Replacement Ribbon-photo printer
This is a very hard replacement ribbon to find. We were very happy with the purchase from the beginning to the end. Thanks!

it's all I use
I am a professional photographer and this is what I use in my studio to print customers orders. My customers love the fact that it laminates the photos and is archival quality!

Olympus Printer Cartridge
I love my Olympus dye sublimation printer. It has never jammed and the print cartridges go in so easy. I printed out photos of my party...at my party and everyone was so excited to see such gorgeous pictures of themselves. Everyone always asks me for copies.

Olympus Replacement Ribbon
The Olympus P-RBW Replacement Ribbon for P-400 Series Phot Pinters, Gloss Finish, allows me to print pictures in 8 x 10 Glossy for framing. This is a digital printing item and the colors are very vivid and I get extremely clear, sharp photographs. I receive many compliments on photos printed with this ribbon.

If you own the P400...
...then you are sort of stuck with whatever ribbons fit into it. That said, Olympus offers ribbons with matte or glossy finish, so you do have some choice.

As a scrapbooker, I use the glossy ribbons because I think they create a better photographic image. I am not aware of whether dye-sub pigments are acid-free or archival quality, but the pictures from this ink on this printer with the high-end paper are considerably nicer than the ones I got from the local photo shop printing out digital images on whatever printer they use. I have accidentally left these photos out on a table in the direct Arizona sunshine for weeks at a time, and I have not seen any fading (just dust!)

I haven't priced out the cost of printing photos with this thing, but if you buy A4 paper in 100-page lots and save up your images so you can print full sheets of pictures, you maximize your economy. I do get 50 pages of A4 prints from each ribbon, plus or minus 1-2 pages, max. I just save up pix & print in bulk, 2 5x7s, 2-3 4x6es, 4 3x5s or 9 wallets on a page.

I also use this ribbon for printing titles/journaling on occasion, but the one problem with this printer/ribbon is that you are stuck with using the special Olympus dye-sub paper or the ink doesn't work, either absorbing down into the paper so it looks washed out, or staying on top of the paper and smearing off. This means the ink will NOT work on vellum or other "interesting" scrapbooking papers.

Well, you can't blame the ink for not being an elephant. It does what it does. A cheap inkjet will do fine journal printing; save this ink for photos.