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It’s bound to happen, and typically at the worse possible time, like just when you’re getting set to print out the presentation for the big board meeting; the printer stops working and you have no clue why. What now? It helps to be armed with some insight into the usual causes of printer issues so that you’re a little bit more prepared when that day comes, and so we’ve come up with a few tips to help you get your printer working again – without calling the IT guy.
Print Driver or Link is Missing
When you think about it, the main cog between your computer and the printer is a set of software drivers that allow the two machines to “talk” to each other. Occasionally, this communication link gets lost or garbled. The fastest way to remedy this issue is to reload the drivers, or delete and reload the printer as one of the devices that your computer is connected to on the network. Sometimes, a simple reboot of the computer is all it takes to re-establish the link without further issue; if not though, simply go step by step to add the printer back to your computer’s list of devices as if it were the first time.
Mysterious Print Job is Stuck
This is a frustrating one. You’re all set to print something only to find out that the printer queue is stuck with another print job that mysteriously is not printing. Worse yet, you have no idea who the offending person is. You have two options: 1. Wait for the person to show up and clear the print job from the queue, which could take God only knows how long, or, 2. Cancel the print job that is stuck in the queue, reset the printer, and quickly print the items you need. Clearing the print queue of a print job that is excessively large or not responding is a common printer malfunction that is typically fixable with a cancellation of the print job that’s stuck.
The Paper Jam
Everyone has, or will, experience this one sooner or later. The printer won’t print due to a piece of paper wedged somewhere in the cavernous loop of the paper path, typically where you can’t see it or know which lever to press to get access to it. Access the User’s Guide (if yours is missing an online version should be available) to review the the procedure to remedy the inevitable paper jam. Simply go step by step through each point in the paper path until you find the rascal that’s jammed and you should be back in business. Be warned however, ink stains await so be careful when sticking your arm into the machine to retrieve the paper.
Text is fine but Pictures look Grainy
This common issue may be due to a low ink or toner cartridge, or a print setting that is too low for pictures. If it’s the former, unless you’re familiar with replacing the ink or toner cartridges, leave it to the admins or face the resulting wrath that will come if you botch things up. Typically though, if text is printing fine, the photo or image print quality setting may be set too low. Make sure that when you print photos or images that you set the quality to the proper dpi level for pictures, typically a minimum of 300 dpi. Settings lower than this will result in pixilated and grainy images on your printout.
Paper Supply is Out
Your printer may be just fine and the culprit may be that you’re simply out of paper. Fortunately, the major manufacturers have all worked hard to design paper trays that are readily accessible and easy to load. Simply find the tray for your paper size and load the new paper. Be careful to load the paper according to the alignment arrows otherwise you may have issues with your printout alignment.
Well this list certainly doesn’t cover every anomaly that can occur with your printer but hopefully it will be enough to get you going when an issue does occur.
The Eastman Kodak Inkjet Printing Company is the leading worldwide supplier of ultra high speed digital printing solutions, even in the midst of a workout plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection. Chris Payne, Kodak’s Vice President of Marketing spoke recently about the company’s latest progress toward emergence from bankruptcy and its long term plan to renew itself as a provider of graphic production technologies.
“The key news from Wall Street is Kodak’s securing of $795 million worth of financing to fund its exit from the Chapter 11 status it entered by filing for bankruptcy protection in January. The financing consists of loans and extensions provided by a select group of Kodak bondholders,” said Payne. ”We expect to conclude a lot of the conditions by September 2013,” he concluded.
However, accepting the package binds Kodak to a number of stiff obligations it must meet by the September 15th deadline, including the sale of $500 million worth of patents and the full execution of its reorganization plan. Voice of the industry, “What They Think’s,” printing industry blog, asked Payne what assurance Kodak could give the industry that the goals were achievable within the ten month window specified by the financing deal. Payne repeated previous statements by Kodak that the company was on track to be out of bankruptcy sooner than the deadline – even by the middle of the year. Referring to the conditions imposed by the financing package Payne said, ”We expect to conclude a lot of these way before September.” He also noted that Kodak had announced a number of steps successfully taken toward emerging from Chapter 11 including the sell-off of some of its consumer patents and businesses and a comprehensive settlement of medical benefit obligations to about 50,000 retirees. As for complaints about the most recent round of financing, Payne said that these were coming mainly from bondholders who had not been chosen for the opportunity to provide the funding.
