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Epson Print Quality Comparison
A comparison of Epson inkjet technologies, and how they differ in print quality.
People constantly call our office and ask us what inkjet printer
brand we would recommend. We recommend the Epson. Why do recommend the Epson? The first Epson Stylus Color printer in 1994 was a major technology breakthrough in photo-realistic quality. Other printer brands have made improvements since 1994, but Epson has always stayed several steps ahead in their technology, and Epson continues to remain the number one choice of graphic artists, fine artists and photographers.
The current Epson line has 4 types of "Stylus Color" desktop printers:
- Those printers using 4 ink colors (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) and having a consistant MicroDot size. The MicroDot is produced by an ink droplet of about 12 picoliters (with the exception of the 850, which produces a 10 picoliter drop). 1 picolitre (pl) = 0.000 000 000 001 liter). Some of the printers using this technology are the Epson Stylus Color 800 (replaced by the 850), the Epson Stylus Color 1520, and the Epson Stylus Color 3000
- Those 4-color printers that have a "Variable dot technology" (variable size ink droplets). The droplet sizes usually vary from 19 pl to 6 pl. The Epson Stylus Color 740, the 1160 and the Epson Stylus Color 900 are examples of printers using this technology. They use Ultra MicroDots, the very smallest size of ink droplets available today. An Ultra MicroDot is only 6 picolitres in size resulting in a dot diameter of only 45 microns, 2 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair and close to the limit of resolution for the human eye. These new incredibly small dots lead to much finer detail with less graininess and even smoother Gradations. Print quality is considerably enhanced. The Epson Stylus Color 900 employs 3 pl Ultra Microdots, with ink droplets half the size of those found on the Stylus Color 740 and Stylus Photo 750.
- Those printers using 6 ink colors (black, cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, and yellow) and have a consistant MicroDot size, using an ink droplet of about 10 picoliters. The use of two extra colors (light magenta and light cyan) greatly enhances the color gamut and tonal smoothness, giving print output that has almost a true photo quality. Epson's 6-ink technology is called the "Perfect Picture Imaging System", and is used in the Epson Stylus Photo 700 and the Epson Stylus Photo EX.
- Those printers that incorporate both the "Variable dot technology" and the 6-ink technology. Examples are the Epson Stylus Photo 750 and the Epson Stylus Photo 1200.
UPDATE: Epson has added additional printers to this catagory:
included are the 1160, 1270 and 2000P. These last two
printers are the first desktop inkjet printers by any company to
provide LIGHTFAST or ARCHIVAL ink solutions. You can also see our comparisons on these new printers.
The Epson Pro 5000 printer and the new Epson Pro 9000 wide-format printer are a different "breed" than the above four Epson Stylus printer types. These two printers have Epson's Micro Piezo Dual Density Droplet (DX3) Print Technology which offers precise 11-nanogram dot size for remarkably small, clean, sharp dot placement, and achieving remarkable photographic clarity. They are also in a price range of about $8,000.00 to $14,000.00 (way beyond the price range of Epson's four other printer types). To see how the Epson Pro 5000 compares with the 4 above printer types, click HERE.
| EPSON Stylus Color printers | 4 ink
colors | Constant
MicroDot | 6 ink
colors | Variable
Ultra
MicroDot |
Type 1 - ESC 600, 800, 850,
1520, 3000 | YES | YES | no | no |
| Type 2 - ESC 740, 900 | YES | no | no | YES |
| Type 3 - ES Photo 700, Photo EX | no | YES | YES | no |
| Type 4 - ES Photo 750, 1200 | no | no | YES | YES |
A Visual Comparsion
Now we come to the fun part of this discussion -- visually comparing actual printed samples (you know what they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words"). Dan Smith supplied us with a hi-res digital photo he took. Here is a cropped version of his photo shown actual size (@72 dpi):
Dan also supplied us with a print made from the Epson Photo 750. David Burkwall supplied us with a print made from the ESC 900. Our staff made additional prints from Dan's hi-res digital file using other Epson Stylus Color printers. All prints were made at 1440 x 720 dpi, using the "MicroWeave" setting, and printed on Epson's "Photo Paper". The resulting prints were then scanned using the Umax Powerlook 3000 (with an optical resolution of 3048 dpi).
RESULTS with the naked eye:
The (type "1.") 4-color prints with the constant MicroDot (i.e. the 600, 800, 850, 1520 and 3000) exhibited a visual "graininess" when compared with the smoother dot pattern of the (type "2.") ESC 900 and the (type "3.") 6-color prints with the constant MicroDot (i.e. the 700 and the Photo EX). However, it was harder to see the difference between the (type "3.") 6-color prints and the new (type "4.") 6-color/Ultra MicroDot printers (i.e. the 750 and 1200 models) without looking real close (something that photographers do a lot). The ESC 900 has an incredibly small and crisp dot pattern that was almost as smooth as the older 6-color printers (type "3"). Both types of 6-color printers had a little edge in smoothness in background areas, ie. as "skys", where the extra ink colors (dots) add more smoothing (as well as color gamut). NOTE: In this test we did not have a comparison with the ESC 740 -- another "type 2" printer. (Would someone like to borrow Dan's hi-res file and print out a sample on the ESC 740 printer?)
Here is the first comparison, shown at 4X magnification:
Type "1" printers
i.e. the ESC 800, 1520 and 3000 |
Type "2" printers
(ESC 900 used in this example) |
 |  |
Type "3" printers
i.e. the Photo 700 and Photo EX | Type "4" printers
i.e. the Photo 750 and Photo 1200 |  |  |
To see how the Epson Pro 5000 compares with the 4 above printer types, click HERE.
Photo credit: © Dan Smith
To see how the Epson 1160, 1270 and 2000P compare with the 4 above
printer types, click HERE.
It's quite easy to see the difference here between the type 1 printers and the type 3 printers (even with the naked eye), but the difference is a lttle less apparent between the type 3 and the type 4 printers You'll really notice the difference, however, when you look at these....
Comparisons, shown at 8X magnification
Comparisons, shown at 17X magnification
If you'd like to receive other helpful information like the foregoing discussion, you may wish to Subscribe to "Inkjet News" (free) by sending us an e-mail with the words, "Subscribe to Inkjet News" in the message's subject. You'll receive about 12 e-mail messages a year with valuable information. You can cancel or unsubscribe at any time. We also offer free consulting about inkjet printing questions, media and inks (whether or not you buy our products) . You can also e-mail Royce at royce@inkjetart.com
NEW: We have become a dealer for LUMINOS'
Lumijet
Fine Art Preservation Series Media and Inks
NEW: We now carry Concorde Rag paper
Concorde Rag has Outstanding Photographic Printability. The specially treated surface of Concorde Rag is formulated to maximize color space and minimize dot gain. This results in an art paper with outstanding photographic printability. No other paper produced to date accepts such a complete range of radically different inksets. Current test results using new pigmented inks are giving projected image stability numbers in excess of 150 years.
(100% cotton, acid free and water-resistant.) You've got to try this paper to believe it's incredible results! Concorde Rag is one of the easiest fine art papers to print. It has a very wide "sweet spot". Good results can often be obtained on your first try!
Comparison of 13" Wide Epson Printer Output - the 1200, 1270, 1160 and 2000P.
Custom Test Prints
They say that "a picture is worth a thousand words". If our online tests still haven't answered your questions, then maybe an actual print made from the printer of your choice will be the solution to your performance questions! Click here to learn more about this service.
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