One of the best affair about using a digital tv camera is instant gratification . you may discover out straight off whether you nailed or missed your blastoff without waiting to fetch up and treat your roll of moving picture . Nonetheless , many folks still take their “ digital picture show ” down to the camera fund , or apply an online picture laboratory , instead of printing photos themselves . Epson ’s PictureMate ( ) has already help many pressman - phobic shutterbugs make the transition to print their own photos , but with the new Deluxe Viewer Edition , Epson has made the process even easier . And now you do n’t even have to wait until you get home .
Easy does it
Photo ink - jet printer have been around for quite a while , but most of them require transferring images to your electronic computer first , and knowing your agency around an image - editing covering . For some Macworld readers , this is n’t a job . Many of us like the flexibleness of tweaking skin tones , removing the odd mar , correct color shape , and cropping photos to our liking . But , for people who are n’t as well-fixed using their computers for this aim , the PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition can take your Mac completely out of the impression .
Special additions
The Deluxe Viewer Edition is the same sizing , shape , and colour as the original PictureMate , which is still useable , and costs $ 50 less . They both use the same $ 25 media pack , which contains a six - ink magazine for printing on the include 100 sheets of showy exposure paper . Epson sound out the smudge- , fade- , and H2O - resistant prints will last up to 200 years in a photo record album and 100 years in a drinking glass frame . The biggest difference of opinion between the original PictureMate and the Deluxe Viewer Edition is the 2.4 - inch colour LCD that eliminate the need to print thumbnail image of your photos ( a link sheet ) so you may take which exposure you want to impress . thumbnail are easy to see on the LCD , as are prevue of the custom crops and coloring material effects that you could apply using the LCD ’s controls and menus . The young PictureMate patronize almost all standard memory cards , and card introduce into the unit will rise mechanically on your Mac ’s desktop . Or you could publish directly from many cameras via a standard USB 2.0 port on the back of the unit .
You also can link up the PictureMate to your Mac via USB and use your favorite image - editing software to define your images . One benefit of publish from your computer is a higher resolution mode available in the PictureMate ’s OS ex print machine driver that you ca n’t access from the printer alone . Using this high result mode does help to smooth out the prints , but the difference is barely noticeable at the printer ’s 4 - by-6 - inch mark size , and it convey twice as retentive to print .
The Deluxe Viewer Edition is noticeably faster than the original , which took a little over two minutes to publish a 4 - by-6 - inch , borderless photographic print in place upright - alone style ; this new version print the same paradigm in just over a min and a one-half .
Wherever you print them , the PictureMate ’s prints are clear , coloured , and pleasing to the eye . Skin tones look a footling strange , though . One viewer think they looked flat , but to me , it look like a little makeup had been applied , remove some of the shine that you ’d naturally see on people ’s face . You certainly can get a good , more lifelike photographic print from some screen background ink - jet photo printers , but most consumers and weekend hit man will love the prints they get from the PictureMate .
You can take it with you
Another dandy accession to the Deluxe Viewer Edition is that you’re able to purchase a $ 70 optional stamp battery , so you’re able to take the pressman with you to a field day , a party , or to the beach . It will impress continuously for or so two hour . Other options include a Bluetooth photo print adapter for $ 69 , and a railroad car battery charger for $ 50 .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
You ca n’t ask for a better , more commodious portable ink - fountain printer than the PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition . Its speed and picture quality are capital . But the young 2.4 - inch LCD , which offers thumbnail previews , and the optional rechargeable battery , make this little printer glow .
[ James Galbraith is Macworld ’s Lab Director . ]
