Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Color Printers
this group, I was especially impressed by how close the printed colors were to those
on the monitor (I only had to fiddle a little bit with the brightness, reducing it in
Photoshop by 15 points). By the way, I was using a Power Mac G3. I think Macs
are usually better in color reproduction on the monitor than PC's...
-- Victor Grubsky, October 6, 1999
I've been using the HP Photosmart printer for over a year with excellent results, but
lately I've grown frustrated with its maximum 8 1/2 X 11 inch size. I've avoided
Epson printers because their inks are not as lightfast as HP's. But I've recently
learned that several independent vendors are supplying inks, some pigment-based,
for the $499 Epson Stylus Photo 1200 printer, which prints up to 13 X 19 inches--
large enough for my scanned 35mm images. Some relevant websites:
http://www.mediastreet.com/
http://www.tssphoto.com/sp/dg/archival_inks.html#fotonic
http://www.weink.com/scart/inkjets/epson/endura/specinks.htm
I'm considering buying the Epson 1200, and I would appreciate comments from
anyone with experience with these new inks. How do they look? What are the color
management issues (colors are apparently somewhat different from standard Epson
inks)? Are there any problems with ink jet clogging? What kinds of paper work
best? Have any good articles been published?
These new inks could be a really important breakthrough, and deserve urgent
attention.
-- Norman Koren
-- Norman Koren, October 24, 1999
I've owned an Epson Stylus Photo 1200 for a little over a month, working with
negatives and slides scanned with a Minolta QuickScan 35 Plus. The prints I've
made so far (up to 11x17"; haven't tried 13x19" yet) have been mightily impressive
- I had planned to use the 1200 principally for portfolio and work prints (no regular
access to a darkroom - raise your hand if you're in a similar situation), but I
wouldn't be ashamed to use the printer for a need-to-be-quick-about-it presentation
or small exhibit. The two minor caveats I would raise to prospective buyers of the
1200 are: 1) On account of the 1200 being so recently brought to market, archivalquality
color inks aren't yet available for it. Several companies - including Epson
itself - are working on such inks (Quadtone inks are already available for the 1200,
I've been told); 2) Generally speaking, the bigger the file size, the better the print,
http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/printers/primer (18 of 36)7/3/2005 2:20:36 AM