Payne further addressed Kodak’s plans to make graphic communications one of the mainstays of the new B2B focused organization it is striving to become. ”Going forward the company will rely heavily on sales in commercial imaging, including packaging, publishing, and functional printing for applications such as touchscreens and solar panels,” Payne said. ” These activities, designated to take place within Kodak’s recently formed division of graphics, entertainment, and commercial film, form the segment from which the company expects to derive the bulk of its income in future years.”
Kodak, which has been in a death spiral for years, is hoping that 2013 is a new avenue for the once stellar company. In its most recent filing, Kodak indicated that it had made huge cuts to operating expenses which amounted to about $1 billion dollars in 2012 but are expected to be considerably less in the coming year. Notwithstanding the bankruptcy plan, Kodak laid off about 2300 people worldwide in 2012. Revenue in 2012 will slide to an estimated $4.4 billion from about $6 billion earned in 2011.
However, according to Kodak’s projections, revenue should increase to $4.5 billion in 2013 and about $4.8 billion in 2014. Net income however is a different story – Kodak has lost $150 million through the first half of 2012 with more losses expected before the tide is truly turned for the company.
Ricoh Americas Corp announced earlier this week completion of AirPrint certification for 10 Ricoh multifunction printers (MFPs). The AirPrint functionality certification means that iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users can print directly to the supported Ricoh printers via WiFi with no software to download or drivers to install. The new capability simplifies the print process for mobile users with a need to print documents, emails, business letters, presentations, and other items from their Apple devices.
All Apple devices, including the new iPhone 5 will have the ability to automatically locate nearby Ricoh AirPrint enabled machines and print to them without struggle. The specific Ricoh MFPs that are included in the recent certification includes: MP301, MPC305, MPC3502, MPC4502, MPC5502, MP4502A, MP5502A, MP4002, and MP5002.
A statement from Dominic Pontrelli, Ricoh Sr. Vice President of Marketing said, “AirPrint compatibility, part of Ricoh’s new intelligent MFP platform, helps make employees who use Apple mobile devices in their day to day work, more productive, both inside their companies and on the road.” Pontrelli went on to say, ” Easy mobile printing relieves IT of the burden of managing software downloads, and eliminates the need for mobile employees to send email attachments around an office just so they can be printed from desktops.”
AirPrint functionality requires an AirPrint enabled MFP connected to the same WiFi network as the iOS device that is sending the print request. The technology, developed by Apple, lets applications create full quality printed output using Apple’s driverless printing architecture. All iOS built-in apps that support printing use AirPrint. The certification is part of Ricoh’s strategy to support mobile computing and printing in the workplace and is also an integral part of its Mobile Services. Citing a recent study conducted by Cisco, Ricoh notes that 78 percent of U.S. white collar employees use a mobile device for work and 95 percent of businesses allow employees to use their own devices in the workplace. Having a mobile print solution for a wide range of products facilitates the print process of documents from those devices.
AirPrint also works with built-in Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch apps such as Safari, Mail, Photos, iWork, and PDF’s in iBooks. Printing occurs in the background letting users quickly get back to what they were doing. Users can also line up print jobs and manage their queues like they can from desktop machines.
