Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX: Great Prints, No Computer Required

Digital camera and inkjet printing technology have improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years, but one thing has remained the same: To get prints you typically must go through the rather involved process of downloading images from your camera to your computer, and then passing them through some sort of printing software. If you’re in a hurry or you’re simply not comfortable with such technical concerns, then shooting with film and using a local photo lab may seem the best solution.
With the StylusPhoto 785EPX, Epson joins the list of companies offering an alternative to the cables and software normally required to print images from a digital camera. Building on the same engine as the Stylus Photo 780, Epson has created a letter-sized printer that has a built-in PC Card slot and an optional LCD screen for viewing images. This solution lets you take the media from your digital camera, slide it into the appropriate adapter, plug the adapter into the 785, and print directly from the media without using a computer! While other companies offer similar direct-from-the-card printing, this is Epson’s first photo printer with this capability.

The Stylus Photo 785EPX can print directly from media cards, which you insert in the slot at the bottom right of the printer’s front panel.

Of course, the printer also includes a USB port, printer drivers, and color management profiles for printing from your desktop computer. And it uses Epson’s state-of-the-art dye-based, 6-color engine for stunning photo quality. If you need to print photo-quality images, Epson’s Stylus Photo printers are the way to go. Whether the 785EPX is right for you depends on your photo-printing needs.
Cable-Free Printing
The 785 is a nice-looking, curvy printer with a gray, two-tone case and a sturdy build. Its detailed LCD display and simple-to-use controls are arrayed on the top of the printer, just in front of the paper input slot. The 785 can’t hold a lot of paper — as many as 100 sheets depending on the type of media — but because it’s primarily intended for photo printing, this isn’t really a problem.
Like Epson’s other photo printers, the 785EPX uses a single 6-color cartridge and a separate black cartridge. Epson claims that a color cartridge can print 220 pages at 15-percent coverage. Obviously, results can vary depending on the nature of your images, but this estimate seems consistent with our findings.
The 785EPX’s most notable feature is the PC Card slot located on the front of the printer, which lets you print directly from your digital camera’s media card. Epson includes a CompactFlash adapter. If your camera uses SmartMedia or Memory Sticks, or if you’re using an IBM MicroDrive, then you may need to use a coupon Epson provides with the printer to swap out the adapter to match your media type.
After you’ve inserted a card, you can use the controls on the top of the printer to select paper type, page layout, and which images you’d like to print. You can also control the printer’s automatic color-correction and image-enhancement features. Ideally, you’ll want to attach the optional, $99 LCD screen that lets you view the images on your card. Though the 1.5-inch screen is too small to discern much about the quality of the image, it is large enough to ease the selection of images.