Excessive ink usage- Encad Pro 600e

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We feel that we are laying down too much ink with our Encad Pro 600e using GX inks. We are printing with 6 passes, 5 speed & uni-directional. We are using Ilford semi-matt paper which allows us to use ink limit 4. Our output is very high quality and our CMYK matching is second to none! We are having problems with laminating these prints and our Laminating experts say we are using too much ink. Does anyone have any ideas about decreasing ink usage without affecting output quality.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Answers

Part of the problem may be the media you are printing on. If you are using Encad GX inks, which are pigment inks, you should be printing on Wet-Strength paper or the Vinyl products. Our semi-matt medias are made for use with dye-based inks.

There are many variables that affect the quality of your laminating. The most important variable is allowing the ink to completely dry before laminating. The speed of the laminator may be too high and/or the temperature may be too low.

If you can be more specific about the medias and laminates I may be able to help.

Don Slabicki Ilford Imaging, USA Tech Service Applications Group

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2000


Hi John, Saw your posting on the board and was intrigued by Ilford's response. I also use GX ink in a 600e, and we print on Tekra's Photo Gloss paper, which may be made by Ilford, and have not had problems laminating. However, we only use cold laminates... gloss & semi- gloss. We have found that the GX ink dries very hard as compared to GS ink. We dry the prints overnight if possible, but have laminated in as little as an hour.

GX ink is not a pigment ink, but is an extended life dye based ink. We have printed on 4 or 5 different types of media so far without a problem. I can't see any reason why Ilford is recommending outdoor materials only. You will loose all the great color that GX has to offer if you print on those medias. After all, the 1st combination that Encad recommended for the 300dpi machines was GX + Photo Gloss = Much longer life.

Paul

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2000


What do you think about an upgrade to Postershop 5.0... In the 5 you can set restrictions to each color without losing to much colorgamut + the logo engine is much better than the monaco...

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2000

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