Picture This: Photo-Quality Digital Prints
One of the big problems with digital photography has been getting all those beautiful digital images out of a computer and into the plain, old analog world.
A number of Web services will print out digital photographs for a fee. But for hobbyists, nothing beats the control and flexibility of making your own prints. Although the craft of color printing has been largely lost since the advent of color film in the late 1960s, a crop of new printers has finally given hobbyists and professionals the tools to once again tackle this key part of photography.
Three printers stand out for their quality and features--the $249 Epson six-color Stylus Photo 870, the $899 Epson archival ink Stylus Photo 2000P and the $999 Olympus Camedia P-400 dye-sublimation printer. The prices for these printers take them out of consideration for many casual photographers. Even photo enthusiasts will flinch at the prices of the Epson 2000P and the Olympus P-400.
But each of the devices introduces some very special features that herald the coming of age of digital photography.
Olympus Camedia P-400
Most digital photographers rely on outside photo labs or their regular inkjet printers to handle color printing. The inkjets actually do a decent job, although they are dogged by two prevalent problems: image quality and speed.
Inkjet printers use a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots to create different colors. The printers create an image by squirting tiny droplets of ink in a pattern so fine that the dots are invisible from a few inches away.
It is an excruciatingly slow process because an image has to be constructed, row after row, dot by dot. One letter-size print can take 10 to 15 minutes or more.
One printing process that avoids the twin problems of quality and speed is called “dye sublimation”--a relatively exotic method that most people have never considered because letter-size printers can cost several thousand dollars.
What makes the Olympus Camedia P-400 significant is its price: $999. That might seem like a lot, but it is actually a breakthrough for letter-size dye-sublimation printers. Olympus and other companies sell snapshot-size dye-sublimation printers for about $300 to $400. But for serious hobbyists, the letter-size P-400 is the printer to get.
The heart of this printer is its “continuous tone” printing process. Colors are made not of fine dots but a smooth blend of overlapping colors that create a look very similar to traditional photographic print.
Dye-sublimation printers use a plastic ribbon coated with a waxy ink. The printer heats the ribbon, which then releases a vapor of color onto the paper.
The inks are transparent and create different colors by varying the intensity of cyan, magenta and yellow and overlaying them on each other. The result: smooth and finely detailed images with no dots in sight.
The P-400 has a resolution of 314 dots per inch, which some photographers might complain is too low, especially in comparison with the 1,440 dpi of some inkjet printers.
But remember, inkjets have to spray a pattern of several closely spaced dots to make a single color--usually four to six dots per color. The prints from the P-400 are among the best possible now from a computer printer, nearly as sharp and a tad smoother in color compared with top-quality photo inkjet prints.
The P-400 also lays down a fourth layer on top of every print--a clear ultraviolet covering that not only gives the prints a very respectable 20-year life span before noticeable fading but also spreads a consistent gloss over the entire image.
One of the main selling points for the P-400, which can be used by a Macintosh or PC, is its speed. It takes about two minutes to turn out a letter-size print, which is substantially faster than an inkjet printer.
The P-400 is not cheap to operate, with each print costing about $1.75 for paper and ink. Considering that Shutterfly.com, an online photo service, will create letter-size prints for $3 each, the price might seem excessive.
But for enthusiasts who have waited decades for the ability to make color prints at home, it’s worth it.
Epson Stylus Photo 2000P
Besides the dots, inkjet printers have always struggled with another problem--longevity.
A typical inkjet print generally lasts no more than a few years before the colors begin to fade--a pitiful record compared with the 60-year life span of some widely used photographic papers.
Epson’s new 2000P surpasses not only all inkjets for longevity but also all other forms of color photo printing. Prints from the 2000P can last more than 200 years on archival paper, according to studies by Wilhelm Imaging Research, which specializes in photographic longevity.
This is a breakthrough not just for digital photography but photography as a whole. The secret behind the 2000P’s prints is the use of special pigment-based inks.
Most printers use dye-based inks that get their color from soluble colorants usually dissolved in water. Pigments, however, are solid pieces of colored material suspended in a medium such as oil or water.
Because pigments are based on solid materials, their colors are generally more stable, which is why they are used in car and house paints. Pigment-based inks have often been derided for their muddy and flat colors, but the Epson 2000P shows none of those problems.
