Epson Perfection® 4490 Photo, Epson Perfection 3590 Photo and Epson Perfection 3490 Photo provide customers with the tools they need to quickly digitize, restore and renew classic photos at affordable prices

LONG BEACH, Calif., July 28, 2005 - Epson is introducing its newest scanners to the consumer market - the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo, Perfection 3590 Photo and Perfection 3490 Photo - each delivering its own set of unique and rich features for a variety of customers, ranging from the advanced amateur photographer to the Chief Memory Officer™. Priced from $99 to $249, these versatile scanners offer everything a customer needs for restoring cherished photos, negatives, and slides, as well as completing other tasks and projects with ease.

These new scanner models deliver a premium value with maximum hardware resolutions of 4800 x 9600 dpi on the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo, and 3200 x 6400 dpi on the Epson Perfection 3590 Photo and Perfection 3490 Photo models. The Perfection 4490 Photo also offers Digital ICE™ for scratch and dust removal from negatives and slides. Additionally, all three scanners include the third generation of Epson Easy Photo Fix™ technology for improved one-touch color restoration of faded photos, slides and negatives. These new scanners also have convenient front panel buttons that allow customers to automatically scan for copies and e-mail attachments, as well as generating Adobe® PDF files.

"Epson realizes the importance of preserving memories and continues to deliver easy-to-use, affordable solutions for restoring treasured photos and negatives," said Philip Amato, product manager, scanners, Epson. "By using Epson scanners, customers can easily restore all those precious fading photos that they have tucked away in shoeboxes and repurpose them for new uses and projects, without sacrificing image quality or paying high photo lab prices."

The Epson Perfection 4490 Photo
The Epson Perfection 4490 Photo is a full-featured consumer scanner that brings some professional photography tools to the mass market. It combines hardware resolution of 4800 x 9600 dpi and 3.4 Dmax, with robust, one-touch color restoration, along with dust and scratch removal capabilities. This scanner is ideal for advanced amateur photographers or photo enthusiasts and includes a convenient film holder that allows for batch scanning of 35mm slides, negatives and 2�" film.

With the scanner's powerful duo of Digital ICE technology for dust and scratch removal from slides and negatives, and Epson Easy Photo Fix technology for one-touch color restoration, anyone can bring new life to faded or damaged originals. The scanner also features a secondary light source for improved scan uniformity.

This scanner also offers fully automatic scanning for increased productivity, plus two advanced scanning modes for greater control. Users will also benefit from a full-featured software solution that includes Adobe® Photoshop® Elements, ABBYY® FineReader Sprint Plus, NewSoft™ Presto!® BizCard, Epson Scan with Epson Easy Photo Fix technology, as well as the Epson creativity suite of applications.

The Epson Perfection 4490 Photo will be available in August for an estimated street price of $249 and can be purchased through Epson authorized dealers, consumer electronic stores, mail order, and on the Epson Store Web site (www.epsonstore.com). An optional Automatic Document Feeder will also be available for an estimated street price of $199.

The Epson Perfection 3590 Photo
The Epson Perfection 3590 Photo is perfect for the household Chief Memory Officer (CMO) - the primary person responsible for sharing and preserving family memories - and the photography enthusiast interested in digitizing and restoring stacks of negatives. This scanner offers an Automatic Film Loader built into the top of the scanner lid that enables customers to quickly view and scan multiple frames on 35mm film strips. Customers can easily capture cherished photos and negatives, and restore them using Epson Easy Photo Fix technology. In addition, the Perfection 3590 Photo offers a hardware resolution of 3200 x 6400 dpi for reproducing and enlarging images with incredible detail and accuracy.

This scanner also offers an optional Multi Photo and Business Card Feeder, which can scan up to 24 business cards and up to 24 photos as large as 4" x 6", so customers can quickly and easily organize and digitize their photos and business cards.

In addition, the Perfection 3590 Photo includes a selection of user-friendly software such as ArcSoft® PhotoImpression™, ABBYY® FineReader® Sprint OCR, NewSoft™ Presto!® BizCard, Epson Scan driver with Epson Easy Photo Fix, and the Epson Creativity Suite.

The Epson Perfection 3590 Photo will be available in August for an estimated street price of $149 and can be purchased through Epson authorized dealers, consumer electronic stores, mail order, and on the Epson Store Web site (www.epsonstore.com ). The Multi Photo and Business Card Feeder is also available for an estimated street price of $149.

The Epson Perfection 3490 Photo
The Epson Perfection 3490 Photo delivers amazing output quality and color restoration features at the most affordable price point of Epson's new scanners. Available for an estimated street price of $99, the Perfection 3490 Photo offers the same software and capabilities available with the Perfection 3590 Photo, with the exception of the Auto Film Loader. This scanner includes a built-in transparency adapter for added versatility and can scan 35mm film (up to six frames per strip) or two slides.

The Perfection 3490 Photo will be available in August, and can be purchased through Epson authorized dealers, consumer electronic stores, mail order, and on the Epson Store Web site (www.epsonstore.com ). The Multi Photo and Business Card Feeder is also available as an option for the Perfection 3490 Photo for an additional $149.

Connectivity and Compatibility
All three of these new scanner models offer Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity for fast scanning of important photos, documents, slides and negatives and are compatible with most Windows and Macintosh systems.
More about Digital ICE Technology

The award-winning Digital ICE technology automatically removes surface defects, such as dust, scratches and even mold, from a scanned image of negatives, positives or slides with minimal effort. Digital ICE technology differentiates itself from software-only solutions because it is built into, and works from within the scanner during the scanning process. As a result, it does not soften, blur or otherwise alter any underlying details or composition of the original image. This powerful technology saves customers time and increases their productivity by eliminating the need to manually remove or re-touch defects in the image.

More about Epson Easy Photo Fix Technology
Faded color photos can be easily and affordably restored with the Epson Easy Photo Fix software included with the new Epson Perfection 4490 Photo, Perfection 3590 Photo and Perfection 3490 Photo scanners. Customers simply scan an image and click on a check box for instant color restoration or dust removal. Epson Easy Photo Fix makes this process effortless because it is incorporated into the Epson Scan driver.

The Epson Scan driver has three different user modes: Full Auto mode, which automatically scans at pre-determined settings for entry-level users; Home mode, which offers some pre-set recommended settings for the advanced amateur; and Professional mode, which allows access to all scan settings, giving the advanced user maximum control.

Customer Support
Carrying a one-year limited warranty, the Epson Perfection line of scanners is supported by the Epson Connection, a customer support and technical assistance line. For more information on Epson and its products, call 1-800-GO-EPSON (1-800-463-7766) or visit the Epson Web site at www.epson.com .

About Epson
Epson offers an extensive array of award-winning image capture and image output products for the consumer, business, photography, and graphic arts markets. The company is also a leading supplier of value-added point-of-sale (POS) printers and transaction terminals for the retail market. Founded in 1975, Epson America Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency. Epson America Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif.

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Note: Epson is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. EPSON Perfection is a registered trademark and Epson Easy Photo Fix is a trademark and Epson Connection is a service mark of Epson America, Inc. Third party and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.