The Ins and Outs of Photo Printers
If you are considering a photo printer to print pictures to frame, scrapbook, or place in a family album, you want a printer that offers lab quality prints.
You can place photo printers into two categories: inkjet and dedicated photo printers.
How Inkjet Photo Printers Work
When a picture is sent to be printed, the paper is fed through the printer. When the paper is positioned, the print head begins to move across the page spraying drops of printer ink onto the paper, to create the image. After each section is complete, the paper is moved forward to continue until the picture is printed.
What is a Dedicated Photo Printer
Dedicated photo printers are just for that–printing photographs. Most of these printers are dye sublimation printers which uses thermal dye technology. Thermal dye technology works differently than inkjet technology, melting the dye from a ribbon rather than laying down the colors as individual dots. Since the dye is melted into the paper, it gives your pictures a more natural appearance.
How Dye Sublimation Printers Work
Dye sublimation printers use a cellophane roll with a section for cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and a clear overcoat. When you send a picture to be printed, the paper and film pass through the heated print heads. The dye vaporizes, saturating the paper’s surface. As soon as it hits the paper, it returns to its solid form. The print head heats at various temperatures because the temperature affects how much ink is released. This allows for the many shades of a color to be placed on each other.
Buying Guide
Advantages
- Immediate Pictures
– Vibrant colors (high quality color)
– Ability to print directly from camera or memory card
Disadvantages
- Some printers are designed for just printing pictures. You’ll need another printer for text.
– More Expensive (higher end models)
– Slow
Price Range
- $80-500
Features
Speed
Most photo printers are made for printing photos so the manufacturers don’t put much emphasis on speed. These printers focus on the color quality of each print.
Paper Size
You might be limited to what size a pictures you can print with dedicated photo printers because most offer a maximum printing size of 4×6. Very few can print 5×7 or panoramas (4×12)
Most photo printers you will find are inkjet printers with six color cartridges (as opposed to the normal four colors). The more colors a printer uses the better quality photos it will produce. When purchasing a photo inkjet printer, you should keep in mind that four color inks can print excellent photos.
For printing black and white photos, look for a printer with various options for black ink or offers grey inks. They black and grey ink help produce better shading, making the output quality of black and white photos better.
Connection Ability
Most printers connect to your computer by a USB cable. But photo printers can use PictBridge technology, which allows you to connect your digital camera directly to the printer. Other printers have memory card slots attached to the printer, but make sure the printer can support the memory card you use.
Added Features
LCD and a front panel menus allow you to view, edit, and print photos without using your computer. Some photo printers might include image editing software.
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