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.
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.

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