Yesterday Epson announced the Stylus Photo 2200 A3+ printer (known as the 2100 in Europe and PM-4000PX in Japan). This printer is a replacement for the 2000P, it now uses seven-colour pigment based UltraChrome inks which should deliver higher gamut and longer life prints. The Stylus Photo 2200 can print up to 44 x 13", resolution up to 2880 x 1440 dpi, has USB 2.0, Parallel and Firewire (IEEE 1394) ports. Of course the 2200 also supports Epson's proprietary Print Image Matching technology.

More detailed coverage:

Digital Photography Now Epson Stylus Photo 2100 article

Photo-I Epson Stylus Photo 2100 article

Epson Unveils the Industry's First Seven-Color Archival Desktop Photo Printer: The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200

New UltraChrome(TM) Ink Makes its Debut With This Photographer's Dream Machine

Epson America Inc. is introducing its fastest, sleekest and most impressive desktop photo printer yet -- the EPSON Stylus(R) Photo 2200. This printer is ideal for anyone who is serious about photography, ranging from amateurs to professional portrait, commercial and fine art photographers. It replaces the award-winning EPSON Stylus Photo 2000P and is loaded with features that will set a new standard for desktop photographic printing.

By using Epson's new seven-color UltraChrome inks, the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 is able to print images at fast speeds with a larger color gamut than the previous generation. These unique pigment-based archival inks reproduce the color range, density and saturation of dye-based inks more than ever before, making this printer the best in its class with its photo and color quality, and superior fade-resistance.

"Epson has achieved another significant milestone with the introduction of the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200. With incredible advances in ink and printing technology, this printer provides the ultimate in wide-gamut color, durability and flexibility," said Parker Plaisted, product manager, photo imaging, Epson. "This printer is sure to inspire photographers of all levels, especially with a price that is $200 less than its predecessor."

UltraChrome Ink

By listening to photographers and what they want in the ultimate photo printer, Epson developed UltraChrome ink, a brand new generation of pigment ink. Building on the technology developed for the EPSON Archival(TM) Ink and the EPSON DuraBright(TM) Ink, this new UltraChrome Ink retains the advantages of high resistance to water and light, plus the largest color range for pigment inks. The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 is the first printer to utilize UltraChrome inks, providing a wide color gamut that is now extremely close to the gamut of the popular six-color, dye-based Epson inks with more vibrant and saturated reds, oranges and yellows. This printer also can print stunning black and white photographs with the addition of a new lower density black ink -- Light Black -- which helps produce more neutral grays. The UltraChrome ink has faster printing and drying times enabling the printer to achieve a print speed of four minutes for an 8" x 10" photograph on glossy paper, which is three times faster than the EPSON Stylus Photo 2000P.

The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 offers impressive lightfastness(a) ratings with prints lasting up to 80 years on EPSON Watercolor Paper and black and white prints lasting up to 100 years on various fine art papers.

Interchangeable Black Inks

The printer also features new interchangeable black inks to allow users to choose between the printer's standard Photo Black cartridge and an optional Matte Black cartridge. The Photo Black ink supports any type of paper and the Matte Black ink supports matte paper only. The Matte Black also yields higher density and contrast on matte papers and is ideal for matte fine art photography.

Groundbreaking Photo Printing

The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 has a sleek, modern, attractive case design and black and silver case color, as well as quiet operation. The printer offers a resolution of up to 2880 x 1440 dpi using ultra small four-picoliter droplets, which produces an equivalent dot size to a two-picoliter dye-based droplet. The printer uses Epson's exclusive Micro Piezo(TM) ink jet technology for creating incredible detail, beautiful skin tones and an ultra-wide color range that is ideal for photography.

"Photographers will rediscover the passion and joy of photography with the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200. This revolutionary printer essentially offers no compromises or limitations for serious photographers to utilize the control and convenience of a desktop printing solution," said Dan Steinhardt, marketing manager, photo imaging, Epson. "The printed image is the essence of photography and Epson is committed to the development of technology that empowers photographers to achieve their vision. With advances such as ours, 2002 is poised to be remembered as the year that photography went digital."

Designed to address the needs of a variety of photographers, the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 has a large printable area up to 13" x 44". Eliminating left and right margins, the printer also features 4", 8.3" and 13" edge-to-edge borderless printing on roll paper. A roll paper holder is included with the printer, in addition to a convenient, built-in automatic cutter that will easily cut borderless prints on roll paper straight out of the printer, virtually turning the printer into a mini-photolab. The cutter is removable from the printer and is safely enclosed in a protective casing. Also included with the printer is a "photo catcher" that attaches to the printer and keeps prints in a neat stack as they are cut from the roll.

Media Choices with the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200

A variety of glossy and matte papers are compatible with the printer, including EPSON Premium Semigloss Photo Paper, EPSON Premium Luster Photo Paper, EPSON Premium Glossy Photo Paper, EPSON Watercolor Paper and EPSON Enhanced Matte (formerly named Archival Matte) Paper. The newest paper that is available for use with the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 is Epson's Velvet Fine Art paper. This new paper is a 100 percent cotton, acid free paper and is available in both Letter and Super B (13" x 19") sheets. The Velvet Fine Art paper is a thicker media and can be easily fed through the printer's straight paper path. The paper path supports a variety of media up to 1.3 mm in thickness.

Software Bundle and Special Offers

The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 includes EPSON Software(TM) Film Factory(TM) with PRINT Image Matching support. PRINT Image Matching technology (P.I.M.), which Epson announced in February 2001, ensures that P.I.M.-enabled digital cameras and P.I.M.-enabled printers work perfectly together to create the best possible prints. The first P.I.M. compatible products began shipping in summer 2001 and there are now 40 P.I.M.-enabled products from 19 manufacturers of digital cameras, photo printers and software. To date, over two million PRINT Image Matching-enabled products have been shipped worldwide. More information on PRINT Image Matching is available at www.printimagematching.com.

There are several special software offers available for EPSON customers including discounts on MonacoEZcolor 2.1; Corel KnockOut 2.0 and KPT Effects; Nik Color Efex Pro! and Sharpener Pro!; and Extensis Intellihance Pro 4.0 and PhotoFrame 2.0. These offers can save customers up to $700.

Compatible with both Windows and Macintosh platforms, the printer features built-in parallel, high speed USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 FireWire ports.

Pricing, Support and Availability

The EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 will be available in July for an estimated street price of $699 through mail order, computer superstores, specialty camera and art stores and at Epson's retail Web site (www.epsonstore.com). The printer is backed by the one-year EPSON Exchange Warranty and is supported by the EPSON Connection, a customer support technical assistance line. More information about Epson and its products is available by calling 1-800-GO EPSON or visiting the company Web site at www.epson.com.