Looking for a good photo printer

LO
Posted By
Luis ORTEGA
Jan 17, 2008
Views
1736
Replies
41
Status
Closed
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.

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J
JD
Jan 17, 2008
Luis Ortega wrote:
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
I use an Epson Stylus Photo R260 and get pretty good results on Epson photo paper.

Look for a printer with five colors and black and individual ink tanks. The R260 does that. The five colors are cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, and yellow. The printer cost less than $100 but that’s because six high capacity cartridges cost more than the printer. You can only get the high capcity cartridges directly from Epson. I don’t work for Espon nor do I own their stock.

The older Espons used to clog but I haven’t had that problem with the R260.

Staples has the next version: Epson Stylus R280 Photo Printer for $100. Probably no Staples in the UK? I’m in the US.


JD..
W
Woody
Jan 17, 2008
"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results. I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.

Epsons produce good results but use a lot of ink in the cleaning process. You can get ink carts from other manufacturers at a fraction of Epson prices and in most cases the ink is acceptably good. However you must use an Epson printer at least once a week or it will dry up. They are also programmed to stop working – period – after so many sheets of paper have been printed, ISTR 100000 or something like that.

Canon have caught up in the photo stakes enormously in the last few years, and they are significantly quicker than most Epsons. Of the more modern machines (with chipped carts) there are few if any alternative cart suppliers.

HP are a good halfway house, especially if you use their own paper. Many (but not all) HP carts are refillable, and they have the advantage that you get a new head with each cart.

LexMark are quite good but you will have difficulty getting alternative suppliers of carts as they are reputedly very litigious in the cart copyright area. When the ink runs out you buy a new printer as the carts alone are more expensive than the original cost of the printer including carts!

Most of the above use chipped cartridges which show as empty when there is as much as 30% ink still left. Epson will stop working at that point and IME experience need a full new set of carts. You can however download software of the net that can fool the machine into ignoring the cart chips. Canon gives you the option to ignore the alarm. Can’t speak for HP.


Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
JM
James McNangle
Jan 17, 2008
"Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers?

I have a Canon Pixma Pro 9000 A3 printer. It uses 8 inks and gives excellent results, does borderless printing (with some stupid restrictions on paper sizes), and the feed mechanism seems to be very robust. However the running cost is decidedly high. I gather it gets through a lot of ink just ensuring the nozzles are clear, whether or not you are actually using that colour.

James McNangle
T
Trev
Jan 17, 2008
Woody wrote:
"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results. I would appreciate any firsthand experience please. Thanks for any advice.

Epsons produce good results but use a lot of ink in the cleaning process. You can get ink carts from other manufacturers at a fraction of Epson prices and in most cases the ink is acceptably good. However you must use an Epson printer at least once a week or it will dry up. They are also programmed to stop working – period – after so many sheets of paper have been printed, ISTR 100000 or something like that.
Canon have caught up in the photo stakes enormously in the last few years, and they are significantly quicker than most Epsons. Of the more modern machines (with chipped carts) there are few if any alternative cart suppliers.

HP are a good halfway house, especially if you use their own paper. Many (but not all) HP carts are refillable, and they have the advantage that you get a new head with each cart.

LexMark are quite good but you will have difficulty getting alternative suppliers of carts as they are reputedly very litigious in the cart copyright area. When the ink runs out you buy a new printer as the carts alone are more expensive than the original cost of the printer including carts!

Most of the above use chipped cartridges which show as empty when there is as much as 30% ink still left. Epson will stop working at that point and IME experience need a full new set of carts. You can however download software of the net that can fool the machine into ignoring the cart chips. Canon gives you the option to ignore the alarm. Can’t speak for HP.

In the case of HP Its just a counter on the computer, that also remembers the count on the Last 3 carts Should you place one back in. You are able to just ignore and keep using the cart until it runs out of ink


Trev
You can always tell a Yorkshire man,
But you can’t tell him much.
R
ronviers
Jan 17, 2008
On Jan 17, 12:46 pm, "Luis Ortega" wrote:
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.

