Pixiq

Earlier this month, Epson announced the addition of three new pigment-based printers to its line: the Stylus Pro 4900, Stylus Pro 7890 (wide-format) and Stylus Pro 9890 (wide-format).

The Stylus Pro 4900 is a 17-inch printer that utilizes Epson's UltraChrome HDR ink and MicroPiezo TFP print head for fast print speeds and a very wide color gamut. The printer uses a 10-color ink set: orange, green, cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, yellow, light black, light light black, and photo black or matte black. Both the matte and photo black inks are installed but depending upon the media type or driver setting, the printer will choose the best ink (matte or photo black) for the image. This is a great convenience over having to physically swap out ink cartridges depending on what you're printing/media you're using. The printer takes 200ml ink cartridges.

Print resolution is 2880x1440 dpi. The printer's roll functionality can accept both two- and three-inch media cores; and cut sheets can also be used, up to 1.5mm thick. The cut media paper cassette can hold up to 200 sheets of paper, from 8.5x11 to 17x24 in size. Another convenience is the realtime automatic counter for the remaining amount of roll media. Its always nice to know how much you have left before a print has to stop in mid-printing. You can also print full-bleed prints with the Epson Stylus Pro 4900.

Connectivity to computers is via USB 2.0 and 10/100 BaseT Ethernet. The printer fully supports third-party RIPs and workflows, and comes with drivers for Mac and Windows. Mac users need the Leopard 10.5 OS or higher (16-bit), and Windows users need to be running, XP, Vista or Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit).

An optional accessory is the SpectroProofer 17, a 17-inch wide spectrophotometer, developed with X-rite. 

The printer is available in two configurations: the base model for photography, and a Graphic Design Edition that includes an EFI eXpress RIP. Both models will be available in December, for $2,495. and $2,995 MSRP respectively. 

The Stylus Pro 7890 is a 24-inch printer, and the 9890 is a 44-inch printer. Both utilize Epson's eight color UltraChrome K3 inks, and the company's MicroPiezo TFP print head for prints that are about twice as fast as both printers' predecessors, the 7880 and 9880. The eight 150ml ink cartridges used are: cyan, vivid magenta, yellow, light cyan, vivid light magenta, light black, light light black, and matte black or photo black. 

Features of these new printers include roll media tracking, 2880x1440 dpi resolution, and like the 4900, they can accept 2- and 3-inch core roll media, cut sheets up to 1.5mm thick, print full bleed, and utilize a built-in media cutter. Connectivity to computers is via USB 2.0 and 10/100 BaseT Ethernet. The printer fully supports third-party RIPs and workflows, and comes with drivers for Mac and Windows. The printers can be run with Mac or Windows-based PC computers. Mac OS needs to be Tiger (10.4.9 or higher), Leopard (10.5 or higher/16-bit) or Snow Leopard (10.6 or higher/16-bit); Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, 32- and 64-bit.

The printers can be purchased with an optional Epson/X-rite developed SpectroProofer (24- or 44-inch, depending on printer being used). 

The Epson Stylus Pro 7890 and 9890 printers will also be available in December, with an MSRP of $2,995. and $4,995. respectively.

For more information, go to www.proimaging.epson.com.