Ricoh Americas Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company LTD., a 75 year old industry leader of imaging products, services, and software with annual sales in excess of $23 billion dollars. Earlier this year, the company was ranked as a “Leader” by IDC in the research firm’s report entitled “IDC MarketScape: U.S. Shared, Networked, Multifunction Peripherals for the Distributed Office – 2012 Vendor Analysis.” IDC’s report is considered one of the key comparative analyses of MFP vendors in the U.S. marketplace. This research report ranks vendors based on their products, strategies, and customer experience. In the words of IDC Vice President, Keith Kmetz, “Ricoh has a broad product portfolio, solid market share, pricing that fits customer requirements, and good reviews from its customers. Those attributes, combined with a solutions/services model to drive value-added differentiation are the reasons Ricoh was deemed a “Leader” in this year’s report.”
Keeping its product lineup in full lock step with Microsoft’s new Windows 8 OS, Xerox announced last month that drivers for its most popular professional and consumer scanners had been updated and deemed fully compatible with the new operating system. ”We’re committed to giving our customers a favorable scanner experience with full operating system compatibility and our engineering team has worked diligently to ensure that Xerox DocuMate products are fully compatible with the new Windows 8 OS.” said Walter Thinfen, chief information officer and vice president of support and services at Visioneer, a Xerox licensing partner. The Xerox scanner drivers all passed Microsoft’s standards of compatibility, reliability, and performance.
Xerox DocuMate 4799
The Xerox Documate 4799 scanner is an impressive, although expensive scanner. Priced at $11,845, this is not a small office/home office scanner. With a battle hardened 40,000 page per day duty cycle, this innovative workhorse scans up to 112 pages per minute and employs three advanced sensor systems, an ultrasonic double feed detection, stapled document detection, and intelligent feed control to ensure scan jobs are not interrupted. When the occasional paper jam occurs, the DocuMate 4799 has a unique design that allows full access to the entire paper path so that local employees or IT staff can clear the jam without the need to call a service technician.
The 300 page ADF holds documents and media of various sizes all together in the feed tray with no concern thanks to the three ultrasonic, double feed detection sensors in the device. The trio of sensors constantly monitor the thickness of documents being fed into the scanner and automatically adjusts the roller pressure to ensure that all pages are accurately fed. This combination of sensors creates one of the most reliable feed mechanisms available today.
Kofax VRS Technology
The Xerox DocuMate 4799 also comes with Kofax VirtualReScan technology that provides an integrated software solution that combines the ease of Visioneer One Touch scanning with the superior image quality achieved with Kofax VRS. The DocuMate 4790 is available with either VRS Pro AIPE or VRS basic. While VRS provides world class thresholding, cropping, and deskew. AIPE (Adrenaline Image Processing Engine) is a Kofax software product that adds a range of functions to the device image control scan application. AIPE software also includes an Enhanced Bar Code Engine and Patch Code detection which support any image type (bitonal, grayscale, or color). For bitonal image processing, AIPE provides forms recognition, on the fly rotation, line removal, and a range of image enhancement filters.
Other specs include:
- Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
- 112 pages per minute at 200 dpi, black and white, simplex
- 224 images per minute at 200 dpi, black and white, duplex
- 600 dpi optical resolution
- 250 sheet ADF capacity
- ADF maximum paper size – 11.7 inch x 17 inch
- ADF minimum paper size – 1.9 inch x 2.8 inch
- Dimensions: 18.7 inch (W) x 23 inch (D) x 13 inch (H)
- Weight: 55.1 pounds
- 350MB hard drive storage capacity
- Windows 8/7/Vista/XP compatible
- Interface: USB 2.0 (1.1 compatible)
- Duty Cycle: 40,000 pages per day
- Image Enhancement Technology: Kofax VRS
- Output Bit Depth: 24-bit color, 8-bit grayscale, 1-bit black and white
- 1GB of RAM (512MB for Windows OS)
Canon USA Inc. announced on Monday its Canon Mobile Printing App for iPhone and iPad products extending the company’s line of apps and support for mobile office users. The impressive app enables users in home or office environments to complete print jobs from their iOS devices directly to enabled Canon printers, copiers, and multifunction devices.