I know this is going to sound crazy – especially since I have almost zero knowledge of printing. But in my experience I have found that the price/quality ramp, whether it’s cameras, sound systems, laptops, desktops etc., plateaus around $2000. I think manufacturers do this on purpose. Personally I would look at whatever BH Photo has to offer for around $1800-$2200 and buy that. That said, and with approximately 3 minutes worth of shopping I like these:

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF5100
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/526651-REG/Canon_2157B 002AA_imagePROGRAF_iPF5100_Large_Format.html

Epson Stylus Pro 4880
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/518784-REG/Epson_SP488 0K3_Stylus_Pro_4880_Inkjet.html

Good luck,
Ron
B
babaloo
Jan 17, 2008
IMHO
The reason Epson should remain the top, but not only choice, for most users is that Epson manufacturers a wide variety of paper surfaces and bundles good canned paper profiles for Epson papers with their printers. This makes achieving high quality results somewhat easier with Epson printers and Epson papers with less futzing.
Epson ink is expensive and you have to be religious about avoiding clogs. I highly recommend the Epson r1800 for photo printing. If you do not want to deal with gloss optimizers for glossy prints, really a non-issue, then I would get without hesitation the new replacement for the venerable ink based 1280, the model number escapes me.
My experience with the previous generation of Canon printers was very frustrating as I did not find Canon’s profiles for the pitiful few paper surfaces they sell to be as reliable as Epson’s and Canon’s methods for color management unintuitive and not necessarily reliable. Perhaps this has changed with newer drivers, but since Canon still does not sell a variety of paper surfaces with canned profiles (matte or glossy, take your pick) you are on your own in this regard. Also Canon, more than other printer vendors, tends to sell "new" generation printers that use the same ink as prior generation printers so they are hardly "new," just repackaged. Most of the reviews I have read of newer high end HP printers (apart from the massive roll paper professional uints which appear to be the state of the art) are from sites where issues about color management are not considered. However the reviews have been favorable and HP sells more paper types than Canon.
D
Dave
Jan 18, 2008
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:07:59 +1100, James McNangle
wrote:

"Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers?

I have a Canon Pixma Pro 9000 A3 printer. It uses 8 inks and gives excellent results, does borderless printing (with some stupid restrictions on paper sizes), and the feed mechanism seems to be very robust. However the running cost is decidedly high. I gather it gets through a lot of ink just ensuring the nozzles are clear, whether or not you are actually using that colour.
James McNangle

James, click on this link.
http://www.inksaver.com/overview/index.html

Dave
OR
Owen Ransen
Jan 18, 2008
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:46:00 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.

I’m very happy with my EPSON Photo 2100 which does A4 and A3.

Easy to use graphics effects:
http://www.ransen.com/
W
Waterspider
Jan 18, 2008
"flambe" wrote in message

My experience with the previous generation of Canon printers was very frustrating as I did not find Canon’s profiles for the pitiful few paper surfaces they sell to be as reliable as Epson’s and Canon’s methods for color management unintuitive and not necessarily reliable. Perhaps this has changed with newer drivers, but since Canon still does not sell a variety of paper surfaces with canned profiles (matte or glossy, take your pick) you are on your own in this regard.

I have a Canon Pixma 9000 and am totally satisfied with it.

Contradictory to what you say, there are 18 surface profiles, including a variety of gloss, semigloss and matte papers as well as canvas, rag, Hagaki, board, other fine art papers and even t-shirt transfer paper.
W
Woody
Jan 18, 2008
"flambe" wrote in message
IMHO
The reason Epson should remain the top, but not only choice, for most users is that Epson manufacturers a wide variety of paper surfaces and bundles good canned paper profiles for Epson papers with their printers.
This makes achieving high quality results somewhat easier with Epson printers and Epson papers with less futzing.
Epson ink is expensive and you have to be religious about avoiding clogs.
I highly recommend the Epson r1800 for photo printing. If you do not want to deal with gloss optimizers for glossy prints, really a non-issue, then I would get without hesitation the new replacement for the venerable ink based 1280, the model number escapes me. My experience with the previous generation of Canon printers was very frustrating as I did not find Canon’s profiles for the pitiful few paper surfaces they sell to be as reliable as Epson’s and Canon’s methods for color management unintuitive and not necessarily reliable. Perhaps this has changed with newer drivers, but since Canon still does not sell a variety of paper surfaces with canned profiles (matte or glossy, take your pick) you are on your own in this regard. Also Canon, more than other printer vendors, tends to sell "new" generation printers that use the same ink as prior generation printers so they are hardly "new," just repackaged.
Most of the reviews I have read of newer high end HP printers (apart from the massive roll paper professional uints which appear to be the state of the art) are from sites where issues about color management are not considered. However the reviews have been favorable and HP sells more paper types than Canon.

