Photograph output high quality for the XP-980, utilizing Epson Photograph Paper Shiny, was glorious total throughout all the problems I usually search for. Distinction, shadow element, and shade high quality had been all top-tier, and I did not see any trace of dithering or posterization (sudden adjustments in shading the place it ought to change regularly).
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
Scanning a photograph after which printing it confirmed a slight shade shift, together with a minor lack of shadow element and the same lack of the delicate shading that offers rounded objects a way of three-dimensionality. However even these reprints had been on the excessive finish of drugstore high quality reasonably than the skilled picture lab high quality of the originals. Copied images—versus those I scanned after which printed—had been nearer to the low finish of drugstore high quality. So if you wish to reproduce images on the XP-980, it is value taking the time to scan them first, then print them, in two steps.
Graphics output in our official assessments was good, utilizing default settings and plain paper. Skinny traces held properly, and I noticed no seen dithering, posterization, or banding. Nevertheless, the general impression left by the graphics was a step down from the picture high quality, primarily as a result of the colours had been nearer to pastels than to vibrant, saturated hues. Some casual assessments confirmed that utilizing both presentation matte or picture paper improved the colour high quality of graphics to excellent. Nevertheless, you must be keen to pay the additional value for the high-quality paper.
(Credit score: Epson/PCMag)
Textual content high quality on plain paper is well ok for many functions. All of the fonts in our take a look at suite that you simply’d use in a enterprise doc had been simply readable at 6 factors, and greater than half had been simply readable even at 4 factors. Nevertheless, edges had been a contact lower than laser-sharp, even at 10 and 12 factors. In our assessments, one of many two stylized fonts with heavy strokes we use was readable at 12 factors however not well-formed. The one which’s simpler to render properly earned the identical description at 8 factors.
On our ink smudge assessments utilizing plain paper, black textual content did not smudge in any respect from a highlighter and confirmed solely minor smudging with water, so it was nonetheless readable. Coloration inks in graphics on plain paper resisted smudging from water, however the pages had been left with water stains, leading to decrease shade saturation and, in some instances, shade adjustments. For images and graphics on the equipped picture paper, a lot the identical was true, besides that the water stains did not have an effect on shade saturation or hue.
