Inkjet Printer & Fax Supplies Original, Compatible, Remanufactured Cartridges, Inkjet Papers, Inkjet Refills and much more. We offer the complete range of Inkjet Supplies

The complete range of Inkjet Supplies
We offer the complete range of Inkjet Cartridges; Original, Remanufactured & Compatible Ink Cartridges for the complete range of Inkjet Printers, Inkjet Fax Machines and Multifunction Devices. The information below will tell you all you need to know about the different types of Inkjet Cartridges, Printheads, Ink Tanks, Page Yields and more.

Inkjet or Toner?
Some Printers use a toner cartridge instead of ink cartridge, toner cartridges only contain one colour and are usually much larger than an ink cartridge. If you are unsure then contact us for full details.

Printhead, Cartridge or Ink Tank?
All Inkjet printers need a printhead assembly to print, some printer manufacturers combine this printhead with the Ink Cartridge with other manufacturers it is included in the printer itself and is not usually a replaceable item.

Epson printers usually have the printhead installed in the printer and although a engineer can replace it if it fails, it is usually cheaper to replace the printer.

Canon Printers also usually have the printhead installed in the printer although if faulty can be replaced by the user. Canon Printheads are available from our on-line shop.

Hewlett Packard & Lexmark Ink cartridges usually combine the printhead on the Ink cartridge which negates the need for a printhead in the printer. Ink Cartridges are usually more expensive however although then there is no print head in the printer to fail.

If the printhead is part of the printer then the ink cartridge is basically an Ink Tank containing the Ink, although it may still be called an Ink Cartridge. Example show is a Canon BC30 / BCI30

Separate or Combined Cartridges?
Some Ink cartridges contain a number of colours, others printers use a seperate cartridge for each colour. Each have their advantages, although it is perhaps less wasteful to use a printer that has seperate ink tanks.

Inkjet Photo Printers can use as many as eight cartridges which also increases the chances that you would need to change a cartridge when you come to print. Cartridges that contain more than one colour would need to be changed when only one colour was empty.

How many Colours?
In order to print in colour a minimum of 4 colours are needed: Cyan (Light Blue), Magenta (Pink). Yellow & Black.

Many Photo printers however need to use up to 8 different cartridges to create photo quality type prints. If you are printing photos then it is worth looking at Dye Sublimation Photo Printers that are cheaper to run, less hassle than an inkjet and produce better results.

Inkjet Photo Printers typically use the following colours: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Black, Photo Black, Matt Black.

Ink Capacity - How much Ink?
Most manufacturers will list the amount of Ink inside the cartridge, the amounts vary dramatically from 9ml to 42ml depending upon which printer / cartridges you purchase.

Most manufacturers offer cthe same cartridge with different amounts of ink in, these are called High Yield cartridges and can contain twice as much ink as the standard or moderate use cartridges.

There are many factors that control how many pages your cartridge will print:

• Capacity of the cartridge - not all cartridges are the same.
• Amount of page covered with Ink
• Resolution and type of media used.

Example: A Lexmark 12A1980 cartridge prints 275 pages @5% coverage. That's only 14 pages of full A4 colour prints, and if you use one colour more than others then it may not last that long!

Where provided by the manufacturer we supply approx page yields for the cartridges we sell. Check carefully which cartridge you are buying as manufacturers don't make it as easy as they could do in determining which cartridge contains what ink capacity.

Ink Cartridges - How long can I keep them?
Almost all Ink Cartridges have a use by date on them. This is usually 6-12 months after purchase. However if your cartridges are stored sensibly in a desk drawer or cupboard then they will last much longer. We have used cartridges that were four years out of date and achieved superb results. It does make sense to keep a spare set of cartridges, as you can never be sure when your cartridge will run out.