The more it changes, the more it's the same thing
Plus ?a change, plus c'est la m?me chose rings true with the current crop of aqueous-based printers as, with quality and reliability now a given, there has been no real recent major transformation in this technology. Sophie Matthews-Paul sums up what's available.
In this sector the three main manufacturers of photographic and fine art printers have stormed ahead adding speed to higher standards, and improving reliability with less tedious maintenance routines and a lower margin for error. Although, in technology terms, there haven't been any sea change transformations, the machines of today offer good value-for-money with high quality and options designed to cater for better speeds and finer quality.
Epson's market lead has been retained and, whilst the company has now made its first entr?e into the low solvent sector under its own name, it will always be recognised in this sector as the pioneer of piezo-electric printheads and for its durable inks. Canon, too, has held its own with its photographic quality solutions whilst HP's current aqueous-based products provide strong alternatives.
Never standing still for long Epson's latest photographic offerings include more adventurous ink-sets which broaden the options for users wanting to improve on skin tones and graduations. It has also moved away from the necessity of physically having to change from photo black to matte black by switching cartridges. The company made the move up to a 1.62m model with its Sylus Pro 11880 which, with its nine colours and improved dot placement, has made it popular with photographers and fine art producers. The addition of vivid magenta ink is seen as an extension to the company's UltraChrome K3 ink set which has three levels of black and good colour pigment technology.
Last autumn saw the launch of the A2+ Stylus Pro 3880 which has made its mark in proofing applications as well as within the photo sector. Epson's options have also been extended with its HDR ink-set (not to be confused with the photographic term of high dynamic range and tone-mapping), sporting eleven colours with orange and green making up the latest two. Introduced as a fifth generation pigment ink, this combination has proved successful in the Stylus Pro 7900 and 9900 launched back in 2008 and have continued to dominate since their arrival. Surprisingly good, too, have been the five-colour (CMY with matte and photo black) plus vivid magenta which, although designed for speed, have proved that it's perfectly possible to output photo quality results with fewer ink options.
Canon's iPF range has remained unchanged, using twelve Lucia pigmented inks, with sizes ranging from A2+ up to 1.52m to ensure all likely output widths are covered. Not to be outdone in terms of longevity, recently the company's inks have been put to the test by Wilhelm Imaging Research where, used with Canon media, they achieved an average permanence rating of greater than 100 years for colour output, and more than 200 years for black and white output when framed under glass.
The company's had a difficult challenge matching Epson's unassailable lead but the Canon USP of manufacturing cameras and printers has contributed to a faithful following from users who prefer to stay with the same manufacturer for both types of product. Having released seven machines for the wide-format segment in recent times, Canon believes that the iPF family will continue to take market share for photographers and fine-artists.
A turning point for HP came with the arrival of its Designjet Z series of photographic printers, now topped by the Z3200 which comes in two sizes of A1 and 1.2 m and this is another which opts for a twelve colour ink-set. HP has added a chromatic red which the company says extends the colour gamut to 95% Pantone coverage. Retaining its thermal inkjet technology in its current aqueous-based machines, the Vivera inks are pigmented and are made up from blue, green, red, grey which are added to its standard CMYLcLm, photo and matte black, plus a gloss enhancer which creates a better gloss uniformity and minimises bronzing.
One feature of latter-day aqueous-based printers is the ease of calibration, plus the inclusion of a spectrophotometer embedded in the machine which simplifies linearisation and the generation of customised ICC profiles. These also work with third-party Rips as well as the manufacturers' own options making it simpler to keep colour management under control.
Some might say that the aqueous-based printer market has remained fairly static in recent times, with only fine-tuning and additional colours being evident from manufacturers. However, the segment for photographers and fine art producers has always been well advanced for its time with quality and colour accuracy now being a given from Epson, HP and Canon. Printhead and ink developments are certain to continue and, whilst this arena isn't awash with new technologies, we can expect to see further advancements in the near future.