WIHorseman wrote:
Thanks for the advice. I had not looked at HP and didn’t know they had 220ml ink tanks.
HP no longer makes a photo quality printer in 13" or narrower width, such as you're wanting. All the HP printers MT_Shooter refers to are large format... 24" wide or wider... and current models sell for $2500 or more.
While the Epson "SuperTank" printer you asked about is marginally okay for photos, it is basically a 4 color printer with added matte (photo) black and gray tanks. This okay, but not ideal for color photographs. Further, it's a dye-based ink type that's not as long lived (archival) as pigment inks. The one key advantage of this printer is that it will be more affordable to use, thanks to it's refillable tanks and reasonably low cost inks in bottles. (However, there are similarly refillable, third party bulk ink sets available for most popular printers.)
The best photo printers have 8 or more inks... a typical setup is cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, black, gray and then possibly a 2nd gray (best for black & white prints) and/or a "gloss optimizer" (best for printing on semigloss and glossy papers) and/or a 2nd matte black (best for printing on matte papers, which is often preferable for "fine art/museum" quality color prints that will be framed under glass). Some printers add a red or other color, too.
For long term durability and resistance to fading, pigment inks are best.
There really aren't a whole lot of printers that meet these criteria
and are the 13" wide format you want.
The only two I find are:
- Canon Pro-300... $899. A 13" wide, pigment ink printer with 10 ink tanks: C, LC, M, LM, Y, black, matte black, gray, red and "chroma optimizer" (note: Canon calls their "light" colors "photo"). A full set of OEM inks costs $122 or can be bought individually for $12 each. These cartridges are relatively small... 14.4ml each... so you'll be buying a lot if you make 10 prints a week!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1573781-REG/canon_imageprograf_pro_300_13_professional.html- Epson P700.... $584 (after $200 mail in rebate, reg. price is $784). It's also 13" wide format with 10 pigment inks, but a slightly different set of colors. This Epson has an additional gray and a violet (instead of the red and chroma optimizer that Canon provides). The OEM ink cartridges in the P700 are 25ml each... about 70% larger than in the Canon. However, they are also a lot more expensive. Individual tanks cost $38 and a full set of 10 is $380.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1558223-REG/epson_c11ch38201_surecolor_p700_standard_edition.html (Note: the current mail in rebate offer ends Jan. 31.)
For sake of ink cost efficiency, the wider 17" printer may be a better option. The Epson P900 uses essentially the same inks as the P700, but the wider printer's cartridges hold twice as much ink: 50ml. They cost a little more... $42 each and $420 for a full set of all ten. But that's double the amount of ink for just 10% higher cost. Of course, the purchase price of the printer is higher, too... The P900 is currently offered for $999 (after a $200 mail in rebate).
Canon similarly offers their Pro-1000 17" wide printer. However, as we'll show, there's no better ink cost efficiency with it. In addition to considerably larger ink tanks, it also adds two more colors (a 2nd gray and a blue). Each tank in this printer is 80ml (more than triple the size of the P700 and 5.5X larger than the Pro-300's). Of course they are also more expensive: $59 each or $699 for a full set. This works out to cost very close to the same per ml as the Pro-300's inks in the small tanks. The Pro-1000 itself also is the most expensive of these four options, at $1299.
Both of those 17" wide printers are fully capable of printing 13x19 etc... plus can print 14x17, 16x20, 16x24 and some other popular sizes. However, these 17" wide printers are also heavier and larger, so will require more work space.
I don't know if there are third party inks and/or refillable tanks available for any of these printers. You might find some info with online searches.