Photo Printing

I thought I would post in printers and printing because no one has in a couple of weeks. I currently print photos with a Canon Pro 200. My first photo printer was an Epson 1160 which I think I bought around the turn of the millennium. I used this with Lyson inks because they were somewhat more fade resistant than the Epson inks at the time. I later used this printer with pigmented inks. I got surprisingly good results with this four ink printer. I used this printer until I bought an HP 8750. I used HP inks in this printer. Using HP's special paper with their inks produced a very high quality fade resistant print. The only drawback was you were very limited with the paper you could use. I have photos on my wall from this printer that show no fading after many years. I then decided to buy an Epson 1400. I used this printer with third party pigmented inks. I got good results slightly better than the Epson 1160. Of course I ended up with many clogs. So, I moved on to an Epson R2000. I got very good results with this printer. I used Epson inks. As the printer got older, the more clogs it produced. Finally this past year I got rid of it and bought the Canon Pro 200. It seems that the dye inks in this printer aren't that much less fade resistant than the pigmented inks. So far I haven't had a clog and I love the results. I get both great color and B&W prints. I wish Canon would make a larger dye based printer with larger ink cartridges. The end.
Bob

I think luck is involved also.
Bob

Hi Bob, how do you find the epson pigments, do the reds fade over time ? my canon pro 10s reds fade and skin tones loose the richness ,im thinking of the new epson 8550 with bottle ink they say prints will last 300 years in an album, do you know anything about these printers, they are not cheap but the inks are. Im a little hesitant with claims as the prints will be sold and cant get any feed back from people that have them.

I have an Epson P600 and use Epson pigment inks.

Over the years I have had very few issues with clogging but I use the printer fairly regularly. If a week goes by without having used the printer I normally run a nozzle check and print a 5 x 7in test print to keep the ink moving.

Any clogging has always been cleared up to now with 1-3 max. head cleans.

Hi Donald, I;m pretty sure you are replying to the other Bob but, with my Epson R2000 printer with Epson pigmented inks I never experienced any fading. I think the Epson 8550 will be fairly fade resistant. I ended up buying the Canon Pro 200 because it was more fade resistant, close to pigmented inks. I'm very tempted to buy the Epson 8550 for note cards. I hope this helps.
Bob

cant get many user feed back for the epson 8850. image quality looks good for a 6 ink printer, i also need to print cards as well as photos.

I've got three Epsons, an SC-P5000, ET-8550 and an ET-16680. They all have their strengths and weaknesses; the P5000 prints the best quality and has a generally excellent feed, but has minor clogs pretty much weekly. The ET-8550 prints almost as well, and has very few clogs, but the most feed issues. The ET-16680 has the least clog and feed issues, but doesn't really print serious photo quality. Horses for courses, between them they serve me well overall.

I have been printing since about 1966, both color and B&W wet darkrooms. When it comes to color printing, we should all be thankful that digital inkjet printing has arrived.

For no reason in particular, I began my inkjet printing with Epson printers and and am still using them. Currently, I am using a P5000 printer and am very satisfied - with two huge caveats:

This, and those printers above in the Epson line (P6000, etc.), are "commercial" models that are designed for frequent use. I run a Qimage "Print/Schedule Unclog Jobs (purge Sheets)... job every other day or so. Otherwise these models are not as clog tollearent as, say, the P900 and below.

Second, I would not think for obtaining one of these printers without paying for the extended warranty. If something happens to your "new" printer in the 13th month of ownership, it will probably make more sense to buy an new one than have the old one serviced. At least that is my experience.

With these recommendations, I count the P5000 as a good purchase decision, if it is in the range of your printing volume and print size.

Dick Frederick

how does the print longevety hold up with the ET-8550 can you put a print in a sink full of water and wipe it dry with now ink bleeding.

Donald, I'm just curious, why would you want to put a print in a sink full of water?
Bob

Dick, I have also been printing in a wet darkroom both B&W and color since 1966. Of course I printed B&W first. I agree 100% with your statement when it comes to color printing we should be thankful for digital inkjet printing.
Bob

Funnily enough, I haven't tried the test in question. That said, I have noticed that when I print cards with large-ish black areas on matt paper the black is vulnerable to slight smearing, which I haven't experienced with the same card on previous printers.

You are curious, we all are curious.😏
When I got my hands on Epson 9800 years ago, I made two identical prints with it, let them dry one day and put the other one overnight in a sink full of water, wiped it dry and dried fully in the morning and compared those two prints. I did not see differences in those; I was satisfied.
I did it because I was curious.😎

Thanks for your input. I'm going to try this with dye based inks. I would never of thought to put prints in a sink full of water but, what the heck. I don't have the patience to wait overnight, but I'll give it an hour or so.
Bob

Well, I tried it. I soaked a print that I printed on my Pro 200 dye based printer. I didn't soak it overnight, but long enough to make sure it was saturated. It was printed on Red River Ultra Pro Satin. I took the print out of the water and wiped it off with a paper towel. I also had a reference print. The water soaked print looked just as good as the reference. I don't know what this proves, but it works.
Bob

I haven't looked into it, but I'm not sure if there is a third party ink available for the XP15000. I know it's more expensive, but I think in the long run you'll be happier using the Epson inks. The Epson inks should last longer without fading and also should have less of a chance of clogging. Also, if you have to refill cartridges, that can be a pain in the neck.
Bob

One other thing, I think the ink that came with the printer should still be good.
Bob