Types of Printer Ink

There are many types of printer ink in the market. This makes the printer ink market very competitive as different ink manufacturers will be touting their different printer ink technologies and selling points. However this is good news for consumers as they have a wide choice to choose from. Hence whether one chooses compatible ink cartridges over the OEM ones , what is important is one is satisfy with the quality, value for money and can get the best deal out of it.

In the OEM sector, two companies are leading and they are rivals to each other. The companies are HP and Epson. HP’s printer ink like are known as HP’s Vivera Inks. Vivera stands for Vivid and Vibrant Era and this line of ink are designed for high quality photo printing. The ink is pigment based and is specially formulated to be of high resistance and can make photo last for more than 100 years. As such this HP printer ink line represent a new standard and quality in printing technology.

As for Epson, it’s line of printer ink is known as Durabrite. Durabrite printer ink is also pigment based and again formulated to last just like HP’s Vivera Inks. However Epson’s Durabrite ink are best for large volume prints as the printer inks are stored in multiple ink cartridges.

As can be noted, the type of ink from HP and Epson are pigment based and uses a special resin. This resin dries are quickly when the ink is printed onto paper. However it the printer is not used over a long period, the ink in the printer cartridges, especially those located at the tip of the cartridges will dry up causing clogging and off course the need to remove and un-clog them. Hence it’s inconvenient. Further more pigment based ink are costlier that the dye based inks.


However printer ink technologies will always make strides from the OEM sides as they have the resources to lead in research and development. You as a consumer, finding the right printer ink is a constant exercise of comparison and knowing what you want out of your printer. Nevertheless for high quality photo finishes, the great colours of Vivera and Durabrite are plus points. However, there are also many other compatible ink cartridges and printer ink that can equal or even surpass the quality of OEM printer ink for much less cost. Hence at the end of the day it is you who will decide the type of printer ink that you will use for your printing need.