Suggestion On Buying A New Photo Printer.

<p>Howdy All!</p>

<p>Planning on purchasing a new photo printer, after doing about 2 weeks of research I found that the Artisan 1430 Wide-format Ink Jet Printer was the printer best suited for me, went to purchase it today and found that Epson has discontinued it, and is *out of stock* on their site. However I can still find it at a few trusted websites.<br>

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So my question is, should I buy it anyway or do you have a recommendation of a similar printer? I do not need a AIO (already have one), primary job will be photos, printing CD/DVD's, jewel cases and an occasional text document.<br>

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I see that Epson does have another of interest, the R2880 it would probably be a good contender however, its been in production since about 2008. I would be open to other brands.<br>

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TIA,<br>

Jack</p>

<p>Hi Jack! I have the R2880 and it's a very good printer but if you're concerned about how long it has been out, then check out the R2000; it's newer technology. Happy printing! regards, cb :-)</p>

<p>I have had an R2880 for 2 years and the only problem is the size of the ink cartridges. I am forever changing them. You could consider the R 3880 it's twice the price but the ink cartridges are huge!</p>

<p>The 1430 is still available on Amazon. I have a Artisan 710 (paper/photo/CD + scanning, wireless) and have been pretty happy with it. The 1430 may be discontinued but it's going to be under support for your warranty period.</p>

<p>If you can swing it, look at the R2000.</p>

<p>If you're concerned at all about price, the Epson Artisan 50 is an amazing value.</p>

<p>I own the 1400, the earlier version of the 1430, and the output is noticeably better compared to pigment based inks in several ways:</p>

<p>1. because the dye particle is smaller than pigment you can print at a higher resolution (600 dpi vs 400 dpi or 12 LPM vs 8 LPM) which gives the print the feeling of extra depth because 12 LPM is beyond normal human vision making it appear seamless.</p>

<p>2. the color is more brilliant (saturated) as more dye can be concentrated than pigment per ml.</p>

<p>3. it prints better on Ilford's replacement for Cibachrome, Smooth High Gloss Media (the best glossy paper on the market), as there is no gloss differential between black and the other colors.</p>

<p>And since the Epson Claira ink is tested to last as long as Epson's pigment ink (both around 100 years) you don't have to sacrifice longevity.</p>

<p>After several years of use there are only two real drawbacks I've encountered:</p>

<p>1. the inks are <em>very</em> expensive and a <em>lot</em> is used per print, so if you plan on printing a lot of 13x19s then have several cartridges of each color on hand as backup.</p>

<p>2. there is no roll adapter available so printing panos can be a real PITA.</p>

<p>So for occasional printing there's no better printer, but if you're doing a <em>lot</em> of printing and you don't feel like dropping $100-$200/month on ink then you might want to consider some of the less ink hungry alternatives (for my heavy printing I use the Epson 4800 with 220ml cartridges which is about 1/5 the cost of the 1400).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you all for replying, I found the 1430 at Staples and purchased it, have it all hooked up and printed about 10 pictures, wish I could say I am happy, but just the opposite, the color photos are not how I see them on screen, kinda muted, the B&W's are sepia toned, even when I set it up just for black/grey scale, no change.</p>

<p><br /> I have tried printing from ACDSee Pro5, Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Windows Photo Viewer, all with the same results. If I print to a Epson Workforce 650, they print just fine but not *lab* quality as taunted with the sells pitch on the 1430.</p>

<p><br /> So, any suggestions on a fix? Brief search on the internet I do see many with the same issue. I don't want to have something that will not work or I have to keep fiddling with to work. I'll dork on it today and if I cant fix it, I will return it and look for something else, preferable wide format...</p>

<p>TIA,<br /> Jack</p>

<p>Jack-if you want to do black and white and use Epson, you'll need to step up to the R2880. I previously had the R1900 which was great for colour but not for B&W so I moved up to the R2880 and haven't looked back. cb</p>

<p>Jack, not knowing what your level of knowledge is I've created a Checklist:</p>

<p>1. your monitor is calibrated and it's an IPS monitor, not a TN one which are not as color accurate</p>

<p>2. when using PS you have it controlling the color</p>

<p>3. you have the correct paper profile selected</p>

<p>4. you've previewed your image in PS using the paper profile and adjusted it accordingly</p>

<p>If you've done all of the above you should be getting a fairly accurate print. The results from my 1400 are definitely not muted unless I missed one of these steps.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks for the reply guys, what I've done since my last reply...done more web research, found some people get great B&W's while other get a blue or green tint, mine was almost a sepia color.</p>

<p>I've ran through the basic monitor calibration in Windows and have insured my print profiles are all default, insured my print driver was all default, and finally printed to just plain text paper and printed a B&W photo that was shot in B&W and not a converted to B&W, then printed.</p>

<p>The first print came out in B&W with maybe an ever so slight green tint, its doable. Then I selected in the print driver only for *photo* and again printed on plain text paper, this printer a better B&W photo with deeper blacks.</p>

<p>So, now I will print with the same settings to more of the glossy photo paper, which Im thinking maybe its the culprit of the image turning brown? I used ACDSee Pro 5 to print this batch of samples.</p>

<p>Mike, Im not sure what a IPS or TN means? The monitor I am using is a Acer X233H, I will also try selecting the paper profile as you suggested and see how that works.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>So it seems when I set the print driver to * Photo Paper Glossy* I get the sepia coloring, if I leave it on *Plain White Paper*, it prints with no color cast or over tone regardless if I select *text* or *photo*!?!</p>

<p>If I select the 1430 *photo gloss* profile, it has a slight brown and a lot of loss in the dark blacks....</p>

<p>Windows monitor calibration is not really calibrating your monitor. For really accurate work you need to use a calibration tool like the Colormunki: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNDIS-Xrite-ColorMunki-Display/dp/B0055MBQOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367254731&sr=8-1&keywords=colormunki">http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNDIS-Xrite-ColorMunki-Display/dp/B0055MBQOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367254731&sr=8-1&keywords=colormunki</a></p>

<p>Also you need to use Epson paper to get the best color, an "off brand" just won't work very well. The best for glossy prints is Epson Photo Paper Glossy: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Epson-GLOSSY-8-5x11-Inches-S041271/dp/B00004Z6U1/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367254884&sr=1-8&keywords=epson+glossy">http://www.amazon.com/Epson-GLOSSY-8-5x11-Inches-S041271/dp/B00004Z6U1/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367254884&sr=1-8&keywords=epson+glossy</a></p>

<p>Next when printing from CS6 use View, Proof Setup, Custom, and choose under "Device to Simulate" SP1430 PGPP in order to see what you'll actually be printing.</p>

<p>IPS aka "In Plane Switching" panels have both a wider field of view and a higher degree of color accuracy than TN (Twisted Nematic) panels:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php">http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php</a></p>

<p>IPS is what virtually all professional monitors use but tend to be more expensive than TN ones. But basic ones can be bought for under $300 such as this one:<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-VP2365-LED-23-Inch-Monitor-Black/dp/B0053YKE72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367257742&sr=8-1&keywords=vp2365">http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-VP2365-LED-23-Inch-Monitor-Black/dp/B0053YKE72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367257742&sr=8-1&keywords=vp2365</a></p>

<p>Unfortunately, if you're wanting to do really color accurate work a IPS monitor calibrated with a professional device like the Colormnunki is a requirement, not an option. Without them you're color work can easily become an exercise is frustration and guesswork. </p>

<p>Mike -</p>

<p>I cant thank you enough for the help! I have since purchased Epson photo gloss as you have suggested as well as Epson matte, and have set CS6 as you suggested, wow is all I can say, it worked fantastic, blacks are now deep black! Color appears to be spot on also!</p>

<p>I will invest in a true monitor calibration system next go around. Thanks again to everybody for your input and assistance. Just an FYI, this printer is more for personal use but will occasionally use it to push product to clientele.</p>

<p>Regards,<br /> Jack</p>

<p>Jack, I'm glad I could be of help and that it worked.</p>

<p>I have the Epson R2880 and like it. I plan on moving up to the R 3880. Both these printer do a good job with color and Black and White<br>

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<p> Question...How many 13x19 prints do you normally get out of the ink supply and which paper are you using?</p>