Epson - EcoTank Photo ET-8500 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank Printer

I have the ET8500 A4 printer and wish I had bought the A3 version for a £100 or so more.. I have just sold my Canon Pro 300 A3 plus printer. Basically the Epson printers are expensive and the ink is cheap. Epson make most of their money from the printer not the ink. For Canon the printers are quite expensive and the ink is VERY expensive. (see below) The prints from the Epson are very good especially as I do not use the top quality photo papers. Just Kolas Satin 250 g from Amazon that costs about £0.22 (UK) per sheet. Chat GPT estimates the ink cost of printing an A4 full colour photo as about £0.08 for the Epson and £2.00for the Canon. So I pay about £0.30 for each A4 print. I have a calibrated monitor and print from Photoshop. I have a action that adds brightness and a small colour correction to the file before printing. The results are usually a good match for the image on the screen. Occasionally I have to tweak the colour a bit and print another copy but at about £0.30 I do not mind. People at my camera club are impressed with the quality of the prints I produce and say they compare well against those from a top end printer like the Canon.

I should have also have said that the scanner in the ET 8500 is very good

I personally am an inkjet guy, but if you go with a thermal type laser you get access to Koehler black cored paper that replicates a real card snap. I can't help on a best recommendation for laser though. If your family will occasionally do photo prints as well you might consider an epson 8500 or its larger brother the 8550. I use the 8550 for my proxies but my gf uses it for her photography as well. Its a very capable printer, and having the black document ink in addition to pigment black really helps on refills if you are doing a fair amount of plain document prints. Ink is very affordable and my proxies run $0.015USD per single face cards or roughly $0.135 per page of epson brand ink. It may matter or it may not to you but the 8500/8550 is also capable of printing on 1.3mm foam board from the rear slot. Here is a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicproxies/comments/1ij7pip/paper_test_summary_list_with_links_epson_8550/) with various papers I have tested with my 8550 in addition to several links to other posts by fellow proxy makers. Edit: For the record I was unable to get successful prints on my 8550 using an inkjet on black core card stock to justify the price, furthermore what is widely sold as "cardstock" from most manufacturers is not a true cored playing card stock. I have been told that swapping over to a full pigment based ink on my 8550 would allow me to print, or alternatively if I prepped with a product called "inkaid" I could get reasonable prints. However I have never seen a post with photos about either of them in use.

Most manufacturers websites have comparison settings so you can put in your requirements. So you want A4, borderless, maybe six colour rather than 4, straight through paper path for thicker media. ET-8500 is six colour, great paper handling ET-1410 is four colour but A3 which makes a very impressive print if you are selling them

When Epson ET 8550 & 8500 first came out, I couldn't find one for months. I finally was able to get the smaller 8500, and I jumped on it. I'm still able to print amazing 8.5 x11 photo printers. They look amazing. I kind of wish I would have waited for the 8550, to be able to print 13x19 photos, but I haven't needed to, outside of two projects Refillable ink is amazing. And the pictures truly come out better than anything I've been able to have printed at office max, office depot, or some of the local shops near me

I got an absolute lemon of an Epon 8500 years ago. It was so tempermentsl and fussy. I frequently wanted to go full on Office Space on it. ink and good paper gets expensive fast too.

Or 8500, if you have no desire to print 13”x19”. But yeah I love mine.

I own his little brother , the 8500 which can print up to Size A4 and i love it too. Best printer i have ever used

If it’s living on your desk then a standard photo printer would give you the best results. The Epson ET-8500/8550 is very popular for the low ink costs. Pigment printers like the Epson P700/900 and Canon imageprograph series are considered a step up in quality but the running costs will also be higher, If you’re only ever going to be printing 4x6 then the Epson 8500 Wild be my recommendation.

If it’s living on your desk then a standard photo printer would give you the best results. The Epson ET-8500/8550 is very popular for the low ink costs. Pigment printers like the Epson P700/900 and Canon imageprograph series are considered a step up in quality but the running costs will also be higher, If you’re only ever going to be printing 4x6 then the Epson 8500 Wild be my recommendation.

You can't really have auto duplex and photos with entry level printer. Brother does not have good offering for photos printers. Double sided printing is usually not a thing that comes with printers focused on photos like the canon G5XX/G6XX series (3 digits not 4). However, if you are printing something just good enough and not almost pro level. I would recommend canon G6XXX Series. However if you want to print for something to sell and has some sale value, with printing media that does not accept pigmented ink, with double-sided printing. There is only the Epson 8500/8550(with ink tank)(but you should not be using it for printing documents, only photos/stickers, because it's ink cost is a lot higher, because it is a pro level ink). Anyway what i really recommend is. Canon G6XXX series for general use. Canon G6XX Series for photos only. You can't have both worlds in the same printer. Edit: If you don't need automatic duplex printing, then epson ET 2800 is perfect for both entry level photos, and documents, it's ink is cheaper... However, it can leave deeper roller marks on some types of photo papers, as it is not designed as a photo printer(same as the G6XXX series). But the type of ink that it uses, can work in all types of papers (unless is paper for laser printer).

