Sander benefits from Epson’s photographic expertise

Sander has a long and rich history. The company was founded by August Sander (1876 – 1964), a key figure in photographic history, renowned for his black and white images taken during the Weimar Republic era.

Sander's work earnt him a name as the founding father of factual and conceptual photography, which still plays a significant role in the works of many famous photographers today.

Today, Sander strives to live up to the reputation of its founder in the range of services it offers to professional photographers and printing service providers. In addition to traditional photographic prints in a range of shapes, sizes and media, Sander also offers digital image editing and digitalisation of analogue material. Top priority in all of this work is to deliver the very best quality.

The company specialises in the reproduction of fine art, offering high-quality prints with various finish options, as well as Liquid Gloss – a unique high-end finish for photographic works.

"We first introduced the concept of Liquid Gloss at photokina 2014, but at that time we didn't have an efficient and reliable process in place," explains Julian Röder, Managing Director at Sander. "We've come a long way since then, and now have a machine with which we've been able to build an entire production process. At this year's photokina event, we exhibited the largest Liquid Gloss photograph. The piece is 1.5m x 4m and was printed with the SureColor SC-P20000, as are all our other fine art prints."

Epson Professional Semigloss paper is frequently used for printed media destined for use in professional publications – around a quarter of all Liquid Gloss works are now printed on this paper. "This medium is suitable for the widest range of colours and has a great surface, which the pigmented Epson SureColor inks adhere to well," explains Röder. The customer can also opt for Doubleweight Matte paper, traditional photo paper or one of the Epson's ColdPress media.

In its photo-printing process, Sander uses four Epson Stylus Pro 11880 units, which are being replaced one by one with new SureColor SC-P20000 models. Currently the company is running one new SC-P20000 in conjunction with the latest version of Mirage Professional Print.

"The SureColor SC-P20000 is a significant step forward," says Röder. "With it we can print at twice the resolution - 1440x1440dpi instead of 720x1440dpi - yet produce the finished product more quickly. And as we have come to expect from Epson, the quality is absolutely infallible."

The high speed of the SC-P20000 comes, in part, from the PrecisionCore printhead, which features additional nozzles positioned closer together and able to form ink droplets more quickly. This enables Sander to achieve higher print quality while reducing printing time. The 10-colour (C, VM, Y, LC, VLM, MK, PK, DGY, GY, LGY) UltraChrome Pro inks used in the new printer produce finely graduated tones of black and white, contributing to the outstanding final results.

The P20000 also boasts an improved media feed, enabling the device to transport even the most challenging media rolls reliably. "Although the printing time is not the main consideration for fine art prints, it is good to know that we can deliver improved print quality without making our customers wait longer for it," says Röder.

Sander has long relied on Epson solutions – and not just for printing. The company's scanning department, for example, is kitted out with Professional Photo V850 series flatbed scanners. "In the past, we've trialled solutions from other manufacturers on a number of occasions, but we've not found anything that can match the quality of Epson devices," concludes Röder. "What's more, after working closely together for a number of years, we've established an incredibly open and trusting relationship with Epson, as evidenced by the regular visits we receive from Japanese developers. And it's a great feeling to know that the feedback we give to these visitors will be taken on board in the next generation of devices or the generation after that. Working with Epson devices and with Epson itself is a real pleasure."