RE: Inkjet printers

[esokolowski@xxxxxxxxx]

Hi,
I am a photographer and I have purchased the Stylus 1200 and it is a
fabulous printer for what it is. If you consider that it is a proof printer
then there is no problems. The output quality is absolutely amazing. The
color saturation is spectacular. The resolution is razor sharp. And
depending how good you are with a scanner you can not see the difference
between stylus output and a CPrint.  

You can output from 3X5 Postcards to 12X44 panoramas. They say you can use
plain paper but the image quality suffers dramatically. The only paper to
use is the Epson photo quality paper. That gives the best results. I have
not tried any of the after market papers but I suspect the Ilford papers are
as good or better than the Epson stuff. I also haven't seen any archival
inks. I guess if they are available you would have to refill the standard
ink cart's.

Now for the bad news:
The ink is water soluble!!!! Dont drink, talk, sneeze or do anything that
produces moisture near these prints. These smudge really badly and easily. I
have tried a few preserving sprays, Artist sprays, Sealers all to no avail.
Anything that is moist that touches these prints will make a mess. 

Secondly.... It is not the fastest printer on the market. A 12X44 Pano takes
upwards of 30 minutes to output. Not bad considering the options. And
depending on the color saturation you can make a big dent in a $30.00 color
cart with each print.

And Finally the consumables are expensive. Depending on where you buy them
paper is upwards of 40 dollar for 20 sheets of SuperA3/B. And the Cartridges
are $25 for black and $30 for the color. 

Like I said before these printers are great. There cheap and high quality.
And the perfect addition to a digital darkroom. BUT They are proofers in
every sense of the word. The final output is really sensitive to the
environment. But so are prints from a $50,000 Iris printer @ 45 - 70 dollars
a print, and the quality is as good.

I hope that this helped and answered some questions.
Ed 

Check out http://www.epsonsupplys.com

> ----------
> From: 	zxiong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Reply To: 	panorama-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: 	Wednesday, August 25, 1999 4:35 AM
> To: 	Panorama-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: 	Inkjet printers
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'm considering purchasing an inkjet printer, something like Epson Stylus 
> Photo 1200.  I have a couple of questions regarding this printer.
> 
> 1. Can it print bigger sizes or is it limited to A3+?  A3+ (about 12x18")
> is
>    fine for me at the moment but I heard some people saying the 1200 model
> 
>    could print banner paper for longer panoramic images and some people
> said
>    it couldn't.
> 
> 2. Are there any archives quality ink and paper for this printer?  My
> limited
>    research indicates that none of the better ink or paper support this
>    model. There may be something coming out soon from Epson but I'm not
> sure
>    about this.  Archives quality is a precondition for me.
> 
> 3. Are there any other printers from any other brands with similar print
>    quality and performance?
> 
> Thank you in advance for your info.
> 
> Zonghou Xiong
> 
>