Epson 2200 - My first impressions

[KevinBE]

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.

[DJ Dubovsky]

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

[KevinBE]

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.

[G. Couch]

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

[KevinBE]

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.

[jeaniesa]

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

[clare]

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

[KevinBE]

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.

[clare]

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

[KevinBE]

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.

[DJ Dubovsky]

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

[KevinBE]

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.

[KevinBE]

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.

[DJ Dubovsky]

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

[KevinBE]

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.