What Photo Printers can people recommend from personal experience?

[DS1]

Looking for sub-300 dollar range, although if large-format is available for under 500, it could be considered. Strange thing about large-format printers is the ones I've seen can't handle glossy paper?

So, that being said, suggestions? Questions? Comments?

[Tripper11]

1. No personal experience but a search at cnet

CNET Printer Info.


Personally after having just purchased adigital camera I will take my memory stick or disc into Walgreen's or wherever and use their printer and ink for any pics I want hard copies of.
Ink and photo paper can get pretty expensive if you print a lot.

[Malva Zebrina]

2. I don't know about the newer ones, but I gave up using my printer

Lexmark, for photos. I get a more durable print by selecting my photo, editing in an application, (I have Adobe Photoshop) saving it to a card and taking it to the local Rite Aide to make an 8x10--the printer inks are NOT fade proof and fade terribly after a few months. I asked my local computer people aabout a year ago if there has been any improvemnt (my printers is about six years old)in any of the newer inks, such as Epson--she said all of them, really, will fade. I tried every kind of photo paper also--Kodah makes a good glossy paper, but also fades. For what it's worth--good luck and let me know how it turns out or if you find out about any newer fade proof inks that are on the market.

[dodger501]

3. That's what I do, too

I am lost without Auto Levels. I also mess with hue & saturation to bring out individual colors and sometimes brightness and contrast. As far as I am concerned, the printers that loudly tout the ability to go right from camera to print are worthless.

If you are going to buy a printer anyway, get the 4800 dpi models.
I currently have an HP 970, my next one will be a 9300:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/ho/WF06b/18972-236251-236261-14438-f17-295930-295932-295933.html

[DS1]

4. Thx for the link, I'm looking mostly for a dedicated photo printer

over a really good deskjet, unless there's no difference besides the marketing campaign.

Auto-Levels are good, I'd recommend on experimenting with the Levels utility itself though, the computer doesn't always know exactly what's best :hi:

Stay away from brightness/contrast, it damages the picture, but if required, try using the Variations tool.

[electricmonk]

5. Just bought an Epson R300

And it does a beautiful job. Even prints onto cd's.

Here's a couple websites with tons of information that might help you out.

Info about print permanence
Wilhelm Research

Info, tips, and reviews of inkjet printers, ink, and papers. Incredibly useful site.
Inkjetart.com

[HamstersFromHell]

6. It's actually a "no good choice" situation

if you're looking for quality, price and permanence. You can pick two of the three, but having it all isn't cheap.

(DS1, I assume you know much of what I may say here, but I'm going to aim this as a "general info" thing for all the DU'ers here.)

I run the color dept. for a local bluprint co. I print all day with two large format printer/plotters...a 36" wide HP DesignJet 1050c (4-color) and a 60" Encad NovaJet 850 (8 color). I print on everything from cheap 20lb. bond paper to artist's canvas and almost everything in between.

Biggest trade off on ANY color inkjet is color gamut vs. UV resistance (fading). Dye based inks as used in almost every consumer/small business grade inkjet give wonderful high gamut color renditions (once you tweak the printer's color settings thru the printer's control panel), but will fade horribly over time. Using outdoor type (pigmented) inks will give very long life (as much as a guaranteed 6 years in combination with some outdoor papers) but the color rendition is much poorer in quality (usually in oranges, greens and browns) due to the much lower color gamut of pigmented inks.

I've found for something you don't mind spending the money to preserve, print on whatever paper will hold the image details and colors well, then have it either "clear" (UV-proof) overlaminated or encapsulated. Not exactly cheap, but it does allow you to have good color with a reasonable amount of permanance.

As for paper, general purpose paper or poster paper tends to wick the ink into the paper, allowing the ink to "smear" out and slightly blurring fine details. Photo matte papers reduce this greatly by holding the ink on a receptive layer on top of the paper. Photo gloss seems to exhibit the least smearing of an image overall.