To create photographic-quality prints, the 2000P employs one other innovation--the use of six printing colors. In addition to the usual cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the Epson printer uses a light cyan and light magenta to create smoother color gradations. The light colors take care of the two most troublesome areas for inkjets--light blue skies and light skin tones.
Coupled with the 2000P’s 1,440-by-720 dpi resolution, the results are very close to photographic prints.
One small problem with the printer is that it doesn’t produce glossy prints that are as shiny as traditional photographic prints. Its inks have a kind of semigloss finish, resulting in dull patches that can stand out from the rest of the gloss finish.
The main drawback to the 2000P, which can be used with a Macintosh or PC, is its long printing times--about 12 minutes to produce a maximum-quality, letter-size print on semigloss paper.
These limitations aside, the 2000P is a terrific printer--a revolutionary product that will help usher in the era of digital photography and, in many ways, signals the waning of traditional color film and paper.
Epson Stylus Photo 870
For those who find the Olympus P-400 and the Epson 2000P a bit too exotic for their tastes, one of the best options on the market is the new $249 Epson Stylus Photo 870.
The 870 uses the same six-color printing process as the 2000P and gets equally good results. It is also much faster than the 2000P, taking about half the time to produce maximum-quality, letter-size prints.
The big difference between the two Epson printers is the 870’s use of dye-based inks. The inks are specially formulated for photo printing, and images should last as many as 25 years. The 870 can use a wide variety of papers, from matte to high gloss.
There is nothing particularly revolutionary about the 870, but its beautiful six-color images, print longevity and reasonable price make it an excellent choice for hobbyists who want to make the leap into the digital revolution.
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Ashley Dunn is an assistant technology editor at The Times.
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The Skinny
Olympus Camedia P-400
Price: $999
Availability: Samy’s Camera or other Olympus dealers
Printing process: Dye sublimation
Resolution: 314 dots by 314 dots per inch
Connection: USB and parallel port (no cables included)
Requirements: Windows 98 or 2000 or Macintosh OS 8.6 for USB connection. Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 or 2000 for parallel connection.
Included software applications: None
Maximum sheet size: 8.26 inches by 11.7 inches
Maximum printing area: 7.64 inches by 10 inches
Print longevity: 20 to 30 years on Olympus glossy paper
Paper types: Olympus P-400 glossy only
Cost per print: About $1.75 per page using Olympus glossy paper
Bottom line: A breakthrough
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Epson Stylus Photo 2000P
Price: $899
Availability: Samy’s Camera and by mail order from some Epson dealers
Printing process: Six-color inkjet using pigment-based archival inks
Resolution: 1,440 by 720 dots per inch
Connection: USB and parallel port (no cables included)
Requirements: Windows 98 or 2000 or Macintosh system 8.5.1 or later for USB connection. Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 or 2000 for parallel connection.
Included software applications: None
Maximum sheet size: Roll paper or 13-inch-by-19-inch sheet
Maximum printing area: 13 inches by 19 inches, or 44 inches using roll paper
Print longevity: More than 200 years on Epson archival matte paper
Paper types: Epson archival matte paper and Epson premium semigloss photo paper
Cost per print: About $1.40 per full, letter-size page using Epson archival matte paper and about $1.89 per page using Epson premium semigloss paper
Bottom line: Expensive, but worth it
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Epson Stylus Photo 870
Price: $249
Availability: CompUSA, Staples, Ritz Camera, Fry’s Electronics
Printing process: Six-color inkjet
Resolution: 1,440 by 720 dots per inch
Connection: USB and parallel port (no cables included)
Requirements: Windows 98 or 2000 or Macintosh system 8.5.1 or later for USB connection. Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 or 2000 for parallel connection.
Included software applications: Epson Film Factory and Adobe PhotoDeluxe
Maximum sheet size: Roll paper or 8.5-inch-by-14-inch sheet
Maximum printing area: 8.26 inches by 10.76 inches, or 44 inches using roll paper
Print longevity: 25 years using Epson heavyweight matte paper
Paper types: Plain bond, Epson photo-quality glossy, semigloss, luster and matte
Cost per print: About $1.25 per page with Epson premium glossy paper and about 70 cents with Epson heavyweight matte paper
Bottom line: A great place for hobbyists to start
