Let’s face it, a lot of the photos we shoot will never be seen a second time. But, when you get that perfect shot, it would be a shame to leave it just in the cloud. Printing it out and displaying it at home or the office lets everyone enjoy it. And, isn’t that why you shot it in the first place?
After having used the Epson SureColor P400 for a number of months, I can now unequivocally recommend it as the printer of choice for your best artistic creations. Unusual among inkjet printers, the P400 comes with 8 colors of pigment ink for beautiful renditions of your exceptional images. Combined with some of Epson’s specialty papers, I’ve been blown away by the quality.
For a printer capable of printing ten-foot-long banners up to 13” wide, the printer is remarkably compact on the desktop. It’s also so versatile with different paper paths for different paper stocks.
Having the addition of red and orange inks, really seems to make your fall foliage pop. I also like it for its wonderful renditions of skin tones. With two different blacks, your photos are optimized whether printed on glossy or matte paper.
In a class by itself – the Epson SureColor P400
My first printer was an Epson dot-matrix back in the early 80’s. Since then, I’ve owned probably a dozen different printers and I’m stuck on the brand – for dependability, longevity and quality output. While the WF-7620 is my utility printer, and I love it, the P400 is now the go-to machine for anything artistic.
Just a few specs that set it apart:
- It handles paper up to 13” wide and up to 129” long!
- A special tray holds CD/DVD’s for printing
- It holds roll paper for extra-wide panoramics or banners
- It uses UltraChrome HG2 ink for amazing color rendition
- In addition to the standard Cyan, Magenta and Yellow inks, it adds Red and Orange, both Matte and Photo Black inks as well a cartridge of Gloss Optimizer.
- Selections in the print driver sense the correct type black to use and no manual switching is necessary
- Capable of printing up to 5,760 x 1,440 dots per inch for crazy detailed output
- Built-in support for all Signature Worthy and Legacy Epson papers
- Prints to 3rd party fine art papers as well
- Print border-free on cut sheets up to 13”x19”
- Each color comes in its own 14mL cartridge so you only buy exactly the color you need.
- Capable of printing on posterboard up to 1.3 mm thick, canvas, metallic paper, watercolor paper, and all standard paper surfaces.
- Four paper paths: Front in – front out; Rear single sheet for fine art papers, Rear roll paper path, and Top-loading multi-sheet feeder.
- Three connection methods: USB-2, Wireless-n, and 100Mbps Ethernet
- Works ideally with the Epson Print Layout software.
So, there’s more than a few reasons, but maybe now you can see why I’m so jazzed about this printer. It’s changed my entire thinking about printing my favorite photos and I’m printing using specialty papers I never even tried before.
Epson specialty papers
Epson Exhibition Watercolor Textured is an acid-free, 100% cotton rag paper that makes any photo look like a fine piece of art. The textured surface of the paper does not detract from the sharpness of the image, like I feared it might, but rather gives it that Old World, hand-crafted paper look. It’s also sturdy enough that once printed, you can immediately lean it up against the wall and it doesn’t sag or slide down like a typical sheet of paper would. I wouldn’t suggest long-term display without a frame, but to do a quick redecorate, it’s ideal.
Epson Metallic Photo Paper – Glossy and Luster – was another paper that blew me away. If you’ve got some tack sharp images that you want to show off to their best effect, this is the paper to use. The metallic paper highlights the color range and provides maximum depth to your image. Colors look rich and vibrant with a luxurious shine you won’t get on plain white photo glossy paper.
Epson Print Layout software
The P400 is also made to work with Epson’s recently updated and free Epson Print Layout software. While many people invest great sums of money for Photoshop, many more people are still using less expensive options and/or freeware for their photo editing. With the newest version of Epson Print Layout, everyone will want to check out this new package. Photoshop users can even use it directly from Photoshop by selecting File -> Automate -> Epson Print Layout.
It is loaded with print drivers for all the Epson specialty papers and a simple drop-down menu will immediately select the best options, so your prints come out right the first time. There are also plenty of options to let you size the photo and place it exactly where you want it to appear on the paper. You won’t be able to do that on the standard Windows print driver.
It will also let you do a fabulous job of edge-wrapped photos – with more than a half dozen choices of edge detail and coloring. Guidelines show you where to specifically fold your paper to fit your frame and the software lets you pick any size canvas. Fold it on the lines like this
and place it over your frame or canvas stretcher.
Watch the video for some of its main features and stay tuned in the near future as I do the second edition of the video for more of its features like composites and panoramic printing.
Disclosure: Epson provided me with a loaner P400 to test so I could do this review. Opinions however are strictly our own as always.