My original comment was only based on expereince. I have an Epson R200 and a Canon IP4300 both of which produce superb photo results even though the Epson is six-colour but the Canon only five. The Canon however is significantly (perhaps 3x) quicker than the Epson.

As for paper I think I can honestly say that, whilst the result differences between Epson paper and other manufacture is quite noticable on the Epson, the difference gained by using Canon paper is not so marked.

I regularly use a gloss paper from Aldi or gloss or silk papers from Partner/Stationery Box the latter being own brand and the results are little different on Canon paper. The Aldi paper works well on the Epson but the Partner does not seem so good.

One thing that is noticable is drying time. Canon on Canon or Epson on Epson is pretty well dry as it comes out of the machine. I once printed A4 using the Epson on HP paper and it took nearly an hour to dry thoroughly!


Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
B
Boskey
Jan 18, 2008
"flambe" wrote in message
IMHO
My experience with the previous generation of Canon printers was very frustrating as I did not find Canon’s profiles for the pitiful few paper surfaces they sell to be as reliable as Epson’s and Canon’s methods for color management unintuitive and not necessarily reliable. Perhaps this has changed with newer drivers, but since Canon still does not sell a variety of paper surfaces with canned profiles (matte or glossy, take your pick) you are on your own in this regard. Also Canon, more than other printer vendors, tends to sell "new" generation printers that use the same ink as prior generation printers so they are hardly "new," just repackaged.
I am a former Epson printer user that simply got tired of the continual print head clogging. All the papers and profiles available are worthless if the printer can not work properly. I only used refilled cartridges once in an old Photo EX, but all have had clogged head problems.

I gave up on Epson and now own a Canon Pro9000 and really like the product. Canon does have a sizeable variety of papers available and good profiles to match. Heck, I’ve even printed on Epson Glossy and it looked great using the canned profiles. Granted the Canon does get clogged heads as well, but not as often. When it does I can at least remove the head and clean it or replace the head without sending the entire printer out for repairs. As for dye vs pigment, I have many Epson dye prints still around so I see this as no deal breaker for any manufacturer.
D
Dave
Jan 18, 2008
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:04:02 -0600, "Boskey"
wrote:

"flambe" wrote in message
IMHO
My experience with the previous generation of Canon printers was very frustrating as I did not find Canon’s profiles for the pitiful few paper surfaces they sell to be as reliable as Epson’s and Canon’s methods for color management unintuitive and not necessarily reliable. Perhaps this has changed with newer drivers, but since Canon still does not sell a variety of paper surfaces with canned profiles (matte or glossy, take your pick) you are on your own in this regard. Also Canon, more than other printer vendors, tends to sell "new" generation printers that use the same ink as prior generation printers so they are hardly "new," just repackaged.
I am a former Epson printer user that simply got tired of the continual print head clogging. All the papers and profiles available are worthless if the printer can not work properly. I only used refilled cartridges once in an old Photo EX, but all have had clogged head problems.
I gave up on Epson and now own a Canon Pro9000 and really like the product. Canon does have a sizeable variety of papers available and good profiles to match. Heck, I’ve even printed on Epson Glossy and it looked great using the canned profiles. Granted the Canon does get clogged heads as well, but not as often. When it does I can at least remove the head and clean it or replace the head without sending the entire printer out for repairs. As for dye vs pigment, I have many Epson dye prints still around so I see this as no deal breaker for any manufacturer.

I am surprised that you are the first to say this.
This is the way I feel about Epson and it’s print head clogging as well. I moved to HP and from HP to Canon and that is what I am using now.

Dave
SB
Sarah Brown
Jan 18, 2008
In article ,
Dave wrote:
I am surprised that you are the first to say this.
This is the way I feel about Epson and it’s print head clogging as well. I moved to HP and from HP to Canon and that is what I am using now.

