Piezography Printer & Ink Options & More

Printer Specs & Review

Although only a six ink 13″ printer, the Epson 1400/1430 has such a tiny drop size that Piezography K6 looks indistinguishable from the K7 ink set on 7+ ink printers. This printer cannot print non-matte. There are not enough ink positions to run our glossy compatible ink sets. It will not print on glossy, semi-glossy, luster, pearl nor even the baryta papers. Stick to fine art inkjet paper and you will be in heaven with this bargain machine.

The paper handling is a little difficult sometimes on thicker sheets and may require some hand-feeding from time to time. Otherwise it’s a fantastic printer for the money and it’s often available at the Epson refurb store for $149.00. New it sells from about $219 to $299 (for as long as it will be available.) Don’t let the fact that its a dye based printer scare you from putting pigment ink into it. Piezography inks are encapsulated, which means each pigment particle is actually encased in a thin-micro layer of acrylic co-polymer to eliminate the ability for the static charge in the pigment to attract any other pigment particle. The result is no clogging; not even in the tiny heads of the Epson 1400.

We created Piezography Special Edition specifically on this printer. It’s most beautiful incarnation is on the Epson 1400. If your aesthetics tend towards platinum/palladium style photography – Special Editions K6 and the 1400/1430 are impossible to beat. However, the printer is such a bargain priced machine that we encourage photographers to buy several, install them vertically on a restaurant rack t save room, and print with several of the Piezography K6 ink sets.

Compatible Ink Types

Carbon  Selenium  Neutral  Warm Neutral  Special Edition

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

The Epson R800  and R1800 printers were designed around interesting new color ink sets from Epson with an 8channel print-head. As a result, we can provide a matte or glossy Piezography K7 solution.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  Pro

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

Epson SureColor P800. This is one of the best handling paper printers ever. Seems to just load everything without a complaint. We have run thousands of sheets through this model printer without head failure or damper failure (a problem of the previous generation the 3800/3880 models). In general we think this is one of the best printers in the 17″ class.

Epson 3800 / 3880. These two 17″ printers are for all practical purposes the same hardware. They are often both available in the Epson clearance center as a refurb from $749 to $949. This is one of the best handling paper printers ever. Seems to just load everything without a complaint. We have several of these printers at InkjetMall which we use for online printing services and all of our teaching workshops. Between the 3880s and 7880s, we handle 90% of the online print requests. With three 9880s we have it all covered. Pro printers are built exceptionally well. You do get what you pay for when it comes to the Pro line. For some people, printers work better than the newest P-series printers because they give you more control of platen gap and init-fill options. Over-all, these printers are a must-buy for long-term professional printing.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

The Epson R1900  and R2000 13″ printers were designed around interesting new color ink sets from Epson similar to the R1800 but with an updated DX5 print-head with 8 channels. As a result, we can provide a matte or glossy Piezography K7 and P2 solution and Piezography Pro on all models of these printers: R1800, R1900, R2000, and SureColor P400. The most recent addition to this line of printer is the SureColor P400.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

The Epson R2880 is an excellent build 13″ printer. But, it is pricey at $599 as it begins to approach that of a refurbished Epson 3800 or 3880. While they are no longer available new, you can some-times buy this  printers refurbished. We use these printers at InkjetMall for our R&D ink tests and product development. Both traditions Piezography P2/K7 ink and the new Pro ink are available for this printer. This printer is similar to the much-older R2400. We no longer sell cartridges for the R2400 but if you have a reliable source for carts, Piezo ink is compatible.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

These 13″-wide printers deliver the professional features you desire including our new ultra high-capacity cartridges, networking and wireless connectivity, plus Advanced Media Handling.

With auto-switching matte and photo blacks, Piezography takes advantage by allowing both matte and glossy ink sets to be used simultaneously.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

Epson 4000, 4800, 4880 are different generations of the same 17″ printer. The 4000 is old but these are very strong printers and often available as refurbed in the Epson clearance center for only $595. These printers can all be configured as glossy compatibles because they have 8 ink cartridge positions. We wish their paper handling was better. They can sometimes be a bit frustrating when thicker paper is loaded in the tray. But, they are built well.

