I thought I would share my brief experiences with the Epson 2200 printer. I have only had it a couple of weeks and only printed about 10 8x10's and 5 11.7x16.5 pictures. I am reading posts on the dpreview board to try and select the paper I want to use most often. You really have to take a lot the posts on that board with a grain of salt and read between the lines to get an informed opinion of the users experiences.

I've only used the "Enhanced Matt", or Archival Matt as it is now referred to, and the "Premium Luster" paper. I am bowled over by what I have seen so far. I really like those 2 papers a lot. I haven't chosen a glossy paper yet as I am still digesting others experiences with what they call the "Bronzing" problem. What it boils down to is the pigmented ink doesn't fully penetrate the resin coated glossy papers like dye based ink does. This result in the ink sitting on top of the paper to some extent. I am told that the "bronzing" is objectionable in areas of high ink density. This is not as visible with the luster papers and I have had to look real closely at my luster prints to see what they are talking about. Red River Paper states in one of their tips that if you reduce the ink density, which is selectable in the driver, you can eliminate this problem. Those that have tried it have said it does help a lot.

I have just received a sample pack of paper from Pictorico, Pictorico.com, with their offerings. They claim that their Professional Photo Gallery Hi-Gloss White Film , which has ceramic coating , doesn't have the bronzing effect at all. If this is true then I can see others following suit with the ceramic coated paper. Their Premium Photo Gallery glossy paper also doesn't exibit the bronzing effect. I will try them to see. The glossy white film is expensive at 2.00 for an 81/2 x 11.

I also have a sample of Red River papers for the 2200 that I will try, using their suggestions about density. I like the luster paper so much I may not use glossy very often.

The printer is big, really BIG, compared to my Epson 870. It's a lot faster than my 870. I can print at 1440 DPI in high speed mode and produce much better prints than my 870 can do at the same resolution in it's highest quality, and slowest, mode.

So far I can't say that I have any problems with this printer at all. I have the "Matt Black" cartridge and have tried the B&W mode on Matt paper and it's better than anything I have seen yet, but I don't have much experience printing B&W as my 870 doesn't do as good a job with B&W.

Well now you know as much as I do about the 2200. I hope this helps someone who is contemplating a purchase.:cool:

Kevin,
Thanks for taking the time to give us the low down on the Epson 2200. I've been curious about how the members who have it like it. You gave a marvelous review of it and the papers that work well with it.
I was curious about the ability to lessen the ink density to reduce the Bronzing. I think that occurs in the 2000 and now I'm curious if I can do that as well.
Well, I'm envious of your new toy. :) Have fun and if you find out other interesting things as you go along please pass them on. Sounds like a great machine but then again I'm sold on Epson all the way. :)
DJ

Thanks DJ. I forgot to mention that I have bought Epson premium luster, enhanced matt, and spare cartridges from atlex.com. They carry most of the Epson products and have them at the best price I have found to date. Cartridges for 8.90 and premium luster paper for 24.95, 50 count.

Thanks for the info! Keep us posted...I'm very interested in this printer. :) Any plans to print larger than 8x10?

Hi Greg, Yes I do have plans to print bigger than 8x10. I have already printed several 11x14's on A3 paper. I am looking at getting some 13x19 paper but am hung up on selecting matts and frames. It seems that 13x19 is not real common or I am looking at the Matt sizing wrong. Anyway I am looking at frame and matt sources now. Also I want to be sure of the paper I choose and because this size paper is so expensive I want to do a lot of tests on smaller sizes to be sure before I buy $100.00 worth of paper.

Kevin,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the 2200. I also have it and have been very happy with it (once I figured out color management.)

As far as mat/frame sizes for 13x19. YES - I have the same issue. I just finished a collage for my husband's 40th birthday and ended up printing it as a 12x16" on the 13x19" paper (then trimmed it down) b/c I could find a 12x16" frame, but not 13x19". I briefly considered purchasing a 18x24" frame and then matting the 13x19" print with 2.5" all around. But, I didn't think my husband would like something that big. So, I went with the 12x16" size for this project. But, I'd be interested in what else you're able to find!

