Epson photo inkjet printers are by far the most widely acclaimed for non-commercial photography.
All Epson Photo printers have a five-colour ink cartridge plus a small black ink cartridge. Non-Photo printers use a three-colour ink cartridge plus black. From Sep 2001 Epson seem to be using the newer type pigment inks in new printers.
In addition the inks used in the latest photo printers have a greater resistance to fading.
However, the latest non-photo printers print at twice the resolution of previous models (5670 dots per inch), and will produce very high quality prints for the average user. If you have a limited budget then these printers can now offer a reasonable alternative, but for the more discerning, tonal graduation is much better when using a photo printer.
For photographic reproduction always use the highest quality setting on the printer with the correct paper.
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Stop Press (April 2002)
Epson announce two new 7 ink printers, the 950 (A4) and the 2100 (A3+).