Epson's Magnificent Seven

Using seven different color inks, the $699 Epson Stylus Photo 2200 raises the bar for high-end ink jet photo printers. Epson adds "light black" (should that be "gray"?) to the cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, and black inks offered in many quality photo printers. This enhances contrast and gradations, so even monochrome photos look great.

The 2200 also is the first printer that employs Epson's pigment-based UltraChrome inks, which produce a wider color range on a greater variety of papers than dye-based inks do. In addition, UltraChrome inks should be less prone to fading in bright light (though Epson's claims about their archival properties seem to be less optimistic than some made for previous inks).

Epson now supplies individual ink cartridges, so you can replace one color at a time as it runs out, or you can swap two types of black ink--one for glossy paper and a second for matte.

In addition, the 2200 uses Epson's Print Image Matching (PIM) technology, which optimizes prints of photos taken with compatible cameras from major vendors.

The 2200's 2880-by-1440-dots-per-inch resolution is four times more precise than that of its predecessor, the Epson Stylus Photo 2000P, and equal to that of the cheaper (and newer) dye-based Stylus Photo 1280. My production-level 2200 delivered brighter colors and better detail than the 1280 did. A high-quality 8-by-10-inch color print took more than 9 minutes--slow, but still faster than most photo printers.

The 2200 produces prints up to 13 inches wide. An automatic roll-paper cutter enables you to print a complete batch of photos unattended. The printer can support FireWire (IEEE 1394), USB 1.1 and 2.0, and parallel connections.

Casual photographers and hobbyists can do quite nicely with a sub-$200 model, but for professionals the 2200 represents the state of ink jet art.

SUMMARY

Stylus Photo 2200 Epson Street: $699