Jeanie

Thanks for the review. I have been considering this as a printer as I only have A4 at the moment. At the moment I still have some waiting to do as the finances just aren’t there for another printer - hopefully sooner rather than later. I am at the moment thinking of turning my Epson into a dedicated B+W printer, but am not sure which is more viable as an option - getting the new or sticking with what I have got.

My one concern is that I had a bad experience with my current photo 750 printer. It broke down after about 6 months - just wouldn't clean its heads - phoned epson ( which took 45 mins just to get through - not a cheap call!) and they agreed to replace the printer. Printer number 2 worked for about 2 months and then the same problem turned up - again 45 minutes on the phone and another new printer. Printer number 3 seemed to work well until 1 day after the warranty ran out then died - same problem !!!!Ahhhh!!!!! Only through some very unorthodox talking/reasoning with Epson did they agree to repair it - I currently works on and off.

So my concern is that if I buy the new printer will my experience be deja vu or will the thing work past its warranty!!

I have also had 2 HP printers one is 8 years old - and not a single break down!

This sounds like a really good printer and I know that if I am going to print any of my art I should really be using it. Are my concerns justified? I think that's what I am asking

Please Help
Clare

Hi Jeaniesa, that's great that you also have the 2200. Maybe between the two of us we will be able to figure out all that we need to know about using this printer. I am going to solve the 13 x 19 question. I have several picture to art conversions that I want to print at 13 x 19 for display in my home. Also maybe able to sell this type of print while I am waiting to get my retouch business going.

Clare, I will report the bad with the good about this printer. I hope that the clogging will not be an issue but it is really too young a printer to have much data on. the 2200 has been on the market for more that a couple of months and so far I haven't seen any clogging complaints on the dpreview site.

I have had an Epson 870 for almost two years. In that time I have had no real clogging issues. Sure from time to time I had to give it a couple of cleaning cycles to get a perfect test print. I hope it continues to hold up now that it is my number 2 printer and not my primary.

Your 750 along with the 780 and 785 are the reason Epson got the label as a "clogging" printer. Most of the newer Epsons have been relatively trouble free. It's funny that last year when the new Canon's, the 900 and 9000, came out a lot of users cut down the Epson for it's clogging issues and touted that as their reason for switching to Canon. Then reality set in and now there are many significant clogging issues with the Canon's. It boils down to the fact that any inkjet that uses that same technology to print through 4 picoliter print heads is going to have problems with clogging to some extent. Otherwise why would they provide a test print and cleaning cycle so prominently in the driver.

I'll get off my soap box now. Anyway I hope the 2200 print head design is real good because pigment ink is more prone to clogging than dye ink.

Thanks Kevin for your input - It did not sound like a soap box to me

I was unaware that the 750 had such a bad name - why is it you only find out when you have bought the things! I have to occasionally clean my heads between 6-10 times just to get a print - and by then the cartridge is empty..... they said its a gromit (not the type that eats cheese!) under the print head that keeps going. Maybe I'll just go for the new printer and ditch it!

I hope Epson have come quite far from the head clogging days.

Keep up with the review I will be interested in its long term print quality - How many prints you get out of a set of cartridges and any other info you can share. Is it true that it has not Pizza wheels?

Thanks again
Clare

No, the 2200 still has the pizza wheels. I haven't seen any tracks in my prints yet. That brings up another point I failed to mention. Be careful what paper you use in this printer. Papers that are not designed to use this type of ink, this includes a lot of the current dye papers, will not absorb the ink right and pass through the output pizza wheels and rubber rollers while they are still wet. As you can imagine this causes quite a mess with ink all over the rollers. Selecting the right paper in the driver will allow the printer to control how fast the paper advances through the output rollers so as to prevent this. And since these incompatible papers are not listed you will be taking a chance.

This also means that the speed of this printer is due in part to how fast the paper/ink combination dries. I thought that this fact was amazing.

