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I’ll start with a short review since I just got the printer and have only run 5 prints through it. I will update in a week or so with more information.
Setup and installation was easy. I have it on my network for my Windows machines and it is connected directly to my Mac Pro. The install documentation said to get the latest driver for Leopard off of their site, which I did and installed with no problem. The latest Windows driver was on the installation CD.
The reason I called this review “State of the Art” is Epson developed Radiance, the new color-matching technology built into the R1900. This is the first printer with it, even the current Epson Pro printers don’t have it. Printerville.net has an article about it.
The few pictures I have printed are beautiful and they printed very fast.
I printed 3 on Epson’s Ultra Premium luster 8.5 x 11 paper using Photoshop CS2. I tried different settings for each print of the same standard color matching target. All three printed very nice and as expected, a little different. Using “Photoshop Determines Colors”, “Printer Determines Colors” and “No Color Management”, with appropriate settings on the printer driver. So it will be up to you to decide which settings you want to use.
Next, as a test I printed a photo, of my daughter, on plain HP Bright White paper. WOW, is all I can say. Plain paper and it looked great.
For my last test I picked a random paper size, 12″ x 12″, that I cut from a 13″ x 19″ sheet of matte paper. I changed the paper size in the driver and printed. No problem, it printed just fine and also was beautiful.
I plan on getting a roll of paper too. I’ve wanted to print some banners, something I couldn’t do with my current Canon I9900.
So far it is everything I expected it to be. However, I do plan on keeping the I9900 because sometimes I know I will want a dye (not pigment) print (and I still have Canon ink and paper left).
I will post more soon.
Update 3-10-08:
I have been playing with the settings on the driver to see which I like best. It is a good/bad thing that there are so many settings to play with. I figure I will eventually figure out which I like best. There are subtle differences in color, skin tones and gray scales on the gray scales. If you are interested in the test targets, you can download the printer test images I used from http://www.drycreekphoto.com/tools/index.html
I will start printing some of my real pictures to compare with the I9900 versions. So I will post another update in a week or two.
I tried a roll in the printer. It was surprising easy to set up and use. You put the holders on the roll, mount it on the back of the printer, then feed the paper into the printer in the slot on the back. The printer recognizes you are doing it, then grabs the paper to feed in to the proper starring point.
If you print multiple images, the printer spaces them 1″ apart. Unfortunately, Epson still has it’s artificial limit length of 44″. There are expensive RIPs (raster image processors) that will allow you to printer longer images, but unless you are going to do this a lot, it can’t be worth it. The cheapest I found is $500.
I’ve decided that I probably will not use the “roll” on the printer. I want to printer banners every so often, but to use the roll for one print wastes about 10″ of paper. That is the initial feed of about 4″ and when you cut it on the back to free it, another 6″. If you are printing many prints on a roll, then it will be worth it and easier. I suggest (and what I did in my second test), was just cut a 44″ of paper (from the roll) and feed it though the (normal) auto paper feeder and that worked fine for the banner without any waste.
As for ink usage, I’ve hardly made a dent with the 10 8×10s, 1 12×12, 3 8.5 x 44 prints I’ve made. The banners were not printed at high resolution to save ink for my testing. I love Amazon, but it’s ink prices for this printer are currently way out of line. Even the Epson store has them for way less. I hope that changes soon.
Update 3-26-08 (my last update).
After printing 25 more 8×10 high resolution (and in slow mode for better quality), I finally ran out of ink in one cartridge (and it was the gloss optimizer). After more reading, I think I used the wrong setting for the gloss and was wasting it on white area outside of the image. I’m still learning.
Some of the other inks are pretty low, so I have stocked up.
I still have not printed on a DVD/CD yet, but I’m sure that will be fine.
There is not much more for me to say except I am very happy with this purchase and expect to use this printer for the next 3-4 years, when I’m sure something else out there will get my attention.
Howard
I’d think seriously before buying this printer. I purchased this printer about 6 weeks ago after NAPP members were offered a discount. I purchased it directly from the Epson Store. I watched the video tutorials on how to get the best results using the R1900 and printing out of Lightroom that were provided on www.photoshopuser.com. I was DELIGHTED at the output and the quality. Never had my printer output so closely matched that of my calibrated monitor, and the 13×19 inch glossies were stunning. I was THRILLED…
UNTIL…about 5 weeks after purchasing the printer I had to replace the Gloss Optimizer cartridge. This runs out fairly quickly as it is applied to the entire photo regardless of colors. Fine, I had extra genuine Epson cartridges I had purchased from a national retailer. Even though it was the correct cartridge the printer would not recognize it, then remembering that Epson had sent an extra Gloss cartridge, I dug it out thinking I had indeed bought the wrong one. I replaced it with the one Epson sent and all was good. I confirmed I had the RIGHT cartridge, and chalked it up to a defective cartridge. No biggy, it happens…THEN the Cyan ran out. I replaced it with a cartridge that I bought directly from the Epson store and had the same issue. The printer says it’s an incompatible cartridge. IT is NOT. I called Epson support on Friday and they said they would send me a new cartridge and that it would be 3-5 days. Fine, but in the meantime I had prints that needed to be printed, so I again went to a retailer and bought a cyan cartridge. Not recognized. I googled the issue and found that other users had had the same issue, and that Epson had replaced their printers with brand new ones. I called Epson again. They said that they would only replace with a refurb since I was past the 30 day mark since I purchased, AND according to the Epson Warranty, I’LL be on the hook for shipping the defective printer to them. Problem is, I’m sure this printer was defective from day one, but since I didn’t print a WHOLE lot right away, the cartridges didn’t need replacing until after the 30 day return was up,and consequently I didn’t find the defect until then. I’m extremely upset. I now have a bunch of defective cartridges and/or printer, no way to print the work I need to get out, and the best I can hope for is to get a REFURBISHED printer to replace the BRAND NEW printer I paid for. Do yourself a favor, look at the Canon and HP equivalent printers. If you search for issues on Epson cartridges, you’ll find TONS. Not necessarily with the R1900, but with almost all Epson printers. This is the first, and LAST Epson I will buy.
I have had this printer for a week now and all I can say is WOW! I was concerned after I read the reviews here but decided to buy anyway because of past experience with Epson, and I am so happy I did.
When the box arrived I picked up the ‘Start Here’ booklet and within an hour and three prints (13″x19″) I was getting better results than the stuff I had paid a professional lab $15.00 each for! No more, I just fired my lab.
I am printing from Photoshop CS3 using Adobe RGB color space and ICC information. The prints are incredibly color saturated with great contrast to really ‘pop’.
I am absolutely in love with this printer!
Another week:
No change in my opinion, other than I like it even more. I printed 20 8×10 and 7 13×19 before having to add ink (Yellow and Cyan). Prints on Epson’s fine art paper are fantastic! This is my last review.
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