Scrapbookers Will Love the Epson L850 Photo Printer! [Review]
Are you a secret, or loud and proud scrapbooker? If you’re into dye-cutting, journaling, mounting and all sorts of other scrapbooking stuff then you’re probably in the market for a photo printer … because you never know when the scrapbooking bug might bite and photo printing shops aren’t open 24 hours a day. There are loads of photo printers on the market at the moment so choosing the best one for your needs can be a chore of note. To get you started I’ve reviewed a top of the range photo printer that scrapbooking fundis will love. Here are 5 things I love about the Epson L850 photo printer.
I got the chance to review the Epson L850 photo printer for a few weeks and came up with a quick guide to this must-have scrapbooking tool.
1. It’s easy to set up.
One of the best things about the Epson L850 is that you can print photos directly from memory cards, flash drive, or your camera (if it uses PictBridge). This means there’s no need to worry about fussing around with all sorts of cables and drivers to connect it to your computer. Just plug it in and you’re ready to go!
The Epson L850 printer is great for printing directly from your camera or memeory card but I did have a few issues with printing different types of image files, that I had copied from my computer. I found that it mostly recognises JPEG files and struggles to recognise file types downloaded from Facebook or other social media sites – even when you convert those files to JPEG format. The Epson L850 is also great for photographers who need to print on-demand at events or in the studio.
2. The photoquality is amazing!
Remember the days when home printed photos looked all kinds of crap? The quality just wasn’t the same as when you used the photo printing shop so you gave up all together. well, those days are behind us because this little baby prints the most amazing photos. With the Epson L850 you can choose from a variety of print styles (including matt and glossy) and photo sizes (including multi-photo collages and CD printing).
3. Anyone can use it.
I’ve said it before but I’m going to say it again, this printer is super easy to use. I love that everything can be done on the printer’s LCD screen. You can select which photos you want to print, by selecting the image thumbnails displayed on the screen and easily create collages and all sorts of other fabulous stuff. Once you’re happy with your design just click print and the machine will do its thing.
4. It’s as quick as a fox!
The Epson L850 prints photos in a flash. I kept trying to go do other things while it was printing a rather large amount of photos but I could barely leave the room before realising it had already done its thing. If you’re interested in all the jargon then you will be interested to know that it has a printing speed of 12 seconds per 10 x 15 cm photo (when using Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper).
5. It’s so much more than a printer.
The Epson L850 also comes with an onboard scanner so you can photocopy stuff whenever you need. Whether it be a photo or a document, the L850 will make a perfect copy in seconds.
At R6900 the Epson L850 isn’t exactly cheap as chips but if you’re printing high volumes of photos then it’s a good investment. The photo quality alone is enough to justify the purchase. Other costs to consider are, of course, ink refills. The printer makes use of an ink bottle system (instead of ink cartridges) and uses 6 bottles of ink at a time. Ink bottles cost about R200 each but last for ages so unless you’re printing a full-colour book every day, you won’t have to refill too often.
