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Hi Guys,
Well I went to the Mac World Expo at the Javits Center in NYC just to see the Epson 2200P in action. The Epson area was big and full of displays. Everybody was hanging around the 2200, and grabing prints off the tray before they hit. Lots of questions from all sorts of perspectives; I hung around there for hours. Several high end digital artists who beta tested it for Epson, using it as a proofing printer for their larger format printers. I can tell you what I learned.
First the good news. the print quality is stunning. Even the most jaded of users had trouble finding green cast or flattness in black areas. There are 7 ink colors, black, light black, magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, and yellow. Inks come in 7 seperate cartridges each retailing for $12. They had 2 kinds of black which they kept swapping in and out depending on the surface of the paper.
Now the not so good news. In order to increase the "gamma", color richness and saturation potential, they have cut the archival rating on the inks in half from the pigmented inks used in the 2000P. They were making claims of print life of 50 to 75 years using the Wilheim Standard. For single color b&w prints, they are maintaining the 150 year rating.
I have developed my production strategy so that I am using photo prints from a Chromira system which have a print life of 50 to 60 years. I came away wondering if prints from the 2200P weren't giving me a second product in the same niche in my product line. I am also wondering if we aren't being set up for a next generation of photo printing inks which have the qualities of both. I wonder if their engineers can manage to get the improved inks into a cartridge that fits the 2200P? Or if we are going to have to go out and buy yet another printer.
I am happy to have seen the 2200P in action. It chugs along printing 4 and 5 mg files in under 5 mins. I am glad I haven't pre-ordered it. The show was a blast, I told at least 50 people about Retouch Pro. I need to get out more! Gerry
Well I went to the Mac World Expo at the Javits Center in NYC just to see the Epson 2200P in action. The Epson area was big and full of displays. Everybody was hanging around the 2200, and grabing prints off the tray before they hit. Lots of questions from all sorts of perspectives; I hung around there for hours. Several high end digital artists who beta tested it for Epson, using it as a proofing printer for their larger format printers. I can tell you what I learned.
First the good news. the print quality is stunning. Even the most jaded of users had trouble finding green cast or flattness in black areas. There are 7 ink colors, black, light black, magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, and yellow. Inks come in 7 seperate cartridges each retailing for $12. They had 2 kinds of black which they kept swapping in and out depending on the surface of the paper.
Now the not so good news. In order to increase the "gamma", color richness and saturation potential, they have cut the archival rating on the inks in half from the pigmented inks used in the 2000P. They were making claims of print life of 50 to 75 years using the Wilheim Standard. For single color b&w prints, they are maintaining the 150 year rating.
I have developed my production strategy so that I am using photo prints from a Chromira system which have a print life of 50 to 60 years. I came away wondering if prints from the 2200P weren't giving me a second product in the same niche in my product line. I am also wondering if we aren't being set up for a next generation of photo printing inks which have the qualities of both. I wonder if their engineers can manage to get the improved inks into a cartridge that fits the 2200P? Or if we are going to have to go out and buy yet another printer.
I am happy to have seen the 2200P in action. It chugs along printing 4 and 5 mg files in under 5 mins. I am glad I haven't pre-ordered it. The show was a blast, I told at least 50 people about Retouch Pro. I need to get out more! Gerry
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