Computing: Epson Stylus Photo R1900 A3+ Inkjet Printer Review – 70

Why do I keep seeing images of Simon and Garfunkel standing on the stage at Central Park, New York, singing about Kodachrome and its nice bright colours? Maybe because that’s what I’ve been getting from Epson’s Stylus Photo R1900, which brings to the party a set of new long-life, pigment-based UltraChrome Hi-Gloss2 inks. These even include a nifty gloss optimiser cartridge, its job being to provide a lovely even sheen to your paper. Eye candy!

But it’s not just the colourful output that makes this printer worthy of attention. When you’re tired of squinting at postcard pictures, the R1900 will produce an impact-filled A3+ size – that’s 329 x 483mm, or roughly the size of your favourite tabloid newspaper.

But big pics equals big size, and with input and output trays extended the R1900 measures 60 x 41 x 78cm, so it needs a good workspace, especially since Epson suggests you put it at least 100mm from the wall when using longer papers.

Within that generous footprint lies a versatile machine. It can print on a wide range of paper types and sizes, either sheet-fed or on a roll; it can print directly onto suitable CDs and DVDs; it’ll print web pages, print from a scanner or directly from a digital camera that has PictBridge or USB Direct-Print.

Setting up was so simple I kept thinking I’d missed a step. But no, 20 minutes after pulling the big boy from its box, I was ready to push the button.

Whole books (and a good part of the Epson guide supplied on CD) have been written on colour management; it can be a huge and involved subject. I wanted none of it. I get frustrated by the minutiae of colour profiles and related matters. I want a printer that gives nice bright colours with the least fuss; in other words, instant gratification. But really, it isn’t entirely the printer’s responsibility because colour profiles depend on how your own computer is set up.

So I was delighted when the first A3+ print rolled out of the printer about 80 seconds after pushing the button, way quicker than some of the competition. I had printed a TIFF from Photoshop exactly as it sat on the computer – except for assigning Epson’s glossy paper profile – letting Photoshop do the colour management. The colours and contrast were spot on, but overall the print was a little light. I tweaked the levels, tried again and got a print worth framing.

The easiest way to print is straight from a suitable camera via a USB port on the front. Epson makes the process simple and intuitive and I mostly couldn’t fault the quality of the prints that it sucked from the JPEGs in my Canon DSLR.

Phil Hanson

What they said

“My first prints were very good, if slightly on the cool side, but once I changed over to using the built-in profiles I started to produce first-class prints.” Photo-i

The Dye Is Cast

Until recently, most consumer-level inkjets used dye-based inks, but now there’s a swing to pigment inks and Epson was a pioneer. Epson’s dye-based printers used water-soluble coloured liquids to render an image on paper. Pigment inks are made of a neutral carrier liquid with suspended coloured particles. Dyes can deteriorate rapidly when exposed to UV light and other environmental facts of life, but the coloured particles in pigment inks are inert and take far longer to decompose or fade.

So that’s good, but pigment inks and suitable print heads are both more expensive to manufacture. There were other technical glitches, too, both with the ink and the printers, but these have been sorted and the pigments may now be poised to conquer the printer world.

Specifications

Printing technology: Micro Piezo eight-colour pigment inkjet, 180 nozzles x 8

Ink: Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss2 pigment, Photo Black, Matte Black, Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Red, Orange, Gloss Optimiser

Paper: Single sheet or roll to 0.11mm thick

Resolution: 5760 x 1440 optimised dpi

Print size: 9 x 13mm to 329 x 483mm (A3+)

Print speed: 44sec to 1min 32sec depending on size (Mac and PC compatible)

Size: 616 x 322 x 214mm (stored)

Weight: 12.2kg

Pros

Versatile

Excellent results, minimum fuss

Cons

Big footprint

Not the best doing black and white

Verdict

Large size, good results

Contact

www.epson.co.nz

This review is from Tone issue #70.