My one and only colour printer is a 6-colour Epson XP-960. Very soon I have to buy a new set of ink cartridges and that fact made me investigate how the market looks, nowadays.
Among other things I noted that there is a (non-original) pigmented ink available.
Has anyone got any experience in changing from a dye-based ink to a pigmented one?
Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden
No experience with that. I only know that artist use this type of ink for their giclƩe prints https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gicl%C3%A9e.
According to this, pigment-based inks nowadays have the same benefits which pigment-based inks had in the past (color vibrancy), and more:
https://www.adorama.com/alc/0013006/article/FAQ-Whats-The-Difference-Between-Dye-Based-and-Pigment-Ink
Iād like to hear your experience if you invest in a pigment-based printer, especially as you color-managed it and have the right light source to examine prints.
I run an Epson 1500W (original dye ink) with replacement pigment ink from farbenwerk.com. I am happy with the combination but the lack of a native floss linux driver is annoying. Thereās a meet the gimp episode where I got the hint from.
User space driver situation on Linux is really annoying. I have to use turboprint to make it work.
I used pigment ink in an Epson R2400 some years back and had a devil of a job keeping the head unblocked. I havenāt done any printing for a while, and am perhaps out of touch, but Iād say consider if you REALLY need pigment ink. You run the risk of clogging the print head. And there may be little advantage if you consider cost and benefits. Iād suggest have a look at these Jon Cone dye inks - http://www.vermontphotoinkjet.com/products/inkā¢thirft-professional-dye-ink - I think thatās what Iād do if re-starting home printing. Note that they are claimed to have quite good longevity and tech characteristics despite the mention of short term āgraphicsā. Good luck!
What I observed is the opposite. While I always had problems with cleaning the clogged heads of my former epson dye inkjet printer, with the pigment ink I can stop printing for more than 3 months (I had to due to moving to another location last year) and not even one nozzle is congested. While this is not a representative test, I generally observe the pigment ink being much less of a pain, but of course it may be not the ink but the printer that makes the difference.
And about cost, I think for economical and especially ecological reasons one should consider third party suppliers that deliver ink in the native packaging: bottles.
Thanks all!
I decided to go Pirate (dye).
No wonder, since an original set would cost me 1,099 SEK, containing 55 ml.
The pirate set cost me 380 SEK and contains 96 ml.
I am just now checking if I can spot a difference between them 
Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden
Make sure you a print in the sun to test fading! Lots of the inks look great out of the printer, but fade way too quickly.
Yep. That is why I am intrigued by pigment inks
That might be difficult during winter in Sweden 
.
Sorry, Sweden winter does not computeā¦ I live in Southern California 