Photo printers: what's the difference?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stas Glebov
  • Start date Start date
S

Stas Glebov

Hi everyone,

What's the difference between 'normal' and 'photo' printers?
I mean, except for the ability to print directly from memory
cards (CompactFlash etc.)? Just in terms of their 'printing
abilities', so to speak?

Sorry for such an ignorant question. :) Thanks in advance.

Regards,
SG
 
Stas said:
What's the difference between 'normal' and 'photo' printers?
Click to expand...

A photo printer is one that uses the 4 basic colours plus two extra
colours (6 total), specifically light magenta and light cyan, to improve
shading and detail in photos.
I mean, except for the ability to print directly from memory
cards (CompactFlash etc.)? Just in terms of their 'printing
abilities', so to speak?
Click to expand...

Direct printing is an added feature and is often included in 6 colour
photo printers, but it's not a requirement.

Personally, I have no need for direct printing since I like to tweak the
photo in various ways before printing.
 
"Bill":
A photo printer is one that uses the 4 basic colours plus two extra
colours (6 total), specifically light magenta and light cyan, to improve
shading and detail in photos.
Click to expand...

OK, thanks a lot, this is an important one.
Personally, I have no need for direct printing
Click to expand...

Neither do I. That basically was the reason why I asked. :) I thought,
if this feature was the only one that made a difference, I wouldn't need
to consider 'photo' printers. But now I see it's not the case.

BTW how about Hewlett Packard printers? Are they any good? For
some reason I don't like Canon (nothing rational at all, you know...
just don't like it), so am considering alternatives. Lexmark and Epson
I've been using so far made me stay away from them too. :)

Regards,
SG
 
Stas said:
"Bill":



OK, thanks a lot, this is an important one.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. The Canon i850 is classed by Canon as a photo printer,
but it uses only 4 colors, in 4 separate cartridges, easily refilled.
It's engineered so marvelously you'd think it's using 6. I'm constantly
astonished at the output (I'm using bulk ink). It's not Canon's best
printer, but it is far the best I've ever owned in its ability to print
both text and photos - and at twice the speed. But if you need the very
best get the Canon i950, a 6 cartridge printer. Under a magnifying glass
its photo prints will be better than the i850's. It all depends on your
needs and requirements. I don't believe the i950 uses memory cards
either. I have no use for memory card printers because I remaster all my
photos in a photo editing program first, adjusting sharpness, contrast,
brightness, and color saturation. To me, anything straight out of a
digital camera lacks most, if not all, of the adjustments I mentioned. I
have a digital camera and I know this is so.

-Taliesyn
 
"Taliesyn":
Just about every day someone seems to come on and say "I just
bought the i850/i950 and am amazed."
Click to expand...

Nice to know. :) I still wonder what people think about HP...

Regards,
SG
 
Stas Glebov said:
Nice to know. :) I still wonder what people think about HP...
Click to expand...

I have used HP inkjet printers exclusively for the past 5 years. I
absolutely love them. The latest PhotoSmart printers are astoundingly
good - the PhotoSmart 7550, for example. These use 6 inks and even to
the educated eye produce excellent photo printts. If you use HP paper,
HP Premium Plus Photo paper and original inks then the prints are
guaranteed to last for 75 years. How you get your money back if they
fade by then I'm not sure, but it's nice to know they have the
confidence to say so.

I have heard that the 6 ink printers are now being expanded to eight ink
printers in the near future, but this just may be a rumour. If they
really do produce one of these machines for a similar price to the other
PhotoSmart printers then I think the quality will be virtually
indistinguishable from silver halide prints - and will probably last
longer.
 
Stas Glebov said:
I like HP products too, but their printers seem to be less popular.
I wonder why?
Click to expand...

I'm VERY happy with my HP Photosmart 7350... I keep forgetting to disengage
the 4x6 photo paper tray when I print regular documents and luckily the
printer reminds me about it before printing. HP Premium Plus Photo paper
ain't cheap! :0P

For a secondary printer, I purchased a cheap $35 Canon i320 from Office
Depot. I didn't want to get Canon, but it was cheap and looked decent. It
works pretty good, and once it breaks it's going in the trash. The new line
of HP Photosmart printers seem cool -- I believe there's an added shade of
gray...

If you need an all-purpose printer, the 7550 is the best as it holds the
black, color and photo cartridge all at once. The 7150 and my 7350 hold two
cartridges at a time, so you have to swap out one depending on what you're
doing (ie. text or photos). My 7350 is only for photos, although on
occasion I'll use my 7350 for text documents as it's much faster --
especially when printing 100+ page documents! Having both my 930c and
Photosmart 7350 in draft mode is a good test; it takes about twice as long
for my 930c to complete a 50 page job compared to the 7350.

Check Epinions.com for reviews. Great website, I also wrote a review of the
7350 on there. Feel free to check it out :)
 
Stas said:
BTW how about Hewlett Packard printers? Are they any good? For
some reason I don't like Canon (nothing rational at all, you know...
just don't like it), so am considering alternatives. Lexmark and Epson
I've been using so far made me stay away from them too. :)
Click to expand...

Let me put it this way...I used to be an HP fan and have owned several
HP printers in the past, but now I own a Canon i850 and I'm glad I
switched.

:)

The two main reasons I switched are convenience and image quality. The
Canon produces slightly nicer photos than similarly priced HP units, and
refilling the four ink tanks is much MUCH easier than HP, Lexmark, or
Epson.

If you intend to produce a LOT of photos, you might consider the Epson
line with a CFS setup to provide the ink.
 
"Bill":
The two main reasons I switched are convenience and image quality.
Click to expand...

Actually the second one is sufficient. :)

Thanks for all the advices. Turned to be a good way of education.

Regards,
SG
 
Greetings,

Stas Glebov said:
So Canon seems to be the only brand to choose? :)

Any other opinions?
Click to expand...

I have used both Epson and HP's, Epsons are superb for photos, but crap for
text, Hp's superb for text crap for photos, I now use the C80 with 4
cartridges for the photos and HP 970cxi for text.
--
Regards,


Peter


peteratNOSPAMhull-me.co.uk
 
Back
Top