Photo paper in laser printer

  • Thread starter Thread starter David
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David

I'm getting a Minolta color laser printer, and was wondering what
others experiences are in printing photo's on various media.

Specifically, does the glossy photopaper designed for laser printers
give good results? Also, is any particular glossy paper better than
the others, or one to avoid?

TIA
 
David said:
I'm getting a Minolta color laser printer, and was wondering what
others experiences are in printing photo's on various media.

Specifically, does the glossy photopaper designed for laser printers
give good results? Also, is any particular glossy paper better than
the others, or one to avoid?

TIA
Click to expand...


Unless it's high end (costing in the £10,000s) then a colour laser cannot
hold a candle to even a moderate photo printer. I certainly wouldn't
contemplate printing photos on a cheap laser (I believe the low end models
start at £500, or the upper range for an inkjet).

Sure they're good for charts and graphs and other business printing, but for
photos...?
 
Miss Perspicacia Tick said:
Unless it's high end (costing in the £10,000s) then a colour laser cannot
hold a candle to even a moderate photo printer. I certainly wouldn't
contemplate printing photos on a cheap laser (I believe the low end models
start at £500, or the upper range for an inkjet).

Sure they're good for charts and graphs and other business printing, but for
photos...?
Click to expand...
Just bought a Canon Imagepass Printer/Copier/Scanner and was amazed at the
photo quality. It's not a true laser, though. Toner seems to be sort type
of powdered wax- The output looks glossy similar to the Xerox/Tektronics
solid wax printers, but with better photo quality. Has a fiery RIP built
in.
 
I use color laser printing in producing color mass produced product
which is sold at many stores. The quality, when done correctly, is
nearly equivalent to a commercial post card printing quality, which is
pretty reasonable.

However, if you want glossy surface, that's a problem. I use hot
laminate to get that result, and it looks good. In fact, it improves
the image quality by smoothing the toner dots a bit, and increasing
contrast via the glossiness of the surface.

The toners (and Minolta's in particular) tend to be pretty matte, so on
glossy paper they tend to dull the paper anywhere they are applied,
while the non-toner area is very glossy. So, I use a matte surface card
or cover stock and use a hot laminate.

However, I did just read (I thinking this group) of a new laser printer
paper that is glossy and somehow it keeps it gloss. I suspect the toner
is melted into and below the surface of the paper somehow so that the
gloss surface remains intact (I have not used it and I don't even recall
it's name).

Since a color laser printer is a major investment, I suggest people go
to a dealer and test it with your own papers and even images if possible.


Art
 
Miss said:
Unless it's high end (costing in the £10,000s) then a colour laser cannot
hold a candle to even a moderate photo printer. I certainly wouldn't
contemplate printing photos on a cheap laser (I believe the low end models
start at £500, or the upper range for an inkjet).

Sure they're good for charts and graphs and other business printing, but for
photos...?
Click to expand...

You can actually get quite decent results out of them, plus the paper is
rather cheaper, I tend to use HP soft glossy which isn't bad, there is
some neuschlieder (prob spelt wrongly!) which I gather is quite good as
well, ask your printer supplier for a sample.
 
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