Can
the Epson 9000 produce fine art giclée prints or should I go for the
Epson Stylus Pro 10000 dye or 10000arc?
Yes,
and no. Yes, the Epson 9000 does produce a quality
of image that is attractive. But no, the prints from certain models
are not archival, indeed Epson itself is very honest about this.
Epson said their intended market for the 9000 is POP, point of purchase
signs and posters which need to hang only a short time. If you want
inks that last a few years you have to use non-Epson inks. However
many users experience clogging to the point of ruining their printheads
when they used aftermarket inks, especially pigmented inks.
For
years Epson itself offered no archival inks, indeed the cheaper Epson
desktop printers such as the model 1520
and 3000
are infamous for their fading inks.
But
Epson is doing its best to overcome past mistakes. The Epson 9000
comes with an EFI Fiery RIP. The lack of a useable RIP was a prime
fault of earlier Epson desktop printers. You always had to buy an
add-on after-market accessory to print good text or to handle PostScript
adequately. Even with the Birmy accessory, the Epson 1520 and Epson
3000 could be nerve wracking to the point that many people were sorry
they every bought one (such as myself, a community college, and my
brother's company, a substantial architectural firm).
On
the subject of RIP´s, you can run any Epson printer with its
native printer drivers. But if there is any text in your image, then
you need PostScript to get rid of the jaggies on letters in your text.
EFI Fiery RIP, no matter how low and discounted the price is, has
a variety of deficiencies. Check out our FLAAR
Premium Report Series on RIP´s.
The
newer Epson
7500 and Epson
9500 offer an acceptable color gamut of long life inks.
Whether this pigmented ink can actually reproduce the colors you need,
only you can tell. Some users report they are disappointed. Indeed
the Epson USA web site warns you not to expect a full gamut of colors.
Reds, blue (and cyan) are the most difficult colors to reproduce with
pigmented inks. The new HP
pigmented ink for the HP
5000ps is the first pigmented ink to break the color
gamut barrier and offer a fuller color gamut. Still, pigmented ink
in general is not as bright and colorful as dye-based ink. If you
wish to get up to 6 free FLAAR First Level Reports, just fill
out the request-survey form.
The
next question of course is how long will an Epson 9000 hold up?
It
definitely looks stronger than the cheap plastic desktop printers.
Indeed the Epson 9000 looks as though it were designed
in the 1960's, for industrial use. The model 9000 is definitely not
designed by Porsche or by any French or Italian designer of note.
Unfortunately the printer is well known for shaking side to side as
it prints. All printers of all brands move around a lot as they print,
but the motion of the Epson can be disconcerting the first time, before
you get used to it. The actual output looks quite nice, albeit rather
slow.
Beware
of the advertised price of any printer. The price you will be quoted
is that of the printer; the actual cost of the RIP is blissfully overlooked.
For example, the Epson 9000 is attractively priced at a new low, but
when you add the EFI Fiery RIP the actual price has
been as high as $12K to $14,995! And what about the fading prints?
A recent report in Publish magazine, a highly regarded and widely
read trade magazine, indicated that "the glossy film, while providing
a gorgeous print, showed signs of distinct fading after only a day
outside." The new low price (since PMA trade show, Feb. 2001)
was because the new model Stylus Pro 10000
Epson printers are now available.
Our
university ordered an Epson 9000 printer (before FLAAR arrived on
campus). We found the Epson 9000 already abandoned. The art department
professor said that the original color was unusable due to color matching
incapabilities. They eventually got the images closer to what they
needed but evidently there were other issues that resulted in the
printer being parked. How many other people have similar experiences?
Of
course if they had obtained the same printer from a dealer that provided
better color management experience, perhaps they could have overcome
the problems. Nonetheless, it's actual user experiences, especially
in the art department of a university with experienced computer users,
that gives one pause. My personal summary would be to skip the Epson
9000 unless you need a printer for non-Epson inks (the new Epson 10000
absolutely restricts use of any after-market ink). Other than that
deficiency, the Epson 10000 is considered improved in every respect.
It certainly has a more handsome exterior design and more sophisticated
interior technology.
Summary:
To be on the safe side, be sure to check out
the all comparable printer brands, especially the Mutoh, which may
be more robust and the newest Mimaki which is much faster. The Mutoh
uses the same printheads as the Epson 9000 but has added features
and a speed upgrade. Ask around. Don't just swallow that the manufacturer
claims. And don't even buy what a FLAAR review recommends either.
Don't avoid a printer just because we mentioned it's weak points.
Perhaps the same printer has a feature that you need. Possibly your
kind of inkjet printing is different than ours.
To
save yourself from buying the wrong printer, be inquisitive, and realistic.
No one printer can do everything. What you need is the printer that
has the most benefits with the fewest deficiencies.
Other
than it's low price, the main advantage of an Epson 9000 (or any piezo
printer except the Epson 9500 or 7500) is that you can use after-market
inks. However we just got a horror story of a user in England or Ireland
who used a well known brand of after-market inks. Ruined his printheads
and the lost time basically ruined his giclée business. He alleges
that Epson in that country refused to honor a warranty. So he is stuck
with a nonfunctioning printer and a nonfunctioning business. Thus,
although some of these piezo printers such as the Mimaki can use dye
sublimation heat transfer inks and even special textile inks, be wary
of head damage. Dye sub inks are reportedly aggressive to the point
that they take out your heads after about six months of continual
use.
Downside
of the Epson 10000 is no alternative ink changes whatsoever. If you
start off with pigmented inks, you can never, ever, use the brighter
dye inks. With almost all other printers, Mutoh, ColorSpan,
Encad, Hewlett-Packard, Mimaki, etc., you can
change back and forth any time and as often as you wish.
Last
checked : Sept 23, 2003
Previous updates: Jan. 15, 2003, Nov. 15, 2002, Oct. 21, 2002
Large Format Printers 
Media and Inks 
