Artisan
Artisan is Epson's photo flagship range — ten printers and all-in-ones that all print through six individual Claria dye cartridges: black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan and light magenta. Three cartridge systems divide the line. The single-function Artisan 50 prints with the 78 (T078120) family; the wide-format Artisan 1430 with the 79 (T079120) family, where every cartridge is high capacity; and the eight all-in-ones — the 700 through the 837 — run on the 98/99 system, whose black is the high-capacity 98 (T098120). The three systems do not interchange.
The 98/99 system carries a warning worth reading once: its tier numbering runs backwards against instinct. T098 is the high-capacity code and T099 the standard — and there is no standard-capacity black at all, because the black position always takes the T098120. The five colors are the 99 (T099220) singles and their companions. On the 78 side, Epson also documents a high-capacity 77 tier for the Artisan 50; the shelf stocked here is the 78 family, in singles and sets. Six positions means six chances to run dry in the middle of a print, and Artisan printers stop when any one cartridge is expended — on this line a complete spare shelf matters more than on a four-color machine. These printers are long out of production, which makes the chip on each compatible cartridge — not new firmware — the thing that has to be right.
Popular ink cartridges for Artisan printers
Which cartridge should you buy?
Keep all six positions stocked. The sets on each model page replace the full six-position shelf in one box — the Set of 6 for a straight reset, the larger stock-up sets for printers that run photographs week in, week out. Singles are for the one position that ran low, and on an Artisan that is as often a light ink as a primary color. If you own one of the all-in-ones, remember the inversion before you order: black is always the high-capacity 98, colors are the standard 99s, and a standard black for these models does not exist. Your model page lists its own system's codes — buy from there, not from another system's shelf.
Chip, ink and everyday use
Every cartridge here carries a new compatible Intellidge-type chip, so ink levels report normally on whichever Artisan you own. If a cartridge ever misbehaves — levels misread, a position not recognized — the lifetime warranty is the standing answer; contact us rather than working around it. The ink is the six-color Claria dye system, built for photographic gradients, and dye cartridges keep best sealed and out of direct light until the day they are installed. On a line split into three cartridge systems, the economical spare is the one matched to your own model — a wrong-system cartridge prints nothing, however good its price was.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which black cartridge does my Artisan 800 take?
The high-capacity T098120 — always. The Artisan all-in-ones have no standard-capacity black: the 98 code is the black, and the 99 codes are the five standard colors beside it. The numbering runs opposite to the usual instinct, so check the code, not the size of the number.
Can I use 78 cartridges in an Artisan 1430?
No. The 1430 is the line's 79-family printer — six high-capacity Claria cartridges. The 78 family belongs to the Artisan 50 alone, and the two systems do not fit each other's printers.
Does an Artisan stop printing when one color runs out?
Yes. With six individual positions, the printer pauses when any one cartridge is expended — it will not print around an empty light ink. That is why the full sets and a stocked spare shelf suit this line so well.
Is the 98 the standard tier and the 99 the high-capacity one?
The reverse. On the Artisan all-in-ones, T098 is the high-capacity tier — and the only black — while the T099 codes are the standard-capacity colors. It is the one Epson system in this store where the smaller family number carries the larger fill.
Artisan models
The ten Artisan models that carry products in this store.