Kevin
That's an excellent point. I have the 2000 and I use only the paper recommended with that machine and I never use other inks or refills for that same reason. One of the things I noticed when I was buying it was all the reviews of other owners that told horror stories of having to clean ink off the wheels because of that. It just wasn't something I wanted to try. So far I haven't had that problem at all. I have to believe that's the reason.
I think alot of people belive that all inks and papers are the same and can be used with all printers, but as you pointed out the dyes are so much different to work with than the pigments. Good tip. :)
DJ

I printed an 8x10 on Pictorico premium photo glossy paper today. It does absorbe all of the ink and has no sign of bronzing. I plan on ordering more of this paper to get a better test but it seems as though it performs as I was told. I don't know why they list this paper as premium glossy because it is identical in color and texture to Epson's premium luster paper. Their premium photo gallery hi-gloss white film is a true glossy. So much so that you'ill need to be careful around bright lights because the reflection off this paper might blind someone.

I downloaded their color profiles to use with this paper but wasn't able to use the PPGP profile with Qimage Pro. I set it up like I would expect to utilize a Colorvision ICC profile, which is exactly what they used to generate the profile, but the print preview showed a big magenta cast. I believe that had I tried to print from PS7 I would have had better success. I simply set up the driver to use Epson P Luster, printed the image using Qimage Pro, and the print turned out very well. I think after I profile this paper in Profile Prism I will be turning out some very good prints.

One correction to my earlier report that the Pictorico premium glossy photo paper was like the Epson premium luster paper. The sample I printed was actually the premium gallery glossy paper. That paper is in every way like Epson's premium luster paper. The paper I received this week was the Pictorico premium glossy photo paper and it is a true glossy paper not a luster paper.

I'm very pleased with this new paper. It does fully absorb all the ink and does it very quickly. This paper is fully dry when it comes out of the printer. There is no layering, or "bronzing" as it has been labeled. I think this ceramic coating is the answer to the layering effect caused by the resin coated papers with pigment inks. This probably means that the Epson 2000P users can use this paper with the same great results. The metamerism reported by 2000p users would probably be eliminated with this paper. It would be worth a try.

I printed my first large glossy print yesterday. I used one of the 13 x 19" Pictorico PGPP papers and printed a 1500 x 1200 DPI image at 12 x 18 using Qimage Pro. The results were stunning. My first real test of Qimage's lanczos intrepolation. I was very impressed. Until now I had only been able to print 8 x 10's and you really can't get a feel for the process until you try to print a small image at 12 x 18.

I hope this helps someone.

Thanks Kevin, I may just give that paper a try on my 2000p and see how it goes. Can you get it most anywhere in local office supply or computer supply stores?
If you want to really compare it, put them in the sun and see if it fades faster than the recommended papers. Epson said the Glossy didn't work with the archival inks when I questioned them on it and I believe it was because it greatly reduced the longevity of the archival prints. I'm not really sure on this so it would be interesting to see how they hold up in bright sunlight.
DJ

DJ you can buy the paper from Pictorico online and pictorico.com. They say that Best Buy is a stocking dealer for them. I haven't tried to buy it there yet. The longevity of this paper is the same or a little better than Epson glossy papers. The Wilheim Institute site is not back up yet to check. He has done testing on this paper using the 2200, I can't wait to see his results. I need to get some of Epson's watercolor paper to see how well it works. Pictorico's water color paper is not supposed to be compatible with the 2200.

DJ;

I am wondering what matt paper you use with your 2000. I was very dissappointed with Epson's "Enhanced Matt", used to be called "Archive Matt" until they found out that it yellows in exposure to direct sunlight. I have tried all of Red River Paper's art paper and really like the results especially in black&white. What I don't like is having to manually feed through the "straight path" paper slot. But if that is what I need to do in order to get the best archival results then I will. This Epson 2200 is great for black&white.

Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the info on the Pictorico paper. I'll check into it. The Epson matte paper I use is specifically recommended for the 2000P It's the Archival Matte Paper #S041341 I haven't noticed any yellowing at all with it but I haven't really done any direct sun tests. Like my inks, I have to order the paper online because no office supply store carries that specific type. It would be nice to see the difference in black and white prints from the 2200 and the 2000. Personally, I never really thought the black and whites were bad on the 2000 but not seeing a side by side might change my mind.
DJ

That Epson Archival Matt is the same paper that I have. My A3 Epson Archival Matt is #S0141343. If you look on their site they show the "Enhanced Matt" roll paper as having the same coating as the Archival Matt. The Atlex.com site which is where I buy my Epson paper and ink shows the Enhanced Matt as being the same paper as the Archival Matt. I originally ordered the Enhanced Matt from their site and the Archival Matt is what they sent me. Some users on the dpreview site have tested the Archival Matt in the sunlight and it yellowed fairly bad in a short period of time. The word is that soon the official name for this paper will be changed to "Enhanced Matt". Wilhelm also downgraded this paper to about 30 years at 450 Lux under glass. You will notice that on the Epson site, the description details on this paper fail to make any mention about it's archival qualities. I wish Wilhelm would get his site back up.

I don't know how the 2200 differs from the 2000 on black & white. I assumed that the 2000 has always done a good job in that area. But compared to my old Photo 870 there is a great deal of difference.

I didn't know that about the Archival matt and Enhanced matt being the same. Did you happen to notice if the prices were the same? Altex is where I buy my printer products too. They are very reliable and they have the best prices of the competing online office supply companies. I also wasn't aware that the paper turned yellow in the sun. Boy, to think of all the time and effort I've wasted applying sepia to the prints. :D Thanks for the info.
DJ

I have found an additional source for papers for the 2200. Inkjetart.com has an extensive selection of papers that are compatible with the Epson 2200 and 2000P. From what I can see there is no shortage of papers available for these printers. They have quite a listing here :

http://www.inkjetart.com/EpsonStylusPhoto2200/media.html

They have a new paper "Inkjetart Micro Ceramic Luster". It is supposed to be identical to the Epson Premium Luster except that is is ceramic coated and doen't exibit the bronzing effect. I can't find what archival rating this paper has but it must be there somewhere. I haven't tried this paper yet. But I plan to.

Had my first hic-up with the 2200 this week. I printed an 11 x 14 image and after about 3 inches the yellow head plugged. I of course wasn't there watching so I dscovered this after the fact. One cleaning cycle cleared the problem. Guess I should print a test pattern before any major image job, it might save ink and paper. This is the only slight problem I have seen yet.

Pigment inks are bad for that. I've found out the hard way on my 2000P and now pretty much do a test print before printing anything. Even after a few good prints I will now run a quick test print because I've printed more than a couple copies just fine then all of a sudden one cartridge get's clogged. Mostly my black. It cleans up real well but I hate running a clean on it and wasting ink. I consider ink liquid Gold. :)
DJ

I thought I would post my experiences with some glossy paper. I bought some Red River Ultra Pro Gloss paper. This is a very nice paper for any glossy application. It is a 68lb weight paper. I used their suggestion, Red River Paper, and reduced the ink density by 10% to reduce the bronzing effect. This suggestion has worked well with the Luster paper, but, sadly it doesn't fully eliminate the bronzing on this high gloss paper. I knew that the glossy papers showed this worse than the others. This was my first experience with a high gloss paper.

Now I don't know if this would be objectionable to everyone. It doesn't bother me a lot but I might think about asking a client before printing commercial work on this paper. You have to hold the prints just right in the light to see the problem. My recommendation to anyone would be to try the glossy paper with the 2200 to see if it bothers you.

I plan on using this paper for printing the Christmas party shap shots for the family members. I'll see if I get any comments on the prints.

Thanks for posting your observations Kevin. They were very helpful.
DJ

Good Day Kevin,

I will be purchasing an Epson 2200 as soon as they are available (Yes, there is a HUGE waiting list in Canada), but I had a question to ask you.

