Just as digital cameras have become viable alternatives to film cameras, home-printed digital photos now rival the quality of the traditional silver-halide prints that commercial photo labs offer--that is, if you're using a top-quality printer such as the new Epson Stylus Photo R1800.
The $549 large-format inkjet model offers several outstanding features, including very high resolution and enhanced fade resistance, which make it a good choice for photography buffs or anyone who wants to produce high-quality archival prints. I tested a shipping version of the R1800 and found it capable of producing beautiful color prints from a variety of images.
Like its smaller cousin, the Epson Stylus Photo R800 ($399 street), the R1800 uses the Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment ink set, which includes eight individual cartridges: In addition to the traditional cyan, magenta and yellow inks, the set uses red and blue inks, Photo Black and Matte Black inks, and a Gloss Optimizer that applies extra gloss and produces prints that look as if they were developed in a standard photo lab.