ALPS MicroDry & Dye-Sublimation Inks
This page lists some of the various ALPS inks for standard, metallic, foil, and dye-sublimation printing, as well as the native (firmware) printer compatibility. Printers can make use of non-supported inks by relabelling cassettes. Note that dye-sublimation printing is supported only on a sub-set of ALPS printer models.
There exist also other inks, long out of production, for overhead transparency (OHP) printing, Labeca Free media, and others. These inks, which have little relevance to decal printing, are not listed here.
MicroDry Inks
These comprise standard colour-printing, metallic, and metallic foil colours useful for decals, as well as overcoat (burnishing) cassettes.
Metallic red (MDC-METR) and blue (MDC-METB) were also produced, but they are rare to find, being out of production since many years ago.
Economy Black (MDC-ECBK) was another short-lived cassette type, intended for draft printing, but unpopular and not useful for decal printing.
Transparency inks were intended for the MD-2000 model, and supported up to version 6.2 of the DOS/V driver.
The following types of multi-cassette packs are/were sold:
- MDC-FLC3: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow cassettes sold together.
- MDC-FLK3: Three Black cassettes sold together.
- MDC-PREP3: Three VPhoto Primer cassettes sold together.
| MD-2000S/J | MD-2010S/J | MD-2300S/J | MD-4000S/J | MD-1000J/D | MD-1500J/D | MD-1300J/D | MD-5000 | MD-5500 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDC-FLCC Cyan |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FLCM Magenta |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FLCY Yellow |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FLML Multi-colour |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| MDC-FLCK Black |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-ECBK Econo Black |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-SCWH Special (Spot) White |
No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-OPWH Opaque (Base) White |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| MDC-METG Metallic Gold |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-METS Metallic Silver |
No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-METR Metallic Red |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-METB Metallic Blue |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FMEG Foil Gold |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FMES Foil Silver |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FLCG Glossy (Finish I) |
No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-FRVG Finish II |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-PREP VPhoto Primer / MF Ink |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-LBFK Labeca FREE Black |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| MDC-LBFR Labeca FREE Red |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| MDC-LBFB Labeca FREE Blue |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| MDC-OHPC Transparency Cyan |
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| MDC-OHPM Transparency Magenta |
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| MDC-OHPY Transparency Yellow |
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Dye-Sublimation Inks
Dye-sublimation cassettes for use on only those ALPS printer models with features specifically for photographic printing. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, preparation undercoat and burnishing overcoat cassettes exist for this mode.
Only the MD-1300 and MD-2300 natively support dye-sublimation printing. The MD-5000 and MD-5500 can print in dye-sublimation mode with the fitting of a dye-sublimation key in the SCSI slot, and the installation of the dye-sublimation driver. They then are known as MD-5000P and MD-5500P, respectively.
| MD-2000S/J | MD-2010S/J | MD-2300S/J | MD-4000S/J | MD-1000J/D | MD-1500J/D | MD-1300J/D | MD-5000P | MD-5500P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDC-DSCC Photo Cyan |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-DSCM Photo Magenta |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-DSCY Photo Yellow |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-DSCF Photo Gloss |
No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MDC-DSCG Photo Gloss (MD-2300) |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| MDC-DSCO Photo Overcoat |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ink Barcodes
Below is the list of barcodes of known ink types. Often, barcode substitution (relabelling) permits printing of unsupported inks, with the proviso that the printhead temperature used for different inks differs, so a closest match must be found.
| Product Code | Common Name | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| MDC-FLCK | Black | 0 |
| MDC-FLCY | Yellow | 1 |
| MDC-FLCM | Magenta | 2 |
| MDC-FLCC | Cyan | 3 |
| MDC-FLML | Multi-colour | unknown |
| MDC-FMEG | Foil Gold | 5 |
| MDC-FMES | Foil Silver | 6 |
| MDC-OPWH | Opaque (Base) White | 7 |
| MDC-METG | Metallic Gold | 8 |
| MDC-METR | Metallic Red | 9 |
| MDC-METB | Metallic Blue | 10 |
| MDC-METS | Metallic Silver | 11 |
| MDC-OHPY | Transparency Yellow | 13 |
| MDC-OHPM | Transparency Magenta | 14 |
| MDC-OHPC | Transparency Cyan | 15 |
| MDC-SCWH | Special (Spot) White | 16 |
| MDC-FLCG | Glossy (Finish I) | 17 |
| MDC-PREP | VPhoto Primer / MF Ink | 18 |
| MDC-FRVG | Finish II | 19 |
| MDC-LBFK | Labeca Free Black | 20 |
| MDC-LBFR | Labeca Free Red | 21 |
| MDC-LBFB | Labeca Free Blue | 22 |
| MDC-ECBK | Econo Black | 23 |
| MDC-DSCY | Photo Yellow | 25 |
| MDC-DSCM | Photo Magenta | 26 |
| MDC-DSCC | Photo Cyan | 27 |
| MDC-DSCO | Photo Overcoat | 28 |
| MDC-DSCG | Photo Gloss (MD-2300) | 28 (same code) |
| MDC-DSCF | Photo Gloss | 30 |
References
The following sources may be useful for further information on printer models, specifications, capabilities, inks and other consumables: