Product Manager Dave Smith said: "Although primarily aimed at proofing, the Stylus Pro 9900S and 7900S with Epson SpectroProofer are also popular with photographers, and for some print for pay users, who don't want to have to buy a dedicated RIP on top of the cost of the printer itself."

Colour Confidence ProfileWriter software costs £399, which Smith said was a tenth the cost of a RIP otherwise needed for profile creation.

He added that the availability of a lower-cost profile making package could encourage more customers to opt for the embedded spectrophotometer, which automates the process of scanning control bars, and could pave the way for the adoption of embedded spectrophotometers on smaller and lower cost inkjet printers.