Epson - SureColor P900

I love my p900

I have four printers in my home printing lab.  Epson Sure Color P900 - this is my workhorse printer for black-and-white and some color, depending on the tonal range and the paper.  Canon Pixma Pro 100 - much cheaper ink, but I am less happy with the black-and-white results, though I think it does extremely well with images that are predominantly, red or green.  Epson XP7100 - my day to day home office printer that does extremely high-quality 4 x 6 glossy prints with minimal fuss.  Epson Stylus Pro 3880 - much more expensive to run on Epson inks than the P900, but much more flexible in terms of utilizing third-party in including a wide gamut set of dedicated gray scale ink.  I do my own exhibition printing and have access to a 48 inch wide format Eason roll printer.  I share all of us because this is doable, if you are serious about high-quality printing and want the precise control over what paper and output you achieve, but be prepared for a significant financial investment in ink and paper.  I also have the benefit of being taught digital printing by a highly accomplished photographer who, like me, was a skilled dark printer before moving to digital. He also just happens to have work in multiple famous museums and collections, so his printing skills are indisputable. But even with that knowledge, sometimes it takes me two or three prints to completely dial in an image. 

I’ve got the P900 and I am really enjoying it so far. I’ve made maybe two dozen prints but the quality is incredible. It was fairly easy to set up. My two points of guidance are: 1) Don’t buy it used or refurbished. I bought a refurb from B and H and it was a nightmare. 2) Paper is also not cheap. The epson brand photo paper is ok, the nice Hahnemuhle stuff is pricey.

I used a Spyder to calibrate my monitors prior to printing and I find that from monitor to print the match is phenomenal. I have had a couple of prints seem a bit bluer initially but once the pigment fully dried I felt better about them. I’ve also been satisfied by the contrast. However, I’ve been using the Epson Premium Photo Matte papers and some Hahnemuhle mattes from a sample pack. So I can’t speak to full black and super dynamic contrast. Glossy prints are just not my aesthetic.

I have had a lot of trouble with my P900, printing odd margins and poor color.

I own the Epson p900, depending on the size you want to print this machine can do 17x22 Keep in mind you may need to print weekly-biweekly to keep the ink from drying out.

The Epson P700 is one of the best options, print quality wise. The two main downsides are small lightweight flimsy construction of the printer, and unexpectedly high cost for ink. The latter is easily fixed by going for the bigger brother P900. It's 17" and accepts larger cartridges, bringing the price per mL of ink back into normal regions. Fixing the flimsy construction problem isn't possible within your budget, at least not if you want to keep the "the best photo printer" quality requirement. You can get more robust printers, but not nearly as good ones unless you pay much more. The real fix is the P5300, which contains the same print technology, but in a sturdy metal chassis. It's built like a tank and requires two friends to help you move it around.

Try the epson consumer line of pigment printers. E.g. P700 or P900 (or older P800, 3800). These are much more robust against clogs (maybe because they are consumer oriented) than other epson models. I won't say they never clog, but it's rare for me. Usually I print in bursts, doing a lot and then nothing for a month or two. AFAIK there is no way to avoid the canon cleaning cycles short of printing something every few days (there is a lot of info online on the timing). Epson also has a different set of annoyances. Pick your poison.

Lots of artists use epson or canon printers to make their own prints. Not only is it higher quality than most labs, it is massively cheaper if you print on fine art papers. It’s still less expensive than photo papers (light sensitive) but the benefit is less. Would recommend epson p900 or canon pro 1100. They are a little more than 1k but worth it

Epson surecolor P900 is a great printer. Make sure to get proper good photo paper as well as that determines the quality. And use ICC profiles. With a budget of 1500 its perfect for you

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.

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).