epson Printer cartridge colour hex value

[FreeThinker]

Hi
Does any one know the hex value of epson colour cartridges? A four colour printer will have a Black Magenta Yellow and cyan cartridge but what colour Black? FFFF? FFFE? etc.What I would like to do is print an image with special ink which is in 1 cart only I do not want it to dither or mix colours. Would FFFF use only black and not dither the image? What would be the unique codes for the other 3 colours?

[Zero999]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magenta#Process_magenta_.28pigment_magenta.3B_printer.27s_magenta.29_.281890s.29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow#Electric_yellow_vs._process_yellow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan#Process_cyan_.28pigment_cyan.29_.28printer.27s_cyan.29

Black is always 000000

[Semantics]

Are you sure? I wouldn't be surprised if major manufacturer inks are slightly off from the traditional "process" colors which gets compensated in firmware/drivers in order to lower the comparative quality of refill prints.

Maybe I'm just paranoid. 

[Zero999]

You have a point but can you suggest anything better?

It might be different but there's nothing you can do about it sort of directly controlling the printer rather than going via the driver.

Perhaps asking the manufacturer is the best solution, thought there's no guarantee you'll get any where.

[alm]

A raster image processor would work I guess, although these tend to be quite expensive (as in thousands of dollars). An RGB or CMYK value doesn't indicate a color, it indicates a position within a certain color space. C=100,M=0,Y=0,K=0 in SWOPv2 is not the same as the same value in Euroscale Coated v2. Just the value is useless without indicating a color space. The meaning of #FF0000 to the printer depends on factors like what color profile you indicated or what the driver guessed, what the driver did with the colors (maybe it increases saturation), the color management settings in your driver.

You can't use CMYK with a desktop printer without an expensive RIP. Most photo printers aren't even CMYK, they have more process colors. Any CMYK document will be converted into RGB before sending it the printer driver. I think trial and error (with constant settings and all automatic corrections turned off) will be the only way unless someone else has already done the work.

I wouldn't count on the pigments corresponding to process colors in any popular color space, there's no point for the manufacturer to go through the trouble, compensating it in software is much easier.

[Semantics]

Personally, I'd sooner squeeze out a drops from the cartridges onto some white paper, take them to my local hardware store, and request they match each color. I would spy on the screen and when the 4th color was scanned I'd fake a phone call with an emergency and run out of there. 

Or be a little more honest and buy 4 token pints of paint.

Rereading the original question, though, I gotta wonder if it's just plain better to look at the printer's ink holder, see if there are any physical (maybe a lever) or electrical (definitely) connections. Since you don't want to risk getting other ink reservoirs tapped accidentally, tape down levers and latches, rip off the electronics from old (or cloned, or whatever) cartridges so the printer thinks they are there. Then you just print something with a decent black channel, don't worry about the details, and learn to love your monochrome printer.

What ya printing anyway, FreeThinker?

[FreeThinker]

What ya printing anyway, FreeThinker?

Well....... A the moment it's just a idle thought but at work we have printers that time stamp each pack that comes down the line for product tracing. Made by videojet http://www.videojet.eu/uk/excel-2000.html they are a 2 part ink system (make up fluid and liquid toner) This stuff is tenacious when it dries you cannot shift it without using the make up fliud (methol alchohol) so I was wondering if somehow you could use an inkjet printer ( Probably a hp or similar with print heads built in to the cartridge) to print on thin metal for case panels or even to acid etch etc. The head could then be manually flushed with make up fluid to clean the cartridge for later use. You should be able to make some nice artwork legends to finish off your latest project. Other possible uses would be to print pcb's for etching or printing a solder mask after etching (very handy for one off smd ) as I say its just an Idea at the moment but think it has merit if it works.
PS I know in my OP I asked about Epson , but I failed to realise that they used a fixed printhead which would require flushing after every use were as the replacable cartridges could be thrown away if they became blocked and the printer still used. Another option I am looking at is pigment based ink as this is quite acid tolerant and hard wearing (for panels etc)  if baked .

[alm]

Personally, I'd sooner squeeze out a drops from the cartridges onto some white paper, take them to my local hardware store, and request they match each color. I would spy on the screen and when the 4th color was scanned I'd fake a phone call with an emergency and run out of there. 

Or be a little more honest and buy 4 token pints of paint.

How do you map the color space of the paint mixer to the device color space of your printer driver? Does your local hardware store provide color profiles with their paint?