LONG BEACH, Calif.--Oct. 31, 2001--Epson America Inc., creator of high quality award-winning digital imaging products, will be offering photographers and graphics professionals alternate dye inks for the EPSON Stylus Pro 9000 and EPSON Stylus Pro 7000 color printers that deliver improved lightfastness(a) and achieve better short-term stability. Based on the demand for greater image stability, both for short and long term, Epson will offer the same EPSON Photographic Dye(TM) inks for the Stylus Pro 9000 and Stylus Pro 7000 wide format printers that are being used in the EPSON Stylus Pro 10000. The new ink set consists of an improved yellow and light magenta. These two Photographic Dye inks combined with the existing black, cyan, light cyan and magenta EPSON Standard Dye inks currently used in the 7000 and 9000 will deliver prints with lightfastness rated up to 26 years under glass, as well as greater color stability within the first 24 hours after printing. No changes are planned for the black, cyan, light cyan and magenta inks. "We think there will be a significant demand for these inks among our large format printer customers,'' said Greg McCoy, senior product marketing manager, Professional Graphics Supplies. "The improvement in lightfastness is important especially for photographic applications, while the improvement in short-term color stability is especially important for proofing applications.'' Since users of the new ink set will need to adjust their color profiles, several third-party RIP vendors will develop new lookup tables (LUTs) for this set. Customers who do not need the greater longevity and want to continue using their existing profiles can continue to use EPSON Standard Dye ink. "We felt it was important to offer a choice to our existing customer base,'' McCoy added. "While many users will have applications that can greatly benefit from this new ink, others may not have that need and prefer to maintain the integrity of their current profiles.'' The new inks will be available in early November through Epson's Profocus(TM) dealers.