Me too. After a string of Epson printers constantly clogging on me, I got rid of my old Stylus Photo 1290 and switched to Canon, and never looked back.

Sold the 1290 on eBay. The woman I sold it to was taking it out of my car when I said, "If you get gaps in the printout, it’s not broken, you just need to cle…" when she cut me off saying, "yeah, I know – I already have an Epson". We immediately understood each other.
LO
Luis ORTEGA
Jan 18, 2008
Thanks, that was very informative.

"Woody" wrote in message
"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.

Epsons produce good results but use a lot of ink in the cleaning process. You can get ink carts from other manufacturers at a fraction of Epson prices and in most cases the ink is acceptably good. However you must use an Epson printer at least once a week or it will dry up. They are also programmed to stop working – period – after so many sheets of paper have been printed, ISTR 100000 or something like that.

Canon have caught up in the photo stakes enormously in the last few years, and they are significantly quicker than most Epsons. Of the more modern machines (with chipped carts) there are few if any alternative cart suppliers.

HP are a good halfway house, especially if you use their own paper. Many (but not all) HP carts are refillable, and they have the advantage that you get a new head with each cart.

LexMark are quite good but you will have difficulty getting alternative suppliers of carts as they are reputedly very litigious in the cart copyright area. When the ink runs out you buy a new printer as the carts alone are more expensive than the original cost of the printer including carts!

Most of the above use chipped cartridges which show as empty when there is as much as 30% ink still left. Epson will stop working at that point and IME experience need a full new set of carts. You can however download software of the net that can fool the machine into ignoring the cart chips. Canon gives you the option to ignore the alarm. Can’t speak for HP.


Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
LO
Luis ORTEGA
Jan 18, 2008
I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is not typical of all inkjet printers?

"Sarah Brown" wrote in message
In article ,
Dave wrote:
I am surprised that you are the first to say this.
This is the way I feel about Epson and it’s print head clogging as well. I moved to HP and from HP to Canon and that is what I am using now.

Me too. After a string of Epson printers constantly clogging on me, I got rid of my old Stylus Photo 1290 and switched to Canon, and never looked back.

Sold the 1290 on eBay. The woman I sold it to was taking it out of my car when I said, "If you get gaps in the printout, it’s not broken, you just need to cle…" when she cut me off saying, "yeah, I know – I already have an Epson". We immediately understood each other.
T
Trev
Jan 18, 2008
Luis Ortega wrote:
I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is not typical of all inkjet printers?

Its not I have never had to run a cleaning or priming cycle on my HP’s yet in what 7 years of using them Except when I have fitted an old cart that I have refilled Then just the once to get it started.


Trev
You can always tell a Yorkshire man,
But you can’t tell him much.
D
Dave
Jan 18, 2008
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:34:51 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is not typical of all inkjet printers?

No, it’s not.
When buying new cartridges, a new set of heads are included.
LO
Luis ORTEGA
Jan 18, 2008
That’s interesting. Are those types of cartridges more expensive than the Epson ones that don’t contain new print heads?
Do all other inkjet brands than Epson use cartridges with new print heads?

"Dave" wrote in message
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:34:51 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about
a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought
that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning
cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is
not typical of all inkjet printers?

No, it’s not.
When buying new cartridges, a new set of heads are included.

J
JD
Jan 18, 2008
My Epson Stylus Photo R260 has clogged once in the last year when I printed a DVD cover that was all black. Epson’s cleaning routine unclogged the head after two tries. There is a trick using Windex on the little sponge inside the printer that I used on my old Epson photo stylus but I’ve not had to do that with the new printer.

I don’t print a lot of photographs but when I print them I use the maximum quality setting.

Luis Ortega wrote:
That’s interesting. Are those types of cartridges more expensive than the Epson ones that don’t contain new print heads?
Do all other inkjet brands than Epson use cartridges with new print heads?
"Dave" wrote in message
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:34:51 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about
a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought
that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning
cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is
not typical of all inkjet printers?
No, it’s not.
When buying new cartridges, a new set of heads are included.


