Printer for an Artist
Because I’m a photographer, a recent discussion group post caught my attention:
I am a digital artist. I need a good printer to print my artwork. I do in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. I also want to print artistic photographs. On the other hand, I want a printer that can still print word documents and spreadsheets. I want to be able to print large paper format as well. Can anyone suggest a printer?
I’m going to present a list of 11 medium-format printers I’d recommend for artists, but first let me give a little background.
HP makes some of the best laser and inkjet printers on the planet for office use, but they have never addressed the needs of photographers and other artists until just recently. Although there are only about 150,000 professional photographers in the world, this is a niche market that Epson has found very profitable. Canon has also became a player in this field. HP entered the photo consumer market years ago with their Photosmart series, but these printers never fully addressed the longevity issues that concerned professional photographers and other artists—that is, until HP’s introduction of their new HP Photosmart Pro B9180 ink jet printer.
The following list of inkjet printers share two things in common: (1) they can handle at least a 13” x 19” format (and can also print letter-size office documents with ease); and (2) they do an excellent job in printing photography or other art because of of their high definition printing technolog and wide color gamut (using 6 or more ink colors):
Canon PIXMA Pro9000 (13x19), 8 dye inks - $499.99
Canon PIXMA Pro9500 (13x19), 10 pigment inks (avail. Spring 2007)
Canon iPF5000 (17x22 + rolls), 12 pigment inks - $1945.00
Epson Stylus Photo R2400 (13x19 + rolls), 8 pigment inks - $849.00
Epson Stylus Photo R1800 (13x19 + rolls), 7 pigment inks - $549.00
Epson Stylus Photo 1280 (13x19 + rolls), 6 dye inks - $299.00
Epson Stylus Photo 1400 (13x19), 6 dye inks - $399.00
Epson Stylus Pro 3800 (17x22), 8 pigment inks - $1295.00
Epson Stylus Pro 4800 (17x22 + rolls), 8 pigment inks - $1995.00
HP B9180 PhotoSmart PRO Printer (13x19), 8 pigment inks - $699.99
HP DesignJet 130 (17x22 + rolls + 24” width), 6 dye inks - $1295.00
The HP DesignJet 130 is actually a 24” printer (entering the “large-format” category), but I added it to the list because it has a fairly reasonable price, and is still considered a “desktop” printer. Epson has the most choices in this arena, because they have been more focused on art and photography over the past 7-8 years.
LONGEVITY: The printers that use dye inks will do a great job, but their prints will only last about 10 years when displayed on a wall (but these dye prints should last for several decades if kept in an album). Some claim a display longevity of up to 80 years (like the HP DesignJet 130), but this is only when using a limited number of glossy or semi-gloss special, “swellable polymer” papers. Those printers using pigment inks have much greater fade-resistance, on a wide variety of media, including fine art papers and canvas (50 to 200 years, depending on the media).
MEDIA HANDLING: Those printers that have “roll” capability can usually print images longer than 19 inches, which allows one to print long panorama images (the Epson 3800 does not have roll capacity, but it can print on custom cut sheets up to 37"). Some of these printers can even print on canvas (Canon iPF5000, Epson Stylus Pro 3800, Epson Stylus Pro 4800). The Canon iPF5000, Epson Stylus Photo R2400, Epson Stylus Pro 3800, and Epson Stylus Pro 4800 can all handle thick, fine art papers (the other Epson printers can also handle thick papers, but not without some fussing and coaxing).
INK ECONOMY: The Canon iPF5000, Epson Stylus Pro 3800, and Epson Stylus Pro 4800 printers all use very large capacity ink cartridges that will greatly reduce ink costs.
JUST FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS: If you don’t have a need for fine art paper handling, and your needs are more in the area of glossy and semi-gloss papers, I’d recommend the modestly priced Epson Stylus Photo R1800. It’s a pigment ink printer (for great longevity) that actually has an 8th ink cartridge—a clear, gloss optimizer that helps to make pigment inks look more like true photo lab prints. The Epson Stylus Photo 1280 and Epson Stylus Photo 1400 produce very rich prints (a little better than most pigment ink printers), but you need to be aware of the display longevity limitations of their dye inks. The HP DesignJet 130 is also highly recommend as long as you use their two swellable polymer gloss and semi-gloss papers (for up to 80 years of display life).
Posted by Royce Bair on 02/13 at 06:43 AM
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