Today we can enjoy watching high quality photos thanks to the advanced technology in photo industry.

If I said the names Cheetah, Hummingbird and Husky, you would probably think I had overdosed on nature programs and were stating a very odd animal food chain. Whilst that may yet be the case, it is also the names of Epson’s photo cartridge ranges. Tailored towards quality image for all user levels, from the home to professional, they offer outstanding print potential. Yet few consumers know the difference between them, so read on and discover the beauty of their new offerings.
DuraBrite Ultra Ink – The Cheetah:
This is the first of Epson’s products, tailored towards the home printer user who doesn’t want a huge outlay. With the pigment based ink designed to work on plain paper, you don’t even need photo paper to get the quality image you crave, a real bonus to savings. Pigment ink is typically used for text, as it usually suffers from a loss of colour brightness and vividness. However Epson have invested in innovation for their pigment inks, and this resin coated DuraBrite inks has overcome this issue. With a beautiful glossy finish also protecting the ink which does not soak into the page, colours remain bright and visually pleasing, and with no soaking of the ink typically seen in dye based inks the image remains sharp, waterproof, scratch resistant and touch dry from the printer. You also have the viable option of double-sided printing, a very rare potential for image printing.
Utilising 4 cartridges in the printer, this range of inks is well worth a look if you want above-average cheap photo prints without heavy expenditure on photo paper and inks.
Claria Photographic Ink – The Hummingbird:
Derived from the word Clarity, this ink is aimed at the home printer user who wants that little bit extra quality digital photo printing. Intended for us with Epson Glossy photo paper instead of ‘normal’ paper, this dye based ink is designed with colour in mind. It has the potential of a much wider colour gamut in an image than Dura Brite offers. This simply means each dot of ink on the page can be a greater range of colours. This enhanced colour coverage obviously means prints will be superior visually to previous cartridges, as the actual output will be so much closer to the image displayed on your computer or camera screen. The increased colour range is reflected in how many cartridges the compatible printers can take. Whilst Dura Brite ran off just 4 cartridges, Claria expands this to 6, with the addition of Light Cyan and Light Magenta. Additional cartridges will add to your printing cost, but it is not cost without a return. Below are the claimed benefits floating in from Hummingbird:
- Fade Resistant Print
- Quick Drying
- Water Resistant
- Scratch Resistant
A quoted image life of 98 years for a photo frame and 200 years for an album – quite a good start for a cartridge. This kind of light resistance is rare in a dye-based ink, and stems from a stronger chemical bond between the molecules of the ink.
Quick drying is a tantalising addition as well. With small benefits in being touch dry out the printer and no risk of smudging, it seems a nice feature. However, its main strength is apparent much earlier than this, in the actual printing process itself. Typically, dye-based inks experience a small amount of ‘bleed’, where the ink runs a small amount when applied to the page. Obviously, the faster the ink dries, the less bleeding experienced. This leads to a much crisper, sharper, image from your printer and is really a great little perk for Claria to advertise.
Next- water resistance for a dye-based ink, now that is impressive. A quick lesson here, dye based ink soaks into the page. Any form of moisture on the page after printing will lead to ink smudging over the image. How Epson have made the bond between their ink and paper(this claimed benefit is only in conjunction with Epson photo paper) is beyond me. Unsurprisingly, there is no information available on how this resistance comes about, but I know if I had such a valuable trade secret, I wouldn’t share it. Whether this is wholly accurate is another topic altogether, but I will wait for access to a compatible Epson printer running Claria ink before I get into that.
I don’t particularly understand scratch resistance for a dye based ink. The ink soaks into the page, as far as physical damage resistance goes, it is limited to the paper. Whether the ink actually increases the hardiness of the page is not mentioned, but if the gloss finish is resistant to any form of abuse but the most sharp of scratches, this can be a nice touch for images that won’t spend their life in a frame. Or if you are just plain awful at getting the photo into the frame in the first place!
