Photo Printing

PhotoPlus Expo 2011, a trade show for professionals and enthusiasts in the photographic and imaging industries, starts today. At the show, Canon unveiled the new PIXMA PRO-1 Professional Photo Inkjet printer, a printer aimed at DSLR users who require higher quality prints of their photographs.

The printer features a new 12-ink system (five of which are monochrome); along with a new FINE Print Head. What's the importance of the monochrome ink? Ask almost any professional photographer and they'll tell you that they often judge inkjet printers from the black-and-white images they produce, and monochrome inks deliver – providing deeper, truer blacks. But that's not all that's new in the ink system; a Chroma Optimizer is included which increases the color gamut, along with increasing the black density when printing on glossy media. In addition, the PIXMA PRO-1 uses a tubular ink-delivery system that improves the print speed, making the printer capable of producing a 13x19-inch print in approximately 4 minutes and 20 seconds.

Canon also announced that the purchase of the PIXMA PRO-1 Professional Inkjet printer can be used to qualify toward a Canon Professional Services (CPS) membership. The CPS program offers benefits that include (depending on membership level) phone and e-mail support, expedited and discounted service and repairs, service loaners, onsite support at select events and shows, plus discounts on Canon Live Learning workshops and more. Read more

Professional photographers and artists often require more than a standard office printer. Announced today is the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 Signature Worthy Edition, a bundle that includes the 17-inch Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer with six letter-sized packs of select Epson Signature Worthy paper.

The 17"-wide Epson Stylus Pro 3880 delivers a wide color gamut with more dramatic blues and violets and produces exhibition-quality color and black-and-white output up to 17" x 22". The compact printer features a MicroPiezo AMC print head with ink-repelling coating, AccuPhoto HD2 Image Technology for smoother color transitions and shadow detail, auto-switching Matte and Photo Black inks, and its advanced Black-and-White Photo Mode lets you create neutral or toned black-and-white prints from color or monochrome images.

The Epson Stylus Pro 3880 Signature Worthy Edition includes full letter-sized packages of Exhibition Fiber, Cold Press Bright, Cold Press Natural, Hot Press Bright, and Hot Press Natural papers, as well as a Signature Worthy Sample Pack featuring additional photo and fine art papers. It is now available through select photo specialty resellers for $1,495. Read more

Epson today introduced the Stylus Photo R2000, a 13-inch printer geared toward photographers and creative professionals. Featuring UltraChrome Hi Gloss 2 inks, Epson's MicroPiezo AMC print head and AccuPhoto HG screening technology, the R2000 delivers gallery-quality, grain-free images even when printing in higher speed modes.

A feature generally only found in pro-level printers, the R2000 can print up to 13 inches wide on everything from cut sheet and roll paper to fine art media, canvas, art boards, and CD/DVDs. The printer automatically selects the best black ink - either Photo or Matte - and uses larger capacity cartridges to deliver up to 50 percent more prints.

In addition, the Epson Stylus Photo R2000 offers a variety of connectivity options - built-in 100 Mbit Ethernet for wired networking, 802.11n wireless technology and hi-speed USB 2.0. It will be available in May 2011 for $499.99. Read more

Epson on Wednesday introduced three new photo all-in-ones – the Artisan 835, Artisan 725 and an all-white Artisan 725 Arctic Edition. The three all-in-ones are packed with features, including the world's fastest 4"x6" photo print speeds, built-in Wi-Fi n, and wireless printing from an iPhone.

The Artisan 835 and 725 offer scanning/copying, automatic two-sided printing, and include image enhancing tools. The flagship Artisan 835 also features a built-in fax, 7.8-inch smart touch panel, and a 30-page Automatic Document Feeder. The Artisan 725 Arctic Edition is identical to the 725, but provides another color option...white.

