Epson has announced the availability of alternate photographic dye inks for its Stylus Pro 9000 and Stylus Pro 7000 ink jet printers. The company indicates that the new inks sport improved lightfastness and better short-term stability.
The new inks are the same that are being used in Epson’s Stylus Pro 10000 model. The improved formulas consist of an improved yellow and light magenta that Epson said will produce lightfast prints rated for up to 26 years under glass, as well as improved color stability within the first 24 hours after printing. Epson noted that no changes are planned for the black, cyan, light cyan and magenta inks.
Epson Senior Product Marketing Manager Greg McCoy said that the company expects significant demand for the new inks by large format printer customers. “The improvement in lightfastness is important especially for photographic applications, while the improvement in short-term color stability is especially important for proofing applications,” said McCoy.
If you’re a Stylus Pro 9000 or 7000 user and you plan to use the new inks, you’re going to have to adjust your color profiles. Epson said that several third-party RIP vendors would develop new lookup tables (LUTs) for the new set. Use of the new inks is totally voluntary, said Epson — that way, customers who don’t want to mess with their existing LUTs can continue to use the original standard inks.
Look for the new ink to hit Epson’s Profocus dealers beginning early this month. The new cartridges will be the same price as standard cartridges. Part numbers for the Epson Stylus Pro 7000 cartridges will be T539 and T540 for the yellow and light magenta inks respectively; the 9000 will use new part numbers T541 and T542 for yellow and light magenta respectively.