Roller marks problem how to fix: Get better quality paper (also some printers if you select thick paper on configurations, also make it leave less roller marks, don't know if this is the case). Or Get a printer that is more focused for photos. (right now the cheapest are the canon G5/6XX series). If you don't find them, then the Epson ET8500/8550 (they do still leave some roller marks but with better quality paper they are fine). Or the epson ET 8100/18100 (it's ink does not have lightfastness). I only recommend ink tank printers for most uses cases. If you are going for pro level printing and going to sell them for high price then there are the Canon Pixma Pro Line, and Epson Surecolor p700/900. About your brother, well i don't recommend because it's a cartridge printer(seriously this black that you used could easily be like 3-5% of all of it's black ink). I would return if still possible. And purchase any ink tank.(If you won't print like 40+ documents pages or 5+ photos a month then it's a fine printer, more than this only if you convert it for ciss or use somekind of compatible cartridge). Edit: Ohh and about consumer level printer that you want mostly for documents, and then some photos. Canon Megatank GXXXX series. And Epson ET 2/4XXX series, then you will compare price and what they offer, like duplex, in case of epson a4 borderless as well. IF you want fewer features but better photos, some epson have 4 dye ink that are better for printing on cheaper glossy ink (you can check if their black tank is the same size as the colored tanks, if it is the same size then it's ink is dye).

Epson ET 4800 or Canon G 6XXX/7XXX series. If you ever go to glossy sticker paper, it will not use blacks, but mix the CMY to from a somewhat black color so it's not great. In this case there is four choices. Get only a ET 2800 and don't have resources like auto duplex and a4/latter borderless, and is slower, but can print in almost any media. Get a ET 4800 but fill the black ink with a dye ink and maybe lose warranty (but it does not have any type of risk for the print if you get a good quality black/use even the original one from the et 2800, you will need just to fill it using a syringe, just remember to never use both type of inks together, you will need to have dye ink from the start at the system, and leave the pigmented ink aside) Get a cheaper ET 2800 for these type of papers and G6XXX if you need auto duplex for documents. Get an ET 8550/8500 for great quality photos/stickers and a G6XXX for the documents. However, with the ET8550 you can offer a lot more of products and printing media, as it is almost a great almost pro level photo printer. EDIT: with the et 8550/8500 you can print on media with up to 0.7mm thickness or 500gsm, so it's a beast.

The only way to do this job is with ink tank printers. The only thing that you need to do is to print a page with all colors one time a week. (WHY IS THIS SO HARD?). Anyway the downside is so small (priting one page a week). For all the cost and perfomance that there is no way that laser is a better solution. And again no laser printer for less than $2000 usd will do a job close to an entry level ink jet printer with the right paper. About printers. You will need a photographic printer/good paper so it does not get lines (if you are talking about lines from the rollers that pull the paper). If it's lines from priting quality then this don't happen even with entry level if you have the right configuration. About printers i can only recommend, ET 8550/ET 8500 or Canon G5XX G6XX lines (with only 3 digits these are photographic printers). If you want less lines from rollers, but again need good quality paper aswell. Their ink are more expensive, but have the same quality of pro level printers that has ink that can last for 20 years+. Edit: If lines that you are talking about is not roller marks, but lines from “missing ink”. Then the fault lies on you, and even g5020 is almost perfect for what you are doing.

Seconding the ET-8500 / 8550. I have an 8500 and it looks really good imo.  Easy to use and versatile. I opted out of the 8550 as I have no need for the larger format and it was another $150 or so at the time, but if it’s semi close I’d get the 8550.

Have you tried the fine art paper setting for Media type on matte paper? I recently got ET 8500 and have been getting better results printing from an RGB color space rather than CMYK.

Got Epson 8500 for 320€ with the cashback. More colors & photo black/grey prolly should result in better photos. Havent printed yet at home on other prints, quality looks close to all the instant photo print terminals

If you use a Mac, there is no driver available from Canon that allows printer profile control. The Epson ET8500 is their comparable model that does allow profile control.

Not the same Redditor but I am a professional photographer too. We use the Epson brand inks for our ET-8500. Honestly they are a very good deal, and we have had zero quality issues. Colours are amazing. Also, I appreciate Epson's innovation and want to support their company in the Eco-Tank idea. Cartridges are probably more profitable for them but they are wasteful and super expensive, so I say go Epson all the way.

Not the same person, but I also am a professional photographer and we use an ET-8500 to print our passport photos. We do multiple prints every day and they are incredibly high quality, you can't see any dots without a magnifier. We use the Epson brand ink, it is genuinely affordable and I have no issues whatsoever. (I have to say, the design of their ink refill bottles is so cool. You can't put ink in the wrong tank because each lid is a unique shape like a key, and they stop filling automatically when the printer tank is full so it doesn't ever overflow.)

