In contact with
Classmates
When in inkjet printer Ink runs out, the user needs to refill the cartridge or purchase a new print cassette. Some users purchase only original consumables, others prefer compatible inks, but both the former and the latter are interested in obtaining high-quality prints and extending the life of their printing equipment.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to check the quality of ink in a store, so the user has to rely only on the integrity of the manufacturers and personal experience in choise Supplies. But testing the quality of purchased ink at home is not difficult. To do this, you will need a printer, high-quality paper, and, in fact, purchased ink. The essence of testing inkjet ink at home is to print special test pages or test tasks and their careful analysis in order to identify the advantages and disadvantages of these inks. Test page
to check the quality of inkjet ink can be found on the Internet. Elements test page
for testing the quality of inkjet ink
If you plan to use the ink for printing home photos, then the first two elements of the test page will be enough for you, but if you are using the ink for professional commercial photo printing, then the test page should contain all the elements listed in the figure above.
An example of a test page with the designation of its main elements is presented below.
Legend:
1, 1a – gradient transition from white to black;
2 – portrait of a person with a natural skin tone;
3 – image fragments containing light elements on a dark background and vice versa;
4 – dies filled with different colors. A sample test page with the designation of its elements, which the inkjet printer generates during printing. The gray color must be pure, without any foreign tint. If such a shade is present on the print, then the selected ink is far from ideal.
An example of color distortion when printing in gray is shown in the following figure. Here is a comparison of several scans obtained when testing inkjet inks. The same printer was used in testing, the same settings were set when printing, and printing was done on the same paper.
Ink A
Ink B
Ink B
Scans obtained from inkjet ink testing
Ink B And IN when printing they form foreign shades: on the print B– blue, on print IN- lilac. This is especially noticeable in the gray shading of the picture located in the lower right corner. Ink A demonstrated accurate color reproduction, which indicates their quality and balance.
An extraneous tint may appear both on the entire image and in its individual areas. Also, poor ink quality may be indicated by excessive paleness of the print, distortion or mixing of colors, insufficient image clarity and poor rendering of small details. Only ink cartridges can be to blame for the appearance of the listed symptoms. Most likely, the manufacturer did not test their ink sufficiently and released it to the market ahead of time.
Ink A
Ink B
Pay attention to the fine details in the darkest and lightest areas of the image. Good printer ink renders fine details better than bad ones. As an example, consider two scans of photographs printed with different inks on the same inkjet printer using the same paper.
Photos printed using the same photo paper
Ink A on the same inkjet printer, but with different inks B demonstrate more realistic color rendition and better depict the smallest details of the image. Ink B They do not convey halftones and small details clearly enough, their colors are not as natural and deep as on the first print. Light halftones in the picture
If you get insufficient quality test prints and are about to run to the supplies store for new ink, stop! Practice shows that you can achieve quite satisfactory print quality by experimenting with the settings in the “printer-ink-paper” system. If you do everything correctly, you can increase the realism and colorfulness of your photos and improve the color rendition of midtones and shades.
If you plan to use inkjet ink for professional photo printing, then you will have to spend a little more time finding a balance in the printer-ink-paper system. You may need to print more than one test page before you are satisfied with the image. As an example, consider the figure.
Basic test page
The basic test page has a pale yellow tint. The children's faces shown at the bottom of the test page look faded, the shades are not vibrant and natural enough. Open the color rendering settings window on your computer and find the halftone curve. Turn it down in the settings yellow
, increase and adjust the brightness and clarity of the image. We print a second test page with the new settings.
Test page after additional color settings
After adjusting the color rendering, the test page looks more natural: the milky yellow tint has disappeared, the images have become more realistic, clearer, and brighter.
If the color rendering adjustment does not give the expected results, then most likely you are using photo paper that is not suitable for these inks. In this case, you will not get satisfactory print quality without color distortion even using original inks, not to mention cheaper compatible inks. In conclusion, it should be noted that correct selection
In contact with
ink for inkjet printing is a rather labor-intensive and complicated process for the average buyer. Therefore, if you are not confident in your knowledge and abilities in the field of inkjet printing and printer maintenance, it is better to seek advice from professionals.
Before switching to alternative inks or changing ink manufacturers, it is a good idea to conduct a color rendering test to compare printing results. Today I want to introduce you to a simple test of ink color rendering quality in CMYK mode for 4 colors.
This test will allow you to quickly determine the quality of the ink used and, if the result is negative, will allow you to change the ink before performing critical printing work.
I decided to make a small review, since quite often I receive questions about how to independently check the quality of the ink that you plan to refill printer cartridges with. This review will be useful to everyone who is planning to make a choice.
A short theoretical introduction. There are several ways to mix colors CMYK And RGB . The simplest color mixing mode and at the same time the most common is CMYK. Deciphered by the first letters, which determines the colors C yan (blue), M agenta (purple), Y ellow (yellow) and Blac k(black).
This mixing mode has been in use since the advent of printing equipment. Modern printers with 4 cartridges use a group of colors to print images and black to print text. Therefore, it is quite common to find combined colors in one cartridge + a separate cartridge with black ink (most of Canon and HP home printers).
It is the users of these printer models who are quite often interested in the issue of high-quality color rendering; this review will probably be primarily useful for them.
Knowing that images are not printed using a black cartridge, but only color ink, can be used successfully to test the color quality of a particular ink color. What does this mean? Ideally, when sending a black square, which is a graphic file, for printing, the printer determines which colors and in what proportions need to be mixed. More precisely, the graphics program sends this data to the printer buffer. The printer, having received this data, must accurately maintain the mixing proportions and print a perfectly black square.
This is in theory, unfortunately, even with original ink it is not always possible to get a perfectly black print ( headache photographers who like to print black and white photographs). As a rule, the result is a slightly grayish tint. When using low-quality ink, color loss can occur in any direction. Moreover, not all colors may be to blame, but only one. For example, instead of bright purple, you use carrot, and all other colors (blue and yellow) have perfect color rendition. In this case, your black square will have a burgundy tint.
When testing, you can quickly understand which color is problematic, based on the photo in this review. As you can see from the photo, with the perfect combination of all three colors you should get a perfectly black color. Using this knowledge, you can very quickly find out what quality your ink is and whether it is worth using it in your work.
This must also be taken into account when printing. It’s just that sometimes you hear that pigment ink is used little, even though we print a lot of black and white documents. As it turns out later, documents are printed from PDF file like images. Therefore, the printer accepts the command to mix color ink. Naturally, the pigment in the black cartridge will not be consumed.
In Canon printers, this test is included as standard in the printer control program. When you type test sheet, on the left edge, opposite each color, there are black rectangles, by which you can monitor the quality of color rendering in the manner described above. You will immediately be able to notice if the black rectangle on the test has turned blue or brown. This means something happened to the ink, or one color has run out.
On a note. Large range of high-quality, environmentally friendly oak barrels For Food Industry. Wooden barrels Great for brewing, storing kvass and other food drinks. You can also buy wooden containers for use in the sauna.
In contact with
Classmates
To evaluate the quality of inkjet inks, three types of test pages: TF1, TF2 and TF3.
TF1 test page used to test the quality of color inks. It allows you to analyze the ability of the ink to produce accurate color reproduction of shades and halftones.
 |
|
 |
 |
Sample TF1 test files
The TF1 test page is printed on standard A4 paper. It is a collection of monochrome and color images, multi-colored square “dies” and areas with a gradient fill from zero to one hundred percent.
Using the TF1 test page, you can objectively evaluate both the color rendition of any one inkjet ink, and organize comparative testing of several types of inks.
To determine the color rendering quality of inkjet inks, the resulting TF1 test pages are digitized using a color scanner. The resulting files are used to define RGB components in certain areas of the page. To do this, use a graphic editor Adobe Photoshop The result of transmitting the primary ink colors is recorded, and the received data is entered into the color table. The resulting table allows you to determine the coefficient of correct reproduction of ink of various colors and shades. This coefficient is calculated using the formula:
Formula for determining the correctness coefficient
The lower the coefficient of correctness of reproduction of colors and shades, the more accurate color reproduction will be provided by inkjet printer ink.
The data obtained when checking the color rendering quality of inkjet ink allows us to construct a graph in which we plot the distance on the X-axis, and pixel values on the Y-axis. We connect the dots and get a single line, the dips and peaks on which indicate an unbalanced color rendering. If there are no dips or peaks, then the color rendition is balanced. The recommended range of deviations of RGB values should not exceed 255.
The next test page that is used to evaluate the quality of inkjet ink is the TF2 page.
TF2 test page
TF2 test page is a PDF file consisting of several groups of elements, which, in turn, include six independent parts, located vertically and horizontally. Groups of elements on the TF2 test page are numbered, with each previous element slightly larger than the next. The quality of printing of the smallest elements of the test page determines the resolution of inkjet ink.
TF2 test pages are used to test monochrome and color inkjet inks. TF2 pages are printed on A4 paper. In this case, when testing monochrome inks, standard office paper is used, and when testing color inks, photo paper is used.
The third type of test pages are TF3 files, used to determine the quality of black monochrome inks.
A large selection of test sheets for testing the print quality of various printing office equipment: from monochrome laser printers to color inkjet photo printers. The set of test sheets is extensive and everyone will find something interesting here - from the most ordinary “Malevichs” to complex color mosaics. The article will also tell you how to identify some printing defects using test sheets.
1. This archive contains 12 sheets for testing monochrome laser printers:
2. Two sheets that were used for the following illustrations:
3. One test sheet to check monochrome printing:
4. One test sheet to check color printing:
5. Test sheet for checking the printing of large and small fonts:
6. Test sheet for checking photo printing:
7. A very successful test sheet for color printing:
8. Actually “Malevich” for checking monochrome laser cartridges and cleaning black inkjet cartridges:
9. Six-color test sheet:
10. Quality test sheet for inkjet photo printers:
11. Three-color test sheet for checking/cleaning color cartridges of inkjet printers:
Now let's move on to practice.
| 2. Four repeating black dots along the vertical line of the white test sheet. This test sheet characterizes the most common type of defect during printing - a point breakdown of the photolayer of the photodrum. There may be several such breakdowns; they come in different diameters from barely visible tenths of a millimeter to thick dots. There are no technologies for restoring the photolayer, so the only panacea for this problem is to replace the entire photodrum. Although it should be especially noted that this decision depends on the client’s requirements for print quality. When printing only text, small pinholes are practically indistinguishable and the photoconductor does not need to be changed for now. Over time, the dots become bolder, and then you can think about replacing this element. Small white dots or stripes are usually visible on a black test sheet, but for this defect a white sheet is more indicative. |
|
|
|
4. Solid black vertical stripe or several lines on a white test sheet. It can be intermittent as in the example, usually appearing at the edges. This means that the photolayer on the drum is seriously damaged; experts call such photodrums burnt. These damages are easy to see with the naked eye. At the site of damage, the photolayer is either absent, exposing subsequent layers, or has a characteristic brown tint. The image drum of the cartridge must be replaced. Other options for improving print quality in this case No. On a black test sheet, a broken stripe is usually visible along the very edge. |
|
Often, printer users have to resort to a procedure such as printing a test page. This allows you to ensure that the device's basic settings are correct for printing. In addition, the test page displays all information about the printer model and driver version. All this information can be very useful and necessary when troubleshooting various problems.
But office equipment users often have the following question: how to print a test page? So, to perform a procedure such as a test print, you first need to select the “Control Panel” menu from the list of services. Next, in the section where the entire list of printers is displayed, find the device model that interests you.
Right-click on the printer icon, then select from the menu that appears. context menu"properties" command. In the window that opens, go to the “general” tab, then click on the command, which involves starting a test print. Please note that if the device is starting up for the first time or has not been used for a long period of time, it will take longer than usual to print a sheet. The fact is that the printer in this case will need to first assemble all necessary information about the system and this may take about one minute. The test page parameters in any printer are usually set to “default”. Therefore, when printing test page, it tests absolutely the entire list of parameters.
Then you may be wondering what to do next. Next, you will need to carefully evaluate the test page - it should have samples of all colors, as well as text and graphics. If such printing was carried out using an inkjet device, then make sure that there are no ink stains on the page. If the test done suits you, you can click on the command that implies saving the default printing settings. Otherwise, go ahead and customize them to suit your needs. For example, if necessary, you can mark only the nozzle test. Thanks to this, you can immediately know which colors are printing normally and which ones are printing with various problems. Additionally, a nozzle test is necessary to ensure that the ink is entering the print head in the correct order.
But sometimes the following problem occurs: the print test page is printed incorrectly. In this regard, the question arises about what to do in this case and how to print this page?
So, if the print test page does not print correctly, then one of the possible problems lies in old or “broken” drivers. To solve it, you need to download and install their updated version. But what if this action it didn’t help and the problem with the printer not printing is still relevant? In that case, give full rights“Everyone” for “C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS”, then delete the desired printing device in the registry branch “HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Printers”. In addition, give the normal user the rights that an administrator has and install the new driver under his name. After this, you can take back the previously granted rights. You should also disable UAC. If the steps taken do not help, then you should run the Process Explorer utility and, while printing, pay attention to what rights are missing.
If, until recently, a normally printing printer still prints a test page incorrectly, then you can use the Procmon utility from Sysinternals. Run it and configure the “denied” filter using the line Result – contains. Next, print a test page, after which this utility will show which folder you did not have full rights to. For example, this could be the “TEMP” folder.
It is also worth adding that there is also such a procedure as a stop test, which is used for. To use this type of test, while printing a page, you need to turn off the power, and then look at the copy that has not yet completely exited the device. Thanks to this procedure, you can determine the cause of poor printing, which may lie in the cartridge, transfer of the image to paper and the thermal unit.
In addition, sometimes a printer disconnected from the PC does not even print a test page. This problem may be caused by missing or jammed paper, or an incorrectly installed cartridge. or by connecting the device to the computer and reading the corresponding description in the driver. In general, almost any breakdown during operation of the printer can be done independently, but if you do not know the reason, it is better to use the services of a service center.
