Ink costs $6.80 per kilogram, that's a lot less than $100/gal.
Also, there's no use to refill cartdriges like nuts, just use a continous ink system (CIS), you can find for all printers now.
I know a nice company that will send you 10 kilograms of ink and two CIS for a hundred bucks, you can print with that ink maybe 20K pictures so what is it, around 0.5 cents per picture cost. You can even sell some of ink on ebay and make some pocket money.
Why don't you guys use a CIS system for your printer (approx. value of $15.00) and aftermarket ink that can be as good as OEM ink, using these two in combination can save your printhead ? Aftermarket ink costs approx. $7.00 per kilogram, having this system and printing every few days will give you a longer printhead life (no ink clogging in the printhead). You can also use aftermarket high glossy paper which costs aprox. 2 cents for an A4 page when ordering in value of $3000.00 from the manufacturer, I'm sure you can find for few more cents each page in lower quantities. As for the print protection you can use something like PremierArt Eco Print Shield:
Of course, there are other substances that can be imported A LOT cheaper and mix it yourself with solvents then use a liquid laminator for your home made laboratory.
I was reading reviews that the Canon ip6000D printer is as good as photolab prints, it's printhead is guaranteed for the life of the printer (3600 4x6 pictures) and this beauty is a real workhorse.
If you're trying to say that using aftermarket ink and paper will ruin your printhead, printer and void the warranty then continue using expensive inks and paper or just go to the corner photo lab. All the big websites will say that prints using aftermarket inks are lower quality than the OEM inks, these are only statements backed up by manufacturers money which don't earn a dime (they even lose) from selling printers, but from all consumables for these. You can always apply different colour schemes for the pictures using aftermarket inks and the result will be 99% close to the original inks or 100% if you have a good eye.
One more thing. Don't try to buy a CIS system, ink and paper from your corner shop or regular website, there are companies in Asia that sell exactly the same thing for prices 20 times lower. It will take time to match the paper and ink but when you finally do, you get your own home photo lab with a merely 3-4 cents per A4 picture, not including the price of the printer.
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Ink costs $6.80 per kilogram, that's a lot less than $100/gal. Also, there's no use to refill cartdriges like nuts, just use a continous ink system (CIS), you can find for all printers now. I know a nice company that will send you 10 kilograms of ink and two CIS for a hundred bucks, you can print with that ink maybe 20K pictures so what is it, around 0.5 cents per picture cost. You can even sell some of ink on ebay and make some pocket money.
Why don't you guys use a CIS system for your printer (approx. value of $15.00) and aftermarket ink that can be as good as OEM ink, using these two in combination can save your printhead ?
Aftermarket ink costs approx. $7.00 per kilogram, having this system and printing every few days will give you a longer printhead life (no ink clogging in the printhead).
You can also use aftermarket high glossy paper which costs aprox. 2 cents for an A4 page when ordering in value of $3000.00 from the manufacturer, I'm sure you can find for few more cents each page in lower quantities.
As for the print protection you can use something like PremierArt Eco Print Shield:
http://www.inkjetart.com/premier/eco.html
Of course, there are other substances that can be imported A LOT cheaper and mix it yourself with solvents then use a liquid laminator for your home made laboratory.
I was reading reviews that the Canon ip6000D printer is as good as photolab prints, it's printhead is guaranteed for the life of the printer (3600 4x6 pictures) and this beauty is a real workhorse.
If you're trying to say that using aftermarket ink and paper will ruin your printhead, printer and void the warranty then continue using expensive inks and paper or just go to the corner photo lab. All the big websites will say that prints using aftermarket inks are lower quality than the OEM inks, these are only statements backed up by manufacturers money which don't earn a dime (they even lose) from selling printers, but from all consumables for these.
You can always apply different colour schemes for the pictures using aftermarket inks and the result will be 99% close to the original inks or 100% if you have a good eye.
You can read some interesting stuff about aftermarket inks here:
http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inktest.html
http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inkjetstuff1.html
This guy talks about it and has some other interesting tests. It seems that he is not affiliated with any manufacturer.
One more thing. Don't try to buy a CIS system, ink and paper from your corner shop or regular website, there are companies in Asia that sell exactly the same thing for prices 20 times lower.
It will take time to match the paper and ink but when you finally do, you get your own home photo lab with a merely 3-4 cents per A4 picture, not including the price of the printer.
Good luck.