I've read on the DPreview forums that changing from the Epson Photo black to Matte Black wastes a lot of ink. Do you feel this is a valid statement? An article on Inkjetart states that it only costs around U$1.00 to switch the inks.

This would be important for me because I would be printing a mix of glossy and matte prints... or I could use my Canon S820 for glossy prints with my Ilford papers... but that's another story.

Thanks for the help!

Eric Polsinelli

Hi Eric. I hope you are able to get your 2200 soon. I had to wait about two weeks before I was able to get mine. I got on the waiting list at B&H Photo and as promised they sent me a message when there was one available. They are a big Epson dealer and seem to be able to get more of the 2200 than others.

About the Matt Black swap out, I agree with what Inkjetart states. It really doesn't waste a lot of ink, I would compare it to a cleaning cycle. I have switched between the matt and photo black cartridge many times and have not noticed a lot of ink being wasted. I do try to plan my printing jobs so that I minimize the number of times that I make this switch. I'm not a high volume printer since most of my jobs are restoration so I may not be a good judge of this event.

If you plan to do a lot of printing I would recomment that you stock up on replacement cartridges. The ink cartridges are also in heavy demand and are hard to get at times. I have on hand a complete set of replacement cartridges and another set of the light colors, light cyan, light magenta, light black, and yellow. I buy most of my Epson cartridges and paper from www.atlex.com since they have the best prices. The last order I made from them they were or of stock on light cyan & light magenta.

I hope this helps you.

Thanks Kevin,

I actually work for one of Epson Canada's distributors, so we receive produt before stores do... hehe

All my Inks and Epson papers will be purchased at work, but I will most likley try different brands of papers (is Red River any good for the 2200?).

One of my concernes was the ink "wastage" during ink swaps, but my mind is at ease now. THANKS!

Hey, that's cheating, I guess you will get a good price too. Just kidding. Yes, Red River makes excellent papers for use with the 2200. In fact they are mentioned directly by Epson as a alternative source for paper for the 2200. I also use papers from Inkjetart.com and Pictorico.com.

Hehe... yes, it is cheating, but what can I do.

Thanks again for the help.

Kevin,

Another thing. :)

I have noticed that the 2200 cannot print borderless on Matte / Art papers... do you find this to be a problem, or do you have a way to work around this?

Thank you for your time.

Eric, this hasn't presented a problem for me. I almost always print on standard sized paper and trim the prints. The only times I have used the borderless feature is when I have printed 4 x 6 prints on roll paper. I usually print 8 x 10 on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and 11 x 14 on A3 paper.

It's possible that the 2200 cannot bleed to the edge with that type of paper.

That's what I thought.

You know, it's funny how I keep reading that many people are using the 2100 drivers (UK version of the 2200) for their 2200's! For some reason the 2100 allow you to print borderless prints on your 2200.

Strange but true.

Thanks!

EricP

Somewhere today I read about how the 2100 was a much better printer than the 2200 and that is the one you should try and get, it is the euro model? So how would you go about getting it?

Well I have read that the only plus' for the 2100 over the 2200 is that it supports CD printing, it includes the grey balancer software and it's drivers will allow you to print borderless on art papers.

The hardware on both machines should perform equally.

the gray balancer software that makes a whole big difference but i have heard it is superior to the 2200, just not sure how to get it over here

There have been mixed reviews about the gray balancer software. I personally use Profile Prism to calibrate my scanner and printers. Epson stated that the software was not easy to use and was causing them a lot of support issues. I agree that printer profiling software really isn't ready for prime time. I can see where the average user would have problems understanding and getting good results from that type of software.

I would like to have the CD printing feature though. I haven't found out why they removed that feature.

Kevin,

My "real" job is with a computer peripheral company that supplies Epson (and Canon) products. We were told that the 2200 did not include the CD printing option because it was alredy patented by another company... all this made sense to me until the Epson Photo 960 started to come with a CD printing option.

Now I'm just confused.

Hey Kevin,

I just received my Epson Photo 2200 yesterday! Man is it ever BIG :eek:

My first print using the canned Epson drivers and PGPP turned out much better than I would hope for.

