# Epson Stylus Pro 7600 Questions



## omnicow (Jun 3, 2008)

I have been interested in getting a large format printer so that I can make oversized transparencies without the need for taping together many sheets, which would make it impossible to get an accurate multi-color registration. I've recently found a great deal on an Epson Stylus Pro 7600, but I've never owned a printer like this and I have a lot of questions.

1. The person selling this said it was purchased in 2004 and has had a lot of use. Do you think that it would still have a good image quality or do these printers generally not last too long? Is there a way to check the use on it? I don't think the seller knows too much about this printer, but if I told him how to check it I'm sure he would.

2. I had read before that the 7600 with ultrachrome ink is supported in Mac OS X but the one with photographic dye ink is not. I don't know which version this printer is, however, I looked on Epson's website for drivers and found drivers for OS X for both versions of the printer, so it seems that perhaps that information was erroneous. 

Epson Stylus Pro 7600 - Photographic Dye Ink, Drivers & Downloads - Technical Support - Epson America, Inc.

Does anyone happen to know if either version of the printer will still work on OS X? (I'm using Tiger on a PowerPC system)

3. RIP software. This is an entirely new concept to me. I've been doing some research so I can at least gain a little understanding of what this is. It seems pretty simple, it rasterizes an image so it can be printed. I thought that Illustrator would automatically rasterize an image when you printed it though. I guess not? What do I need to look for and worry about when selecting a rip program? I read on another thread on this forum that someone suggested AccuRIP. Seems that purchasing RIP software is probably going to turn out to be more expensive than the actual printer. Oh well, what can you do?

4. Most of the time when I do an over sized print, a 17" wide roll will be sufficient. Sometimes I will need more, and that's why I really like the option of having a 24" width, but I don't want to waste extra film if it's not necessary, so basically I would just like to know if I could load a 17" roll into a 24" machine, and switch rolls whenever necessary.

5. And finally, if this printer does work out and I buy it, since I can print images up to 24" wide, I would imagine that I could invest in a roll of poster material and offer poster printing services as well. Is there any reason I couldn't do this?


Thanks for your help. I hope this printer turns out to be good because I think it's a great price, but if it's not good, I would like to be able to find out before I purchase it and just hold out for a better (or less used) machine.


----------



## Unkle Samo (Feb 27, 2008)

I purchased a used 7600 last December from a professional photographer. He was upgrading to a 7800. I'm pretty sure there is a digital counter for usage purposes but, the previous owner demonstrated some prints for me on the spot and that was good enough for me. I got it for $900 (including 7 unopened ink 220ml cartridges, extra rolls of Epson paper and a maintenance tank). The seller informed me that he was using a RIP program for his amaziing photographs ( I didn't even know what a RIP was... ha, ha). 
I do a lot of oversize prints and i was pretty proficient overlapping sheets of transparancies, taping and cutting them, but with photographs the alignment of 4 sheets of transparancy paper was too time consuming.
My gamble was well worth it and as my previous printer was a laserjet, I immediately benefited regarding registration issues (no heat shrinkage). 
My 7600 uses Ultrachrome K3 inks. I print directly from Photoshop CS3 on XP without a RIP. I've printed 4 color process on images that measure 16 X 24. I would love to purchase Accurip, but RIP programs for wide format printers cost twice as much (approx $1000 and up). Hopefully, one day (soon)!
No, you cannot put a 17 inch roll on the Epson 7600 but, I group images together in Photoshop to save film. For example, if you have a 2 color print that measures 11 X 14, just make your Photoshop canvas 24 inches wide and put both images side by side and print. The 7600 will only use 14 inches off your roll and I just cut the printout down the middle and have 2 transparancies. When my oversize image is a single color 16 X 24, I rotate the image sideways in Photoshop so the resulting print becomes 24 X 16... that way i use 16 inches off my roll instead of 24. My oversize 4 color process transparancies use 64 inches of the Ulano waterproof roll = approx $12
I definitely don't regret my 7600 purchase. With the extra inks and paper thrown in, my printer cost about $500. 
Best of luck with your decision.


----------



## omnicow (Jun 3, 2008)

thanks for the help. i really do want to get this printer, but i need to know how to tell the different between the ultrachrome version and the photographic dye version. i don't know which one would be better for screen printing, but i do know that i can't find the photographic dye ink for sale, so if it's photographic dye i'm afraid i'll have to pass.


