Photo Printing Tips

Date: February 17, 2010

New York, NY -- Not to be “punny”, but printing photos is an art in itself, and Dave Johnson of PC World has five tips he offers for successful photo printing. They are as follows:

1. Print Size - Even though you can tell your computer to print a photo at any size, that certainly does not ensure a quality print. The best formula you can use is to take the number of pixels in the image and divide by 200 for normal quality prints or 300 for high-quality prints to calculate the proper print size. To find the number of pixels, you can right-click on the photo and select “Properties”, and under the “Details” tab there should be the width and height in pixels. If you are not using XP, both Windows Vista and Windows 7 offer the details simply by clicking the icon and the size will display in the details pane at the bottom of the folder. Johnson uses a photo of 2000 by 3400 pixels for his example: “Divide each dimension by 200, and you get 10 by 17. That means you could print the photo as large as 10 by 17 inches and get acceptable results. If you want a higher-quality printout, divide the pixel size by 300. That gives you 6 by 11, which means you should print it no larger than about 5 by 7 inches for the best results.”
2. Paper - Simply because you can print on plain paper doesn’t mean that you should. Regular inkjet paper will simply absorb the ink which makes your colors look very bad. Really the best paper to print on is photo paper, and further, your printer manufacturer’s photo paper to be really precise. There are different finishes on photo paper. If you like lots of shine, you can use glossy, or if you would prefer less shine, you can use a semi-gloss, or matte paper.
3. Ink - Similarly with the ink, it is best to stick with the same brand as your printer. Like it or not, those are the inks that have been specifically designed and tested on your printer. You will also want to stay away from remanufactured inks.
4. Print Settings - Before you hit that print button, double check that all of your settings are correct. That includes making sure that the photo paper is facing the correct direction, because that kind of paper is designed to print on a specific side. Also be sure to change any paper type settings and print quality settings.
5. Printer Maintenance - Johnson recommends running your print cleaning cycle once every month or two to make sure your nozzles stay clean and unclogged. Also, try use your printer on a regular basis to prevent the ink from drying and then clogging.

BY ADAM HAIGH, Editor