With nearly 2000 ink products, identifying the right one to pair with your Canon printer pair is a hassle. Not only do each series have different cartridges, but their ink has different purposes and comes in different formats. Therefore, you need to understand their differences to pick the right one for your machine and the print job you desire.
In this blog, we’ll explore this company’s ink cartridges, when you need to buy one, and how to put ink in Canon Pixma printers.
The Type of Ink Canon Printers Use
These cartridges use different substances to color your pages. Their differences make them suited for specific types of prints, such as photographs or documents, and they also affect their prices. Here are the different substances in your cartridges:
- Pigment: A common substance in Canon inks is pigment. This gives lower-quality colors compared to other types of ink the company produces. Nonetheless, this ink is perfect for printing documents and can be cheap.
- Dye: To print pictures, you may use Canon ink cartridges with dye. This gives high-quality colors especially suited for glossy paper such as the SELPHY ink.
- ChromaLife100+: This is a type of dye that creates long-lasting pictures. You can use it to print designs or photographs.
- Lucia Pro: This ink is one of the highest quality and has a higher price than your usual pigment ink. It has a wide range of colors and produces more intense images. Professional photographers may use this ink for their art.
The Types of Canon Ink Cartridges
The ink comes in different formats depending on how much you need to print and the printer model. Standard, XL, or XXL, which have an increasing amount of ink, are available.
Here are the three types of cartridges:
- Integrated: The most common cartridge for small printers is the integrated kind. It’s attached to the printer head; you must replace it when even just one color finishes. Therefore, the quality increases every time you replace it.
- Tank: An ink tank holds just one color in each compartment. So, you can change out a compartment as needed. Plus, it has more color variety than the integrated one.
- Bottle: These bottles allow you to refill your ink without spilling. However, printers that use this kind of cartridge are usually more expensive.
Here’s a table comparing these cartridges’ features:
| Features | Cartridges | ||
| Integrated | Tank | Bottle | |
| Ink Quantity | Low | Medium | High |
| Replacement | Easy | Medium | Medium |
| Color Variety | Low | High | High |
| Cost | High | Medium | Low |
Which Cartridges Should You Use?
In general, you should opt for a Canon product since they’ll print in high quality and are the least likely to damage your printer.
To know which ink product you should buy, you can use the following references:
- Packaging: If you still have the packaging of your previous cartridge, you can check it for its name.
- Manual: You can refer to the printer’s manual to find the name of the corresponding ink.
- Used Cartridge: You can remove empty cartridges from your printer and examine them. They should have the ink name on them.
- Printer Model: If you don’t have access to any of the above, you can look up your model online. For example, if you have a Canon Pixma, searching it online will let you know that you need Canon ink cartridges 640 641.
Conversely, you can use third-party alternatives. These tend to be cheaper and may be more widely available. However, they may produce lower-quality prints or have issues, making them impossible to use. In particular, integrated cartridges tend to have these issues.
When Should You Change Your Ink?
If you see your alarm ‘lamp’ flash on your printer’s screen, you’re either out of ink or close to not having enough ink to print. At that point, you may have printed 100 – 2,500 pages, depending on your printer, paper type, cleaning frequency, and how much ink you use per print. While you should buy ink as soon as you notice this problem, you may also buy more ink if you see a reduced print quality. This could indicate that your cartridges are running low in some colors.
Furthermore, you should buy them your replacement cartridge within 2 years of when you use it. If the package of your Canon ink cartridges is open, you should use it within 6 months. In addition, after buying your ink you should store it in a cool, dry place. Extreme temperatures and a damp environment can damage the ink.
How to Install Ink in a Canon Printer
Most Canon printers, including the Pixma series, require the following steps to replace integrated cartridges:
1. Turn Printer On
To begin putting a cartridge in a Canon printer, you should turn it on. When it’s on, the cartridges position themselves so you can easily remove them.
2. Open the Printer
After you’ve turned your printer on, you should open its front cover, the paper output tray, and the tray’s cover.
3. Remove the Ink Cartridge
Now that you’ve opened the printer, you should have access to the cartridge. Push the cartridge down. Once there’s a click, it’s free for you to remove.
4. Replace the Ink Cartridge
Once you’ve removed the cartridge, you should open the packet holding its replacement. Next, you’ll remove the protective film and carefully put the cartridge back in place, pressing on the lock lever. It should be level with the other cartridge that’s still there. In addition, color cartridges go on the left, while black ones go on the right.
5. Close the Printer
After you’ve replaced the cartridge, you should close the printer and reinstall both covers and the tray.
6. Wait
Now that you’ve closed the printer, wait for it to clean.
7. Discard the Used Cartridge
Finally, since it’s a toxic product, you should throw away the cartridge in a legal manner.
Conclusion
Now you know that the Canon ink cartridges you need depend on your printer model and the type of print you wish to make. They use different inks, creating high-quality prints for photography and simple documents.
You should replace them with genuine products when your printer alerts you or you notice a drop in print quality. However, you can also opt for compatible cartridges that are cheaper but may be faulty. Then, replacing it is as simple as opening the printer, swapping it out, and closing it back up.
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