Epson Ink – UltraChrome Ink
Epson Ink – UltraChrome Ink
Epson’s new UltraChrome ink is an improved version of Epson’s archival Colourfast ink and has been developed for the latest generation in inkjet professional printers, Epson UltraChrome ink is one of the most important advances made in desktop printing. Achieving superb colour expression on a variety of media is made possible by an increas of the density of pigment content in the ink, which also provides for a much wider range of media support. Even with greater pigment density, each particle has an extremely smoorth and uniform resin coating, enusring superbly sharp image reproduction on both speciality media and plain paper along with marked improvements in light and water resistance.
Durability
The pigmented colourant improves light and gas resistance, Since the pigment colourant exists in its particle form, only the surface is affected by light and gas, and the colour inside remains vivid. Epson UltraChrome ink utilises this property of pigment ink effectively achieving superior light and gas resistance.
Some Secrets behind long life;
Photo-quality glossiness is largely determined by printing surface flatness. The flatter the surface, the more glossy the output. Pigment inks do not penetrate the surface of the paper. Instead, the colourant particles remain on the paper surface, forming a microscopically fine terrain of hills and valleys that sap prints of some of their lustre and brightness.
The flattening of this pigment terrain thus became the subject of intensive research. The problem for the development engineers was in getting these colourant particles to cling tightly and consistently to the paper. Without any preparatory processing, particles of pigment sprinkled on the surface of a piece of paper soon lose their grip and fall off so some way had to be found to make these colourants dissolve in water and stick to the page after they dried.
The researchers efforts culminated in the development of pigment inks in which colour particles are dispersed evenly within water, that bond tightly to the paper even after drying, and which offer a dramaticall wider colour gamut. The inks also create a flat and smooth surface on the paper.
Gloss optimiser, known as the “eighth ink,” is produced from these same particles of high-density resin. The resin particles are microscopic and have no colour themselves, They fill in tiny gaps between inks and also cover white ares on a print as well as areas that ordinary ink rarely covers. The Gloss optimiser thus has the efffect of virtually eliminating print surface roughness, thus minimising complex reflections of light and creating a rich gorgeous gloss finish.
Every colour under the rainbow is naturally produced by a complex mixture of the three primary colours; Yellow, Magenta and Cyan. For printing Black is added for four basic colours. However, expressing subtle colour differences with the three primary colours makes for some very complex mixing and layering of colours. With the addition of new Red and Blue cartridges, the levels of layering needed are reduced which means that the print surface is less apt to become bumpy giving a smoother glossier finish.
The new inks help professional photographers to create perfect photographs in both colour and black and white, in which grey inks help to perfectly reproduce subtle tone variations.
Though water resistant, pigment ink has had a reputation for being inferior to dye inks in terms of glossiness and colouration. By adding new colours of ink, and by developing Gloss Optimiser, Epson has succeeded in producing prints whose quality transcends that of even traditional photographs.