Canon’s press release notes that the Mobile Printing App is compatible with select Canon imageCLASS desktop laser printers and multifunction printers including the recently launched MF4000 models. The app is also compatible with Canon’s recently released next generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5200, 6200, and 8200 enterprise multifunction office systems. Additionally, the app supports most imageRUNNER and imageRUNNER ADVANCE multifunction office systems and the imageRUNNER LBP printers. Sam Yoshida, Vice President and General Manager of Canon’s Business Imaging Solution Group stated “With today’s mobile workforce, being able to print on-the-go is an increasingly valuable asset.” The new Canon Mobile Printing App provides ease of use and places traditional print functionality at the finger tips of today’s mobile worker.”
Key Features of the Canon Mobile Printing App
OpenIN Compatibility – The Canon Mobile Printing user experience becomes seamless with the integration of OpenIN, a feature that allows users to capitalize on the functionality of the mobile app while navigating through files located elsewhere. The OpenIN feature allows users to easily navigate to Canon Mobile Printing directly from the application they are in, giving the customer more ways to access printing.
Variety of Supported Document Types – Designed with the end user in mind, the app supports a wide variety of file types including Microsoft office files (doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx) iWork files, PDF, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, TIFF files, photographs, and even web pages can be printed directly through the app.
Wide Range of iOS Compatibility – The app supports devices running iOS 5.1 through 6.0 and is available for iPhone 4 through the new iPhone 5 and all versions of the iPad – including the original model. The app also supports most imageRUNNER and imageRUNNER ADVANCE enterprise multifunction office systems including support for the next generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE multifunction devices.
Intuitive Printer Communication – The app can search for and identify Canon printers within a wireless (WiFi) broadcasting range and automatically save those devices for future use. Users can also manually enter the IP address of the Canon device to list it as one of their available printers.
Opportunity to Choose Print Settings to Optimize Workflow – The app offers a variety of built-in printing options to enhance control and performance. Users can tailor the print range, paper size, color output, and number of copies directly from the app. Users can also instruct finishing features such as stapling or use of the automatic document feeder.
Preview Mode Support – Users of the app are able to preview documents, photos, and web pages prior to printing to determine the ideal setting for a specific print job. Items with multiple pages can also be previewed by swiping the screen to move through the document.
The Canon Mobile Printing App is available free from the iTunes App store at www.itunes.com/appstore. Search for “Canon Mobile Printing”.
The multifunction printer (MFP) is a glorious, yet Rodney Dangerfield like device; some of its functions get little or no respect until the one day that they’re really needed. However underutilized, it’s great to know that when you need more than a printer that you have a scanner, copier, and fax machine in your home office or small business to help get the job done. The following is our look at a few of the top MFP’s of 2012.
Lexmark Interact S605
First on our list is the Lexmark Interact S605. As we mentioned in a previous blog, Lexmark plans to exit the inkjet printer business in 2013 but at least they managed to produce a top quality MFP before closing the doors on this business unit. The Interact S605 prints, scans, copies, and connects wirelessly with an intuitive user interface that includes customizable widgets called “Smart Solutions” Priced at $199 – it’s one of our top MFP’s for 2012. Get one before the Lexmark line of inkjets is completely gone.
Epson Workforce 310
The Epson Workforce 310 is a standout MFP that provides five separate inkjet cartridges, an automatic document feeder, and a highly advanced control panel in addition to the standard print, copy, scan, and fax functions. Epson machines are durable and their inkjet cartridge prices are typically less than the other major manufacturers; it’s priced at $129 which is another kudo for this exceptional MFP. The combination of speed, paper capacity, and inexpensive ink makes the Epson Workforce 310 a 2012 winner.
Canon Pixma MX870
Canon has several MFP’s in the Pixma product family, however the MX870 stood out in our view because of its gorgeous appearance. This is not an all looks but no brains device though. The MX870 has a large 2.5 inch LCD, intuitive button layout, built-in WiFi and a hefty 300 sheet paper capacity that includes front, rear, and top loading cassettes. The versatility of having three paper feeds gives the user multiple paper media options including photo paper in the rear, to normal letter stock paper in the front, and another tray on top to hold a different paper media type. The Canon Pixma MX870 is priced at $169.
