All three printers — the Stylus Photo 780, 890 and 1280 printers — feature up to 2880×720 dots per inch (dpi) resolution and Epson’s Advanced Micro Piezo ink jet technology. The three models replace the Stylus Photo 870 and 1270 printers and come with a USB connection and Mac-ready USB drivers.
The printers offer “unvisible” four-picoliter droplets, delivering continuous tone quality. Additionally, all three printers include Epson’s BorderFree photo printing technology, which allows customers to print borderless photos in a variety of frame-ready, popular photographic sizes, such as 4-inch x 6-inch and 5-inch x 7-inch, without perforations or margin trimming.
All three printers print 4-inch x 6-inch fine photo images in 48 seconds, whole 8-inch x 10-inch prints can be made in a little less than two minutes.
The Stylus Photo 890 and 1280 will both include a newly designed roll paper holder accessory that will allow customers to print multiple 4-inch x 6-inch snapshots on 4-inch rolls conveniently and quickly, emulating the print delivery methods used by many of today’s commercial photo labs. A roll paper holder feeds the paper through the printer, producing marginless snapshots and panoramas with reduced paper consumption. Larger images or banner signs can also be printed on 8.3-inch and 13-inch panoramic photo paper rolls. Customers can choose from up to seven different types of roll papers.
The Stylus Photo 780 has a retail price of $199 ($149 after a $50 rebate) and is meant as a entry level, consumer photo printer. The printer includes several bonus software programs including: ArcSoft PhotoImpression 3.0; Epson Software Film Factory; and QBeo PhotoGenetics TE, an image enhancement tool for improving digital photos. This printer
The Stylus Photo 890 is the next step up from the 780, providing the ability to print 44-inch long panoramas, photo and thick weight paper stocks, as well as continuous roll printing with the included roll paper holder. ArcSoft PhotoImpression 3.0; ArcSoft PhotoStudio 2000, a complete photo enhancing and retouching program; QBeo PhotoGenetics 2.0; and Epson Software Film Factory TE are included. The 890 retails for $299.
The Stylus Photo 1280, at $499, includes a wider 13-inch carriage and is the perfect printer for producing enlargements, portfolio prints, duplicates, soft proofs, match prints and general photo print projects.
BorderFree printing is possible with this printer on a variety of photographic sizes, including 4-inch x 6-inch and 5-inch x 7-inch, 8-inch x 10-inch and letter, in addition to the capability to print borderless 11-inch x 14-inch enlargements and 13-inch x 44-inch panoramas.
The 1280 comes with special bonus software and upgrades that include Adobe Photoshop LE, and a special upgrade price for Photoshop 6.0 of $299. An additional special discount is available for EPSON Stylus Photo 1280 customers to purchase MonacoEZColor color management system for only $199. MonacoEZColor calibrates scanners, monitors and printers. Additionally, the printer includes QBeo PhotoGenetics TE and EPSON Software Film Factory TE.
Professional options for the 1280 include an external Ethernet card and Stylus RIP PostScript software, which will be available in April for estimated street prices of $179 and $99, respectively.
All three models will be available over the next six weeks through Epson, dealers and catalog stores.