Don't buy paper in those little "packs" at the computer/office supply store. If you print pictures and intend to keep doing such, go to a printing supply house or business paper supplier and buy it in quantity. You'll be amazed at how much you can save. Not only do you get savings, but by standardizing on a certain brand/type of paper, you'll make life much easier for yourself to get consistent printing results with regard to color and tint.

As for the printers themselves, I'd stay away from HP and Lexmark, as they use the "replace the ink, replace the printhead" all in one cart. assembly, which in the long run is MUCH more expensive than merely replacing ink as it's used. HP claims it's because the printhead will deteriorate, which it will, but I just changed out printheads in the 1050 here after a mere 4 years of daily use. (And that's a liter or two of ink through that printhead). You'd think HP could build that same quality into a consumer level product, but to be honest, replacement carts. is where they make the money...the printers are sold at a loss anyway to get you "hooked". It's razors and razorblades all over again.

Go with Canon or Epson for their replaceable ink tanks...preferably a model without an "all in one" tank design, because you'll never run out of all 3 (4? 5?) colors at the same time. Tom's Hardware Guide did a cost comparison a year or so back for the 4 major players for cost of the printer and to print 300 pages black text and 3000 pages photo or graphics. In the end, the HP cost over twice what the Canon cost due to continually having to buy a combined printhead/ink tank.

If your scanner/camera/photo software supports ICC color profiles, by ALL means use them. Most modern scanners/digital cameras now apply a color profile to the image. Don't allow your software to strip this info out of the image file. (You may have to do some reading on this to see if your software supports it and how to enable if if it's an option.) Having a profile embedded in your image files is the only way you can reasonably guarantee what you print at home will be what someone else can print if you wanted to blow it up to 16x20" or so.

I know this is probably a lot more than most of you wanted to know, but if it helps someone, then it's all good.

[DS1]

9. Very informative post

I know what you mean about the crack-dealer approach to selling printers though, I was blown away at how cheap the printer was, they've (HP) just done a GOP certified lower Fed taxes and crank up State fees trick.

However, while reading your post, what came to mind was, if something fades after 6 months, what's so bad about printing something twice a year?

I'm desperately trying to avoid HP, their non-lasers have always been shit, I even suspect engineered to break days after the warranty runs out.

I do plan on more matte printing than glossy, and probably more black and white than color, hmmm.

[HamstersFromHell]

12. Thank you...there's at least *one* thing I know a little about.

I see your point about reprinting vs. laminating, etc. but for many of the things I do, it's also dry mounted to either foam core or gator board (some are also "edged" for a "framed" look...and the price of all that greatly exceeds the cost of the print. It's less expensive in the long run to print, mount and UV laminate than to reprint and re-mount.

One other thing....don't be fooled into thinking a high dpi number is always better. More colors of ink is always a better choice over dpi. (Think about how light shades are made with 4 colors vs. with 8 colors.)

Of course, this don't apply when you're doing mostly black and white.

[DS1]

13. I've noticed that the dpi count is largely useless

without decent control. After clicking on one of the HP links provided elsewhere in this thread, I found an awesome printer, but it cost an awesome amount of dollars, 8 inks or not.

Basically, there's this printer at school that can do SuperB sized paper, but only matte, I'm looking for something that can do that sized paper but also on glossy. The vast majority of my print jobs will be black and white photos or hand drawn grayscale, so perhaps I should just consider using a third-party to print the color stuff and stick to something that's really really good at printing on matte paper. Sigh.

How much does let's say an 18x24 inch print cost, for color or black and white? It could very well be cheaper, as a few DUers suggest, to just have someone else do it..

[HamstersFromHell]

15. Actual cost....

Is kinda "iffy", as sometimes the ink used is more than paper cost.

Bought in 36" wide by 50 yd. rolls, either photo matte or photo gloss is roughly $0.33 per sq. ft. at wholesale. Suggested retail is more like $1.00 sq. ft., but we sell it for *much* less. Ink depends on coverage, but a typical print will use from $0.25 to $0.75 per sq. ft. in ink.