HP Officejet Pro 8660
Although its footprint is a bit larger than the other MFP’s on our list, the HP Officejet Pro 8660 is the fastest on our Best of 2012 list with speeds up to 13 pages per minute. Priced at $215, the HP workhorse has a 250 sheet paper tray (a 350 sheet model is available for $100 more) and automatically duplexes printouts and copies two-sided documents as well. The device also handles legal size paper in its automatic document feeder and includes USB and Ethernet ports plus WiFi. The Officejet Pro 8660 is one of the best inkjet MFP’s on the market and a star on our Best of 2012 list.
Epson Workforce Pro WP-4590
The Epson Workforce Pro WP-4590 is the most expensive MFP on our list, priced at $405 and only available through VAR’s, it’s aimed at enterprise office use and not so much the home office environment. The WP-4590 has a robust 250 sheet tray on the bottom, an 80 sheet rear vertical paper feed, and an optional 250 sheet tray that can be ordered for an additional $100. The device has a 30-sheet automatic document feeder for scanning and copying longer documents, and also scans and prints in duplex.
There are at least five other worthy MFPs that could be included in this short list of 2012 MFP all-stars and we’ll describe a few of those in a future blog.
The world’s first 3D printing booth is set to debut in a few days during the Eye of Gyre exhibition in Tokyo, Japan November 24th through January 14, 2013. The booth, courtesy of OMOTE 3D will provide an opportunity for exhibition attendees to have a 3D model of themselves produced in a choice of sizes and costs. Participants will be able to choose a 10cm, 15cm, or 20cm model of themselves. Costs for the 3D objects range from $264 to $568. So while its certainly not cheap, it’s still a crazy cool novelty that is sure to draw a huge crowd and catch on as the cost of the technology continues to drop.
3D printing, a technology that allows the replication of three dimensional objects the same way a photo copier replicates two dimensional objects, has been around for a number of years, however, the technology has been too costly for widespread public use in a venue like a photo booth. 3D printing is achieved using additive processes where an object is created by laying down successive layers of material and is usually performed by a materials printer using digital technology. Over the past few years there has been tremendous growth in the sales of the machines and their price has dropped substantially.
Previously used exclusively in the fields of jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, construction, and other high end commercial and industrial applications, 3D print technology is being adapted for public 3D photo use and the premiere event Japan at the Eye of Gyre exhibition on November 24th is sure to be the first of many that will appear in the coming months.
As you might expect, 3D printers are highly intricate and extremely powerful machines that in most cases still cost $10,000 – $20,000 for machines capable of producing consumer grade, quality prints. Some of the most detailed machines in fact, still cost as much as $50,000. Only within the last few years have more economical 3D printers with prices less than $5,000 hit the market. This year in fact, there are 3D hobby kits avaialble for as little as $500. These lower end 3D printers however probably won’t render a 3D image of the quality that OMOTE 3D plans for the Eye of Gyre exhibition; but in the next 3 to 5 years, probably so.
How it Works
To perform a 3D print, the machine reads in the design of the image to be replicated and lays down successive layers of liquid, powder, and sheet material. In this repetitive manner, the model is built up from a series of cross sections to create the final shape. Construction of a model with contemporary methods can take from several hours to several days, depending on the size and complexity of the model and the material used. Additive systems, like the one that will be used in the photo booth premiere, can typically produce models in a few hours.
To this point, the slow print speed of 3D printers has restricted their use for mass production. To increase speed, several fused filament machines now offer multiple extruder heads. These can be used to print in multiple colors with different polymers, or to make multiple prints simultaneously. This increases the overall print speed during multiple instance production.
As with most technology, Moore’s law is certain to apply, and in the next two years we can expect a two-fold technological advance in 3D printers with the price of the technology decreasing by half in the same period.
Japan based OKI Data, which markets its products under the OKI brand, has just launched the world’s first line of LED printers that will use white toner. According to OKI, these devices will allow small and medium businesses to handle exponentially more print jobs quicker and more cost effectively.
