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Epson's 17-inch pigment printer offers improvements but still doesn't solve its ink-swapping issue.
The ly-inch Epson Stylus Pro 4880 is a printer with a problem. That's a pity because it does so much so right. The problem-more of a design hiccup really-is one that photographers who purchased the 4880'$ predecessor, the Stylus Pro 4800, are likely already familiar with and are likely tired of having to deal with every time they want to use one of Epson's fine-art papers.
The problem isn't in the paper but in the costly and annoying process of having to swap out the pigment printer's Photo Black ink cartridge for a Matte Black ink cartridge every time you want to switch, for example, from a glossy photo paper to Epson's Velvet Fine Art cotton rag paper. While Epson's Photo Black ink looks fine on glossy and semi-gloss papers, when printed on matte or rag paper it loses some of its blackness, resembling more of a dark gray. Epson's Black Matte ink, on the other hand, looks great on matte or rag paper, where it produces excellent D-Max.Use it on glossy photo paper, however, and it tends to smear.
The solution to this problem is one that Epson has suggested with many of its pigment printers for several years now: When you want to print on art paper, swap the Photo Black for the Matte Black ink.
Sounds relatively simple, right? It's not. Instead of just pulling one cartridge out and putting the other in,you first have to "drain" the old black ink by inserting three additional CMY cartridges from Epson's "black ink conversion kit," and then raise and lower a series of levers on the printer. The entire process takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes and gobbles up $40 to $50 worth of ink. Not exactly convenient or cost-efficient.
Normally I wouldn't begin a review of a product I generally like very much on such a negative note, but the issue is hard to ignore with the Stylus Pro 4880 ($1,995). In fact, it's what most photographers asked me when they heard I was going to review the printer: "D id they fix the issue wit h the black inks?" Umm.. .no.
What's most strange about the ink-swapping issue,...