HP Ink Challenge Week 2&3 #inkology #hpinkchallenge

Earlier, I shared with you week 1 of the HP Ink Challenge.  The HP Ink Challenge (for those of you just tuning in) is an ink challenge where I was selected (along with about 100 other lovely people) to try and test HP Ink versus Refill Ink and share feedback on my printing experiences.  During the course of the challenge we have weekly printing assignments.  

For the start of week 2, we were to print some of our favorite photos from summer on both printers as well as a black and white.  I chose a couple of family shots that were taken at the beach where the sun put quite a glow on our faces.  Sitting these side by side to compare, I found that ultimately the HP Ink is much better and more true to life (once again) whereas the Refill Ink cast more of a reddish-orange hue on everyone's face.  You can see some of that below on the feet.

I used the same family portrait at the beach for my B&W and again the HP Ink looked better with a greyish or warmer tint while the Refill Ink had a much darker shade (coolish) to it.  However, I asked my husband his opinion and he thought the Refill Ink B&W looked better because he seemed to think that the darkness shade provided more detail to the clothes we were wearing, beach behind us etc.  So, a matter of individual preference, I guess.

We were also to visit HP Inkology on Facebook and print an activity.  I chose the Kung Fu Panda coloring page in the Activities for Families section.  I really didn't notice much difference with this as I did with the photos. However, there is still a darker shade of color on the Refill Ink.

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For week 3 we got to mess up photos!  This was called our Splish Splash and Dunk assignment.  We started off by printing photos on both printers but instead of HP paper on the Refill Ink printer we used Kodak.  For the Splash Test we simply sprinkled water on a few photos from the HP Ink printer and the Refill Ink printer.  After 60 seconds we attempted to wipe them off with a paper towel while letting a couple of other photos air dry.

My results from the Splish Splash test was the Kodak paper got water-bubbles and ink loss on my paper towel when I wiped them dry.  The HP just had faint staining on the paper itself.  I also noticed that the Kodak paper was sticky and easy to peel  the top coat of picture away.

Dunk Test - HP Ink Printer on Left and Kodak Paper/Refill Ink on Right

For the Dunk test we simply dunked photos from both printers  in water and let dry completely on their own.  What I found was that the Kodak paper/Refill Ink curled bad and the photo was pretty much ruined.  With the HP paper, the water just sat on top of it and later dried and had faint staining with a slight curl only on the edges.  Whereas the Kodak/Refill Ink seemed to have absorbed the water completely.

 Refill Ink still darker....maybe it's using more ink per print....

We also had a creative project which involved visiting the HP Creative Studio for Home and chose two projects to complete.  I chose to print some fall themed recipe cards as well as a pumpkin carving template.

We still have our Fade Test in the window which I mentioned in the last post .  We also continue to print the HP photos every week and compare side by sides.  Stay tuned, this is just the half!

I received product to fascinate the HP Challenge - All opinions are 100% my own