The Artisan 725 ($199.99) and Artisan 835 ($299.99) will be available in mid-August at retail stores and www.epsonstore.com. The all-white "Arctic Edition" Artisan 725 ($199.99) will be available in mid-September exclusively through Best Buy. Read more

Canon today announced five new PIXMA printers – the PIXMA MG5220, PIXMA MP495 Wireless Photo All-in-One, PIXMA MG5120, PIXMA MP280 Photo All-in-One and the PIXMA iP4820 Inkjet printer. Included on all five is a new Full HD Movie Print function which lets you print individual frames of movies from compatible HD Canon EOS and PowerShot Digital cameras. Auto Photo Fix II has been improved on the new printers, and the Easy-PhotoPrint EX software now lets you search and use images from Flickr.

First up are Canon's wireless all-in-ones. The PIXMA MG5220 has five individual ink tanks and features the ChromaLife100 + ink system. It also touts Full HD Movie Print, has a maximum color resolution of 9600 x 2400 dpi and can create a 4" x 6" borderless photo in about 20 seconds. It has a 2.4-inch TFT screen, a redesigned user interface, Auto Duplex printing and a two-way paper feed. The PIXMA MG5220 Wireless Photo AIO printer has an MSRP of $149.99.Read more

Epson just announced a compact photo printer like you've never seen before! The PictureMate Show is a portable two-in-one 4" x 6" photo printer and digital photo frame. Now you can show off your photos and print them with just one device.

PictureMate Show features a seven-inch, 16:9 tilt digital photo display with 800 x 480 dpi WVGA resolution. It includes 270 MB internal memory, so there is plenty of room for storing your digital photos to run as a slideshow, or just to keep them and reprint later.

The 4" x 6" photo printer features the highest maximum print resolution in its class (5760 x 1440 dpi), and can print photos in as fast as 37 seconds. The PictureMate Show can print custom sizes too - from 0.3" x 0.3" to 4" x 6" - great for photo keychains, passports, and more.Read more

The holiday season is here. Have you gotten your holiday greeting cards in the mail yet? It's not too late! A company we highly recommend is Wataphoto.com. They deliver quality photo greeting cards as well as photo prints, posters and canvas at great prices.

Wataphoto's holiday greeting cards are priced at just $0.20 each for a 4x8" and $0.25 each for 5x7" cards. But it gets even better than that! Wataphoto is currently offering a 10% discount off of their entire range of holiday photo greeting cards by entering "CARDS" at the final stage of the check-out process.

So what are you waiting for? Go to www.wataphoto.com and order your greeting cards today.

Epson has added a new compact 17-inch printer to their lineup– the Epson Stylus Pro 3880. The printer gives you gallery quality prints up to 17" x 22", thanks to its MicroPiezo AMC print head and UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta ink technology.

Epson Stylus Pro 3880 features:

- UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta Ink: Professional eight-color ink set with new Vivid Magenta and Vivid Light Magenta gives you more intense blues and violets for an expanded color gamut.

- AccuPhoto HD2 Image Technology: Created in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Munsell Color Science Laboratory, this screening technology ensures precision placement of each ink droplet for smooth, grain-free images. This technology optimizes ink usage to maximize the color gamut and provide smooth color transitions and gradations, and reduction of the metameric index makes it possible to achieve consistent color under different lighting conditions.Read more

Canon just introduced the new SELPHY ES40 Compact Photo Printer. This portable printer has ink and paper in one cartridge and prints color or black and white images in either credit card or postcard sizes. But what makes this portable printer different is it talks to you! It has a voice guidance system that gives you step-by-step instructions for printing and adding graphics to images without having to read the manual. Because, really, who reads the manual anyway?

The printer also features a, large 3.5-inch LCD screen, Easy Scroll Wheel and a Creative Print function that lets you add things like stamps, frames, and effects to your pictures. Its Portrait Image Optimize feature has face detection, backlight correction and noise reduction, as well.

The SELPHY ES40 doesn't need to be connected to a computer to print photos. You can print directly from your memory card, camera or Bluetooth device. It will be available in September 2009 with an MSRP of $149.99.