Do you use the included ICC profiles are do use another kind? I keep reading the canned profiles are no good, but it makes me wonder if the user isn't configuring their printer/software properly and end up with bad results because of it.

Hi Eric, glad you have your 2200 now. I use Profile Prism software to create ICC profiles for my printers and scanner. This is the same guy who wrote Qimage Pro, which I also use. I have had very good results with both of Mike's programs.

I have printed on Epson papers using just the driver software, no ICC profile, with very good results. If you use Epson papers you might not need anything else.

I'm looking into the Monaco software for profiling, but it seems too expensive right now.

Have you ever tried Legion brand papers? There is a major retailer here in Toronto that carries the full line of Legion papers, and their canvas/art papers seem to be priced just right.

Eric, I recommend that you take a look at Profile Prism software, available at www.ddisoftware.com . I have been very pleased with the results I get and it is not expensive, $69.00. It does require that you have a fairly good scanner, some are using the 1240U and 1260U Epsons and other inexpensive scanners with good results. I have an Epson 2450 and I have been getting very good profiles. With this software you can also profile your scanner and camera.

I haven't tried Legion papers. Be sure that the paper you try is compatible with pigmented inks. It can get disasterously messy if the ink isn't absorbed by the paper. If you use non-Epson papers you might need a color profiling software. I use Red river Papers, Pictorico papers, and other papers I buy from Inkjetart.com. There are many paper choices out there.

Thanks again Kevin,

I should take a look at Profile Prism. I have an Epson Perfection 2400 Photo, so it counts as a good scanner ;)

The Legion website contains ICC profiles for the 2200 for use on many of their papers. Check out the website and tell me what you think http://www.legionpaper.com/

I don't know where my mind was. The name Legion didn't ring a bell for some reason. I looked at my paper shelf and then it hit me. I have some Legion Somerset Velvet paper. This paper is being produced for Epson so I guess it will be OK in the 2200 lol. I think that Red River also produces some of the Epson papers.

So much for some of my earlier statements.

Haha, that's funny.

Do you find their paper any good? I'm interested in purchasing one of the sample packs which include their canvas and somerset papers.

I haven't used but about three sheets of the Somerset Velvet paper. I can't make a judgment on personally but I have heard good things about it. Also, if it is good enough for epson, it's good enough for me. The Epson Velvet Fine Art paper is the same paper as Legion's Somerset Photo Enhanced Professional Digital Art Paper. That's a mouth full.

I’ve finally unpacked my 2200, which had remained in its box for the past six weeks as I just moved. I am hoping to start printing in a few days.

What advice can you all give me on whether to use some of the software that came bundled with the printer program?

I’ve been doing all my printing with PS7.

Thanks for any help and tips.

Alan

Hi Alan, Glad you finally got the printer unpacked. The software that comes with the printer is OK. I used the Epson Filmfactory for a while when I bought my Epson 870. It's an OK program. The program I use to print most of my work is Qimage Pro from www.ddisoftware.com . I first bought it simply because it could print 3 4x6 pictures on one 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper and Filmfactory couldn't. Try Filmfactory you might like it. I haven't used and of the rest of the software that comes with the printer. I have other programs that I use in every case.

Hi Kevin,

I finally got to print, but it was not a good start. I’m sure that it is something that I’m not doing correctly and checking the manual, etc. will do the trick.

However, since I printed after midnight and I will not be able to get back to printing for several days, I thought that I would ask for some online help.

The print, matte, had five black lines about 1-1-2” apart and 1/8” wide the full length of the page. It looks to me like they are roller tracks since you can see treads.

The image is also blurred and distorted, which is probably due to the spacing for the paper.

I was wondering why the rollers, if that is the cause of the lines, would be picking up the ink on the first print.

Do you print from PhotoShop?

TIA for your help. I am looking forward to making great prints once I’m on track.

