How many inks do you really need for inkjet photo and art prints

Keith looks at how the number of ink in different inkjet printers varies and the sorts of differences it can make...
Why just assuming more inks means a better printer is a partial truth at best.
There are detailed reviews of all the printers mentioned from four ink to 12 ink models.
00:00 Start
01:15 How many inks do you get
01:48 Good results from just four colours?
02:10 Adding extra inks
05:25 Not the same extra colours
07:11 Different blacks
13:30 How many inks do you need
15:55 What the printer makers can't say
Printer reviews [most have links to all the videos for a particular printer]
G550/650 www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
ET-8550 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
WF-8690 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
XP-15000 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
PRO-200 www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
PRO-300 www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
PRO-1000 www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
PRO-2000 www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
P700 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
P900 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
P5000 www.northlight-images.co.uk/r...
P7500 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...
P20000 www.northlight-images.co.uk/e...

[@jumpingjohn280459]

I really value your basic, honest approach. When I bought my P300 the first things I did was decide on just two paper types to work with, got custom profiles made for both types and calibrated my monitor. All this was on your advice and I was amazed by the improvement in my prints. I mean it wasn’t even subtle, they were way better than the few prints I ran off just to get the hang of things. It does seem that people sometimes over-complicate printing and seem to forget the importance of starting off with a good, correctly exposed and composed image. Thanks for your help over the years Keith.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - that's really good to hear!

[@marcosny2010]

As Usual your do sophisticated problem as simple understanded for no pros . Congratulation you are people goes to next level in fact 2 levels . CONGRATULATION hopping you continue with your videos

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad it helped. If you've ever any specific questions, let me know since they often give me inspiration for new videos.

[@myoung48281]

Something not many know about BW printing: I use baryta paper and the Epson advanced BW driver. After the prints are dry I wax them to even out gloss differential. Looks great!

[@KeithCooper]

How does this work for evenness with large prints? What brand wax?

[@bwitek]

Very informative, on-point video. Your honesty but also objectivity is much appreciated - Thank You Keith!

[@KeithCooper]

I appreciate that - thanks

[@robinjones6999]

Absolutely brilliant Keith, but the more I hear you, the less I want to pursue printing. Im guessing that my Canon printer is knackered, but Im loathe to replace it and still end up with streaky results. All the best.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - it depends on what sort of printer it was - the better ones these days are a lot more reliable and consistent. If there are any I've reviewed you were interested in, email me at Northlight if you've any questions

[@OftenMissing]

Great video Keith, thank you. I have a Canon Pro 1000 and will say that starting with producing reference photographs on different papers, helps greatly. The ultimate is having a great photograph to start, knowing how to tune your printer, and how to make the best results on the paper chosen. Keep up these great videos

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I'm finally moving the video shooting out of the corner of the kitchen to my office, which I'm hoping will give me a bit more flexibility in doing the videos and written articles

[@dalelewis62]

Thank You Keith. Definitely checks off a couple more boxes for me.

[@KeithCooper]

Glad it was of interest - any more questions, let me know, the videos often come from people's specific questions...

[@markjames5423]

Brilliant informative video Keith , thanks to yourself i got the perfect printer for what i needed , and your paper choices also helped out so much as well. Keep up the great videos

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks Mark - glad it helped. I just need to find ways of getting the channel more widely found... :-)

[@JH-qv3xv]

Thanks for another informative video. It is hard to find someone who dwells on the differences and not just bigger is better. The ink question has been in the back of my mind after a recent printer purchase. Your comments at 15:40 got me to table the ink question for now and get focused on maximizing the prints with the equipment I own today. Thanks

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad it was of interest!

[@pannhandle]

fantastic as always Keith.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks!

[@Lagalulu.]

Thank you, Keith! 😊

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks!

[@johndwilliams]

For whatever you didn't know about printing and no one could tell you, you are the man. Great explanation, Keith. I've just got to the point where I'm ready to buy a reasonably good printer and this was the information I needed. Even the financial controller, bless her, has agreed. I've sold a few prints through Etsy and used Loxely and Prodigi for printing. Most are fine but have the occasional misfire and it's made me reluctant to sell more. My fault, not theirs. I'm confident on my own abilities with my camera and my editing but now I need to learn the black art of a good print. With the help of your videos I want to take control of the printing myself. Need to do the research on printers now, but this video was particularly helpful. Still enjoying using my tilt shift 24mm Samyang, by the way.🙂

[@KeithCooper]

Excellent - for the printer reviews, do check the main [written] articles as well, since there is usually much more detail that is OK for a video.

[@lrfarias]

Great, great stuff about the colors. That's why I would love your opinion about compact consumer 4x6" dye-sublimation printers, like the Canon Selphy. They work with CMY and an additional protective coat that says will help you keep your pictures for about 100 years. The results are somewhat great. Would love to see your professional expertise on it - even thou it is not a professional printer. It doesn't use droplets of ink, just a dye film.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks Happy to look at one if I can cadge one from Canon - I've no money to actually buy all these printers I test! I'd be interested to see how they work from a colour management POV

[@lynsmith1096]

Good and informative video Keith.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks!

[@thomaseriksson6256]

Thank this is the answer I wanted while not during I asked the question about number of inks. Still the P900 seems to be a god choice for me.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks -glad it was of interest.

[@Zorrely021]

Thank you so much for another great video.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks!

[@eygloaradottir4044]

excelent video and info!

[@KeithCooper]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@borderlands6606]

I use a domestic A4 Epson CMYK printer scanner. It's clearly deficient to multi-ink printers, but only by comparison. On its own terms, it's quite good. I wouldn't make colour exhibition prints on the Epson, because I know what potential is in the file. In a frame at home however, I doubt most people would notice many shortcomings.

