Tips For Buying a Photo Printer

Date: February 22, 2010

New York, NY -- The veritable source of information, PC World, has composed a list of 4 tips you can use when choosing to buy a photo printer.

1. Tip #1 – Choose the Type of Printer
   There are three main types of printers to consider: inkjet, laser, and snapshot. Each of these presents their own advantages, so you will have to think about what you really need. Standard inkjet printers are made to handle 8.5” x 11” paper, thus, you can print 8” x 10” photos. There are larger models that can accommodate larger paper and thus larger prints as well. Another inkjet variable is the number of cartridges it uses to print in color. The more colors you have, the closer the colors will come to the true image. Also, you may want to be able to just replace the cartridge that runs out instead of a multi-color cartridge. Color laser printers are also affordable options, however they don’t always do the best job on photos. Laser produced photos don’t have the same level of brightness or clarity as other options. The final option is to buy a snapshot printer. This is a good choice if you want to produce good looking prints, mainly in 4” x 6” or under. Some snapshot printers are designed to be portable and they don’t take up a whole lot of room on a desk.
2. Tip #2 – Check the Sample Prints
   If you want to be able to truly judge the quality of the printer, what better way than to see some actual results. When you go to a store, be sure to insist on seeing the samples before purchasing the machine. Some stores may even print some of your photos for you, so bring a memory card with you. The most important thing when looking at the results are to examine fine details of the photo.
3. Tip #3 – Consider the Future of the Photo
   We don’t mean in the philosophical sense, rather the amount of time you would like the photo to resist fading and such. The key term here is lightfastness which is a fancy word which refers to how long your photos will look good. You can look for printers that use “archival” inks which are supposed to resist fading longer than normal.
4. Tip #4 – Convenience of the Printer
   Back even a few years ago, to get your photos printed you would have to transfer them from your camera to your computer, then choose which ones you liked best, and then print them. With printers nowadays, many come with convenience of a USB port or even memory card slots so you never have to turn on your computer at all. It would also be wise to try and find a printer with an LCD, so you can at see the pictures and even do some basic editing as well.

BY ADAM HAIGH, Editor