Alan

Hi Alan, you didn't mention what paper you were using. If the ink is being picked up by the rollers then the paper isn't allowing the ink to dry within the normal time span. This is usually caused by the paper not absorbing the ink fast enough. Off hand I think you have a problem with the paper you are using. The paper you use needs to be specificaly for pigment inks. Some papers by Kodak and also some designed for use in dye based ink printers will behave just as you mentioned.

If you are using Epson paper designed for use in the 2200 then you have a driver or setting problem. Try printing at 1440 DPI or increasing the drying time in the driver setting. I use only papers that specifically state that they have been tested for use by an Epson 2200.

Hope this helps you.

I'm using the enhanced matte paper recommended by Epson. I probably did not set the printer properly. I tend to agree with you as to what the problem is.

I quess that I'll have to clean the rollers.


Alan

Enhanced Matt paper brings up another question. Are you using the proper black cartridge? What you describe can be caused by using the photo black ink cartridge with matt paper. It sounds like you are not using the matt black cartridge?

Kevin,

You may be right. I'll check it out tonight.

Alan

Epson's manual indicated that both the photo and matt black inks are compatable with the enhanced matt paper.

I'm off for the day, so I'll check with Epson on this.

Alan

Hi Kevin,

The problem is solved. It is all a matter of having the proper settings.

I had printed using the automatic mode. Adobe recommended to use the photo enhance button and then choose the applicable selection, ie. nature, person, etc.

They recomended the automatic mode for documents, not pictures.

Also, both blacks work fine with the enhanced matte paper, but they recommend using the black matte.

I'm sure that I'll have to do considerable experimenting with the various setting, but at least on the right track.

Thanks again for your timely comments.

Alan

Good, I'm glad you solved the problem. I guess it's the other way around, they don't recommend the matt black for any of the glossy papers. Anyway it's good that you are working OK now.

Hi Kevin,

I'm inching along as time permits during the week.

I saw more background detail in a print that I made with premium glossy. I compared it with a print made with HP630. The other difference was that the 2200 print was not the final, adjusted image that was used for the HP print.

At first glance, the print looked the same. However, the details in the background such as ripples in the water, showed more detail and colors not evident in the HP print.

None of this is earth shaking, but I'm much more optimistic that I will do just fine with the 2200 once I can really devote some time.

Alan

Thought I would give you some of the information I have been collecting over the past few months. There is still a lot I don't know about the UltraChrome ink set. I have searched high and low and have been able to gleen some information but not as much as I would like. There isn't much in print about the really technical side of inkjet printing. I guess the manufacturers believe that too much information is not good so some of the data still lingers in a shroud of secrecy. Here is what I have learned so far.

The UltraChrome inks are a superset version of the archival inks that Epson uses in the 2000p and the 10000 line of archival printers. The difference is the UltraChrome inks are micro-encapsulated and have a wider gammut, which seems to have reduced the archival rating somewhat. The Epson 2000p has a better light fastness and thus better archival qualities. How did Epson increase the Gammut of the UltraChrome inks and end up with a lower archival rating? I can't find the answer to this question anywhere but I suspect that the UltraChrome ink is a hybrid ink possibly containing some dye.

The Epson 2000p pigment ink is not encapsulated like the UltraChrome ink which is why it cannot be used with most of the resin coated glossy papers. It will not penetrate the swellable polymer coating and can be rubbed off even after it has dried. The UltraChrome "matt" black ink is also not encapsulated and should not be used with the RC glossy papers for the same reasons.

The "bronzing" effect that is evident in the 2200 prints only happens on RC coated papers. This is caused by the pigmented ink particles being so much larger that dye particles. The swellable RC coating absorbs the larger pigment particles and isn't able to fully retract back into the paper base because of the size of the particles. As a result is appears that the ink is sitting on top of the paper, especially in areas of heavy ink usage. The ceramic coated papers do not have this problem as the porous ceramic coating fully absorbs the ink and dries rapidly.

If you are still awake I'll go on. What I am not able to determine is whether the porous ceramic coated papers have the same archival ratings as the RC coated papers when used with UltraChrome inks. The only information I have on this is from Inkjetart.com who says that the Epson Permium Luster paper has both an RC coating and a ceramic coating, the ceramic being on top. Wilhelm has tested this paper with UltraChrome inks and has given it a descent rating.

