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Creating quality prints from a digital camera for the photo album can be painful: Download, edit, print, and pray you don't get a bunch of dots. The $249 Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX takes some of the effort out of that process, creating borderless prints with good color. It's like having your own photo lab--and you don't even need a PC to use the device.

Printing an image is easy. Just insert the camera's digital media card into the printer's built-in PC Card reader, and select the paper size, number of copies, and paper type from the control panel.

If your digital camera uses CompactFlash Type I media, you use the included PC Card adapter. Epson will exchange that for a SmartMedia or Memory Stick adapter if that is what your camera needs. Other adapters are available at additional cost. You can also connect the printer to your computer's USB port; when you do so, the PC Card reader appears on your computer as a removable disk drive.

A typical 4-by-6-inch, high-resolution image prints in about 4 minutes. To produce good quality without the assistance of a photo-editing application, the Stylus Photo 785EPX uses its own Print Image Matching function, which embeds settings like contrast, brightness, and color balance in the images taken by any compatible camera.

For testing, I used the Casio QV-3500EX, Epson PhotoPC 3100Z, and Sony DSC-P1 cameras. You should check with Epson for a full list of compatible cameras.

The printer produces decent photos even with cameras that are not compatible with Print Image Matching; however, I did see noticeable improvements in color balance and contrast when this feature was turned on. The images were no more grainy than a print from 35mm film.

The Stylus Photo 785EPX is also great for easily printing small groups of digital photos; the quality and price approach those of prints ordered from a drugstore's photo lab.

SUMMARY

Stylus Photo 785EPX VALUE: This photo printer makes printing images from your digital camera easy, and it creates good-quality photos for a low cost. $ 249 Street Epson www.epson.com

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