Product Description

With quick, one-touch printing, PictureMate is like having a personal photo lab in the comfort of your own home. At about a few cents per print, printing is as affordable as the lab, and about half the cost of other 4" x 6" dedicated photo printers. And, PictureMate photos will last longer than all the alternatives available today - about 2 to 4 times longer than photo lab prints. Trust your photos to PictureMate - designed to fit your schedule, fit your needs, fit your life.

Product Details

• Brand: Epson
• Model: C11C556001
• Dimensions: 9.80" h x 7.60" w x 12.50" l, 5.51 pounds

Features

• 1-touch 4-by-6-inch lab-quality photo printing
• Remarkably low operating cost, about 29 cents per print
• 5,760 x 1440 dpi maximum resolution, 2.5-picoliter drops
• 6-color pigment inks; resists fading for up to 200 years in archival sleeves
• USB, memory card slots, optional Bluetooth; PC and Mac

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description The PictureMate from Epson is a photo printer designed to produce lab-quality prints from the comfort of your own home. With its simple one-touch printing, 5,760 x 1,440 maximum dpi resolution, and convenient PictureMate Print Packs, this printer is a remarkable combination of quality, ease of use, and affordability.

Wide Compatibility

Slots for digital camera memory cards in several formats

The PictureMate prints JPEG or TIFF photos from any USB digital camera and is compatible with both Mac and PC operating platforms. A wide variety of card types are also accepted, including CF Type I and II, SmartMedia, Sony Memory Stick/MemoryStick PRO, Duo (requires adapter), SD, MMC, and xD-Picture.

The printer initially comes with a starter photo cartridge and 20 sheets of paper. Thereafter, you'll purchase PictureMate Print Packs, which contain 100 sheets of paper and a photo ink cartridge with an approximate 100-page yield.

Prints That Last and Stay Beautiful

Original print (left), then a spill-and-wipe test on leading glossy and semi-gloss papers (two middle) and on PictureMate (right)

The prints resist water, smudging, and most notably fading. Epson estimates an archival lifetime of up to 200 years if the photos are kept in a relatively dark place (such as a photo album) or up to 100 years in a frame (see Epson's web site for details). True borderless printing (or bordered, if you prefer) combined with sturdy stock help to give your prints a professional look and feel. A cartridge level indicator lets you know how much ink you have left.

Easy Operation

Simple menus and one-touch buttons make printing a snap!

Other features include a multiple print function that lets you make up to 100 copies of a single picture. A Save Photo button lets you back up digital files directly to an external CD-R, Zip drive, or USB Thumb drive.

The small 10-by-6-inch footprint fits neatly onto your desk or countertop, and the convenient handle provides true portability. An optional Bluetooth adapter lets you print wirelessly from Bluetooth enabled devices. The PictureMate is backed by a one-year limited warranty.

What's in the Box
PictureMate Personal Photo Lab, power cord, starter PictureMate photo cartridge, 20 sheets of PictureMate Photo Paper, CD-ROM, user manuals; Epson Software Film Factory 3.05 (PC and Macintosh compatible, P.I.M. and Exif Print-enabled); USB cable not included

From the Manufacturer
With quick, one-touch printing, PictureMate is like having a personal photo lab in the comfort of your own home. At about 29 cents per print, printing is as affordable as the lab, and about half the cost of other 4-by-6-inch dedicated photo printers, and PictureMate photos will last longer than all the alternatives available today–about two to four times longer than photo lab prints. Trust your photos to PictureMate–designed to fit your schedule, fit your needs, fit your life.

Features:

• Easy one-touch printing for lab-quality glossy borderless 4-by-6-inch photos
• Ideal companion for any digital camera–no computer required
• Water and fade-resistant photos–up to 100 years when displayed in a glass frame, up to 200 years in a photo album
• Convenient and affordable PictureMate Print Pack
• Compatible with Windows and Macintosh computers

Brilliant Lab Quality
What if you could print photos that look as good as the photo lab right in the comfort and safety of your own home? Think that's impossible? Not anymore. PictureMate delivers stunning photos just like those from a photo lab, bringing you the brilliance of everyday moments captured by your digital camera.

With its unique six-color pigment technology and industry-leading resolution, PictureMate's true-to-life photos will truly amaze you with rich, vibrant colors and beautiful skin tones. It's all you expect from a photo lab print, in a product that fits your life.

Ease of Use
Digital photography doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, with PictureMate, it couldn't be easier. With just one touch of a button, you can print stacks of beautiful photos. It's easy to use, easy to own, and fully compatible with all popular camera memory cards and PictBridge cameras.

