Photo Printer Buying Guide

So you have either just bought a brand spanking new digital camera, or are perhaps weighing up the costs of going digital? Either way, you've come to the right place for some helpful advice and recommended products.

---

The surge in the amount of photo printers being manufactured has taken the main ownership away from pure professionals, making them affordable to many house holds. They are now selling fast along with digital cameras.

Key considerations

• Look for an Inkjet printer and not a laser printer (this won't do photo prints)
• PC/Mac specifications - make sure that your system is compatible with a printer before you buy.
• Initial costs - does this include cables and ink for example?
• How much will the print cartridges cost to replace?
• Print performance - dpi stands for 'dots per inch' - the greater the number the better the quality so take this into consideration.
• Print speed - check this for colour and black and white. You will generally pay more for the speedier models.
• Borderless printing? - Not all models do this, make sure you check the spec before you buy. If you are looking to print smaller photos, you would be best to have the bordless option.
• What sort of print cartridge is it - some come with a print head which you load individual colours in and replace when needed. With others you will need to replace the entire print head even when only 1 or 2 colours have run out. If you plan on printing a lot of faces you will find that you run out of a lot of magenta.
• The cost of the photo colour paper - A4 costs on average around 60p a sheet.
• Do you want it for mainly colour photos or do you want to use it for all your print needs? This may effect the spec of the model that you go for.
• Consider the costs of replacing imaging drums further down the line. When you need to replace it depends on the manufacturer, but you can expect on average, at least 7-10,000 colour print outs.
• Do you need to be able to print directly from a memory card - by slotting this directly into your pc.
• Are you likely to want to print a lot of 4x6 sheets in one go or panoramic shots? If so, you need to look for a model with ad additional fitted paper roll.
• CD labels - if you specifically want to print them, look for a suitable model that allows you to print directly onto the cd.

Advantages of photo printing v's traditional photo printing

• Save money - you only need to print the ones that you actually want.
• Cut down on photo storage - printing off only the ones you need will mean less mess, plus you can store them long term on cd roms, web-sites, and/or memory cards.
• Preview images before printing - less waste as you only print what you are happy with.
• Free touching up - using a variety of photo software on the market, you can manipulate your images yourself on your own pc at your leisure for no extra charge.
• No more red eye - using relevant editing software you can remove on your PC before you print.
• CD labels - many manufacturer now make blank cds with printable surface so you can print directly onto the cd. Alternatively, you can print onto a label then attach to the cd.

.

Other things to consider

• You get out of a printer what you put into it - so make sure you save your photos on your digital camera in high resolution if you want this reflected in the print quality.
• So far HP printers won't print edge to edge - make sure you read the full spec before you make your purchase.
• Last but not least - Money & budget - Don't forget to consider all the costs associated with making your own prints.

Useful sites

• Epson's world of photo expertise
• www.canon.co.uk
• Hewlett Packard