The OKI Electric Industry Co., manufactured the first telephone in Japan in 1881 and has evolved over the past century to become one of the world’s premiere manufacturers of products to telecom carriers, financial institutions, government agencies, and large corporations.
According to an OKI, currently printing in white is not only expensive, it’s also a laborious task that requires the use of manual printing techniques. OKI’s goal was to allow for the printing of true white on a number of different media, on an in house LED printer. OKI’s ground breaking digital print technology allows economical in house printing using white toner alongside other High Definition (HD) colors. The addition of white toner in a LED printer allows lower cost textile transfer media for direct imaging to fabric applications. It’s also perfect for lower cost signage and films that require true white print color. They can also be used for custom t-shirts, as well as ceramics, print cards, and labels to create original promotional material. The new line of LED printers with white toner is a perfect solution for jobs like shop window decorations, car windscreen stickers, and numerous other print jobs that require and are enhanced by true white print color.
OKI’s new line of LED printers using white toner includes the C711WT A4 and the C920WT A4.
C711WT A4
The C711WT A4 printer offers color printing with Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, White (CMYW) colors at speeds up to 34 pages per minute on standard media, and 8 pages per minute on transfer material. Additional features of the C711WT includes 1200 x 600 dpi resolution for crisp, clear output. The inclusion of white toner on this LED printer allows the user to print in breath taking color plus white on transfer sheets that can be further used with a wide variety of substrates. The printer features OKI proprietary enhanced High Definition (HD) color printing and single pass color technologies with a straight through paper path for results that typically require expensive manual printing processes. The C711WT handles a wide range of transfer media sizes and weights from letter and legal size to post cards and CD labels. For day to day printing, the C711WT has a 530 sheet paper cassette and prints in color plus black.
C920WT A4/A3
Like the C711WT, the C920WT prints sharp, crisp documents and media using white toner. The C920WT A4/A3 format printer is designed for intensive use and high volume printing at 10 pages per minute when printing on transparencies and up to 31 pages per minute on standard paper. The standard 760 sheet paper supply can also be extended up to 2880 sheets for volume print jobs. The C920WT uses ultra reliable digital LED printing technology and a simple, flat paper path for longer life and trouble free printing.
OKI Data’s new line of LED printers using white toner are an impressive addition to an already stellar lineup of products.
Remember the old days of technology back in the 90′s when flatbed scanners for consumers or small business measured 24 x 16 inches and weighed as much as a pan of you Aunt Maggie’s lasagna. Well today you can find a reliable and durable, portable scanner that’s as thin and light as a drumstick, but as feature rich as a full sized scanner.
One of the best all around portable scanners available is the ScanStik. Made by a company named PlanOn Systems Solutions, www.planon.com, this scantily clad (ok bad pun), thin as a pen device can scan a full 8 1/2 x 11″ page in only four seconds. The ScanStik, with its “Click and Scan” functions, is full featured yet very intuitive and easy to use. Place the scanner on the page you want to capture, press the “On” button and slide it down the page – Simple. Even though the ScanStik is portable sized, it is not the typical pen scanner that only scans a few lines at a time, the ScanStik scans the whole page, text and graphics included, in about four seconds – just like a full sized office scanner.
The ScanStik measures 8.9″ and weighs just a few ounces. The device can be set to several different resolutions and formats. It has a MicroSD memory card slot and can store over a thousand images at 300 – 600 dpi resolution in color or black and white. The ScanStik comes with a USB cable to allow quick transfer to a computer or laptop – or get really fancy and use a USB to microUSB converter and transfer the files to your cellphone. The re-chargeable lithium-ion battery can be charged in a wall outlet, or via a computer USB port.
