Need newbie help with choice of Epson printer!

[PJStreet@aol.com]

Hi everybody,
I'm new to the list. I'm about to buy an Epson printer for printing small 
prints in my studio. I make collages in Photoshop 5 on a Mac G3, and want to 
output them on archival paper using an archival inkset. In my work I 
occasionally use b/w or sepia/white antique photos along with antique items 
like steel engravings, wood engravings (tiny b/w lines), maps, postcards, and 
tickets. Could I get some suggestions for a printer/ink/paper combination 
that would give me the highest possible resolution and still be archival and 
have a pretty wide range of colors? SHARPNESS is the main thing because I use 
a lot of little text clips, which I need to be clear and readable at small 
sizes.  (I realize I will not be able to come anywhere close to the sharpness 
of Iris prints.)  Color range is not quite as important, because I use 
antique elements anyway and the colors can be a it muted and still look fine. 
 But I would like to get rich archival reds and crisp lines.

I can't spend more than about $2000.  I've been thinking of getting an Epson 
3000, but am not impressed with the crispness of detail in sample prints I 
just made on a friend's machine using Lysonic inks and Somerset Velvet paper. 
 Several friends have strongly suggested these alternatives: (a) just switch 
the 800 I now own to Lysonic inks, the reasoning being that I will get just 
as high quality as with the 3000, even though over time the ink cartridges 
will be more expensive, (b) get a 1520 instead, or (c) hold out for the next 
generation of Epson printers in the form of a 900 or 9000.  Fotonic inks have 
been suggested, too, and several different papers.

Any ideas or opinions you have time to offer about these products or any 
others you care to suggest for me will be greatly appreciated. 
Pat Street

  

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