UltraChrome Ink – The Husky:
Epson’s piece de resistance – UltraChrome pigment ink. As mentioned in DuraBrites section, pigment ink is typically associated with text, as it is widely known to have a larger potential colour gamut than dye based ink, but contain fewer colour brighteners. This meant the colours were less vivid on the page, but of a broader spectrum. Epson have got around this issue by developing an ink stated to be double the density of typical pigment ink, giving amazingly deep blacks and well defined colours. Furthermore, another typical pigment weakness has been shunned, its inability to print onto gloss paper effectively. The official techno-babble for this is "High-gloss Microcrystal Encapsulation Technology". In terms that I can understand without bright flashing lights travelling past my eyes – the pigment ink has a resin coat which enables it to better settle on the page, and with quality Epson paper designed to accompany it the ink actually fuses to the page much like a dye-based ink soaking. This resin coating, coupled with the level surface from the particle fusion, leads to the gorgeous gloss finish with reflective properties incredibly close to the often used dye based inks. The images to the left (compliments of Epsons informative website) highlight these claimed benefits in visual form. You can see the better settling of the ink particles on the page, giving a smoother finish on the printed output, and the more even light reflection. A great concept, and from the test prints I ran on the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 the result really is phenomenal.
So, away from the technology, and onto the inputs!
This ink technology requires the printers to take a massive 8 cartridges – Deep breath now:
- Cyan, Light Cyan
- Vivid Magenta, Vivid Light Magenta
- Yellow
- Black, Light Black, Light Light Black
Poor Light Yellow must feel ever so left out. This isn’t even the total, with an extra cartridge lurking. The black within the UltraChrome world is actually two different cartridges, which you use depends on the material you are printing onto.
- Photo black – For glossy surfaces
- Matte black – For, erm, matte surfaces!
All these blacks do seem a bit OTT at first glance. Originally only taking 2 black cartridges, Epson announced a new black three years after release for the K3 range of UltraChrome inks. It provides a smoother gradient when the image changes in darkened areas. This removal of ‘tone jumping’ in the photo’s black and grey areas make the image appear so much sharper and well defined, the difference is staggering. For greyscale printing it is, at time of writing, essentially unsurpassed. When accompanied by the Vivid Light Magenta, the definition of skin tones is like you are printing a mini-person – it is that good.
Restocking your Epson printer for the UltraChrome range comes at quite a cost, but this cost translates into your prints. There is a reason this is built for professional usage, you will not be disappointed.
Conclusion:
I guess the best question to ask is, with all these differing brands and technological statements, do all the fancy terminologies obfuscate? Is it simply the more cartridges a printer takes – the better a photo prints? Anyone can use long words to put a positive spin on things – I like to think of myself as an articulate, eloquent purveyor of efficacious actuality (I write informative and helpful articles) – but it doesn’t make me better than other writers.
Ultimately, all of Epson’s glamorous claims really have substance behind them. The print quality I have viewed with my own eyes, and seen evidence of whilst researching, really does point towards a professional level of printing becoming more accessible to the home environment. Watch this space.
Other similar blogs:
Print Photos Like A Camera Store
Firstly, buy a b photo/b printer! This may seem obvious, but try to print good quality photos on a standard printer and you will know what I mean! Epson, Canon and Hewlett Packard make good b photo/b printers.
Technology For Quality Photo Printing
Technology for quality photo printing. This photo doesn’t give justice at all. The prints are all so great and we are happy that our loyal camera takes good photos. It’s our first time to print a photo taken by our camera that is why. I think I will start uploading photos.
Get Free Photo Prints
We all keep hearing an age old adage ‘There are no free lunches in this world’. Here is a website which not only defies it, but is just too good to be true.
Free photo deals
Therefore, we’ve looked up a few photo printing websites that have some offers and ideas for photo gifts, making it an ideal way to share and capture those "special moments", whilst also freeing up some much needed space on your camera.
Free Hot Prints Photo Book
Each month, Hot Prints allows people to create a free photo book and will mail it to them with no shipping cost. It’s a $6 value in all and the cost is.