There’s a LCD display on the ScanStik that allows the user to see battery level, resolution dpi, color or black and white setting, and available memory. The LCD display also shows which firmware version is on the device. Two buttons on either side of the LCD display allow the user to select different resolution, color settings, scan modes, and transfer functions. Firmware upgrades are also avalable via the company’s website. The ABBYY and Paperport software included allows quick organization of scanned files. Once imported to a computer a user can quickly convert the images into editable documents or presentations on Windows or Mac platforms.
Priced at $159, the ScanStik comes with a leather carrying case, CD-ROM installation disk, USB cable, and quick start guide. Future device firmware upgrades are available free of charge from PlanOn Systems at no additional charge. Perfect for insurance or real estate agents, field project planning, or for any other road warrior with a need for scan on the go capability, the ScanStik is a very useful tool to add to the arsenal.
Other specifications and items included with the ScanStik
- Resolution: 300 – 600 dpi
- Multi-page scan mode
- Scans 24 bit Color JPG, Black and White
- LCD function display
- Selectable resolutions and formats
- Re-chargeable battery
- Free firmware upgrades
- CD-ROM installation disk
- USB cable
- ABBYY FineReader SE OCR software
- Platforms include: Windows XP, Vista, Win7, Mac OSX
In this session of our series on head to head product battles, we’ll feature two industry stalwarts in a wide format inkjet printer comparison to see which device come out on top.
First up is the Epson Stylus Photo 1400. Epson has an exceptional history of producing fine printers, copiers, and scanners and the wide format Stylus Photo 1400 is no exception. This printer is one of Epson’s best ever and produces magnificent, ultra high def 5760 x 1440 dpi photos that are better than anything produced on any other wide format inkjet printer on the market.
The Stylus Photo 1400 has a compact 24.2 x 16.3 x 12.4 inch footprint and is a breeze to setup and use. The device produces high definition prints up to 13″ x 19″ for extraordinary sized photos, campaign signs, banners, postcards, and more.
The Epson Stylus 1400 also features CD and DVD printing which allows for the output of professional looking CDs and DVDs for a digital portfolio. The feature packed Epson Stylus Photo 1400 – a beast for a small $498 price tag. Additional features include:
- Borderless 13″ x 19″ photos in as fast as three minutes
- Ultra high definition prints with six color ink for long lasting photos, banners, brochures, and posters.
- Adobe Photoshop Elements software
- Individual ink cartridges that enable replacement of only the individual catridges that are running low.
- Borderless prints in popular sizes – 4″x6″, 5″x7″ 8″x10″, 8.5″x11″, 11″x14″, 11″x17″, 12″x12″, and 13″x19″.
- Precision color and detail – up to 5760 x 1440 dpi with ink droplets as small as 1.5 picoliters.
- Epson proprietary DX5 Micro Piezo print head technology that provides prints with professional detail without sacrificing speed.
- Prints in multiple finishes from matte, to luster, to high-gloss.
Next into the ring is the Canon Pixma Pro 9000 MarkII. Canon tried to win the “Longest Product Name” award and I think it has done a great job with that. Besides the name, the Canon is a feature rich, wide format printer that stacks up well against the Epson Stylus Photo 1400.
The Pixma Pro is a powerful and versatile machine that follows a long lineage of Canon printers. The Pixma Pro’s feature set also includes a PictBridge input that allows you to connect a digital device directly to the printer. It prints photos relatively fast and holds a large volume of paper media. The Canon’s 26 x 7.6 x 13.9 inch footprint is slightly larger than the Epson but still compact and suitable for setup in virtually any environment.
Primary features of the Canon are as follows:
- Borderless paper format support up to 13″ x 19″
- Two separate paper paths including a front feeder for heavy or coarse paper types.
- 8 color ink system.
- Ambient light correction software which optimizes color output to match the specific lighting condition.
- Canon FINE print head technology.
- Adobe Photoshop Elements software.
The Canon Pixma Pro 4000 Mark II is a world class wide format printer that is a beautiful device and a bargain at $417. It falls a little bit short however in the head to head battle with the Epson, which is our winner in this round of the wide format printer shootout. Final verdict – the Epson Stylus Photo 1400.
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