The ET-8500 is an excellent choice for printing smaller size photos, up to 8x10" and letter-size prints. I get photo paper from Staples of all places, the print quality is incredibly good and the ink tanks seem to last a very long time. If you didn't already buy one, Epson photo printers are my absolute favourite. HP printers, and literally anything else from Hewlett-Packard, are a solid NO. Their company is predatory and unethical. One great example of this is that they sell printers at a low up-front price, but then you have to pay a subscription fee to keep it running.

Depends on the model. The Ecotank ET-8500 is indeed great for printing photos.

Hi, Ryan from [Rtings.com](http://Rtings.com) here. Yes, the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500/8550 is a great choice. There's also the Canon PIXMA PRO-200S, a dye-ink inkjet printer. The Canon has better color accuracy; however, it doesn't have a scanner, and its recurring cost is a little higher than the Epson because its page yield isn't quite as good as the Epson.

Epson PM-400 prints multiple sizes up to 5x7. The print app is easy to use. Ink cartridge is an all in one and cost about $35 for 100 prints which is the average number of prints per cartridge. It prints on anything that will work in an ink jet. It's a great portable small printer and I have one for crops. At home I use an Epson Eco Tank. I've had it 4 years this Christmas and have only bought ink refills once. I print all my pictures at home. It is an all in one print/copy/scan. Photos are excellent quality and resolution. It doesn't print bigger than 8.5x11.

I've also noticed my canon g7020 prints better pictures then Epson ECOTANK I also noticed the canon G7020 sits better not printing for 1 week at a time vs the Epson I also noticed my canon has no expiration on the ink. But the Epson is like 2-3 years.

Ecotank is garbage for photo prints

I have an ecotank for printing documents. They are not well suited for making photographic prints

I have Epson eco tank, but it doesn’t print in “high quality “ as you describe. I’d suggest printing your things somewhere like FedEx, they have great prices for their quality

Epson EcoTank (ET) printers are the way to go. The teacher will really, really, really appreciate the very inexpensive cost per page because the ink is so inexpensive.

I have an epson eco tank that I use for an entire line of prints that have quite dark colors. I really like it! That said, I have to do a little bit of tweaking pre-print so they don’t turn out *too* dark and lose their contrast. I usually raise the brightness by anywhere from 20-50% and they do just fine.

For about the same cost as a mini printer, you could get something like an Epson Ecotank, and then you have your choice of photo paper, which means you can also choose the finish, thickness, quality, etc. And a pack of 8.5x11 photo paper is MUCH cheaper than the cartridges or mini papers that go into the mini printers. It gives you the flexibility to make the pictures as big or as small as you want, and you just have to cut them out. For example my junk journal is about 5.5"x8.5", and I can turn photos into full-page backgrounds, or use one photo to make a full 8.5"x11" spread across 2 pages. Or I can print 2, 4 6, 8, 12, etc photos per page, and cut them. You can also get full sheet sticker paper to print onto, and make your own stickers, or print photos onto it. Epson has a utility that's basically drag-and-drop for photos, it's super easy to use. And they also have an app to print from your phone. I'm talking a lot about Epson because it's what I have, but I would guess that most modern printers have similar functionality.

I love my epson eco tank. There's a lot of models but I got one in the $130 range and its printed tons of stuff with the ink bottles that come with the printer :) but paper really does make the difference in photo printing. Premium glossy, premium semi gloss and premium matte all look great 👍🏻

Wish I saw this comment before I bought my Epson. Reds are brown, everything is a bit muddy, such a disappointment. I saw you switched to matte photo paper, is that really a big improvement?

Epson Eco-Tank. The ink is practically free.

The eco tank from Epson. I haven’t had to refill my ink in a long time. I came from a cannon printer where I was constantly changing the ink.

I have the Epson Eco tank. Up front cost is high, but I am not buying a set of cartridges every few months.

I bought an Epson eco tank, and it’s been great for printing photos.

I have left an Eco tank printer in air-conditioned storage for a year, 3x. I had to run the head cleaning process multiple times but it functions fine after that. I prefer the brother super cartridge printers over the Epson eco-tank. They print faster and seem to have better color accuracy. Both should work well for photos. In my experience, glossy prints will always smudge. Use satin or matte paper. Canon has also released a similar lineup that I’ve not tried.

I have had good success with matte and the brother MFC-6555DW. I found the Epson ecotank colors were a little off.

I looooove my eco tank. It was costing me over $60 a month in ink for my HP to print labels for my small business. I havnt had to even reload the black ink in over a year on my eco tank.

There are a ton of different ways to print photos with a even more tradeoffs and pitfalls. My recommendation is to get an epson ecotank printer and start there. They are a little more expensive upfront than an hp or whatever the cheapest inkjets are, but the ink and consumable cost per page is way less. As long as you use nice paper the color and contrast is very good. Prints should last 30+ years, longer than that and you need to use pigment based inks(and archival paper).

Epson EcoTank. I've had one since 2020 and the output is fantastic.