JD..
D
Dave
Jan 18, 2008
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:41:16 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

That’s interesting. Are those types of cartridges more expensive than the Epson ones that don’t contain new print heads?
Do all other inkjet brands than Epson use cartridges with new print heads?

All that I know off, Luis. And prices are very competitive.

Dave
P
Peter
Jan 18, 2008
"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
That’s interesting. Are those types of cartridges more expensive than the Epson ones that don’t contain new print heads?
Do all other inkjet brands than Epson use cartridges with new print heads?

I only know about Epson. AFAIK Epson, HP & Canon sell printers on the "razor blade" theory. They sell printers for a low price in order to make it up on the ink. For example, the Epson 2400 sell for about $700. The 4800, which has a higher ink capacity and lower per print cost sells for about $1,800, but comes with about $1,000 worth of ink. The 4800 is notorious for clogging if not used frequently, while the 2400
does not seem to have that issue.
There were a slew of third party bulk ink suppliers, with cartridge substitutes, but because of legal issues they have stopped their Epson compatibility. My wife uses a low cost HP, that will not go larger than 8 x 10. She is entirely satisfied with the results. I am not. I have done some personal cost studies and found that, for non-archival work, the per print costs with an outside printer are about the same as doing it myself. (look at Costco and Wal-Mart.) If I figure in the off color issues, the cost is actually lower. For archival work I don’t want to play around.


Peter
SB
Sarah Brown
Jan 18, 2008
In article <%q5kj.62882$>,
Luis Ortega wrote:
I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is not typical of all inkjet printers?

I have had my Canon 9950 for a year or two now, it still prints like it was new and I have *never* cleaned the heads. I don’t even know how to.
P
Peter
Jan 19, 2008
I had a HP printer which was so bad it literally went out of the upstairs window one day! I then bought a Canon I560 which finally failed when the print head clogged after a period of disuse having used "compatible" inks. I have now replaced it with a Canon Pixma 4500 which while a fine printer takes time to understand how to make it do what you want when using it with different programs, especially when doing automatic duplex printing. Half the ink in the supplied cartridges and about 50 sheets of paper later it is now doing as it is told!
I am also sticking to manufacturers ink in future
Peter
W
Woody
Jan 19, 2008
"Peter" wrote in message
I had a HP printer which was so bad it literally went out of the upstairs window one day! I then bought a Canon I560 which finally failed when the print head clogged after a period of disuse having used "compatible" inks.
I have now replaced it with a Canon Pixma 4500 which while a fine printer takes time to understand how to make it do what you want when using it with different programs, especially when doing automatic duplex printing.
Half the ink in the supplied cartridges and about 50 sheets of paper later it is now doing as it is told!
I am also sticking to manufacturers ink in future
Peter

Apart from the window, my experience exactly, save I have a 4300.

The only catch is the rate of usage of black pigment ink!


Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
T
Talker
Jan 19, 2008
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:34:51 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

I’ve only ever had Epsons (in my art classroom and at home, I’ve used about a dozen Epsons over the years, starting with the Stylus Color) and I thought that it was part of the inkjet printing process to have to run head cleaning cycles whenever the prints started banding. Are you all saying that this is not typical of all inkjet printers?

I have an older HP PhotoSmart 7550 printer that prints up to 8×10 prints on 8½ by 11 paper. This printer has the print heads built into the ink cartridges, so when you run out of ink and put in a new ink cartridge, you also put in a new print head. This was the main reason why I’ve stuck with HP printers over the years. I’ve had three HP printers and the only reason I’ve had three is because I wanted to upgrade to a better printer. I still have the other two HPs but I don’t need them. If I did decide to take one of the old ones off the shelf after sitting there for 8 years, I’d just install new ink cartridges and print. You could never do that with an Epson. After letting an Epson sit for a while, the heads would clog up and if they were really clogged, you’d just throw it away and buy a new one. HP does make printers that use individual ink tanks and have fixed print heads, so it depends what you’re looking for. It’s just that for my use, I like the dye based inks that my printer uses. HP does make pigment based printers also, which are the fixed head printers, so you have to determine what you’re going to ultimately use the printer for.
I do have an Epson printer, the R220 that I got last year. I got it for one reason….to print on printable CD/DVDs. I print at least one CD/DVD a week, and if I don’t, I’ll do a Nozzle Check cycle.. If I don’t do this, the heads will clog up. I’ve gone for 9 days once before realizing that I hadn’t done a Nozzle Check on the printer. I immediately did a Nozzle Check and found they were clogged. I had to do numerous Head Cleaning cycles before I could get it clean. I wasted about one half of each ink cartridge to get the heads clean. I try now to do the test every three to four days….just in case. Epsons make really nice prints but the head cleaning can be a major pain.

Talker
W
Waterspider
Jan 20, 2008
"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Aside from the pro-Canon remarks, I think the message is to stick with manufacturer’s inks to avoid clogged print heads.
D
Dave
Jan 20, 2008
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:22:57 -0800, "Waterspider" wrote:

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Aside from the pro-Canon remarks, I think the message is to stick with manufacturer’s inks to avoid clogged print heads.

Only after comparing manufacturer’s ink prices to the other versions and to the replacement cost of the printer.
I know this become less of an argument with more expensive printers, but sometimes the cartridge prices are almost the same as a new printer. (or razor-blades and a new razor with blades:-)
S
Scubabix
Jan 20, 2008
Most of the above use chipped cartridges which show as empty when there is as much as 30% ink still left. Epson will stop working at that point and IME experience need a full new set of carts. You can however download software of the net that can fool the machine into ignoring the cart chips. Canon gives you the option to ignore the alarm. Can’t speak for HP.
My Canon will alert me to a low cartridge and allow me to continue. When it reads empty it will stop the print, but, at that point the cartridge is truly empty. One nice thing about the Canon cartridges is that they are clear and you can see that they are empty. That’s not a big thing, but it makes me feel much better to know I’m not throwing away good ink.

Rob
AM
Andrew Morton
Jan 21, 2008
Talker wrote:
I do have an Epson printer, the R220 that I got last year. I got it for one reason….to print on printable CD/DVDs. I print at least one CD/DVD a week, and if I don’t, I’ll do a Nozzle Check cycle.. If I don’t do this, the heads will clog up. I’ve gone for 9 days once before realizing that I hadn’t done a Nozzle Check on the printer. I immediately did a Nozzle Check and found they were clogged. I had to do numerous Head Cleaning cycles before I could get it clean. I wasted about one half of each ink cartridge to get the heads clean.

If you get the SSC Service utility (google for sscserve.exe) then you can choose to clean only the black or only the colour, and it has a "deep cleaning" routine that, although it uses more ink, does a much more thorough job.

Andrew
T
Talker
Jan 21, 2008
On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:22:53 -0000, "Andrew Morton" wrote:

Talker wrote:
I do have an Epson printer, the R220 that I got last year. I got it for one reason….to print on printable CD/DVDs. I print at least one CD/DVD a week, and if I don’t, I’ll do a Nozzle Check cycle.. If I don’t do this, the heads will clog up. I’ve gone for 9 days once before realizing that I hadn’t done a Nozzle Check on the printer. I immediately did a Nozzle Check and found they were clogged. I had to do numerous Head Cleaning cycles before I could get it clean. I wasted about one half of each ink cartridge to get the heads clean.

If you get the SSC Service utility (google for sscserve.exe) then you can choose to clean only the black or only the colour, and it has a "deep cleaning" routine that, although it uses more ink, does a much more thorough job.

Andrew

Thanks for that link Andrew. When I’d get a clogged head, like just recently the yellow color head was clogged, I’d create a new document in Photoshop and create a one inch yellow color band across the page, then I’d print it out in Photo Mode. That usually works, but a utility like this is a lot better. Thanks again!

Talker
W
Waterspider
Jan 24, 2008
"Dave" wrote in message
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:22:57 -0800, "Waterspider" wrote:

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Aside from the pro-Canon remarks, I think the message is to stick with manufacturer’s inks to avoid clogged print heads.

Only after comparing manufacturer’s ink prices to the other versions and to the replacement cost of the printer.
I know this become less of an argument with more expensive printers, but sometimes the cartridge prices are almost the same as a new printer. (or razor-blades and a new razor with blades:-)
There are many "photo quality" printers on the market cheaper than their refill inks, manufacturer’s or aftermarket. I think one is best to avoid those 😉
D
Dave
Jan 24, 2008
On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:00:29 -0800, "Waterspider" wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:22:57 -0800, "Waterspider" wrote:

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Aside from the pro-Canon remarks, I think the message is to stick with manufacturer’s inks to avoid clogged print heads.

