Epson has introduced the Stylus Photo R800, the latest in its new line of specialty photo printers that were announced on Oct. 22.
“The printer is geared toward the high end photographer and advanced amateur photographer,” Monica Morita, Epson product manager of specialty photo printers, told MacCentral.
The Photo R800, which has an estimated street price of US$399 and is due in January, supports up to resolutions of up to 5760 x 1440 dots per inch (dpi). It has a six-color photo dye ink system with all the colors in individual ink cartridges. The Stylus Photo R800 can print a 5 x 7 color photo in 45 seconds (in photo mode) and offers text print speeds of 17 pages per minute (ppm), Morita said.
The printer also boasts the industry’s first 1.5-picoliter ink droplet for the “finest detail” in photo-quality prints (by, for example, eliminating pixelation), she added. It includes both Photo Black and Matte Black ink cartridges for printing on any media without changing the black ink cartridge.
The Photo R800 features an eight-channel print heat system that includes blue and red inks. The system includes a “Gloss Optimizer” which provides a clear coating (but no ink) for uniform glossy prints, Morita said.
The Photo R800 has built-in CD/DVD printing capabilities for printing directly onto inkjet printable CDs or DVDs using the printer’s straight-through paper path. The straight-through paper path is also designed to accommodate thick papers and posterboards (up to 1.2mm thick).
The printer comes with Epson Print CD software for designing artwork for your CDs and DVDs. You can use the Mac OS X compatible software to customize your own photos — or you can download templates from Epson’s Web site.
“The CD/DVD printing capabilities appeal to those who work or play in digital media,” Morita said. “It helps prevent the problem of printable labels ‘bubbling up’ when the CD or DVD is in use. Printable CD/DVD media is more expensive than their non-printable counterparts. However, when you include the cost of printable labels and the problems they can cause, they’re a good value.”
The Photo R800 supports PRINT Image Matching technology, which helps it integrate with a variety of digital cameras, Morita said. It offers borderless printing without margins in 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 inch sizes. The maximum printable area is: full bleed on 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 inches and 8.3 x 44 inches on long banner or panoramic paper.
The printer can handle a variety of paper types, including Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss inks, which resist smudging or fingerprints related to high levels of humidity, moisture and water spillage. The inks deliver lightfast ratings over 70 years for glossy media and over 100 years for matte surfaces.
The Stylus Photo R800 can handle 100 sheets of letter size paper, 20 sheets of photo paper and 10 envelopes. It has USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity and is compatible with Mac OS X (10.1 and higher) and Mac OS 8.6-9.x.