We get this question a lot. It seems like everybody these days wants to print their own photos and who hasn’t tried on that inkjet they have?

 

The good news is everyday it is becoming easier for the home printer to achieve terrific prints.

 

Color lasers printers and their prints just can’t replace the glossy heavyweight prints to which people are accustomed.  Just because a $400 laser printer is twice as much as a $200 inkjet, this does not mean the color quality is better. And really, when it comes to printing photos, your goal should be to print photos of sufficient quality that people really can’t tell you printed them last night while watching t.v.

 

So what is the best technology and best printers? Currently, dye-sublimation printers produce the most consistent, high quality results at the best prices. In short they make the best photo-quality prints. They only print on “photo-grade” paper. So if your budget only allows for one printer, and you want to print color web pages, this IS NOT the printer for you. An inkjet or color laser will fit the bill here. Keep in mind however, a $39 inkjet will make your report look nice and print that Google map fine.

 

Problem with inkjets. If it were not for the problems that come with inkjets, they seem to be the a jack of all trades. They can print web pages, maps, reports on plain paper then can be loaded with photo-grade paper and print photos. However, here is the bad news: sooner or later, the heads will clog and need cleaning--which wastes ink. In fact if you use your printer infrequently, ever-time you fire it up, you’ll have to clean the heads and waste ink. At $40 to $60 an ink cartridge, you’ll be wasting any advantage of home printing of photos. Secondly, they are very hard to work. Different computer and different programs work differently with these printers. While it is very easy to print a photo with the default settings of the printer, getting the best out of the printer is almost an art form. Lastly, printing with the proper photo-paper and proper photo-settings is very, very slow--up to 20 minutes for an 8x10 print! And remember that problem with cleaning the heads? Well, many times they become clogged in the middle of a print job.

 

Here’s the good news: dye-sub printer start as low as $75 for a 4x6 printer and photo print prices are about .29 each--about the price of a photo-lab. Full size dye-sub printers start around $300 and top-out around $500 for consumer level printers. (As of October 2006) Print prices are about $1.00 to $2.00 per 8x10.

 

As a final point, if you end up deciding you’re not ready to print your own photos, prints from your digital files are just a few clicks away. Many on-line services are very reasonably priced. You up-load them at home and they mail you your prints and some allow you to up-load them at home and pick them up at the store in just minutes. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

 

Good luck buying that next printer!