I think HP discontinued them. I tried an after market ink source, and it worked with the first set of inks, then I found some HP 02 cartridges and after they went empty, I bought 4 sets of new after market cartridges. That is when the problem occurred. The black ink dumped a lot of ink smearing on the paper. I found 2 HP 02 Black cartridges and they did not print at all.

Since HP does not sell replacement print heads, and they said they wouldn't repair it, I went to a computer repair shop where the owner said he would gladly repair it, but it would be expensive and I should just consider replacing the printer for about half of what the repair would cost.

I tried the head cleaning with available commercial cleaners specific for inkjet printers. Went through the process as described in the instructions to no avail. Repeated it after a week and again after another week. I still had bad print heads so I scrapped the printer through the local computer repair shop. I am not a fan of after market inks, but if they work for you, then go for it.

I got a laser printer for my printing needs and for photo proofs. I still go to a local camera store for my prints.

dick ranez

It depends. When I was printing for fee I only used OEM inks. The price difference made little difference if it affected the quality of the end product. Now that I print for fun, OEM cartridges seem an unnecessary added expense. I use ink from LD products and don't notice a significant difference other than they seem to be slightly less filled than the canon cartridges. The colors are fine and there have been no problems with clogged heads. On my "business" printer I've used third party toner or ink as appropriate and never had a problem.

CTTonymm Loc: Connecticut

Huey: I have had my Epson R1900 for maybe 8-9 years (?) and have used inks from Inkfarm.com for at least 5 years now without a single problem with printer head, clogged jets, whatever. Early on, I had two clogging issues with OEM Canon inks which cleared up with the Canon cleaning routine. Researching the problem, I ran across advice to always leave the printer turned on and print something regularly (recommendation was at least once a week) - supposedly, with the power off, the heads cool down or something. I figured the Canon inks were clogging because I turned the printer off. Since printer was aging anyway, I decided to check use of InkFarm ink based on several sources recommendations and haven't looked back with no problems. I still leave the power on, but I must admit I will sometimes go 2-3 weeks without printing and then blast out a bunch of prints with no issues. YMMV...

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

I too have a Pixma Pro 100 and use LD products for my ink without any problems.
What people need to know is that the printer closes off the print heads when when not in use and also does a print head cleaning on a schedule. I don't print very often but I leave the printer on to take advantage of the cleanings. I have been more then satisfied with the PRO-100.

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

I would be careful. Factory inks have an anti-clog chemical. Most cheap non-brand inks do not. If you print a lot, you may be OK. But if the printer sits for a while between jobs, you are probably asking for trouble.