Fall 2005 Photo Printer Buyers Guide by David Elrich
The Easy Way to Buy a Printer
Taking a great picture is wonderful. Turning it into a gorgeous print to give to friends and family is even better. Today it's even simpler, quicker and less expensive than even to make dazzling prints. Your first clue about any printer's photographic capabilities is as obvious as its name, such as the Canon Pixma Photo Printers, HP Photosmart, Epson Stylus Photo, Lexmark Home Photo Printers, and Sony Digital Photo Printers.
You may have to dig a little deeper with other models that don't have "photo" in their names. This doesn't mean you can't print photos with them; rather, there are models like the ones just mentioned that utilize specific technologies to deliver the ultimate in photo-quality prints. At this time, inkjet printers are the most popular way to make prints at home but models that use the dye sublimation process are gaining in popularity especially for 4x6-inch prints.
No matter if you choose inkjet or "dye sub" printers, crisp detail and smooth color gradation are the keys to good prints. When you get your photos back from the lab, they're shiny and smooth (without lines or dots). Getting this quality at home depends on several factors including printer resolution, i.e., how many dots per inch (DPI) of ink the printer lays on the paper as well as paper quality. When you're out shopping, the higher the resolution, the smaller the dots and, in theory, the better the prints. The best way to gauge any printer's photo capabilities is looking at sample prints at the store or on printer company websites. There are a couple of other criteria to keep in mind as well.
The Tiny Dots
In general, look for the highest number of DPI and levels of gradation. Some of the best printers offer 9600 x 2400 DPI and over 50 levels of gradation. Another important specification for inkjet printers is ink drop size, typically measured in picoliters. The smaller the number, the more ink per square inch can be placed on the paper. The more ink, the more accurate and lifelike the color of the print. Canon's new Pixma iP5200 is rated one picoliter, the best in the industry but you'll find many rated 1.5 and two picoliters. Expect to pay $150 or more for a photo printer with such high specs. Although this may seem expensive since there are printers readily available for 50 bucks, it's really not once you start turning out beautiful 8x10s that wow your family.
Canon's Pixma iP5200 and the Epson Stylus Photo R800
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Usually, the more colors a printer has, the better. Most inkjet photo printers offer four, five, six or more colors. Four-color printers use cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, while six-color printers add lighter cyan and magenta inks to provide a wider color range and more accurate results. The new Canon Pixma iP5200 uses five: yellow, magenta, cyan, black and a pigment-based black ink. There are also eight color inkjet printers such as the HP Photosmart 8450 ($299) and the Epson Stylus Photo R800 ($399). Not only is the color of the 8450 excellent (we've seen many sample photos), it's very fast. You can print a 4x6-inch borderless photo in about 27 seconds. For printing text, the 8450 has print speeds of up to 30 pages per minute (PPM) in black and up to 20-PPM color printing in draft mode. (The current "Ink King" is the HP 8750 with nine inks and the speed king is the new $179 HP Photosmart 8250; it turns out a 4x6 print in 14 seconds.)
The HP Photosmart 8450 and the HP Photosmart8750
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If you want larger prints than the traditional 8x10, good choices are the Canon i9900 ($499), the HP 8750 ($449) and Epson R1800 ($549). The Canon is designed for the enthusiast but it gives you a great idea where the higher-end of the market is going. The 13x19-inch inkjet printer adds red and green ink cartridges—eight total-- for 4800 x 2400 DPI maximum color resolution, very small two picoliter ink droplets for smooth gradations, as well as USB 2.0 Hi-speed and Firewire interfaces to connect with advanced digital cameras. It is also PictBridge enabled for direct printing without a computer with compatible cameras.
Canon i9900 and Epson Stylus Photo R1800
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As noted Canon's eight-color ink system adds red and green ink tanks to the cyan, magenta, yellow, black, photo cyan and photo magenta inks that are commonly found on six-color printers. Not only is the color excellent (we've seen many sample photos), it's very fast. You can print a 4x6-inch borderless photo in about 38 seconds, a 5x7-inch borderless photo in approximately 47 seconds, an 8.5x11-inch borderless photo in about 84 seconds and a full 13x19-inch borderless photograph in under three minutes. For printing text, websites and other documents, the i9900 has print speeds of up to 16 pages per minute (PPM) in black and up to 12 PPM in color printing.
Another excellent, award-winning printer is the Epson Stylus Photo R800 ($399). It features UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment inks for archival prints on matte and glossy media, according to the company.Using it, the R800 produces long-lasting photos that can resist fading up to 80 years by using the new inks and Epson matte or glossy media, per Epson. The ink set includes eight individual cartridges and features the Gloss Optimizer as well as Photo Black and Matte Black ink cartridges. With an eight channel print head, the R800 lets you keep the Photo Black and Matte Black ink cartridges in the printer at all times and the printer driver determines which black ink to use based on the paper type selected. In addition to the traditional cyan, magenta and yellow inks, the ink set also include red and blue inks that expand the color range.
The R800 has a 1.5-picoliter ink droplet size and resolutions up to 5760 x 1440 optimized DPI. It is also one of the fastest printer in the Epson photo printer line-up featuring text speeds up to 17 pages per minute (PPM) and photo speeds as fast as 45 seconds for a 5 x 7 photo in photo mode on Glossy Photo Paper.
Another popular printer is the Epson PictureMate ($199). Epson calls it the first and only personal photo lab that allows digital camera owners to easily print "brilliant, long-lasting lab-quality 4 x 6 photos at home at a cost that's comparable to some of the most affordable lab print prices (29 cents per print on average)." That may be a bit of hyperbole but this is a very popular printer. The PictureMate Print Pack contains a PictureMate Photo Cartridge and PictureMate Photo Paper to print about 100 glossy 4x6 photos ($29). No computer is required since it supports all popular memory cards, including SD/MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Compact Flash type I and II, SmartMedia, xD and Microdrive. It also supports direct printing from PictBridge cameras. In addition, digital camera technologies, such as Print Image Matching (P.I.M.), Exif Print and DPOF, are automatically supported. The PictureMate "Print Wizard" interface guides you through a simple printing process.
Epson PictureMate
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