This is a new development of Epson company having no competitors among world producers of similar equipment. Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer was awarded by the European association EISA as the best European printer of 2011-2012.
The Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer is larger and more solid than its predecessors, the Epson Stylus Photo R2400 and Epson Stylus Photo R2800. It is very convenient that it has 9 separate cartridges and there is no need to swap photo and matte ink cartridges when changing glossy and matte papers. When changing media in the driver requires pumping of nozzles. Therefore, in order to save ink and run time, you should plan your work order so that you use the same type of cartridges as much as possible, rather than alternating them.
Tex: Michael Shpolsky, V. HALIZEW.
Three types of the company’s papers were provided for testing with the printer: Epson Premium Glossy Paper, Epson Premium SemiGloss Photo Paper, and Epson Matte Paper-Heavyweight.
Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer is designed for professional printing with a whole complex of new solutions that allow to receive flawless quality and accurate color reproduction. It contains cartridges with pigment ink Epson Ultra Chrome K3 Vivid Magenta, which are resistant to water, ozone and light, providing preservation of images for 100 years. Each cartridge has a capacity of 29.5 ml. Printer allows you to stop printing while a used cartridge is replaced, and resume printing from the point where it was stopped.
The photo will be printed without defects. It is an economical solution for professional small batch printing, so the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer is indispensable for professional photographers, designers and even professional laboratories. In addition to the standard 6 colors black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light magenta and light blue it uses additional colors – gray and light gray. In addition, when printing on matte media, the regular black cartridge automatically switches to matte black for optimal black reproduction the ink in the matte black cartridge has a high optical density .
Printer provides reliable prints on a variety of media: formatted and heavyweight 850 g/sq. , fine art, and roll media. m , on CDs and DVDs. Can print borderless on photographic paper from 10×15 cm up to A3+, including many intermediate forms A4, A5, etc. . print panoramic images of 210×594 mm, etc. The optimally designed paper feed system and manual loading capabilities make it easy to print on a variety of Epson media, including fine art papers like Velvet Fine Art Paper, Water Color Paper-Radiant White, Premium Luster Photo Paper, and various canvases. Of particular note is Epson Traditional Photo Paper, a professional-grade glossy paper, a kind of analog of traditional photo paper with a Barita backing.
The printer features the new Epson LUT Look Up Table technology, a conversion table developed jointly by Epson and the Rochester Institute of Technology, the world’s leading center for color reproduction. Epson LUT technology makes it possible to automatically create an algorithm for converting computer image data into the color scheme of printing with ink, as well as receiving optimum quality with the following parameters: tonal gradation, image graininess, color coverage and metamerism. Every amateur photographer knows what image grit means, especially those who have taken pictures on “Svema” and “Tasma” films. Other features require explanation.
LUT. When printing on inkjet printers, the original data is first analyzed and broken down into color combinations on which the quality of the print depends. These combinations are information on the necessary amount of ink of all colors required to reproduce the color of the original. So the LUT table contains sets of rules that determine the amount of ink required to reproduce a particular color.
Tone gradients. A very important characteristic of image quality is the smooth tonal gradation to convey all shades of color. This requires the right combination of ink and drop size, which is ensured by the optimum algorithm, the software.
Testing the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer.
The test print we used consists of several objects: halftone photographs, groups of dashed worlds and a neutral gray wedge. Figures 1-3 show the color reproduction curves of the tested papers, and Fig. 4 – color gamut bodies. The gradation curves of the papers constructed by measuring the wedge fields make it possible to estimate the accuracy of tonal reproduction, t. e. How accurately the color components are balanced in shading.
The printer handled skin tones and difficult-to-produce gilding very well on all kinds of paper. One color gradient on all papers ensures perfect color reproduction of the subject. The maximum optical densities on glossy photo papers are 2.1-2.2. These are high values typical of premium papers. Print resolution on the tested papers is 20-22 lines./mm. These are very high values.
Color gamut. The concept of CO defines how much of the colors the human eye can reproduce by a device, such as a printer or monitor. This is a closed region of the reference color space, inside which are all the possible colors of the color space under study. A color that a printer cannot print is not part of the color gamut. It is impossible to create a device which can reproduce the synthesis of the entire spectrum.
Therefore an important task of modern printers is to bring the quality of the image as close as possible to the perception of the human eye. It must be understood that the color gamut bodies have to be used very carefully when comparing printers. The colors you choose are only theoretically achievable, and not necessarily the dazzling emerald-purple color that would be available in print. In Fig. 4 the bodies of color coverage of the Noritsu minilab classic photo printing , ISO Coated printing standard and the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer, as well as in the RGB color space are given. As you can see from the figure, the color gamut of the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 far exceeds the ISO standard and comfortably overlaps the color gamut of the Noritsu minilab.
It means that quality and accuracy of color reproduction of the prints on Epson Stylus Photo R3000 are higher than in case of traditional photo printing. And lastly, there is the metamerism, the phenomenon whereby the same color appears differently in different light conditions. The Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer successfully copes with this color perception problem by using UltraChrome k3 Vivid Magenta ink and LUT technology.
Some technical characteristics of the printer Epson Stylus Photo R 3000: maximum resolution 5760×1440 dpi, the minimum ink droplet volume is 2 ml, the duration of printing an A3+ image – 195 seconds. Minimum paper weight – 64 g/sq. m, maximum 850 g/sq. m. Power consumption – 21 W. Dimensions 616×369×228 mm, weight 15 kg. Recommended by Epson for the cost of the printer – 40 600 Dollars.
Epson Inkjet Color Curves.
Color gamut of different picture reproduction systems.
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Epson for the possibility to test the new Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer.
What is the overall print quality and speed of the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer? Is it suitable for professional photographers and can it handle a variety of paper types?
Is the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer worth the investment? How does it compare to other printers in terms of print quality and reliability? Are there any notable features or drawbacks that potential buyers should be aware of?
Does the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 printer offer exceptional print quality and color accuracy, specifically for professional photography and fine art prints?