----------



## shrink (Sep 11, 2007)

hi there
7600 is a good workig horse.I just spend 10 hours and 2 packs of marlboro trying to flush and transform to dye sub but finally is working.So I help gladly if anyone needs advise


----------



## stephanecuvigny (Oct 2, 2008)

Hi, I just got hold of a 7600 dye, but can't get hold of the inks in the UK! I would be interrested to know what is involved in converting the machine from dye to UtraChrome and vice versa...
Thanks in advance for your help!



shrink said:


> hi there
> 7600 is a good workig horse.I just spend 10 hours and 2 packs of marlboro trying to flush and transform to dye sub but finally is working.So I help gladly if anyone needs advise


----------



## shrink (Sep 11, 2007)

hi there,
once u got it right it won't be a problem.
7600 Ink Change Procedure -here u find how to flush the system
after that u need bulk ink tanks to fill them with dye ink and u do the flushing one more time and it's ok.
if u can't find bulk ink tanks u can try to empty the original one's,empty the bag from inside of tanks,wash it with distiled water and fill them up with dye.
U may also need a chip resetter to reset the chip from the cartridges from while to while.
the reverse dye-ultrachome it would be the same.
I think u can find both,tanks and resetter, at some websites or local bulk ink distribuitors.

Hope I managed to help,
good luck!






stephanecuvigny said:


> Hi, I just got hold of a 7600 dye, but can't get hold of the inks in the UK! I would be interrested to know what is involved in converting the machine from dye to UtraChrome and vice versa...
> Thanks in advance for your help!


----------



## auggieboy (Mar 22, 2008)

Unkle Samo said:


> I purchased a used 7600 last December from a professional photographer. He was upgrading to a 7800. I'm pretty sure there is a digital counter for usage purposes but, the previous owner demonstrated some prints for me on the spot and that was good enough for me. I got it for $900 (including 7 unopened ink 220ml cartridges, extra rolls of Epson paper and a maintenance tank). The seller informed me that he was using a RIP program for his amaziing photographs ( I didn't even know what a RIP was... ha, ha).
> I do a lot of oversize prints and i was pretty proficient overlapping sheets of transparancies, taping and cutting them, but with photographs the alignment of 4 sheets of transparancy paper was too time consuming.
> My gamble was well worth it and as my previous printer was a laserjet, I immediately benefited regarding registration issues (no heat shrinkage).
> My 7600 uses Ultrachrome K3 inks. I print directly from Photoshop CS3 on XP without a RIP. I've printed 4 color process on images that measure 16 X 24. I would love to purchase Accurip, but RIP programs for wide format printers cost twice as much (approx $1000 and up). Hopefully, one day (soon)!
> ...


I know this an old thread but I was wondering what film you are using for your 7600 w/ pigment ink, and what settings work for you?


----------



## omnicow (Jun 3, 2008)

Currently I am using Ryonet Waterproof+ R-Film, and it works very well but it is pretty expensive.


----------



## auggieboy (Mar 22, 2008)

omnicow said:


> Currently I am using Ryonet Waterproof+ R-Film, and it works very well but it is pretty expensive.


That's what I thought you where going to say. That's what I found too. What setting are you using? Does it print jet black film no problems?
All my reading seems to point to switching to Dye inks but I don't want to lose the photo printing ability. Any thoughts?
Thanks


----------



## SummerHouse (Jul 25, 2016)

Hi everyone, I know this is an old thread but I have some questions. My dad is semi-retiring and is selling his Epson Pro 7600 which was used primarily for black and white architectural plans (very little color use). So it's possible that I could use the printer.

I'm a total amateur and was wondering how hard is it to convert the printer for T-shirt printing? What do I need to do and how much is it likely to cost? Does it print directly onto the t-shirt or onto some kind of film which is then ironed onto the t-shirt?

Thanks a lot.


----------



## Johnscamera (Jan 14, 2019)

I have an old epson 7600 orig and still with ulttichrome ink. I would like to convert the printer to dye sub to make heat transfers that I can put on T shirts with my seal commercial 210 press. What all do I need or is there a better way?


----------

