Epson Stylus Pro 7600

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Val

Val

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Posts
6,729
Location
Carson City, Nevada
I have an opportunity to acquire an Epson Ultrachrome Ink Fuson Stylus Pro 7600. It was in the frame shop I have just negotiated the purchase of. It was already there, and he asked me if I was interested in it, he hadn't used it, just bought it to "play around with". Not knowing what it was, my knee-jerk reaction was to tell him to take it with him. It's huge and takes up a lot of office area space. I have a hunch I should have kept it, and it may not be too late. After reading the posts in "The Life Cycle of a Frame Shop", I have a feeling I should change my mind. Anyone know what this is, what is it worth, and how can I incorporate it into my frame shop? I'm willing to learn as much as I can about it, if it will be beneficial to the future life cycle of my framing business. :confused:
 
Okay, since I did the original post, I've done some homework and now know what it's for. And I also know that first thing in the morning I will find out if the offer is still available, I believe it's still in the frame shop office. I've been offering photo retouching and some photo restoration (the old-fashioned way, as I was taught many years ago, before the computerized way) and I charge well for the service. I can see, as some you have explained, how the Epson printer can be utilized in my framing business, now just to get a computer to use it with and learn how. I still appreciate any input you may have.
 
Val, I love my 7600.

they sold new for $2995, but the latest model is the 7800. It still should be worth a grand though.

At the WCAF show in Vegas they are having several classes on digital printing including a certification course from epson to become a certified giclee printer.
I am taking this one myself.

Hope you can still get it.
 
Even a free 7600 could cost you a lot of money. The 7600 likes to be used. If it sits around the print heads will become clogged. You may be able to unclog them yourself but it takes a lot of ink and you have to understand the print driver. Service is very expensive! It will cost $300 to have a skilled tech walk in the door and work for 30 minutes. The Epson 7600 holds over $400 worth of ink and a roll of 24" x 100' photo paper is over $140. Playing around is not cheap.

The learning curve for wide format printing is a long one. If you're not a skilled Photoshop user and a skilled computer user you'll have a high level of frustration and expense. The 7600 print drivers are not intuitive at all.

How many restorations are larger than 11 x 14? It's silly to make small prints on a 7600

If you're doing photo restoration the old fashion way it would smart to learn Photoshop and become a digital artist. But a printer like this is counter-productive for a beginner. If the printer is free take it and sell it for a grand. Then buy a computer, scanner and Epson 2200.

Doug
 
Thats good advice Doug, I have a 7600 amongst my arsenal of printers, turning the thing on cost money and it really doesn't like to sit for more than a few days without printing. We manage to keep it running for about 6 hours a day and everything keeps working well.

Without knowledge of image processing learning something like this can be very difficult - however many of the RIPs do make it fairly simple to run.

It will cost you a fair amount to learn and play.
 
Hey Val,
I was wondering, you said it is an Epson Ultrachrome Ink Fuson Stylus Pro 7600. What is the Fuson about? I have had my 7600 now for a year and simply love it. I have never had the above mentioned problems with print heads becoming clogged. SOmetimes it has sat for a month without being used and many weeks go by between uses. I do have the image print RIP but usually print right out of Photoshop CS. It is so simple to do that. If I want to print 11X14 on a 24" wide paper I open a new photoshop blank image 14X24 wide at the resulution of the pictures I want to print. Then I just select the image (flatten it first if there are layers) (rotate it if nessecary)copy it and paste to the other 14X24 blank image. 2 pictures fit well side by side and there is very little paper waste. I also have 20" wide paper that I print 2 8X10s on. I hardly ever use the RIP, maybe I should put my images look absolutely great and it is much cheaper than my Epson 2200. Digital Technology Group where I got my 7600 furnished profiles for the 7600 and the ultrachrom inks at no cost when I got my printer. These work great on canvas, photopaper, fine art including Hanamuel, tyvek, vinyl banner material, wallpaper, etc. My prints larger than 11X14 such as 16X20, 20X18, 24X20 etc again are unbelievable. I have thought about getting the 7800, but am so happy with the output from the 7600 that I have no plans to do that now. I might get the 9800 in the future but money doesn't alow for that now.

Again my reason for being happy with the 7600 is the cost per print is so much less than the 2200. I use the 220ml size of ink. I have so many options for papers, canvases etc. to print on. The use of roll paper is cheaper and it is very easy to change types and sizes. And finally the output of the 7600 is wonderful.

As I also mentioned, I have never in a year had a problem with clogged heads. That was a problem with the origional Epson Stylus Color Printer. Yup had one of them. It was a problem with the Epson 800. It was a problem with the 1270 I had. And it has sometimes been a problem with the Epson 2200, but so far so good with the 7600. I have been told it has been the ink delivery system on the professional printer. I also purchase my supplies from Digital Technology Group and maybe their supplies are fresher than others. I had tried to use 3rd party inks in my 800 and in my 1270. That especialy caused problems. I would never do that again especially with my 2200 or my 7600.

Hope this helps and if you are interested in where I get supplies for the 7600 let me know,
AC Mach
 
Thanks everyone, for your input. It got away. He decided he never offered it to me in the first place (!) and took it home. Just as well. I am not an experienced Photoshop user, just an experienced framer, and I need to concentrate on that for now. Tempting, but a moog point now that it's gone. I can still do retouching the "old fashioned way", with my Marshall's retouching dye and 2-hair brush, the way I learned when I was 16, (a bazillion years ago, but it still works for me!) and refer what I can't do digitally to the local person who can. I'm a framer, and I need to just stay a framer and learn new ways to do that to help my business along in its life cycle.
 
I am interested in your old way of retouching photos. Where can I go to learn more about this.
Personally I think it is good knowlege to have and to use. Doing things by hand is still a valuable trade. Even more so in todays world of computers and " I want it now ". There is still a charm about doing things the old fashioned way. People are willing to pay fo it.. Least that is what I have found.
 
Trapper, people certainly are prepared to pay for this type of service - I would recommend that you track down a local photographer who has been around a fair few years as retouching was commonplace 10+ years ago.
 
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