Epson Stylus Photo

Digital cameras have become big business of late, so it's no surprise to see the number of printers designed with photographic output in mind swelling by the day. Epson's Stylus Photo is the latest in the line, following on from the success of its high resolution forerunners, the Stylus Color 600 and 800 printers (reviewed issue 33, p124).

The Stylus Photo sports a lower resolution than the 600 and 800 models at 720 x 720dpi, but uses the same 'Super MicroDots'. It compensates for the lower resolution by using a cartridge with five colours, which is capable of producing a wider range of colour and smoother blends than the basic three-colour cyan, magenta and yellow combination. The photographic cartridge adds a light cyan and light magenta and should, theoretically, improve on the slightly unsubtle and unrealistic photo-tones produced by both the Stylus 600 and 800.

Apart from a darkened area of transparent plastic on the top it looks pretty much the same as its predecessors. Windows 95 instantly detects the printer and prompts you to install the driver straight away. The driver also looks identical to that used by both the 800 and 600, which is no bad thing because it's clearly laid out and extremely easy to use. However, both the colour matching and dithering routines have been improved over previous versions. All the standard features such as media and print quality selection are supported and supplemented by comprehensive colour adjustment features as well as ink level monitoring, nozzle cleaning and head alignment.

Like most of the recent super inkjets, the Stylus Photo isn't at its best when using plain paper and prefers you to use Epson's specialist Photo Quality Glossy or Photo Quality Inkjet papers. The glossy paper is supplied in A4 as well as snapshot size (4 x 6in), which is perforated around the printed area so you get photos without a white border.

As long as you stick to this media, you'll be impressed by the results. A standard 4 x 6in print took just over five minutes to print in best quality mode on the glossy photo paper, and a full A4 print of the same quality popped into the output tray in just 15 minutes and 40 seconds. This is pretty quick, but the quality of the printed image is even better. Colours are bright, clear and realistic, and for once skin tones are treated with some subtlety. The broad band of colours available through using two extra colours means images are smooth and well-defined, although on close inspection you can just about see the dots.

On Epson's special 720dpi coated paper, photographic output remains impressive. It's perhaps a little less vivid and rich, but still extremely good quality. However, if you try to use plain paper or even standard coated paper the quality suffers. Colours aren't nearly as bright, and black ink tends to bleed and seep into surrounding areas.

Even if you want to print the occasional non-photographic image, such as a set of PowerPoint slides or some graphic art, the Stylus Photo will cope admirably albeit rather slowly. Even printing a few pages of text was fine as long as you stick to the recommended 720 or 360dpi media: output on any of the non-proprietary paper was less than impressive. The Stylus Photo compares well with Alps' dedicated photo printer, the MD 2300 (reviewed issue 34, p148). The main difference is that the Alps produces less speckled images and captures more detail.

Running costs are always an issue but in this case it's even more crucial to know exactly how much you're going to be spending on each and every print. The glossy paper is very expensive: £7.89 will buy you just 20 sheets of A4, and the smaller, 4 x 6in size is even poorer value at £5.25 for 20. The black cartridges will set you back £15 a time, and the colour cartridges are £15.95 each. What this means is that each individually printed 4 x 6in photo will cost in the region of 40p, while a full A4 print will cost around 82p. Although, the individual 4 x 6in prints may be a little expensive, the cost of an A4 print is reasonable and cheaper than the Alps MD 2300.