It's simple and versatile. You can print your photos in black-and-white or sepia tones, with classic borders, borderless, or wallet sizes. You can even crop and resize your photos. Do all this without ever turning on your PC.

The PictureMate Print Pack includes a Photo Cartridge and 100 sheets of PictureMate 4-by-6-inch photo paper conveniently packaged together in one box. PictureMate is the perfect accessory for your digital camera. Just snap, print, and enjoy!

Long Lasting Results
Whether in an album, a frame, or a shoebox, we all want our photos to last. But digital photos are lost every day to hard drive crashes and other mishaps. Epson created PictureMate to help you preserve your memories so even your great-grandkids could enjoy photos of your most loyal companions.

When displayed, PictureMate photos resist fading as much as two to four times longer than the leading photo lab brands, and about four to 20 times longer than other dedicated 4-by-6-inch photo printers. Made to share for generations--even centuries, PictureMate photos last approximately 200 years in a photo album and up to 100 years when displayed in a glass frame. They are also water- and smudge-resistant for worry-free handling. (See Wilhelm-research.com for test conditions. Actual print stability will vary according to image and storage or display conditions. Epson does not guarantee the longevity of prints.)

Affordable 29-Cent Prints
For the first time ever, you can print 4-by-6-inch photos at home for the same price as some of the most affordable photo labs. PictureMate photos are also less expensive than most kiosks and online services, and about half the cost of other 4-by-6 photo printers. At around 29 cents a photo, you can finally print to your heart's content. (Actual yields and cost will vary based on images, color balance, environmental conditions, and frequency of use.)

Customer Reviews

Terrific Little Printer
Before I bought the Epson PictureMate, I had some of my digital photos printed at the local drug store. Then I took them in to the store where I was going to buy my Picture Mate and asked them to print the same pictures so I could compare the quality.

There was no comparison! The pictures printed by the Epson PictureMate were 100% better than the same pictures when they were printed commercially. So I bought it immediately.

For $29 you get a six jet ink cartridge plus 100 sheets of 4 x 6 paper -- making the cost 29 cents per photo, same as in the store. Epson guarantees that you can print 100 pictures from the ink cartridges. Being somewhat cheap, I have printed several more pictures after the 100 sheets ran out. I did find that the quality on another brand of paper is not as good as on the Epson paper. They probably design the ink and paper to be used together.
I am very satisfied with my Epson PictureMate. We took a long vacation this summer in a travel trailer, and it is compact enough to store easily, and easy enough to use that when I wanted to print up some of my photos I did.

Best Little Photo Printer Ever!
I have owned the Epson PictureMate for the past five months and have printed at least 1000 pictures with it. No other photo printer I have ever owned comes close. The prints are dry coming out of the printer, scratch resistant, and gorgeous. They are equal in quality to 60 cent prints from a photo shop and superior to what you can get at CVS, Costco, or online. I routinely get at least 150 prints from each cartridge (extra paper is available from Epson at $14/100 sheets) so the cost per print is much less that the 29 cents advertised. I have only had to clean the print head once. I use Photoshop Elements to crop and edit all my photos and have never had the cropping problem described in previous reviews. I suspect that some of this my be due to the camera not being set to take 4x6 ratio shots.

A few minor caveats: You MUST use Epson PicureMate paper. Results are poor to fair with anything else. But at these prices, so what. Printing is s--l--o--w. Paper tray is too small.

So close! Almost 5 stars!
I've had this printer for over a month now and I've printed over 100 photos from the cartridge that was provided. I am VERY happy with the quality of the photos. Not only are they sharp but the color is beautiful and saturated. AND the prints are finger print proof!! (I'm very anal about that so this is a huge plus for me.) As a photographer, they're perfect for giving away as self-promotion items. I was able to print directly from my computer (I have an Apple G5) and from a USB flash drive without any problems. I printed a friend's wedding photos in black and white and in color and they couldn't believe it was printed at home.

There are only a couple reasons why I did not give this printer 5 stars. One was the lack of portability. A battery option would have been nice, especially since it is compact and comes with a handle. Also, there is no display to see what you are printing. How can you crop a photo without knowing what you're cropping??

I hope Epson will take these things into consideration and include these options in the next model.

As for those of you who have had problems with the printer cropping your photos when you didn't ask it to, it is because your camera may not be taking 4x6 photos. The printer will fit the photo the best it can but it will have to cut some information out in order to print it on the given size of the paper.

Overall, I am very happy I got this printer. I highly recommend it!