I know that canon inkjet printers have a very poor fade rating when used with their papers which are ceramic coated. This much is known, that dye based inks do not last as well with the ceramic coated papers because the porous coating allows air contact with the dye particles which causes gas fading. The swellable resin coatings encapsulate the ink particles and offer better protection against gas fade and offer water proof pictures. Now do pigment inks have the same gas fading potential as dye inks? If this is true then the ceramic papers are not as good for archival prints as RC papers.

I hope I have not confused anybody anymore than I am. I hope to get some more answers soon. If I have mistated anything please let me know. Part of the purpose of this post is to incourage others to tell me what they know. I really have more questions than answers.

Kevin,

Here are some pages with info on the Ultrachrome inks... by the way I just LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE MY 2200! :D

http://www.dp-now.com/news/Apr2002/dpnnews188/dpnnews188a/dpnnews188a.html

http://www.knoware.epson.com/Pages/Library/RefMat/Refs/inkjet/ultratech.pdf


Here is also one of the most interesting 2200 sites I have ever seen: http://www.anestoday.com/epson2200/ The writer goes into details on how to refill your 2200 using SP7600 OR 9600 untrachrome inks.

Thanks Eric. That's just the type of information I am looking for. Now I have some more information to read. I am still looking for information on ceramic coating and UltraChrome inks. It looks like Epson has designed the UltraChrome inks for resin coated paper. The encapsulation in the ink is resin based.

ooohhhhhhhhh...... all the talk about this nice printer (which I've been eyeing) is making my credit card itchy ;)

Kevin,
I am new to this forum and have read your posts on this thread with real interest. I thought you might be interested in the Yahoo Group for Epson 2000p,2100 and 2200. In this forum I read about a product that you can get from inkjetart that adds to the archival life of prints made with Epson inks.

Included in this post was a reference to a report from www.wilhelm-research.com.This group has a lot of information on inks and paper for these three printers.

I currently have a 2000p and find that when I print regularly I have no problems with inks or objectionable color cast on the paper. However, if the printer sits for any length of time. The ink gets old and the prints lean toward a green cast.

I am hoping to get a 2200 soon.

Regards,
Pat

Hi Pat. Welcome to Retouch Pro!. Thanks for your comments and the links. I think I have read that report you mention. The article I read was from Inkjetart.com about the Premier Art "Print Shield" lacquer spray. I have recently purchased a can of that spray lacquer and have to use it but I plan on it soon. From what I have read in the Wilhelm report the spray will boost the longivity by quite a bit.

There are several 2000P owners on this forum. It's still more archival than the 2200 but maybe this spray will help level the playing field.

I'll look up the Yahoo group you mentioned. Sounds like a good source for information.

Hi there:

I'm new to this forum; lots of information. We have a Epson 9600 and also a 2200 which we use for smaller watercolour prints, photos and posters. The Epson watercolour papers we have used have produced very lovely prints. I too really like the premium luster paper. We use the 9600 for canvas prints and tried one on the 2200 the other day. There were track marks running all along the print. I have now found that a company, Premier Imaging Products sells a canvas that is quick drying and solves that problem. I haven't tried it yet but will order some soon and do some tests on both printers. Also, we recently ordered some of the Premier Art Print Shield and used it on a few canvas prints. I just stretched the first two and they turned out beautifully. I really like this spray; up to now I've been mixing my own concoction so this is easier and gives really nice results. I've been emailing someone from the company and they're very helpful and answered all my questions. I did try the spray on watercolour paper as well and it works well but with the Epson paper I don't think it's really necessary because the ink doesn't rub off like I've heard it does on some papers.

Maddy

http://www.tarrisimaging.ca

Matt, you can try this kit for epson 2200

http://www.inkrepublic.com/ProductDetail.asp?item=2200

their ultra pigment ink is great and has same performance like epson's