subject: Printer Ink - Judging The Standard Of Printer Ink [print this page] How can you judge the standard of printer ink? How do you ensure whether it will produce high quality printouts? The biggest sign of low quality ink is that it blots on paper. The colors do not have proper separation lines and they mix with each other. Sometimes the colors are dull and in other cases they fade too soon. You don't need to test the printer ink of a new cartridge. It goes through a complete scanning process. The testing procedure has to be conducted in the following situations
* Getting original cartridges refilled
* Buying compatible or substitute cartridges
In both the cases mentioned above, the printer ink does not have the same standard as the one in the original cartridge. Therefore you need to test it before usage. Some companies print some test pages and give it to the customer. He makes the payments if he is satisfied with the performance level and quality as per his or her requirements. The quality of this refilled ink depends on the company which is providing these vendors. It varies from one vendor to the other as the buyer is not aware of the product background nor usually people have this kind of detailed knowledge.
The reason:
The standard of printer ink used in compatible cartridges is lower than refilled ones. First of all, the internal system of the cartridge is not according to quality standards in many cases. Apart from that, the ink is not original. Thus, the results can be termed as satisfactory. These cartridges are new but their results are not that impressive. Several companies are manufacturing them so the standard varies. You need to find a reliable vendor to get better quality products in this scenario.
Determining the ink level:
Most printers have an easy mechanism to check the ink levels. You have to check the properties of the cartridge. This gives you an estimate of how much ink is left. Some old printers do not provide this facility. In this case, you need to keep a check on the number of printouts and get your cartridge refilled or replaced accordingly. Or simply wait till the printer actually runs out of ink.
The ink provided by prolific printer companies cannot be attained through refilling. Some illegal firms try to counterfeit the customers by mentioning that the ink used in re-manufactured cartridges is provided by branded printer manufacturers. This is not the case. The only way to get original ink is to buy new cartridges.