Only after comparing manufacturer’s ink prices to the other versions and to the replacement cost of the printer.
I know this become less of an argument with more expensive printers, but sometimes the cartridge prices are almost the same as a new printer. (or razor-blades and a new razor with blades:-)
There are many "photo quality" printers on the market cheaper than their refill inks, manufacturer’s or aftermarket. I think one is best to avoid those 😉

Not always, and while saying this, I must of course explain myself. I am a property owner using the printer at home nearly only for the printing of lease contracts. Sometimes I have jumbo prints 4" x6" or in my language 100mm X 150mm printed on it. My large prints is *always done on canvas, and I have that done at print shop, Photo World) and they even give me 20% discount because I do relative many.

Even the Jumbo photos, which get done on any corner here for the small amount of R1.99, is cheaper (I think) at print shops than in my study.

I do even most of my disk labels with "Light Scribe’ and only sometimes when I feel like it, I have them printed in color. I must admit that although my wife also have a ‘Light Scribe’ DVD Writer, she loves doing DVD labels in color.

I do keep in mind that this thread started as:
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers?
but after saying all this, you will agree that it is not always ‘best to avoid those’:-)

Dave
W
Waterspider
Jan 25, 2008
"Dave" wrote in message
On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:00:29 -0800, "Waterspider" wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:22:57 -0800, "Waterspider" wrote:

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like
Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Aside from the pro-Canon remarks, I think the message is to stick with manufacturer’s inks to avoid clogged print heads.

Only after comparing manufacturer’s ink prices to the other versions and to the replacement cost of the printer.
I know this become less of an argument with more expensive printers, but sometimes the cartridge prices are almost the same as a new printer. (or razor-blades and a new razor with blades:-)
There are many "photo quality" printers on the market cheaper than their refill inks, manufacturer’s or aftermarket. I think one is best to avoid those 😉

Not always, and while saying this, I must of course explain myself. I am a property owner using the printer at home nearly only for the printing of lease contracts. Sometimes I have jumbo prints 4" x6" or in my language 100mm X 150mm printed on it. My large prints is *always done on canvas, and I have that done at print shop, Photo World) and they even give me 20% discount because
I do relative many.

Even the Jumbo photos, which get done on any corner here for the small amount of R1.99, is cheaper (I think) at print shops than in my study.

I do even most of my disk labels with "Light Scribe’ and only sometimes when I feel like it, I have them printed in color. I must admit that although my wife also have a ‘Light Scribe’ DVD Writer, she loves doing DVD labels in color.

I do keep in mind that this thread started as:
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers?
but after saying all this, you will agree that it is not always ‘best to avoid those’:-)

Dave

I do keep in mind that quotation marks should be used properly or not at all. Note that I used them around "photo quality" to indicate that some manufacturers use the term loosely, as in, "Buy this awesome computer system from the Shopping Channel, and if you call in the next ten minutes you get this super duper photo quality printer absolutely free!!!"

No, I will not agree "that it is not always best to avoid those," and may I suggest that you photocopy your lease documents because that will be cheaper and easier.
ND
Net Doe
Feb 8, 2008
Do all the latest Epson printers, even the r260 or r280, have cartidges with built-in print heads?

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
W
Woody
Feb 8, 2008
"Net Doe" wrote in message
Do all the latest Epson printers, even the r260 or r280, have cartidges with
built-in print heads?

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers?
I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results. I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.

As far as I know none of the Epson cartridges carry heads – that is the realm of HP and Lexmark. Canon don’t either.


Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
D
Dave
Feb 8, 2008
On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:08:34 GMT, "Woody" wrote:

"Net Doe" wrote in message
Do all the latest Epson printers, even the r260 or r280, have cartidges with
built-in print heads?

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers?
I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results. I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.

As far as I know none of the Epson cartridges carry heads – that is the realm of HP and Lexmark. Canon don’t either.

and that is why I stopped buying Epson

Dave
B
B
Apr 13, 2008
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:46:00 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Just don’t go near the HP B8350 if you are using XP.