[@KeithCooper]

yes - that's why I wanted to test the big office printer (WF8690) to see what I could get from it. It's all relative...

[@borderlands6606]

@@KeithCooper Perfect is the enemy of the good, was never truer than in photography.

[@RAS-pz3st]

Fantastic video!!!

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks, glad it was of interest!

[@nachnamevorname5917]

Cool guy you are, lovely! Thx

[@KeithCooper]

:-)

[@jbairdexp]

More top jargon busting information as usual Keith. "It depends" is often the correct answer. Same with cameras.

[@KeithCooper]

I'm sure some of the myths suit the printer companies' marketing as well ;-)

[@jbairdexp]

@@KeithCooper Like everyone else though, I'm might be aware of some myths, but I bet ya I'm a sucker for others.

[@KeithCooper]

I try and test those I can spot, but the hard bit is spotting them!

[@PriyankBaruah]

Very informative video.. my printer got 5 inks CMYK and MBK. I get good result of it. My question is should i use compatibale ink for my printer or the original. Because original inks are not so cheap and using compatible inks will i ruine my printhead..

[@KeithCooper]

For me, there is no such thing as 'compatible' - it's a term invented by people selling cheap ink ;-) A problem here is that it also it renders any ICC profiles incorrect, meaning that all the trouble I go to, to get colour looking right, is wasted. If the ink is very cheap then I wonder how long the print will look OK once daylight hits it... I might use cheap inks for an office printer, but not for any photos I print.

[@PriyankBaruah]

@@KeithCooper Thank you so much I was thinking the same. 👍👍🙏

[@DanielLeivaCardozo]

Is the Canon Prograf ta-20 any good for photos? I like that it takes rolls and is a 24" wide printer but I feel like is not actually a photo printer.

[@KeithCooper]

It's a CMYK +MK printer, so I expect it would produce quite reasonable results with suitable media choices and ICC profiles See here for a review of the 36" TX-3000 www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-imageprograf-tx-3000-review/ Whilst Canon might do profiles for some of their media, no-one else is likely to...

[@LOTUSARTSTUDIO-gx8yf]

I love your videos 👍👌🙏

[@KeithCooper]

Glad you like them! It took a bit of arm twisting by Canon UK to get me to start doing them :-)

[@LOTUSARTSTUDIO-gx8yf]

@@KeithCooper Hummmm, I see

[@LOTUSARTSTUDIO-gx8yf]

@@KeithCooper I hope many beginners can also listen to your knowledge. Because there is purity in your knowledge. and onething i like to say that. I will be glad if you share your knowledge about photography also. 🙏

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I'm looking to expand the videos, now that I've seen they are popular - my main efforts have for ~20 years been the written articles on the Northlight Images web site (over 1500 of them) www.northlight-images.co.uk/keiths-photography-blog/ If you see anything there you think would make a good video, do let me know! I resisted making videos for many years (I dislike a lot of KZbin photography stuff I see) There will not be music in my videos!

[@LOTUSARTSTUDIO-gx8yf]

@@KeithCooper I am with you and your workhard. Don't care about those people who addicted in fake Entertainment and enjoying, becoz Life survive in a Reality. I am Professional Metallurgical Engineer and Fine Art Artist (Painting) too, and i would like to say that i feel very happy to see your hardwork and your knowledge. I also learn many things form you. 🙏😊

[@ifilm87]

I have a question. teacher! 1. How many can be printed in photo printer?(lifespan,not about ink) (i have p900) 2. In the usage history page, I can see 'in total: 457' and 'A2 equivalent prints : 619' I usually use 4*6 or 5*7 size of paper. What does 'a2 equi~~' mean ? As far as i know you are the best when it comes to printer, so if possible please answer to me !

[@KeithCooper]

An interesting question, and not information which is published - there will be parts inside with a 'service life' but once again only Epson know this (at the moment) I would think A2 Equivalent meant print area - but the numbers don't match up - once again a question for Epson If I find any info I'll add it here

[@KeithCooper]

Some info [unofficial] 5 years of normal usage is a typical aim point for lifetime - however this is very dependent on actual usage - there is no definition of 'normal usage' though. Regular use will help - I get many queries from people with perfectly good 10 year old printers wondering if they should update. My usual answer is that if you have a good working printer, and are happy with prints, why change? (this is part of what I'm trying to convey in this video BTW) As to the 'A2 equivalent' prints - this is some arbitrary Epson number based partly on the movement of the print head - There is no information about what this actually means. My suspicion is that it relates to the theoretical number of A2 pages printed using some nominal test image. Whatever it does mean - I see no useful user information in the numbers...

[@henrykg]

I'm a little bit dissapointed. Just bougth a new monitor (HP 32" UHD) for my work as IT guy and it is ok also for Lightroom work. Then bought a G540 printer for documents and it is also ok for photos. I thought photo printing could be my new hobby, but it is not. I just send my photos to the printer and they come out very good quality. Nothing exciting. All you can chase are just minor improvements.

[@KeithCooper]

Hardly surprising I'm afraid - read about colour management in the G550 full [written] review. There are a lot of reason why unfortunately, this does not surprise :-( www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-g550-printer-review/ Just getting a good monitor on its own rarely works...

[@fredwestinghouse2945]

Why no white ink (in most printers)? I assume white ink can be mixed with other colours to give greater tonality and smoothness. And white ink can be used on its own for an "absolute white" point. But I simply do not know. Go on Keith, you tell me.

[@KeithCooper]

It is an option with different ink technologies than we see in normal aqueous desktop inkjets. It simply won't work on the sorts of printers and media I test. If you do a search for white ink, you'll find printers which work with it. It's impressive to see working on transparent media...

[@dougd2723]

... you had me at: "It's probably your fault" in the day of blaming everyone else, instead of one's self.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks ;-)