I posted this in another part of this forum and think it might be better here.
Hello, I have a small in-home printing shop and, up until the economic meltdown, did relatively well. I'm currently using an Encad/Kodak 8-color, novajet 850 60" printer. My supplier told me a year or so ago that they will no longer sell the ink for it (GX) and once supplies are gone, that's it. I stocked up on inks but will be out within a year or so. I've begun the process of researching a replacement. I do 99% of my printing for indoors - mostly posters and mounted prints with trade show graphics and pop up displays also. As I work in my home and don't do much outside printing, I would like to stay with aqueous inks. Right now I can't afford any of the "new" printers so I"M thinking of a HP 5500 - my paper supplier said they have a few that are coming in but I was considering going with pigment inks so I have the option of doing short-term outside printing. My question is, is there a big difference in the color gamut of the dye and pigment inks on the HP 5500? Years ago I had tried both the dye and pigment inks in a encad I had and the pigment inks were really wash-out looking. I'm hoping the new inks have gotten better. Also, if someone has HP's with both inksets, I'd be willing to pay you to print a sample file with each inkset so I could take a look.
I'm also kicking the idea around about Epson. As I don't do much that requires super high res, the inks seem a little expensive for what I do.
Any suggestions are appreciated,
Joe
Hello, I have a small in-home printing shop and, up until the economic meltdown, did relatively well. I'm currently using an Encad/Kodak 8-color, novajet 850 60" printer. My supplier told me a year or so ago that they will no longer sell the ink for it (GX) and once supplies are gone, that's it. I stocked up on inks but will be out within a year or so. I've begun the process of researching a replacement. I do 99% of my printing for indoors - mostly posters and mounted prints with trade show graphics and pop up displays also. As I work in my home and don't do much outside printing, I would like to stay with aqueous inks. Right now I can't afford any of the "new" printers so I"M thinking of a HP 5500 - my paper supplier said they have a few that are coming in but I was considering going with pigment inks so I have the option of doing short-term outside printing. My question is, is there a big difference in the color gamut of the dye and pigment inks on the HP 5500? Years ago I had tried both the dye and pigment inks in a encad I had and the pigment inks were really wash-out looking. I'm hoping the new inks have gotten better. Also, if someone has HP's with both inksets, I'd be willing to pay you to print a sample file with each inkset so I could take a look.
I'm also kicking the idea around about Epson. As I don't do much that requires super high res, the inks seem a little expensive for what I do.
Any suggestions are appreciated,
Joe