The other benefit of these printers is that they are desk mounted rather than stand mounted. You can easily stack several on a rolling restaurant style wire rack system, and run a small print shop in a compact space. We run three printers on one rolling rack. We even have room on the top shelf for our 17x22 paper boxes.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION

Printer Specs & Review

Epson 4800, 4880 are different generations of the same 17″ printer. These printers can all be configured as glossy compatibles because they have 8 ink cartridge positions. We wish their paper handling was better. They can sometimes be a bit frustrating when thicker paper is loaded in the tray. But, they are built well.

The other benefit of these printers is that they are desk mounted rather than stand mounted. You can easily stack several on a rolling restaurant style wire rack system, and run a small print shop in a compact space. We run three printers on one rolling rack. We even have room on the top shelf for our 17x22 paper boxes.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

The Epson Pro 4900 series 17" wide printer has the unique ability to print with 10 channels along with auto-switching MK/PK inks enabling 11 total inks loaded into the printer. This printer supports Gloss and Matte K7 printing with two spare channels in case the print-head starts to die. This printer also supports dual-k5 Piezography Pro ink (introduced in late 2016). We suggest anyone buying an Epson 4900 get an extended warranty for this printer. Be prepared to replace the damper assembly and cleaning assembly every 2 years. As luck would have it, Piezography ink clogs this printer significantly less than Epson OEM ink due to a smaller and more uniform nano-particle size!

The Epson Pro 7900 and 9900 series 24" and 44" wide printers have the unique ability to print with 10 channels along with auto-switching MK/PK inks enabling 11 total inks loaded into the printer. These printers supports Gloss and Matte K7 printing with two spare channels in case the print-head starts to die. These printers also support dual-k5 Piezography Pro ink (introduced in late 2016). We suggest anyone buying an Epson 7900/9900 get an extended warrenty for this printer. Be prepared to replace the damper assembly and cleaning assembly every 2 years. As luck would have it, Piezography ink clogs this printer significantly less than Epson OEM ink due to a smaller and more uniform nano-particle size!

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

The Epson 7600 and 9600 ushered in the revolution in digital printmaking starting in 2003. No other machine has changed photography so much. The machines are still in operation today and many people use them for Piezography. We suggest you only buy a 7600 or 9600 that is in perfect operating condition. It's not worth the time and effort to resuscitate this machine from the dead for Piezography. You can get a 9800 or 9880 (pressurized) printer for the same price most likely. Support is limited for this printer but if you have on that works well keep it! The printheads have a very long life and print at 2880x1440 dpi.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION 

Printer Specs & Review

The x880s are work horses at Cone Editions Press. We are able to fit 5 side by side in a small area. For our glossy work, we keep a printer dedicated to Gloss Optimizer installed in all of the positions. We run the GO printer at higher speed, and we keep both matte and photo black Piezography inks installed in the 7880s so we can switch between printing matte or glossy without an ink change (this is called P2 printing). Some have an old beat printer with one or more bad heads – and we map these out with a custom curve. These are the best wide-format Piezography K7 printers ever invented.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro? 

Printer Specs & Review

The 7890 and 9890 and SC-P printers have essentially the same ink-set as the 3880/P800 printers with auto-switching black inks and 8 printable channels. This printer enables both Gloss and Matte K7 Piezography as well as our (2016 release) Piezography Pro Dual K4 MK/PK ink set. The 7890 and 9890 are slightly newer than there build-cousins (the 7900 and 9900) and so have a little less head and maintenance issues than those other models. We still suggest getting an extended warranty though, or plan on replacing the dampers and cleaning assembly at least every 2 years.

Piezography ink does much better than Epson ink in these printers due to having a smaller and more uniform nano-particle in the ink.

*We are including the P7000 and P9000 in this chart because there are no chips available for the Orange and Green channels yet. Stay tuned on that.

Compatible Ink Types

CARBON  SELENIUM  NEUTRAL  WARM NEUTRAL  SPECIAL EDITION  PRO

What is the difference between K7, P2, K6, PiezoDN, and Pro?