Epson Picture Mate Printer!!!

I just bought one after staring at it and staring at it since it first came out a couple of years ago. I already have my dad and siblings talking about buying me ink/paper sets to print pictures for them! :-)

If you are considering a picture printer, my opinion is to get one while the getting is cheap! The quality is comparable to the drug store or WalMart 1 hour and that's about what I was doing before, so why not do my own?

Just my 2c in with Dave.

Thanks!

Theresa (aka Mommyrazz)

OKC Dave wrote:

Mine arrived the other day and I love it. It is fantastic little printer for the $39.00 I paid for it. Just keep in mind that Epson just announced three new ones. They have re-made them and the new ones use different ink and paper. One even has a CD burner in it so you can transfer the files from your memory card to the CD while you print. Myself I print from the computer. The one with the LCD screen just didn't do anything for me. More money for something that is too small to really tell how your picture is going to look printed. This is especially true when trying to find out if an image is out of focus. The small screen makes even a very badly blurred image look nice and sharp. So I print from the computer.

Robert

Hi.

I looked into it awhile ago but opted for my HP Photosmark 7260 which I do like. When it starts to tell me that I've got low color ink, Iwind up making 50 more prints before it really starts to show.

It cost me $25 on eBay with free shipping and the 10% off coupon they once offerred.

Kate

I got them today and just made one print. I compared it to the same print from Walgreen's and I find the quality of the Picturemate print to be superior although I will have to work with it a bit since it cut off the top of my sons head when it printed.

It only came with enough ink and paper for 20 photos so I will have to order some print packs before I start printing. I bought three of them for $100.85 total and I feel like I got a really great bargain! My niece is going to love this surprise this weekend!

Robert that is one thing I noticed in the two different models, the deluxe like I got the pix are clearer.

Kathy, even though you only got ink and paper enough for 20, you will or should get about 30prints and that is printing full sheet.

If you are chopping off a head or something adjust the size smaller.

Robert I did 90% of my printing so far from my pc too as so of the pix I adjusted first. So like I said I think it s good and happy with it and what I paid for it. The pictures are WAY better than the ones I got from the digital printer at WalMart here and CVS and Target. They really were awful!!

OKC Dave

Check out my pix and crafts!

Just remember and this applies to all printers that do borderless printing. Since few digital cameras shoot pictures in an aspect ratio that will print a 4x6 or any other standard print size with lopping off some it. Usually around 1/2 inch or so. I find it best (this is why I print to prints always using a computer) to use something like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to crop and resize my images to the size I plan to print so that I have control over how and where it is cropped.

Just remember that when you resize in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to turn of the interpolation check box. Basically you want to send the data from the print size to the dpi. If you don't turn off that check box Photoshop and other programs will simply through the image data away. That is not a good thing.

You will notice that when you resize to say 6" wide that you don't get 4" high, you get something like 4-1/2" etc. It is then that you go in to Canvas size and trim off that one 1/2 inch. It has controls for handling how that is done. This is done after you resize the image to 6" wide or whatever.

Robert

It is that printer that I speak off. That little tiny LCD screen is not good for telling if a picture is sharp, color corrected or anything else. There is a reason professionals generally do not use LCD screens for photo work. They tend to over exaggerate color and sharpness and brightness. It is fine however, for cropping. The printer I got is the older one and it doesn't have the color LCD screen, it has a small menu screen but doesn't show the picture on it. To do something like crop you have to print out a 4x6 crop guide of the photo and then choose which crop is what you want. To me this just isn't worth wasting the paper and ink for something I will use once and toss in the garbage. So that is another reason I use a computer.

Robert

I got mine today and I love it!! Thanks to Scout Lady for posting the Midnight Box link. I used it to crop a photo and will probably keep the crop template to eyeball if I need to crop other pictures without using my computer. The print quality is awesome!! I love my new toy! Whoo-hoo!

Arleen

It really does do a nice job. I love the clear coat it puts over the entire image, makes it slick more like a real photo feel.

Can't beat it for the money.