Digital Prints

Epson: Epson is a dominant force in the high-quality inkjet printing world. They are the
ones who basically invented photorealistic inkjet printing. Always an innovative leader,
Epson makes great printers, and you can make great prints using them. Epson is constantly
upping the ante with its new models, and with the introduction of its reasonably priced
Stylus Pro 7600 and 9600 models, as well as the newer 4000, Epson is helping to bridge
the gap between wide-format and desktop printers. One of Epson’s main challenges is juggling
the diverse needs of both consumer and professional customers, and keeping them
all happy. Desktop and wide-format.
HP: HP, which is larger than any other company on this list, is the world leader in many
market segments of the digital imaging and printing field, and it has a large base of satisfied
users for its various products, which are well-known for being reliable and reasonably
priced. HP has now finally focused its considerable engineering and marketing muscle
onto the photo/fine-art arena, and its recent product introductions, both at the prosumer
and professional level (including the popular Designjet 30/130), have been well-received.
The sleeping giant has awakened! Desktop and wide-format.
IRIS/IXIA: The IRIS is the printer that started this whole inkjet phenomenon, and it has
been reincarnated as the IXIA from Improved Technologies, which is selling the expensive
devices to fine-art photographers, artists, and printmakers. There are still many IRIS
printers in use out there, but as they wear out, printmakers are either trading them in for
the newer IXIA or shifting to other styles and brands of inkjet printers. Drum-based only.
Lexmark: Lexmark is well-known for its no-nonsense, inexpensive, desktop inkjet printers.
However, it has been an innovator all along (first 1200-dpi printer, first sub $100
inkjet printer, first photo-direct printer), and they’re slowly attempting to win over
photographer-artists. With features like 4800-dpi resolution, variable ink droplets, and six
colors (finally), Lexmark offers a low-initial-cost solution. Consumer desktops only.
Chapter 6 ■ Selecting an Inkjet Printer 209
Epson’s Stylus Pro 7600 (right) and
9600 were the first low-cost wideformat
printers.
Courtesy of Epson America, Inc.