Epson P400 and Epson Artisan 1430 are viable choices that you can consider is you are currently looking for a high-quality photo printer that can print borderless 12×12. These wide-format printers are compatible with a wide variety of paper types and sizes. Both are also capable of CD/DVD printing. However, Epson P400 is designed to be a professional printer, whereas Epson Artisan 1430 is made primarily for home uses. See the more detailed comparisons of Epson P400 vs Artisan 1430 below to determine the best choice for you.
Maximum Printable Area
It is true that both Epson P400 and Epson Artisan 1430 are wide-format photo printers. They can print on papers up to 13 inches wide. However, as a professional photo printer, Epson P400 is designed to be able to handle paper rolls as well. It has a maximum printable area of 13” x 129”. So, if you need to print borderless 12×12 as well as paper rolls, Epson P400 is the way to go. See the comparisons of Epson P400 vs Canon Pro 10 here as well.
The maximum printable area of Epson Artisan 1430 is only 13” x 19”. It is not able to handle a paper roll. If you don’t need to print anything larger than A3, Super B, or tabloid size, this model is still a viable choice.
Ink Type
The next difference between Epson P400 vs Artisan 1430 is the ink type. Epson P400 works with pigment inks, whereas Epson Artisan 1430 works with dye-based inks.
Epson P400 works with 8 individual ink cartridges of matte black, photo black, cyan, magenta, yellow, orange, red, and gloss optimizer. These are pigment inks; these inks sit on top of the paper instead of getting absorbed. As a result, the inks often offer more solid and vibrant colors. They are also generally more durable. The manufacturer claims that Epson P400’s print results can last for 100 years without fading, and up to 300 years if stored in dark storage.
The weakness of pigment inks is that they tend to show strange effects on gloss papers, such as bronzing and gloss differentials. The gloss optimizer is used to eliminate such effects.
On the other hand, Epson Artisan 1430 works with six ink cartridges, which consists of black, cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, and yellow. Epson Artisan 1430 uses dye-based inks. Such inks get absorbed into the paper, so they don’t have the strange effects of bronzing and gloss differentials. But the colors are not as deep and vibrant as pigment inks, and they are also not as durable. The print results of this printer are said to be able to last for 98 years if stored under a glass surface, or for 200 years if stored in an album.
Connectivity
Finally, don’t forget that Epson P400 has USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi features. If you want to connect the printer to your office’s wired network, this is the suitable choice. Epson Artisan 1430 has USB and Wi-Fi but there is no Ethernet port. So, it is not very suitable for a wired network, though there is indeed a workaround: you can connect the printer to a single computer and then share the printer to the network via the connected computer.
Conclusion
If you need the ability to print on paper rolls, the Ethernet port, or the pigment inks, Epson P400 is the way to go. The print quality is excellent and highly durable. However, if you are fine with dye-based inks and you don’t need to print on paper rolls, you can choose Epson Artisan 1430 to save some money.
