Black and LK too dark on Epson 3880 with mixed (IJM and Epson carts) inks

InkjetMall Customer Support ConeColor Inks & Printing
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Hi:
I checked the forum for similar issue and the search returned with no results. So I hope I am not repeating an issue solved before. I have an Epson 3880 with PK, LK and Light Magenta IJM cartridges and the rest Epson cartridges. When I print a proofed print on Epson glossy paper, the blacks look very dark compared to the proofs (and the previous prints on Epson ink). So my questions are:

  1. Are the profiles for IJM Ultrachromes different than the Epson ones (I thought they were very similar if not identical)? Are there any icc profiles for the IJM inks available (for Epson glossy and luster papers? I checked the site and missed any reference to such profiles.
  2. Should I replace all the other Epson carts with IJM carts (some of them have quite a bit of ink in them) so mixing and matching is not a good idea?
  3. Should I then reprofile my papers with some device like Color Munki to start getting good matches with proof images?
    Any help would bemuch appreciated.
    Thanks.
    Praki.
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Hi Praki~

Thank you for reviewing existing posts before making a new thread, I don’t believe your question has been asked yet, so will answer below.

  1. ConeColor Pro inks were developed to be a replacement ink for Epson UltraChrome K3 printers, so that one ink can be installed at a time as your Epson carts run empty, and you can continue using the standard workflow and profiles to get very good results. Having said that, we do provide free profiles specific for ConeColor Pro inks and the Epson 3880 printer, which you can download from the conecolor.com site, along with instructions for printing with a color ICC profile.

  2. We have many customers happily printing by installing one ConeColor Pro ink at a time as their Epson carts run empty, so you should have good results with the combination of CCP and EP inks at the same time. For the best results with our CCP inks, we do recommend using the full set along with our CCP-3880 profiles.

  3. Yes, you can certainly make a profile that is specific to your exact printer, ink, paper and print setting combination. Using a profile that is specific for your exact set up will always produce the best results.

Please keep me posted, let me know if you have questions or if there’s anything else I can help you with.
Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile: