INK

B2 Sign Site visitNicholas Hellmuth

April 2013

Aftermarketfor Roland

Copyright 2013

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ContentsIntroduction: After-Market Ink Evaluation 3

Two kinds of inks are used in Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh 4

eco-solvent and mild-solvent 4

You need to select which ink to choose 11

How does FLAAR accomplish an evaluation? 12

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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Paul Liu, Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth and Chuck Wong at B2 Sign, INC.

Introduction: After-Market Ink Evaluation

It all started four years ago, we, at FLAAR Reports, began a long-range project that aims to evaluate after-market third-party ink alternatives for all the major normal brands of printers such as:

• HPDesignJet• CanoniPF• Epson• Mimaki• Mutoh• Roland

Understandably, the same ink which works in an Epson, Mimaki, Mutoh, and Roland can be usable in the scores ofmodelsofChinese-madeprinterswiththesameDX4DX5,DX6,andDX7printheads.

As of the moment, we have several more years of research ahead of us, but for 2013, we decided to issue our findingsbasedonthestudiesmadelastyear(2012).Thefirstoftheseisallabouttheafter-marketinkforRo-landprinterswithDXheads.Thisisaninkthatisdevelopedandmadeinthehigh-techareaofSingapore,bySAM*INK®.

Thisstudyconductedalsoincludedtwovisitstotheinklabsandfactory,aswellasvisitstotwoend-users(inSin-gaporeandUSA).Wewillbeissuingreportsonafter-marketinksforHPlatexprintersshortly.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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Staff of B2 Sign INC. with Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth.

Two kinds of inks are used in Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh:

eco-solvent and mild-solvent

Mild-solventisalsocalledlow-solventorlite-solvent.Therearenoindustry-widedefinitionsto-date,butIcon-sidermild-solvent,low-solvent,andlite-solventallsimilarwitheachother.

Thesethreesolventnamesarealldifferentfromtheeco-solvent.Eco-solventrequiresmorecoatedmedia,whichifImightaddismoreexpensive.Ontheotherhand,theMild-solventrequireslesscoatedmaterial.Thismakesitscostofusecheaper.Today,thebestknownexamplesofmild-solventinksarethecurrentSeikoColorPainterprintersandtheirearlierversions(rebrandedastheHPDesignjet8000s,9000s,and10000s).

SinceSAM*INK®isalreadyturningoutandmakingmild-solventfortheHPDesignjet8000s,9000s,and10000s,thecompanyfounditrelativelyeasytomakeasimilarinkforRoland,Mimaki,andMutoh.Thismild-solventinkalsoworksinmostotherprintersthatuseDX5printheadsfromEpson.JustbesuretocheckwhatDXprint-headsyourprinterhas.Withthisknowledge,youcannowpurchaseandusethebestinkforit.(RealizethatEpsonitselftriestohidewhatmodelofprintheadstheirprintersuse.Epsondoesnotwantanyonetouseanafter-marketinkbecauseobviouslyEpsonwantstheprofit).

Rememberthateveryprintheadmodelprefersaninkmadetoworkwellwiththatprinthead.FromthatwecansurmisethataninkmadeforaRolandprinterusinganEpsonDX4headmaynotbetheinktoconsiderforaKonicaMinoltahead.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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SAM*INK® ECO-SAM is stated by them as matched to the colors of Roland’s OEM ink. This is standard policy: to have the after-market ink be the same color gamut.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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ToassistyoutounderstandwhichRolandprinterstoconsiderusingtheSAM*INK®,weofferthefollowingtabu-lation.

Youmustrememberthatwater-basedinkisverydifferentthanlite-solventink.TheSAM*INK®forRolandprint-ersiseco-solvent.ThelistbelowincludesallprintheadswhichRolanduses,andallinktypes(eco-solvent,mild-solvent,andUV-cured).Today,therearemanycompaniesthatmodifyRolandwater-basedprinterstousewithtextileinks.ThereareafewcompaniesinEuropeandChinathatmodifyRolandprinterstouseUVorotherinks.Inthelistbelow,wehaveincludedonlytheofficialprintersofRolandDGA.

SAM*INK® ECO-SAM is rated by them as compatible to Roland’s OEM media.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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WearenotawareandfurnishedwithanycompletetabulatedlistofRolandprinters,butmostRIPsoftwarecom-panieshavefairlygoodlists.

ThisisourfirsteditiondatedFeb.2013andassuchwestillneedtogetalotmoreinformationtobesurethatwehaveallthemodelsandthatourspecsforeachmodelarecorrect.

Ifyouareinneedofspecificinformation,itisbestforyoutouseRolandDGAasasource(thoughobviouslytheywillnotwantyoutoutilizeanyafter-marketink!);wehavenoconnectionoraffiliationwithRolandDGA.Butasaprofessor-type of person, I do like to make tabulated comparative lists, and I will keep at this list over time until Icanimproveit.But,itmaytakesometimeaswearealsomakingcomparablelistsofMutoh,Mimaki,Canon,Epson,andHPprinters).

Model Ink(s) kindHow many Ink channel COLORS

DX which, or other brand,

Pico liter(s)

Comments, such as, should you dare consider this used?

AdvancedJetAJ-740 MildSolvent 6 Konica Minolta 14 pL AdvancedJetAJ-740I MildSolvent 6 Konica Minolta 14 pL AdvancedJetAJ-1000 MildSolvent 6 Konica Minolta 14 pL

CAMMJETProIICJ-540 Pigmented/Dyebased 8 PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

HI-FIJETProIIFJ-540 Dyebased/sublimation 6DX4-waterPiezoInkjet

6-10pL

HI-FIJETProIIFJ-740 HeatwaveSublimation 6DX4-waterPiezoInkjet

6-10pL

HiFiExpressFP-740 Eco-Sol 4DX5PiezoInkjet

1.5pL

SOLJETProIISC-500is a model in the list by SAM*INK®

DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETProIISC-540 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISC-540EX Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISC-545EX Eco-Sol 5 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISC-545EXW Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISJ-500IfirstsawthisinthelistofSAM*INK®(notinRIPlists).

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETProIISJ-540 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISJ-540EX Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 1.5pLSOLJETProIISJ-545EX Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISJ-600IfirstsawthisinthelistofSAM*INK®(notinRIPlists).

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETProIISJ-640EX Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISJ-645EX Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIISJ-740 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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Model Ink(s) kindHow many Ink channel COLORS

DX which, or other brand,

Pico liter(s)

Comments, such as, should you dare consider this used?

SOLJETProIISJ-740EX Eco-Sol 6Epson 10000 Piezo

1.5pL

SOLJETProIISJ-745EX Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIIVSJ-1000EXis a model in the list by SAM*INK®

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETProIIVSJ-1045EXis the model in the list by SAM*INK®

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETProIIIXC-540 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

Model Ink(s) kindHow many Ink channel COLORS

DX which, or other brand,

Pico liter(s)

Comments, such as, should you dare consider this used?

SOLJETProIIIXC-540MT Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIIIXC-540W Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIIIXJ-540 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIIIXJ-640 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETProIIIXJ-740 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLSOLJETSJ-1045 Eco-Sol 6 6-10pL

VersaCAMMSP-300IfirstsawthisinthelistofSAM*INK®(notinRIPlists).

Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMSP-300V Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLVersaCAMMSP-300VI Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLVersaCAMMSP-540V Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLVersaCAMMVP-300 Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLVersaCAMMVP-300I Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLVersaCAMMVS-420 Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLVersaCAMMVP-540IIfirstsawthisinthelistofSAM*INK®(notinRIPlists).

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

AdvancedJETAJ-1000i Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pLHi-FiExpressFP-740 HeatSublimation 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

Comments:Asyoucansee,mynotesdidnothavethe“W”or“MT”versions;theSAM*INK®listincludesthe“W”and“MT”versions,sothesearetheoneswelistedforSAM*INK®.

Foramoreaccuratelist,itisbestifyoucheckwithyourlocalSAM*INK®franchisee;thelistbelowisonlyagen-eraltabulationlist.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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Model Ink(s) kindHow many Ink channel COLORS

DX which, or other brand,

Pico liter(s)

Comments, such as, should you dare consider this used?

VersaArtRA-640 Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaArtRE-640 Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaArtRS-540InlistofSAM*INK®

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaArtRS-640InlistofSAM*INK®

Eco-Sol DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMSP-300i Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMSP-540i Eco-Sol 4 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMVS-300 Eco-Sol 4,6,8 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMVS-420,IfirstsawthisinthelistofSAM*INK®(notinRIPlists).

Eco-Sol 4,6,8 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMVS-540 Eco-Sol 4,6,8 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaCAMMVS-640 Eco-Sol 4,6,8 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

VersaStudioBN-20 Eco-Sol/FPGAqueous 4or5 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETPROIIIXC-540 Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETPROIIIXC-540MT Eco-Sol 6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETPROIIIXJ-540 Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETPROIIIXJ-540 Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETPROIIIXJ-640 Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETPROIIIXJ-740 Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETSJ-1045 Eco-Sol 4or6 DX4PiezoInkjet 6-10pL

SOLJETSJ-1045EXisthemodellistedbySAM*INK®

SOLJETPro4XR-640 Eco-Sol 9 DualHeadPiezo 6-10pL

VersaUVLEC-330 Eco-UV 5 DualHeadPiezo 6-10pL

VersaUVLEC-540 Eco-UV 5 DualHeadPiezo 6-10pL

VersaUVLEJ-640 Eco-UV 6 DualHeadPiezo 6-10pL

VersaUV LEF-12 Eco-UV 6 DualHeadPiezo 6-10pL

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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An after-market ink company puts a lot of effort into making sure their cartridges are easy to use on the designated printers.

Here are the Plug-N-Print cartridges used by SAM*INK® for Roland Versa Art and other Roland ECO Sol Max printers.

BelowisthelistfromSAM*INK®itself.PleasebearinmindthattheyindicatetheirinkworksinRolandprinterswithDX4DX5,andDX7printheads.MostRolandsuseDX4printheads.

SJ-500 (VersaCAMM)SP-300VSJ-540 (VersaCAMM)SP-540V

SJ-540EX SOLJETPROIIIXC-540MT

SJ-600 SOLJETPROIIIXC-540W

SJ-640EX SOLJETPROIIIXC-540SJ-645EX SOLJETPROIIIXJ-640SJ-740 SOLJETPROIIIXJ-740

SJ-740EX VersaArtRS-54054”

SJ-745EX VersaArtRS-64064”SJ-1000EX VersaCAMMSP-300iSJ-1045EX VersaCAMMSP-540iSC-500 VersaCAMMVP-300iSC-540 VersaCAMMVP-540iSC-540EX VersaCAMMVS-300SC-545EX VersaCAMMVS-420

SC-545EXW VersaCAMMVS-540

(VersaCAMM)SP-300 VersaCAMMVS-640

Some printer manufacturers rebrand media and substrates. The printer manufacturers then offer their own canned ICC profiles. This makes it easier to do color management. ECO-SAM ink is dedicated by SAM*INK® to be compatible to the ECO-Sol Max media.

To further save money, if you have your own RIP software (Wasatch, ErgoSoft, Caldera, etc) and your own color management system, then you can buy lower priced media.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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Roland VersaCAMM VP-54

You need to select which ink to choose

I made a rough count of all the brands of inks that offer a compa-rable ink for Roland, Mimaki, and Mutoh.Allyouhavetodoisvisitanysignprintingexpo,anywhereinthe world, and you will see several ofthesecompanies.Ifyougotothelargerinternationalexposyouwillseeabout75%oftheseatasingletradeshow.

The after-market ink companies I know that are the best in the busi-nessincludeSAM*INK®,forseveralreasons.First,Ihavealreadyvisitedtheirheadquarters,inkfactory,R&Dfacilitiestwice.Plus,Ihavevisitedandinterviewedaboutfourorfiveend-userswhoutilizetheirinks.Inallcases,theypreferSAM*INK®totheoriginalinks.

The inks for Roland printers withDXprintheadswasstillnewwhenIfirstvisitedtheR&DlabsofSAM*INK®inSingaporein2010.ThisinkwasbeingusedinaChi-neseprinterfromAStarjet.Theseare essentially the same Epson printheads as used in a Roland, Mimaki, or Mutoh printer,aswellas,inseveralotherChineseprinters. Subsequently,Ialsovisitedacom-pany outside Los Angeles which washappywithSAM*INK®fortheirHPlatexprintersandwasinitiat-ingtheuseofSAM*INK®fortheirRolandPrinters.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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Sample print with SAM*INK® for Roland VersaArt RS-640

How does FLAAR accomplish an evaluation?

Foranevaluationofinks,weneedtoknowmoreaboutthecompanyanditsinks.Apartfromthesetwo,wealsovisittheend-users.SeveralinkcompanieshavealreadyofferedtopayusinexchangeforthembeingallowedtoadvertiseontheFLAARsite.Weappreciatetheirrecognitionofthecloutwehavewithourhugeinternationalreadership,butwedonotadvertiseaninkwhichwearenotfullyfamiliarwith.Assuch,beforeweevaluatewefirstflytotheinkcompanyandinspecttheinkintheirdemoroom,andthenvisitend-users.

Labanalysisofinkchemistryisnotincludedintheevaluationasthiswouldbetooexpensive.Formerly,IwasaResearchProfessorattwouniversitiesandevenwithuniversitybackingitwasnotrealistictohavefundingtoactuallyanalyzeeachinkinacompany.Plus,everyinkbatchisabitdifferentfromtherest.

Instead,Ihavefoundthatitismorerealistictoinspecttheinkcompanypolicyandstandards.WhatIcan’thelpbut notice is how many ink companies are owned and operated by individuals who really understand and love to workwithink.Ofcourse,obviouslythereareafewownerswhoareunderstandablyinthebusinessjustfortheprofit.But,weprefertoevaluatetheinkfromfamily-runbusinesses,fromcompanieswhereweknowtheowners,wherewecanseethesalesrepresentativesatmostmajorexpos.Withsuchbusiness,communicationinbothdirectionsiseasierandpossible.

Onedifferenceamongsomebulkinkcompanies,whenyouswitchtoanafter-marketink,theinkcompanyhopesyouwilljustkeepbuyingtheirinkeveniftheyarenotactuallyprovidingtechsupport..HereiswhereSAM*INK®isdifferentfromtherest.Thefranchiseestaffsineachcountryarealltrainedintheinkfactory.Onhowtohan-dleeachinkandeachmajorprinter.Theresultisthatyouarenotjustbuyinganink,butarealso,inthesense,acquiringaninkpartnerthatwillassistyourcompany.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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WeheardaboutaninkcompanyinChinathatofferedsolventinkfor$8aliter.Anunfortunatedistributorwhotriedandtestedit,said:“itlastedonlyafewweeksoutsidebeforethecolorsfaded.”Inotherwords,foreverydollaryougotisroughlyequivalenttojustaboutoneweekofoutdoorlongevity.Yougetwhatyoupayfor.Asasidecomment,however,thereareoneortwogoodinkcompaniesinChina.FLAARhopestovisitmoreofthemduring2011.But,inthemeantime,wehavealreadyfoundtwogoodqualityinkcompanies:SAM*INK®andATInks.

SAM*INK®ismadeinSingapore,ahigh-techareaoftheworld.

February 2013, during Graphics of the Americas expo, in Orlando. Most recently updated , April 2013

SAM*INK® ECO-SAM is stated by them as matched to the colors of Roland’s OEM ink. This is standard policy: to have the after-market ink be the same color gamut.

Aftermarket INK for Roland printers

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