Digital Camera Resource Page: Epson PrintOn Review

The Epson PrintOn photo printer sure is hard to use. That doesn't mean it's a bad printer. In fact, it's extremely impressive -- everyone I've shown it to has said words such as "amazing" and "awesome." So why is it so hard to use?

Well, it's because everything's in Japanese! The printer that Flashpoint Technology (more on them later) gave me to test is a Japanese production unit, so all the controls are in Japanese. It does speak English though (more on this too, later), and I had a manual that helped me translate the buttons into English. (For some reason, the printer that Steve's Digicams tested had the English buttons.. what gives?)

This is a photo printer that does can do things that few others can -- it has it's own operating system and functions completely without a computer! More on this in a minute (really!)...

The PT-100 looks kind of like your everyday photo printer.. a little larger than my Epson Stylus Photo 700, and you'll find out why later. While I didn't get a chance to test it out as a computer-based printer, it did come with drivers that seemed compatible with my PowerMacintosh G3. The reason I didn't test it is that my Japanese is a little rusty -- all the parts of the user interface when I tried to print weren't in English!

The printer talks. Well, first it plays a little song when you turn it on, though it's hard to hear over the noise of the printer warming up. It then states, "please insert a card containing photo data." What?

The printer doesn't need a computer. I never had it hooked up to my Mac when I tested it. If you look at the photo of the printer above, towards the right, you'll see my CompactFlash card sitting in the slot for it. There's a PCMCIA slot in the front of the printer! With the included CF adapter (a SmartMedia adapter is out there somewhere), you just pop in your card to the adapter and stick it in!

The printer plays another short song, and now it's time to get down to business. Here's a look at the control panel that you use to make this thing work!

The buttons: frame, effects, one photo, range of photos, index print, all photos, start (the green one), cancel (the red one).

You can see the CF card sticking out of the front of the panel. Down there are the power button, and others for paper jams and changing the ink cartridge.

Above, you can see a genuine index print that I printed out. You can also see my CF card and the adapter. On each index print (you can vary the size of the thumbnails) is the date the photo was taken, as well as the photo number. This number is important, so remember it!

The quickest way to get a printout of one of the photos is just to push a few buttons on the control panel -- which photo you want, the quality, how many, etc. You then push the big green button, the printer says something like "Please wait, beginning printing now", and off it goes. Depending on the quality of the printout, it can take anywhere from 4-10 minutes, I'd say.

If you want, you can print a whole range of photos. You can have 1 picture per page, or more. You can print on stickers (those were actually included in the box, though I haven't tried it yet) or greeting cards.

Here's where things can get a little more fun. The printer has 33 built-in "special effects". Here's a quick list:

Playing with some of these turned out to be a lot of fun. I took a simple photo of the cat, and tried a few out. The punk artistic color was definitely my favorite--bizarre to say the least. The miniature sticker feature is a blast, too.

The printer can also have frames around the photos, though I wasn't sure how to use this feature. It can also make album-style pages, with the photos on one side, and room to write on the other.

How it all works

The secret to how this printer can do all this neat stuff without a computer lies in the Digita operating system which it uses. Developed by Flashpoint Technology, this OS is also found in Kodak's DC220/240/260/265 models, as well as the Minolta Dimage Zoom EX 1500.

When you do a standard printout on it, it does its own color correction and sharpening, to get the best output possible. While this may slow down printing, it's better than an uncorrected image. That said, if you're a hard core computer user with Photoshop, you probably won't be using it this way-- you'd use it like any other printer. But for the beginner, or someone who doesn't want to deal with Photoshop, the output is superb.

Summary

This is one of the coolest printers I've seen. The ability to stick in your memory card, and then print full size photos, thumbnails, photo albums, and stickers -- using numerous special effects, if desired -- is unmatched. Though it's not going to break any speed records, the output is stunning, and it's extremely easy to use, with voice navigation and easy to understand menus (well, if they were in English..). I'd definitely consider the PrintOn if I was in the market for a way to output my digital photos!

The PT-100 is not currently available outside of Japan. It is not expected to reach US markets.

Jeff welcomes your comments or questions. Send them to jakeller@pair.com.



