LONG BEACH, Calif.--Sept. 3, 2002-- Epson America today announced its most flexible and powerful wide format printer to date for today's most advanced professional graphics customers. The new EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 combines the award-winning, high-speed performance and media handling offered in the Stylus Pro 10000 with an even wider choice of professional inks that now includes EPSON UltraChrome ink. "The recent shipments of our EPSON Stylus Pro 7600 and Stylus Pro 9600 printers featuring the new EPSON UltraChrome ink technology have been overwhelmingly successful, while demonstrating how far Epson's ink jet image quality has come," said Mark Radogna, senior product manager, professional graphics, Epson. "Now we've introduced the EPSON Stylus Pro 10600, which combines our fastest and most powerful print engine technology with our new EPSON UltraChrome ink, providing high-production printing professionals with our most powerful wide-format printer ever." The EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 uses the same high-speed print engine as the EPSON Stylus Pro 10000, now making it the company's fastest ink jet printer to date. This printer's Photo Accelerator Technology virtually guarantees full print engine performance when printing RGB-based image files, even when using slower computer systems. Images can be printed up to 231 square feet per hour using the printer's fastest settings and approximately 72 square feet per hour when printing truly photographic output that surpasses other manufacturers' current and more expensive printing technologies. Using a variable droplet Micro Piezo DX3 print head with photo accelerator and nozzle verification technologies, the EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 creates extremely detailed six-color images up to 44 inches in width on a broad selection of media at true 1440 x 720 dpi resolution. The new engine also uses variable-sized droplets as small as five picoliters to produce text and line art comparable to a final press sheet, while greatly reducing print times. Ink Options Tailored for Different Customers The EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 is the first Epson wide format printer to offer customers a choice of three advanced six-color ink solutions that are tailored for different professional printing applications. At the time of purchase, customers have the option of configuring their printer for use with EPSON Archival Ink, EPSON Photographic Dye or now with new UltraChrome ink that was originally introduced only with the new EPSON Stylus Pro 7600, Stylus Pro 9600 and Stylus Photo 2200. Customers choose which of these ink systems they would like to use with the EPSON Stylus Pro 10600, at which point, the printer becomes dedicated to that particular solution. EPSON UltraChrome Ink EPSON UltraChrome ink is the company's newest and most advanced ink solution to date. It enables prints on a wide variety of media to retain the advantages of high resistance to water and light, plus the largest color range ever for pigmented inks. Furthermore, UltraChrome inks create a level of color that is now closest to that of Epson's popular six-color, photo dye-based inks, making it an ideal solution for pre-press applications, graphic design and even color photography. The end-result is more vibrant and saturated reds, oranges and yellows. Prints using UltraChrome ink also offer lightfastness ratings for color images up to 82 years under glass(a). In order to produce the highest level of image quality possible on different media types, the EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 offers two types of black inks (for UltraChrome ink) that can be easily changed by the user. An interchangeable black ink system enables users to choose between the standard Photo Black ink cartridge and an optional Matte Black ink cartridge using corresponding modes set within the printer's firmware: 1. Photo Black Mode -- optimized for traditional photographic and ink jet coated media types to produce a D-Max rating as high as 2.0 on media such as EPSON Premium Luster, Premium Semimatte and Premium Glossy. 2. Matte Black Mode -- designed for Matte or Plain papers to produce a D-Max rating as high as 1.69 on media such as EPSON Enhanced Matte, and Epson Fine Art papers, including Somerset(R) Velvet for Epson. EPSON Archival Ink As the level of print quality continues to rise for creative professionals, so does the need to preserve images against time and the elements. Epson continues to address this issue by offering the Stylus Pro 10600 with EPSON Archival ink technology, an ink solution that gives prints an even higher lightfastness rating beyond 100 years under glass(a). Similar to UltraChrome, this pigment-based ink system is also designed to deliver a color gamut that rivals competitive dye inks and gives users such as fine artists and sign makers the ability to create brilliant-quality prints on a wider range of media than standard dye-based inks. This ink is designed especially for creators of indoor/outdoor signage, demanding outdoor applications using the new 3M Matched Component System, and fine art reproduction that requires Epson's highest degree of lightfastness possible. EPSON Photographic Dye Users looking to create high-quality images with lower cost-per-square-foot projects, have the option of using Epson's Photographic Dye ink for stunning images that incorporate an even wider color gamut. This ink is optimized for applications such as GIS mapping, general purpose business graphics and presentation materials, or for scientific applications such as CAD, CAM, CAE and architectural visualization. The EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 uses six individual 500-milliliter ink cartridges (cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, light magenta, and black) with automatic data tracking of ink levels, ink type, usage rates, production and expiration dates and remaining ink life for the most accurate production estimations. Ink cartridges can also be changed on the fly during an actual print job without sacrificing image quality. In addition, EPSON Archival ink, EPSON Photographic Dye and EPSON UltraChrome offer instant drying, enabling users to handle an image the moment it comes out of the printer without the risk of smudging or leaving fingerprints. Professional Media Handling Images can be printed on a wide array of media up to 1.5 millimeters thick including plain paper and specialized Epson papers such as true glossy, semi-gloss, luster, canvas, matte photographic papers, vinyl, Tyvek, commercial-grade proofing papers and more. The printer holds up to two rolls of two- or three-inch cored media simultaneously for quick hassle-free loading. Cut sheet media can also be fed automatically using the printer's high-speed cut-sheet loading feature. For roll media, users can cut sheets using the built-in automatic cutting system or an optional manual cutter for the thickest of media types. An optional high-speed automatic take-up reel system is also available for completely unattended production of large print jobs. EFI Fiery Spark Professional 2.0 Software RIP An optional Fiery Spark Professional 2.0 Adobe PostScript 3 Software RIP (Raster Image Processor) with Pantone color matching from Electronics for Imaging, Inc. (EFI) is also available for the EPSON Stylus Pro 10600. The RIP is designed to help maximize several of the printers' advanced features using applications that are engineered around the needs of graphic artists, advertising agencies, sign makers and other professionals who create color prepress proofs. Standard features with Fiery Spark Professional 2.0 include drag-and-drop hot folders for automated workflow activities, paper simulation capabilities for advanced proofing, Spot-On technology for managing spot colors, and one easy-to-use interface for total job management. Additional RIPs for these printers will also be available from several other third-party manufacturers. Pricing and Availability The EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 basic printing system is scheduled to begin shipping in September 2002 and will be available for an estimated street price of $9,995 through authorized Epson dealers. The optional Fiery Spark Professional Software RIP will also be available through Epson dealers and have a street price of $2,995. Service & Support All EPSON Stylus Pro printers are supported by the standard EPSON Preferred Limited Warranty. This one-year program includes toll-free advanced telephone access Monday through Saturday and typically next-business day on-site technical service in the unlikely event of any hardware failure. The EPSON Preferred Plus Service Plans are programs that offer one or two additional years of protection. For more information on Epson warranties, service programs and products, call 1-800-GO-EPSON (1-800-463-7766) or visit our Web site at www.epson.com.