| Individual cartridges are not a new phenomenon | | | | are not used at equal rates, so inevitably you will |
| to hit the printing world; in fact, they have been | | | | run out of one color (usually yellow) before the |
| around for years. | | | | others, which renders the entire cartridge |
| HP was one of the first companies to have | | | | unusable. A lot of usable ink gets thrown out, |
| separate color cartridges for their printers, such | | | | which is a waste of money when you consider |
| as the early Designjet series and wide format | | | | the cost per milliliter of ink. |
| printers. This system worked well but required a | | | | Image quality on a color to color basis does not |
| large printer to hold the cartridges, that were | | | | change with separate tanks but does allow for |
| huge in comparison to what are used today. | | | | more colors to be added for photo printers. More |
| Although HP has continued to manufacture this | | | | colors to start with means it is easier to |
| type of printer, they have been traditionally best | | | | accurately replicate the original colors of the |
| suited for special applications or heavy printing. | | | | image. |
| Individual ink cartridges were not to be found as | | | | Today's high-end printers use more individual color |
| an option in personal inkjet printers until 2001. | | | | cartridges in additional to cyan, magenta, yellow, |
| Epson came out with the C80, and about the | | | | light cyan and light magenta. Epson and Canon |
| same time Canon came out with printers like the | | | | photo printers can use an array of additional |
| BJC- 3000 series. | | | | colors like red, green, blue, matte black, photo |
| This new, separate color ink cartridge system | | | | black, light black and even light light black. These |
| was a real innovation for small offices and home | | | | inks are designed to provide better halftones, so |
| use. The printer's footprint was equivalent to | | | | it is easier to reproduce photographs. Additional |
| other contemporary 2-cartridge printers (1 black | | | | colors also produce more accurate and richer |
| cartridge and 1 color cartridge) but had the | | | | photos, especially in grayscale printing. |
| advantages of the older large printers that used | | | | Human eyes see more than 9 million colors. Color |
| separate color cartridges | | | | has hue, intensity and luminosity, so it makes |
| One of the best aspects of having separate ink | | | | sense to start with a larger palette. |
| cartridges in your printer is being able to replace a | | | | Another benefit to individual color tanks is that |
| single color when it is empty instead of having to | | | | they are generally larger capacity ink volumes. |
| replace all colors. If you print multiple copies of the | | | | You have more of each color in the printer at a |
| same photo or image, you'll most likely use more | | | | time, so they will last longer and you'll spend less |
| of one color. This makes individual cartridges | | | | time changing cartridges. |
| especially economical. | | | | In case you need more justification for using an |
| All in one or "tri-color" cartridges usually contain | | | | Epson or Canon printer with individual tanks, the |
| Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Some cartridges also | | | | individual compatible cartridges are inexpensive, |
| have Light Cyan and Light Magenta for a total of | | | | ranging from $4.87 - $6.87 each. |
| 6 possible colors in one single cartridge. The inks | | | | |