2 black ink tanks?

I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
want a printer that will do both.

Why do some printers come with 2 black ink tanks?

I've noticed that the majority of the Canon printers (I'm having a
hard time deciding which model would fit my needs best) seem to offer
either 6 tanks with 1 black, or 5 tanks with 2 black. I don't
understand the need for 2 blacks.

Thanks in advance for any help!

jen12345 wrote:
> I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
> text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
> color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
> want a printer that will do both.
>
> Why do some printers come with 2 black ink tanks?
>
> I've noticed that the majority of the Canon printers (I'm having a
> hard time deciding which model would fit my needs best) seem to offer
> either 6 tanks with 1 black, or 5 tanks with 2 black. I don't
> understand the need for 2 blacks.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help!


I have a Canon and it's eight tanks with one black (IOW 7+1 Red, Yellow,
Green, Cyan, Magenta, Photo Cyan, Photo Magenta and Black). I wasn't aware
that Canon produced any twin black models.

Anyway, to answer your question, my Epson has two blacks - a 'photo' black
and a 'matte' black, but it's /still/ crap at black and white - the Canon is
*far* superior. The Epson black and white is more like greyish-blue/cyan and
white!

--
My great-grandfather was born and raised in Elgin - did he eventually
lose his marbles?

"Miss Perspicacia Tick" <> wrote in message
news:U%i5d.42311$.. .
> jen12345 wrote:
> > I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
> > text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
> > color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
> > want a printer that will do both.
> >
> > Why do some printers come with 2 black ink tanks?
> >
> > I've noticed that the majority of the Canon printers (I'm having a
> > hard time deciding which model would fit my needs best) seem to offer
> > either 6 tanks with 1 black, or 5 tanks with 2 black. I don't
> > understand the need for 2 blacks.

Is one a "light Black" = grey?

"jen12345" <> wrote in message
news: om...
>I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
> text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
> color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
> want a printer that will do both.
>
> Why do some printers come with 2 black ink tanks?
>
> I've noticed that the majority of the Canon printers (I'm having a
> hard time deciding which model would fit my needs best) seem to offer
> either 6 tanks with 1 black, or 5 tanks with 2 black. I don't
> understand the need for 2 blacks.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help!

I have a Canon i860. As I understand it, one of the black tanks is pigment
(for text printing), and the other is dye (for photo printing).

"HCA" <> wrote in message
news:Ghj5d.4006$...
>
> "jen12345" <> wrote in message
> news: om...
>>I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
>> text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
>> color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
>> want a printer that will do both.
>>
>> Why do some printers come with 2 black ink tanks?
>>
>> I've noticed that the majority of the Canon printers (I'm having a
>> hard time deciding which model would fit my needs best) seem to offer
>> either 6 tanks with 1 black, or 5 tanks with 2 black. I don't
>> understand the need for 2 blacks.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any help!
>
> I have a Canon i860. As I understand it, one of the black tanks is
> pigment (for text printing), and the other is dye (for photo printing).
>
>
Yes, that's the way it works. The pigment black gives a darker black that
does not bleed as much, therefore, text is much sharper but does not look as
good when combined with dye based colour inks. The dye based black looks
much more natural in pictures.

I don't think the second ink tank was a gray - just another black.

I'm not sure what the other person meant by a "matte" black and a
"glossy" black - does a matte black get used to print on plain paper?

Still, wouldn't one black ink tank suffice to print text stuff on
plain paper and pictures on glossy too?

I'm so confused about these 2 black inks and their usages, I can't
figure out if a printer with 5 total colors (which includes 2 blacks)
would be better for me than one with 6 total colors (which includes 1
black).

"jen12345" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> I don't think the second ink tank was a gray - just another black.
>
> I'm not sure what the other person meant by a "matte" black and a
> "glossy" black - does a matte black get used to print on plain paper?

> Still, wouldn't one black ink tank suffice to print text stuff on
> plain paper and pictures on glossy too?

Yes.
Matte black is used when printing photos on special matte photo paper.

From earlier..
> I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
> text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
> color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
> want a printer that will do both.

Almost all photo printers will do what you want quite well. Personally for
general use I would go for one with the heads built into the cart. I get
quite good results from an old HP895cxi. The quality of the photos is
limited by my camera. As for text - it isn't the fastest around but when I
want speed I can set it to draft quality and its ok for most purposes. I can
also refill the carts without needing a chip resetter (not sure if this is
possible on recent models?).

"jen12345" <> wrote in message
news: om...
>I am looking for a new ink jet printer- I do mostly text black & white
> text & graphic printing most of the time, but I also want to print
> color vacation pictures to give to relatives or hang on the wall. So I
> want a printer that will do both.
>
> Why do some printers come with 2 black ink tanks?
>
> I've noticed that the majority of the Canon printers (I'm having a
> hard time deciding which model would fit my needs best) seem to offer
> either 6 tanks with 1 black, or 5 tanks with 2 black. I don't
> understand the need for 2 blacks.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help!

One is used during text output for truer sharper black text while the other
is for use during photos (determined by the driver and ROM).

The problem you have in understanding this is, in part, due to the
confusion in the industry itself. Each company is trying to come up
with its own unique methods of accomplishing better or a broader type of
printing from inkjet printing.

Some companies provide a black pigmented ink and a black dye based ink.
These printers have dye inks for the rest of the colors.

Pigmented ink tends to be less likely to smear, is more permanent,
blacker, and sharper because it contains particles of the colorant
rather than a mix of dyed water base colorant. That's great for text,
but it tends to not mix as well with the dye colors, and it tends to be
pretty much black. The dye black ink can integrate better with other
dye inks, making for finer gradients, but it bleeds more, which is not
as good for sharp text, especially with plain bond paper.

Yet other printers will use one black ink and one diluted black ink
(Gray) to try to make for more gradient.

Then, lastly, some printer have two different black inks to accommodate
differing paper surfaces. Epson, for instance, in their pigmented ink
sets, provides a matte and a glossy ink. The matte ink is heavily
pigmented and creates a very black ink, and it looks very velvety and
smooth on matte surfaced papers. However, if used on high gloss papers,
it still dries quite matte, and so it looks poorly on glossy papers. As
a result a second glossy black is made and it looks glossy on glossy
papers, but it isn't as dense a black.

I'm not sure exactly what HP is doing these days in terms of their inks.
I think their general black cartridge is pigmented ink, and their
printers which accept a substitute photo black and gray inks are, I
believe dye based.

Art

jen12345 wrote:

> I don't think the second ink tank was a gray - just another black.
>
> I'm not sure what the other person meant by a "matte" black and a
> "glossy" black - does a matte black get used to print on plain paper?
>
> Still, wouldn't one black ink tank suffice to print text stuff on
> plain paper and pictures on glossy too?
>
> I'm so confused about these 2 black inks and their usages, I can't
> figure out if a printer with 5 total colors (which includes 2 blacks)
> would be better for me than one with 6 total colors (which includes 1
> black).

"Arthur Entlich" <> wrote in message
news:JyR5d.120303$KU5.22144@edtnps89...

> I'm not sure exactly what HP is doing these days in terms of their inks. I
> think their general black cartridge is pigmented ink, and their printers
> which accept a substitute photo black and gray inks are, I believe dye based.

That is correct. They do have a line of pigmented color inks for the DesignJet
products, but the consumer products are as Art describes.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP