A3 Photo Printer

[gamary]

I'll inaugurate this section with a quick review of my A3 photo printer, the Stylus 1400 by Epson.

I bought it almost exactly a year ago. I had considered several printers and the Stylus 1400 was not my first choice. However, I found the Stylus 1400 at a local store, sold at half price (~180€). That was a solid argument, especially since my computer had died on me just before, forcing me to buy a new one.

After a year of using it, here's what I'd have to say about it:

Print Quality: Epson seems to have a good reputation in this domain, and as far as I'm concerned, it is well deserved. The quality of the printing is superb, even though I'm by no means a specialist. (I'm sure if I knew more about printing, the results would be even better, although I don't think there is that much space for improvement).

The Claria inks are supposed to last for 100 years or so, but that sounds like wishful thinking on Epson's part, or plain commercial BS. Anyway, as long as my prints look decent for a least a couple decades, I'll be satisfied.

One amusing but completely useless thing about the Claria inks is that they are waterproof. I tested this by pouring a glass of water on a printed photo. No bleeding or anything. Of course, the paper wasn't that water-resistant so there was a bit of visible damage to it, but the ink did not nudge one bit. Why the heck one would need waterproof ink beats me.

Price: The printer's price is the entry-level range. In France, the cheapest A3 photo printers were ~280€ last year, and the S1400 could usually be found from 360 to 400€.

Ink consumption: I was afraid of this, having read reviews saying that after 4 or 5 A3 pictures, the ink cartridges were empty (they are rather expensive). Well, it turns out that's not quite true. I've printed at least 50 prints in A3 format, just as many in A4, various document, pictures and other things... and I still haven't had to change a cartridge (but I will have to very soon ). That came as a pleasant surprise.

Size: Well it's an A3 printer. It looks more or less OK when it's shut, but once you unfold it completely, it does take a lot of space. Watch out for your wife's reaction when she first sees it ("What in the name of Sam is THAT?").

As you can see, I don't really have anything to complain about concerning this printer. I usually don't like most reviews because people use a product for 6 hours and then tell you how great it is, which seems pointless. Most things work well when they're brand new. Since I've been using this one for a year, I hope it can help other people in making their choice.

I recommend it to anyone who wants a good A3 photo printer at a decent price.

[Mangas]

Hello, Bertrand. That's a good topic, mate.

Here's my situation: I don't have any printer so I have no idea how my profiles look like on real paper... So I came to a small studio with my .jpeg. The paper was glossy and I liked the outcome (except for the fact that the camouflage colors are not that I implied -- the printer distorted them a little -- I'll have to adjust this later)... But the guy was quite surprised to see ww2 aircraft on A3: everybody print kids & pets here mostly... If I keep printing it this way -- I have a feeling some sneaky enterprising guy may abuse my work, sending my source files away...
So I think it's time to think about my own printer. I study the market & came to this device:



Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II Inkjet Printer 3298B002 B&H Photo
The biggest problem is that it costs $549.00 worldwide, but it's about 1000$ in Moscow or St.-Petersburg:
Ïðèíòåð Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II - ãäå êóïèòü â Ìîñêâå. Öåíà, õàðàêòåðèñòèêè, ñòîèìîñòü äîñòàâêè ïðèíòåð êýíîí/Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II íà Òîâàðû@Mail.ru

Any suggestions?

P.S.: do you guys use PSD's converted to.jpeg for printing? Or else?

[JMSmith]

i also looked at buying a A3 printer,
the price stopped me also, way to much to be spending for the odd time it would be used.

[gamary]

I often use max-quality jpeg, and haven't seen any problems with it.

As far as the Canon printer is concerned, I don't really know. I imagine the quality is good, and I've heard good things about Canon printers. Chances are you'll get good quality. Try to compare ink prices, and also find a paper that is both decent quality and decently priced.

Oh, and as an update: I'm still using the S1400 and I'm still very happy with it. After nearly fours years of very regular use, it's still working fine and I still find it both high-quality and affordable.

I've once had a problem with it (head alignment) and that was quickly solved with the standard auto-diagnosis tools that come with the printer.

[Mangas]

Bertrand, I want to thank you, mate!
Unfortunately (or luckily) I couldn't find any of 1400 in my city, so I've bought 1410. Since it's my 1st ever printer, I can't compare it to anything else, but I think it's perfect. I couldn't dream of better New Year present.
(The only way to talk my wifie into buying it was my promise that we'll make fortune with it soon... )
The 1st photo I printed yesterday was A5 format and it came out with north-east shifted image on paper so I got scared lol. But after I installed EPSON EasyPhotoPrint utility I've walked carefully through all the settings and made my 1st A3 print with this image:
AviationGraphic.com - Show print
It came out perfectly colored & aligned. (I didn't know my printed profiles look that good! )

Thanks for pointing at this great device & helpin' me to make a right choice.

[gamary]

Hi Anton,

I'm glad my review was useful.

My old 1400 is still ploughing on (I print at least once a week, and I've been using it for four years now). The only inconvenient I've found is that if you don't print at least once a week, the heads clog up and you need to clean them using the printer's software. It's not a big problem, but since unclogging the heads eats up ink, it makes sense to print at least once a week even if you don't have an immediate need to do so.

And, of course, don't buy "compatible" ink. Genuine Epson ink is more expensive but ruining the printer with bad ink would be even more expensive!

[Mangas]

The only inconvenient I've found is that if you don't print at least once a week, the heads clog up and you need to clean them using the printer's software. It's not a big problem, but since unclogging the heads eats up ink, it makes sense to print at least once a week even if you don't have an immediate need to do so.

O.K... But is it necessary to print namely A3 format stuff once a week to keep the heads from clogging? Or just any one small family photo (A6 (105×148) will be enough, I wonder?

[gamary]

A small photo should be enough IMHO.

Have you solved your problems with the printer?

[Mangas]

Have you solved your problems with the printer?

Thank you for the letter with the PS settings you screenied for me!
But your settings are all in French, so I'm confused. I think I'll give Epson Easy Photo Print utility couple more tries before I'll be sure IT is the source of my color representation problem. The only thing I'm sure is that two my Dewoitine D.520 prints came out of Epson Easy Photo Print even better than I expected.

[Mangas]

By the way, here's the preset I use for my projects... Are these settings correct? Especially "color profile"?