Why Single Cartridges Are Best For Photo Printing

By Author: John Pickering
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Different printers utilize specific cartridges. This we all know; however, many people do not understand the differences in printing quality which can be achieved through the various printers, printing methods, ink types, and papers available.

Color laser printers all utilize four cartridges, while ink jet printers only include two cartridges. Of the four used in laser printers, three are single color cartridges and the fourth contains black ink. An ink jet combines all three of the necessary colors into a single cartridge and the second cartridge required contains black.

Tri-color cartridges often work best for those who are producing mostly standard documents, like spreadsheets, letters, memos, reports, and the like. Those who are active in more artistic endeavors like design or photo printing will often benefit from the use of single color cartridges.

Four-color processing utilizes a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to create color variants. Both types of printers work from the same basic methods to create printed colors, as each employs the use of four-color processing to establish ...
... the appropriate shades. However, the use of single color cartridges allows for more precise creation of shades, making it better suited to the printing of photographs and artwork.

In the creation of colors, inks are not used in equal quantities, meaning you can run out of one color of ink much sooner than the others. This doesn't present such an issue if the color you're low on is black, since black is a single cartridge regardless of the type of printer you have. It can present problems though if you run low on any of the other colors required in four-color processing.

The absence of a single color in four-color processing will disrupt the creation of quality prints, distorting colors, causing color drain, splotchy images, or missing pieces in a photograph. Any person who has tried to produce color prints without one of the necessary components of the four-color process knows that the quality of the prints is severely compromised.

Running out of any ink when using single-color ink cartridges means you can refill only that one color and then proceed with printing. Running low on a single color when using a tri-color cartridge means you must replace the entire cartridge to achieve quality prints depicting accurate colors. This means that you will end up throwing out a cartridge that still contains usable ink in two of the three colors the cartridge contains simply to refill the third color needed for producing your prints.

Replacing color cartridges can result in significant expense, especially considering that ink is not an inexpensive item to begin with. And the more color images you create, the more likely you are to run out of a particular color of ink at any given time.

The printing of simple color items like charts, graphs, or color fonts uses significantly less color ink than the printing of complex images like those contained in photographs. The creation of complex pictures requires more ink because there are so many tiny shading variants which combine to create the intricate pieces of the image.

Each image is unique, meaning each will need different amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The more complex an image, the more likely you are to require varying degrees of each of these colors to achieve a good quality print.

Every person has options when selecting a printer, and choosing the printer that best suits your needs is important. For those who rarely print images and primarily use their printer for producing standard documents, an ink jet printer usually serves them just fine.

Those people who focus most of their printing on art, photos, or similarly complex images with rich and varying shades should consider owning a laser printer for obtaining the best quality prints with the least expense involved.

For the even more artistic types, printers are available that work with a six-color process instead of four, allowing for the attainment of even more color variation. These printers contain the standard four colors, in addition to light cyan and light magenta. In these printers, all cartridges contain a single color, providing the same benefits that can be found in ink jets but with even greater ability to define color specifications in printed images.
About Author:
John Pickering is the owner of EezyTrade.co.uk, an online retailer of new and refilled printer ink cartridges for Brother, HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark and Xerox printers. Visit online today and begin saving.