Raw & Post Processing, Printing > Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks

Epson S70 Ultrachrome

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Mike Sellers:
For fine art printing can this 10 color eco-solvent produce results as good as the pigment ink printers? Is it true that there is no need to coat a canvas print from a solvent printer? What are the archival properties of this printer?
Mike

Landscapes:
I can't comment on most of your questions, but I do sometimes need to get bigger prints made than my 24 inch printer can do and the local place uses an Epson EcoSolvent printer (not sure of the exact model though).  The surface for sure doesn't need to be coated and its extra durable.  The canvas itself I find has even more stretch than the Epson Exhibition Canvas I use in my aqueous printer, but its similar.  It smells a bit, but from my understanding, its nothing like what a real solvent printer would be like (hence why this is eco solvent).  You really can't go wrong for canvas printing.  I'm not sure about longevity, or color gradation or even resolution possible given that the files I give them aren't super crisp in a big size, but the canvas is for sure durable enough that it doesn't need any coating.  Its almost like the ink gets melted into the surface and becomes one with it.  I think its very similar to how they print outdoor signs and hence why its so durable.

Czornyj:
I had problems with this printer on cotton and semi cotton canvases - no matter how I tried I couldn't get reasonable Dmax. The ink in dark areas was "washing itself" from the top of cotton weaves. I did tests with canvases from many suppliers, but no love. Maybe my client didn't try really good canvases, optimised for this kind of inkset.

The results on poly canvas were excellent, I've never seen such stunning quality on any other solvent printer, and it's pretty close to water-based inkjet quality. But my overall impression is that Epson's super-eco-eco-eco-solvent ink is much more demanding than typical eco-solvent ink, and in case of many ecosolvent media like canvases and wallpapers can be a real PITA and calibration nightmare. My advise is to give it a good test drive before you buy it.

As any other solvent printer it's durable - the pigment is melted into the surface, so after it gets dry it's virtually like laminate. In case of water-based inkjet the pigment creates a layer on top of paper/canvas coating, so it's much less scratch resistant.

dgberg:
Unless you absolutely need a 64" machine I would jump on the Roland 540.
Its about $10K less and does some of the slickest contour cutting.
I would personally never buy any solvent machine of this size without a cutter.

Referring to the Versacamm not the MT model which is twice the cost.

johnATshadesofpaper:
Dan,

Does that versacamm unit have 10 colors like the S70? I am not familiar with the rolands regarding, if the printer is down can you still cut and if the cutter is down can you still print? Not sure about that. Most shops we deal with like to have the separate solutions this way they can still either cut/print. Again I am not sure if the roland allows for that if one part of the unit is down. Would certainly be something to look into.

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