I recall an old thread about *shrub's "mission accomplished" banner...something like that done as a "one shot" deal (not concerned about re-use and therefore longetivity) isn't all that expensive.

For an actual high quality print, we get from $3.00 - $4.00 per sq. ft. for 8 color on photo paper. This includes any color correction, as well as "rip" time. (Raster Image Processor...the dedicated computer system I have to do nothing but enlarge, shrink, rotate, color manage and crop prints.)

A lot of that cost is amortizing the cost of "setting up shop". Roughly $17,500 for the 8 color printer, $1000 for the rip computer, another $3800 for the rip software. Each ink cart. is $88, a liter of ink is another $70 or so per color.

If you have a larger than normal (8 1/2 x 14") original, I have to use the "big" scanner...and charge per sq. ft. for that as well. Once again... $20,000 for the scanner, another $10,000 for the software to run it. The "getting started" isn't cheap.

Anything you'd like to nail down more specific, feel free to ask.

As a side note: I don't own a printer at home. I just build whatever I want to print and ftp it to our company's server for printing at work. My typical Bryce "creation" I render at 2000x3000 size .TIF - roughly 25 megs. - and that can be enlarged to a 24 x 36 print w/o noticable loss of quality. jpg's are a different matter altogether.

[kalian]

7. Canon S900...hands down....

[FloridaPat]

8. I love my HP's. They are great. One I just got for around $120.

The best thing about HP is you can get the ink. This is very critical. I've bought other good printers, but had trouble getting the ink. Nothing more worthless than a $200 brand new printer and you can't get ink.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

17. I agree. I can even get ink in all night drugstores and have

seen it in Truck Stops.

[jmm]

10. I recently got an Epson CX6400

I love it. It does a great job printing photos on glossy paper.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

I use Epson

I have a 1280, roughly 500 bucks. It prints photos up to 13x19. I use glossy paper all the time in mine and have never had a problem. The smaller ones (which are much cheaper) do a great job as well. I'm a photography teacher and we use Epson printers in our labs. If you do buy an Epson printer, don't use Kodak photo paper in them. The ink just beads up. Paper and ink are very important, some brands don't play well with each other.
Another nice thing about my printer is I can run just about any kind of paper through it: vellum, pastel paper, watercolor paper and get some very cool and artistic effects.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

11. Duped post-ignore

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. I really like my new one... $249 HP photosmart 7150

Very good quality photos.
Fast b/w printing... best printer I have had in a while.

[MercutioATC]

16. Canon S9000. Does 13x19 and costs about $400

I love mine. Quiet and fast with great color.

(on edit)

To preserve the photos, put them under glass (or plastic in an album). Most of the fading I've seen with Canon inks and paper seems to be due to off-gassing, not light fading or colorshifting.

[ErasureAcer]

18. funny...amazon says it costs $200

you got robbed $300.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005YX4V/qid=1072592219/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-photo/102-1836489-2757741?v=glance&s=electronics&n=508048

[MercutioATC]

21. Well, I've had it for 2 years...haven't checked the price since...

I paid about $400 two years ago.

[regnaD kciN]

19. I've got an Epson Stylus Photo 925...

It gives great results. According to CNet, you can get new ones for under $150 (about half of what I paid a year or so ago) at a number of mail-order places.

[GregW]

20. Wal-Mart

Take your photos on CD and either print them on 8.5x11 yourself for about $4.50 ... or send them through the Fuji press for about $2.50 per 8x10.

Why futz with dot-matrixes or die-subs when you can get the real thing on real photo paper for not a whole lot.

[MercutioATC]

22. Reason: BIG prints.

I completely agree with you if we're talking about 4x6 or 5x7. However, I can print an 8x10 for about $2.00-$2.50 and a 13x19 for less that $5.00. No commercial printer can touch those prices.