Epson Stylus Photo R1800

Epson’s product range has become slightly confusing of late. Once upon a time if you wanted A3 colour you had a choice between the older semi-pro 1290 and the rather more up market 2200. According to Epson, the 1800, which sits squarely between the two, isn’t a replacement for either.

The outline spec is very attractive. This is an A3+ printer with a new eight-ink set that includes both matte and photo black cartridges at the same time. It’s based on the same Ultrachrome pigment ink technology as the R800, but scaled up to the larger paper format.

According to Epson, there’s also an improved colour-processing engine, which extends the printable gamut. This includes roll paper and CD/DVD printing, as well as the usual sheet feed options, but because the paper path is curved there is no support for printing on stiff card or canvas.

The print speed is pretty decent – fast, but not outstandingly fast – but print longevity is exceptional, with estimates of up to 200 years. This may seem a little ambitious, but what it really means is that you’ll see very little noticeable fading. Connection options include the standard USB 2 and a pro-oriented Firewire connector. USB 1 will work, too, although it will be slow in comparison. One minor quibble is that there’s no USB cable in the box – which seems a little cheap, all things considered.

For colour work, output quality is excellent, with punchy saturation and a wide gamut, although for best results – and to avoid a soggy overinked mess – you need to use one of the better gloss or archival matte papers. In our tests we found that yellows were slightly muted and there was a hint of a cyan cast on black and white prints. This will only bother those who need absolute accuracy – amateur and semi-pro users are unlikely to notice. Still, the default profiles could do with some adjustment, although you can compensate in Photoshop during pre-flight proofing.

Resolution is also good, although running through the print-head calibration and setup routine improved this still further. There’s a nominal 5760 dpi mode, but this just seems to use extra ink to very little benefit. The standard 2880 dpi mode works just fine for most jobs, and with good paper the results are at least as good as anything you’ll get from a darkroom chemical colour process. Having both photo and matte black on hand eliminates the tedious swapping that plagues the 2200.

On the downside, the lack of a separate grey means that as with most inkjets, black and white photo output lacks the wow factor that a good darkroom process can produce.

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