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Ink tanks from a typical CIS

Ink tubes

Ink tubes connected to the printer cartridges

A Continuous Ink System (CIS) is a cost-effective replacement for ink-jet printer cartridges. In contrast to conventional cartridges, a CIS uses very large (about 100ml/color) ink tanks, which are connected with tubes to the printhead nozzles. The tanks can be conveniently refilled from an ink bottle - there is no need for syringes.

CIS is also known as bulk ink.

The inkjet printer industry has viewed continuous flow systems as a threat to profits from sale of ink cartridges, while high volume users demand lower cost ink^{[citation needed]}. The result has been an arms race - the manufacturers have changed ink formulae, smart chips, printer & cartridge models so frequently that the CIS suppliers have had difficulty keeping up^{[citation needed]}. Recently CIS manufacturing has shifted from a "one of a kind - customization" cottage industry to higher volume mass market production as Chinese engineers realized the market potential^{[citation needed]}. The result has been a significant reduction in pricing of a CIS^{[citation needed]}. System prices have dropped from the $500 range to less than $100^{[citation needed]}.

To avoid the need to remove the cartridge and reset the smart chip every time the chip thinks the cartridge has run out of ink, CIS often reverse engineer the smart chip and build a custom version that automatically resets itself^{[citation needed]}. Software drivers for the printer may balk at these third party chips and workarounds are sometimes required^{[citation needed]}.

One major feature of a CIS isn't just in savings from reduced demand for ink cartridges, it is in the ability to use special inks^{[citation needed]}.

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