Printing Options Abound At PMA Show

By Greg Scoblete On Mar 8 2004 - 8:00am

While camera makers vie over megapixels and zoom length, vendors and retailers with a stake in printing digital images are fighting a more elemental battle over real estate. Specifically, where the consumers will print their digital images: at home on a photo printer, or at retail locations on a kiosk or minilab.

The PMA show, held here last month, brought both camps under one roof to make their case.

Epson announced the Stylus Photo R200, a six-color photo inkjet printer that can print directly to inkjet printable CDs via a front-loading tray. The R200 features a maximum resolution of 5,760 by 1,440 dpi and sports a second USB port in the front for connecting to a computer or notebook. It can produce borderless prints in 4 by 6, 5 by 7 and 8 by 10 inches at speeds of 37 seconds for 4 by 6 and 78 seconds for 8-by-10-inch photos. It will ship this month for an estimated street price of $99.

International Paper has rolled out new packaging and a more expansive distribution strategy for its JetPrint Photo paper for inkjet printers. According to Sam Leow, packaging manager, the company is courting mass-retail outlets to capitalize on the upsurge in home printing. The JetPrint line will consist of six papers, which the company claims are compatible with all inkjet printers currently on the market.

Lucidiom brought a new suite of products and features, collectively called Version 2.0, to its Automated Photo Machines (APM) digital print kiosks. Improvements include Photo IQ, a suite of software bundled with the APM that has automatic red-eye removal, automatic color correction and aspect-correct cropping, and APMPhotos.com — a turnkey Internet photo site for retailers.

Olympus will add the P-10 dye-sublimation printer to its dye-sub line. The P-10 ships this month for an estimated street price of $199 and features 4-by-6-inch borderless photo printing in lass than 45 seconds. It can also print a 3.5-by-5-inch photo with a border. It is PictBridge-enabled. Media packs will range from a suggested $26.95 to $59.95.

Pixel Magic introduced a new digital print kiosk, the iStation 250. The unit allows consumers to order 4-by-6-inch digital prints with a single touch of the screen.

The iStation 250 is scaleable, able to interface either through direct digital printers or digital minilabs (including models from Noritsu, Kodak, Konica and Fuji). The unit will start at $7,495 with a number of upgrade options.

Sony will replace the EX5 dye-sublimation printer with the DPP-EX50, which ships this month for a suggested $179. The printer features a front USB host port and is PictBridge-compatible. It offers two slots for memory cards, one for Memory Stick and another for CompactFlash cards (including third-party adapters). The EX50 features a video output to show images in a slideshow on a TV, where users can then perform basic photo editing and create greeting cards that can then be printed. The unit products 3.5-by-5 and 4-by-6-inch borderless color photo prints.