Most of the time, artists, designers, photographers and the like have to rely heavily on printing companies in order to get proper saleable good-quality prints that are able to last and meet the customer’s criteria.
At the other side of the spectrum, home printers nowadays are becoming cheaper and much more affordable to the laymen. So it can be said that most people wouldn’t want to do a print run at the print shop anymore, especially if you had only wanted a decent quality print.
Epson’s newly launched the Stylus Photo R3000, an A3+ photo printer is aimed at those creative minds, who want to do a little print run of their own. The Stylus Photo R3000 is a compact little printer that looks right at home on a desktop, and its designed that way; to fit on even a minuscule desk.
Features of the printer were developed with convenience in mind, as seen with the front loading fine art paper feed that aims to make insertion easier. Also featured is the 2.5-inch colour LCD display that shows ink levels and is also for viewing instructions. Last but not least is the 25.9ml ink cartridges that allow for print runs to be completed to optimise cost per page.
Epson also claims that combining the UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta inkset will give you unbeatable grayscale reproduction that is important for both colour and black and white prints.
The Stylus Photo R3000 comes with ICC profiles to make for accurate printing and Epson says that the printer can produce a high-quality A3+ photo in just 195 seconds. It supports roll, cut-sheet fine art paper and board up to 1.3mm thick.
The Epson Stylus Photo R3000 will set you back US$849.99.
I think this is a wonderful printer and although still not the cheapest printer by far, it IS priced somewhat lower for a printer of its range. I have complained of fine art prints being too pricey before, and although that may also be from the artist trying to make a living/profit, I think if the cost of getting the prints done can be reduced, so may the price of it.