Canon Ink Cartridges

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Which Canon ink system Canon uses more than one ink system, and the first step is working out which one your printer takes. The code is printed on the cartridge you are replacing and shown in the printer's menu or manual, so read it off before you order. Home PIXMA all-in-ones run two cartridges, a PG black and a CL colour. Larger PIXMA and MAXIFY printers use separate PGI and CLI tanks. The PIXMA G series refills from GI bottles. Match the exact code and you cannot go wrong, and most listings also name the printers a cartridge fits so you can check by model. PG and CL, PGI and CLI The home system is the simplest: a PG pigment black for crisp text and a single CL colour cartridge that mixes cyan, magenta and yellow for everything else, for example PG645 and CL646. Step up to a PIXMA with individual tanks or a MAXIFY office printer and the ink splits into separate PGI black and CLI colour tanks, so you replace only the one that runs out. Mid-range photo PIXMA models add a second dye black, and the six-ink photo printers add a grey on top, which smooths skin tones and black-and-white prints that four inks alone leave patchy. Cartridges or MegaTank bottles Canon's MegaTank printers, the PIXMA G series like the G1600, G2600, G3600 and G4600, work differently from the rest. Instead of a clip-in cartridge they have a built-in tank you top up from a GI ink bottle, and one bottle prints a very long way, which is the point of a tank printer. Bottles and cartridges are not interchangeable, so check whether your Canon is a MegaTank G model before you order. Everything else in the PIXMA and MAXIFY range takes PG, CL, PGI or CLI cartridges. Standard, XL and XXL Many Canon numbers come in three sizes. The plain cartridge holds the least, XL holds more, and XXL the most, each for a small step up in price. Because you pay mostly for the cartridge and only a little more for the extra ink, the bigger sizes work out cheaper per page, so the XL or XXL is usually the better buy unless y