			DCRP Review: Epson PrintOn (PT-100) Photo Printer by Jeff Keller [DCRP Creator/Webmaster] The Epson PrintOn photo printer sure is hard to use. That doesn't mean it's a bad printer. In fact, it's extremely impressive -- everyone I've shown it to has said words such as "amazing" and "awesome." So why is it so hard to use? Well, it's because everything's in Japanese! The printer that Flashpoint Technology (more on them later) gave me to test is a Japanese production unit, so all the controls are in Japanese. It does speak English though (more on this too, later), and I had a manual that helped me translate the buttons into English. (For some reason, the printer that Steve's Digicams tested had the English buttons.. what gives?) This is a photo printer that does can do things that few others can -- it has it's own operating system and functions completely without a computer! More on this in a minute (really!)... It's a regular photo printer... The PT-100 looks kind of like your everyday photo printer.. a little larger than my Epson Stylus Photo 700, and you'll find out why later. While I didn't get a chance to test it out as a computer-based printer, it did come with drivers that seemed compatible with my PowerMacintosh G3. The reason I didn't test it is that my Japanese is a little rusty -- all the parts of the user interface when I tried to print weren't in English! It features the same 1440x720 resolution as the other Epson photo printers. ... but much cooler! Okay, so now I'll get to the good part. The printer talks. Well, first it plays a little song when you turn it on, though it's hard to hear over the noise of the printer warming up. It then states, "please insert a card containing photo data." What? The printer doesn't need a computer. I never had it hooked up to my Mac when I tested it. If you look at the photo of the printer above, towards the right, you'll see my CompactFlash card sitting in the slot for it. There's a PCMCIA slot in the front of the printer! With the included CF adapter (a SmartMedia adapter is out there somewhere), you just pop in your card to the adapter and stick it in! The printer plays another short song, and now it's time to get down to business. Here's a look at the control panel that you use to make this thing work! I know it's blurry, but I'll translate what you see here, top to bottom. Top row: paper size , paper type (photo, plain, etc) Second from top: Layout (how many photos go on a page, for example) Third from top: Photo number (on the inserted card), number of copies. Bottom row: Quality (draft, high, super high) The buttons: frame, effects, one photo, range of photos, index print, all photos, start (the green one), cancel (the red one). You can see the CF card sticking out of the front of the panel. Down there are the power button, and others for paper jams and changing the ink cartridge. A good first step after you insert a card is to do an index print. Above, you can see a genuine index print that I printed out. You can also see my CF card and the adapter. On each index print (you can vary the size of the thumbnails) is the date the photo was taken, as well as the photo number. This number is important, so remember it! Basic Prints The quickest way to get a printout of one of the photos is just to push a few buttons on the control panel -- which photo you want, the quality, how many, etc. You then push the big green button, the printer says something like "Please wait, beginning printing now", and off it goes. Depending on the quality of the printout, it can take anywhere from 4-10 minutes, I'd say. If you want, you can print a whole range of photos. You can have 1 picture per page, or more. You can print on stickers (those were actually included in the box, though I haven't tried it yet) or greeting cards. Wild Stuff Here's where things can get a little more fun. The printer has 33 built-in "special effects". Here's a quick list: High contrast Darker Slightly darker Slightly brighter Brighter Sharp High sharpness Vivid High vivid Sepia Black and white Cool B/W Warm B/W Monotone ble/sky blue/green/etc (converts the image to the gray scale of the selected color) Artistic color (punk/metallic/earth tone). what the heck is punk?? From my test, it's pretty close to a virtual acid trip! Cool tone Hot tone Beige for white/tan (these two enhance skin color) Long slender thin ("fine tunes the vertical-horizontal ratio of images, hence making people look slimmer or chubbier" -- their words, not mine) Chubby (see #19) Digital color noise filter Playing with some of these turned out to be a lot of fun. I took a simple photo of the cat, and tried a few out. The punk artistic color was definitely my favorite--bizarre to say the least. The miniature sticker feature is a blast, too. The picture on the top had the punk artistic effect. The bottom one had the "long slender thin" effect, though I couldn't tell the difference--the cat is still a little fat. :-) The printer can also have frames around the photos, though I wasn't sure how to use this feature. It can also make album-style pages, with the photos on one side, and room to write on the other. How it all works The secret to how this printer can do all this neat stuff without a computer lies in the Digita operating system which it uses. Developed by Flashpoint Technology, this OS is also found in Kodak's DC220/240/260/265 models, as well as the Minolta Dimage Zoom EX 1500. When you do a standard printout on it, it does its own color correction and sharpening, to get the best output possible. While this may slow down printing, it's better than an uncorrected image. That said, if you're a hard core computer user with Photoshop, you probably won't be using it this way-- you'd use it like any other printer. But for the beginner, or someone who doesn't want to deal with Photoshop, the output is superb. Summary This is one of the coolest printers I've seen. The ability to stick in your memory card, and then print full size photos, thumbnails, photo albums, and stickers -- using numerous special effects, if desired -- is unmatched. Though it's not going to break any speed records, the output is stunning, and it's extremely easy to use, with voice navigation and easy to understand menus (well, if they were in English..). I'd definitely consider the PrintOn if I was in the market for a way to output my digital photos! The PT-100 is not currently available outside of Japan. It is not expected to reach US markets. Jeff welcomes your comments or questions. Send them to jakeller@pair.com.
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