This site is part of various affiliate programs. Links may give us a small compensation for any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. Please read the disclaimer policy for full details.
The best ink for Canon Pixma Pro 100 is the official Canon replacement ink, but there are cheaper options which you can read about below.
Although photo printers like the Canon Pixma Pro 100 create fantastic quality prints and have excellent ink life, they all eventually need ink replacements, which can be very expensive.
So what is the best replacement ink for Canon Pixma Pro 100 that gives high print quality and a reasonable cost per page?
In this article, I will cover three options which should suit all budgets. Remember though, that cheaper ink is often a false economy, as these are lower quality inks which result in reduced print quality.
Ink for Canon Pixma Pro 100
There are three main options to get replacement ink for the Canon Pro 100: two of them are to buy new Canon Pro 100 ink cartridges, and the third option is to refill your existing cartridges.
The Canon Pro 100 has 8 ink cartridges in total: 1 black, 2 gray, 2 cyan, 2 magenta and 1 yellow. Because the ink is separated like this, you often only need to replace one cartridge at a time as it gets low, but it is always helpful to have a complete set on hand just in case.
All of the ink that you can buy for the Pro 100 is dye based ink. This has slightly lower longevity that the pigment based ink that more pro-level printers possess, but is more than sufficient for home users. Dye based ink tends to perform better on lustre or glossy paper, so if you are not already mainly using these paper types with your printer, it would be worth trying them.
The Best Ink for Canon Pixma Pro 100
Most expensive, but highest quality ink
- Best-in-class performance from the Chromalife 100+ inks
- Does not clog print nozzles, even if left unused for months
- Print quality out-competes all third-party inks
- Ideal for situations where 100% color accuracy is required
- Expensive option
The Best Budget Ink for Canon Pro 100
If you don’t have the budget for the official Canon Pixma Pro 100 ink cartridges, then the best third part supplier of recycled cartridges is Inkjetcorner.
Better for images where color isn’t critical
- Lower one-off cost than official ink
- 2-year shelf life
- Generally very good print quality, although doesn’t match official ink
- Good for printing that doesn’t require 100% color accuracy
- Lower print quality overall and fading occurs sooner than official ink
Canon Pixma Pro-100 Ink Refill
If you don’t want to buy any new Canon Pro 100 ink cartridges, then it is possible to refill your existing cartridges.
Bear in mind that this is a much more involved process, with the potential to create a lot of mess, although the results are very high quality prints that essentially match those created by Canon’s official inks, but for only a fraction of the price.
The one company that receives the most positive feedback in the photo printing community is Precision Colors. Although their refillable ink sets are more expensive than Canon’s official ink, they provide you with much more ink – about 4x the amount of the official ink.
You have to make some modifications to your existing tanks to be able to refill them, but instructions are included, and Precision Colors inks are widely considered to be on a par with official ink, making this excellent value for money.
Read More:
Compare Glossy vs Matter and Lustre Photo Paper
What’s the best printer for canvas?
See an inspirational list of nature photographers past and present
2 Responses
RJ Ruhl
Canon sent me a brand new print head( not a rebuilt). I bought the 8 Canon ink cartridges on amazon. Within three days of no-use the color print head jammed. The black/grey side ran fine. The Canon Pixma Pro 100 print head has and inherent design problem. The micron diameter transfer from Cartridge to print head is open to the air where it couples and the ink dries up. I clean the head with a distilled water sprayer and let is dry over night then reinstall. Some times I still have to run one nozzle cleaning. thank you for clearing up my question as to Dye Based ink Verses Pigment Based. Sorry but Canon ink is not the solution.
Tim Daniels
Thanks for sharing your experience.