# Canon Lucia inks for transfers



## tekassets (Jun 10, 2018)

Can someone please bring clarity to the issue of using a Canon printer with pigment inks for transfers. I have read many conflicting things about whether a Canon printer can even be used at all for sublimation transfers and many of the posts are very old.

I am using a Canon ImageGraf Pro-1000 which uses: Canon Lucia Pro (Pigment) Inks...

Thank you so much in advance for expertise in regards to this matter...


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

No pigment ink of any sort can be used for sublimation. Sublimation inks are purpose made for sublimation only.

As to Canon and sublimation inks ... I'm not sure. Some printers from some brands use heat to expel ink from the nozzles. Such printers cannot be used with sublimation ink. Epson (and other printers that use piezo heads) can be used with third-party sublimation inks.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Canon printers also use piezo heads and work just fine with sublimation inks, IF you can find the ink chips.


The ImageGraf Pro-1000 has 12 inks ...what sublimation inks are you going to use?


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

TABOB said:


> Canon printers also use piezo heads and work just fine with sublimation inks, IF you can find the ink chips.
> 
> 
> The ImageGraf Pro-1000 has 12 inks ...what sublimation inks are you going to use?


I disagree ...

Canon : Technology | Technology Used in Inkjet Printers

FINE (Full-Photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering)


https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/...essional-photo-fine-art/imageprograf-pro-1000

"Printing Method
FINE: Full-Photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering"

FINE print head technology

"For the PIXMA PRO models, Canon employs FINE print head technology. This technology works in a slightly different way to normal inkjets. Instead of spraying ink out onto the paper, the ink is pushed out through heating it so that all of the ink is ejected at once as a droplet. This makes it much less susceptible to airflow disturbance over the print head and also ensures a highly uniform drop size and consistent drop placement. Depending on the model, the ink droplet size can be as small as 3 picolitres. In total, it adds up to ability to produce a maximum print resolution of 4800x2400dpi for exceptionally detailed prints."

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/2...pro-1000-gets-the-l-series-red-line-treatment

"New Print Head
Improving upon the specifications of the Canon PIXMA PRO-1 printer, the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 printer features a 50 percent larger print head, which also expands the total number of nozzles to 18,432 for each of the 12 channels. The increased size of the print head helps produce faster print speeds†† while still maintaining high-resolution prints. This new print head design utilizes a sophisticated real-time ink ejection system which helps to maintain a consistent print head temperature allowing for consistent ink droplets to help limit clogs and reduce cleaning cycles and wasted ink. The new print head helps to further reduce the amount of wasted ink through anti-clogging technologies where ink ejection conditions are precisely checked with sensors, and if a clog is detected, another nozzle automatically provides backup."

Those inks get heated.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Right... this is obviously the newer models with the 4 Picoliter nozzles. 
Not 100% sure about it in this case... but I think it will still work, if you can find the chips and colors for the 12 cartridges. 

Sublimation ink is water based, just like the canon OEM ink is.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

TABOB said:


> Right... this is obviously the newer models with the 4 Picoliter nozzles.
> Not 100% sure about it in this case... but I think it will still work, if you can find the chips and colors for the 12 cartridges.
> 
> Sublimation ink is water based, just like the canon OEM ink is.


None of the older bubblejet models were ever piezo. Always heated ink

https://www.canon-europe.com/about_us/about_canon/canon_technology/bubble_jet_technology.aspx

"Bubble Jet Technology
Bubble Jet is the name of Canon's best-known proprietary technology. A micro-heater is built into each ink nozzle of a print head.

Ink is heated by running an instantaneous electric current through the micro-heater, so that ink droplets jet out of the nozzle under the pressure of the heat. This technology has enabled us to offer much more affordable and high-quality printers than standard ink-jet printers using piezoelectric devices. The Canon Bubble Jet system is an unprecedented ink-jet printing method, born from the uncompromising desire of our engineers to create an ideal printer that makes everyone's dreams of imaging come true."

All of Canons older printers were called "Bubble jet".

Bubble jet technology - Canon Professional Network

"If you want colour prints up to A4 (210x297mm), or even A3+ (329x483mm), you need an ink jet printer. As the name suggests, ink is sprayed onto the print media – very precisely – and the tiny drops of coloured ink are used to build up the picture. Canon’s bubble jet (BJ) printing technology is a development of the ink jet-printing concept. Canon has recorded over 10,000 patents for bubble jet technology, which it introduced in 1983. Prints from some of the latest BJ machines are virtually indistinguishable from prints made on conventional photographic paper."

"How it works

A bubble jet printer works using heat. In very simple terms, an ultra-fine nozzle is connected to a reservoir of ink. At the front of the nozzle is a very small heating element.

When the element is switched on, a bubble forms inside the nozzle and a tiny drop of ink is expelled at high speed. When the drop hits a paper surface, it forms a round dot of even density and colour. The heating element is switched on and off in response to data from a computer, which processes the information from an image file. The computer may be a desktop unit, or a microprocessor inside your EOS camera, or inside the printer itself. The process takes place at incredibly high speeds. Some printers eject up to 22,000 drops of ink per second."

Update more history:

http://www.canon.com/technology/approach/history/print-tech.html

Passage of the Inkjet Approach from Concept to Conviction

The Soldering Iron and Syringe that Sparked the Invention
In the mid-1970s, Canon was among the first to recognize the true potential of inkjet technology, and proceed with the development of this technology. At the time, competition between Canon and a number of printer manufacturers to develop inkjet printing using piezoelectric elements led to Canon introducing a monochrome desktop calculator printer using piezoelectric elements in 1981. However, Canon continued to pursue a more advanced inkjet technology based on a new principle that could surpass printing using piezoelectric elements.
It was around this time that a fortuitous incident occurred. When an engineer was conducting an experiment, the tip of a soldering iron came into contact with a nearby syringe needle containing ink, causing ink droplets to spurt out from the tip of the needle. This was the moment that the idea of using heat became a firm belief. This led to a variety of experiments and tests, which in turn resulted in the creation of a proprietary inkjet technology that uses the heat from a heater to eject ink droplets. On October 3, 1977, Canon submitted a basic patent application for the world's first thermal inkjet (Bubble Jet) technology.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Hmmm It looks like you are right, which is strange as I did try sublimation ink on a Canon printer around 7 years ago, and it did work. Maybe I remember wrong and it was not a canon...


Given the info, I wouldn't take the risk with a new or expensive printer.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

TABOB said:


> Hmmm It looks like you are right, which is strange as I did try sublimation ink on a Canon printer around 7 years ago, and it did work. Maybe I remember wrong and it was not a canon...
> 
> 
> Given the info, I wouldn't take the risk with a new or expensive printer.


Brother printer perhaps, or a Ricoh.

The problem with Thermal inkjet is that the dye will start turning to gas while in the heated print head.


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