See

http://reviews.cnet.com/inkjet-printers/hp-photosmart-pro-b8 350/4864-3156_7-32082373.html?messageID=2513465

I bought one and they have washed their hands of me because it will print the Windoze test page and claim that my not being able to print from CS3 or ACDSee is a problem with those programs, not the driver.

The fact that the Cannon machine which is also attached to the computer works fine as did the 1220C counts not a jot.

Keith J Chesworth
D
Dave
Apr 14, 2008
On Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:54:03 +0100, BoilerBill wrote:

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:46:00 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Just don’t go near the HP B8350 if you are using XP.

See

http://reviews.cnet.com/inkjet-printers/hp-photosmart-pro-b8 350/4864-3156_7-32082373.html?messageID=2513465

I bought one and they have washed their hands of me because it will print the Windoze test page and claim that my not being able to print from CS3 or ACDSee is a problem with those programs, not the driver.
The fact that the Cannon machine which is also attached to the computer works fine as did the 1220C counts not a jot.

Keith J Chesworth

Somehow this sounds as if it may be due to the program, if the Windows test page can be printed, but not something from specific programs. Have you tested more programs; normal text from Notepad for instance?

Dave
B
B
Apr 14, 2008
On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:34:19 +0200, Dave wrote:

On Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:54:03 +0100, BoilerBill wrote:

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:46:00 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Just don’t go near the HP B8350 if you are using XP.

See

http://reviews.cnet.com/inkjet-printers/hp-photosmart-pro-b8 350/4864-3156_7-32082373.html?messageID=2513465

I bought one and they have washed their hands of me because it will print the Windoze test page and claim that my not being able to print from CS3 or ACDSee is a problem with those programs, not the driver.
The fact that the Cannon machine which is also attached to the computer works fine as did the 1220C counts not a jot.

Keith J Chesworth

Somehow this sounds as if it may be due to the program, if the Windows test page can be printed, but not something from specific programs. Have you tested more programs; normal text from Notepad for instance?
Dave

That would sound reasonable if the problem was only with the one program. However the same situation exists with ACDSee as well.

K
D
Dave
Apr 14, 2008
I use the Epson Photo Stylus R-380
but it eats the ink when panting HQ graphics

There may be a better one, one point is, the ink costs more (or used to) than the printer, and you still get the 6 FULL
ink cartages!!



Dave Jones
The VideoGuy

"BoilerBill" wrote in message
On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:34:19 +0200, Dave wrote:

On Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:54:03 +0100, BoilerBill wrote:

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:46:00 GMT, "Luis Ortega" wrote:

Can anyone please suggest some A4 or A3 photo-quality inkjet printers? I would like high quality for printing digital photos from Photoshop. I have used Epson printers lately but there seem to be a few others like Canon and HP who seem to be getting good photo results.
I would appreciate any firsthand experience please.
Thanks for any advice.
Just don’t go near the HP B8350 if you are using XP.

See

http://reviews.cnet.com/inkjet-printers/hp-photosmart-pro-b8 350/4864-3156_7-32082373.html?messageID=2513465

I bought one and they have washed their hands of me because it will print the Windoze test page and claim that my not being able to print from CS3 or ACDSee is a problem with those programs, not the driver.
The fact that the Cannon machine which is also attached to the computer works fine as did the 1220C counts not a jot.

Keith J Chesworth

Somehow this sounds as if it may be due to the program, if the Windows test page can be printed, but not something from specific programs. Have you tested more programs; normal text from Notepad for instance?
Dave

That would sound reasonable if the problem was only with the one program. However the same situation exists with ACDSee as well.
K
D
Dave
Apr 14, 2008
On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:19:53 -0500, "Dave"
wrote:

I use the Epson Photo Stylus R-380
but it eats the ink when panting HQ graphics

There may be a better one, one point is, the ink costs more (or used to) than the printer, and you still get the 6 FULL
ink cartages!!

I stopped buying Epson (years ago) because of
the printer heads not being part of the cartridge
but installed somewhere else, and when one of
the heads is to be replaced, the cost is a
good portion of the printer’s original price.

Dave

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

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