Photo Printing

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Paul

Hi, guys.

My name is Paul and I was wondering what you all are using for
printing your photos at home.
I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
have. All opinions are welcome.

Thanks,

Paul.
 
Paul said:
Hi, guys.

My name is Paul and I was wondering what you all are using for
printing your photos at home.
I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
have. All opinions are welcome.

Thanks,

Paul.
Click to expand...

The best thing to do is take some pictures off your camera to the
retail outlets and print them out on each of the manufactures photo
printers... Everyone has there own likes and dislikes. Some like Canon,
some like Epson, some like HP... All have there pros and cons..
 
Paul said:
Hi, guys.

My name is Paul and I was wondering what you all are using for
printing your photos at home.
I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
have. All opinions are welcome.
Click to expand...

My Epson color 400 has been reasonable well working. But there is very often
one or a few nozzles that are clogged. ...and pictures get stripes!

Perfect ink jet pictures are based on the best case scenario. My guess is
that no inkjet ever will make ONLY perfect prints.

So printing photos actually means you will spend lots of expensive paper on
bad prints. Most likely the printing of 1 good photo is aproximately
100 -500% more expensive compared to theory for all inkjet brands.

I'm now awaiteing a Canon i865 but I don't see that as a photoprinter,
although it can make very good printouts.
I look at it more like a desktop printing tool for CV's (with photo),
reports (diagrams&pictures) , PM's, drafts, colorful greeting cards,
stickers, fun-T-shirts and maybe some photos now and then etc.

But making photo printouts, that I let a low cost, high quality lab do. If
you charge yourself 10$ per hour for photo printing at home, the low cost
lab is probably below half the price!!!!

Then spend some extra time to research for the best price /quality ratio
lab... thats worth a lot! Here in Sweden the cheapest lab actually also is
the best for auto-processed photos. The same lab also differs +/-50% in
price depending on which store is handeling the order. It's cheaper to
download through a store compared to downloading direct to the lab.

Morgan O.
 
I was wondering what you all are using for
printing your photos at home.
I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
have.
Click to expand...

Paul,

The three major brands for photo printers are Epson, Canon and HP. All three
make good printers.

I have a Canon i960. I used to have an Epson. It printed well but the print
nozzles frequently jammed. I love the Canon.

Generally, you get what you pay for. Set a budget for yourself. You'll find
printers from each brand in your price range.

John
 
Paul,

The three major brands for photo printers are Epson, Canon and HP. All three
make good printers.

I have a Canon i960. I used to have an Epson. It printed well but the print
nozzles frequently jammed. I love the Canon.

Generally, you get what you pay for. Set a budget for yourself. You'll find
printers from each brand in your price range.

John
Click to expand...

I just got an i960. Compared to my old HP895Cxi, the photo quality
just blew me away. I love it!

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!
 
Paul said:
My name is Paul and I was wondering what you all are using for
printing your photos at home.
Click to expand...

I use a Canon i850 (newer model is i860) for everything, including text
documents, graphics, and photos. Photo quality is very good, almost as
good as the photo lab down the street - more than good enough for all of
my snapshots for the photo albums. It even does a good job on 8.5x11"
photos.

But since it only uses four colours (B,CMY) to produce the photos, it's
not the best inkjet that money can buy. The best printers use six
colours (B,CMY,PC,PM), and some new ones even use a gray cartridge to
enhance black and white photos.

If I need the very best large photo for something very important like a
wedding, I take a few of my images to the photo lab and get them to
print what I need (very rarely though).

I also refill my ink tanks myself and use less expensive (but still
good) Office Depot photo paper. For everyday use, you can't beat the
image quality and low cost of printing at home. I can do it cheaper than
the photo lab and most guests/friends/family can't tell the difference
until I tell them to flip the photo over and look at the paper. :)
I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
have. All opinions are welcome.
Click to expand...

If you want good photos, a 4-colour printer will suffice. If you want
the best photos, you'll need to step up to a 6/7-colour printer. Cost is
a little higher, and running ink costs are bit more due to the extra
colours. But if you want the best photos from home, it's well worth it.

As for specific brands and models, I think Canon, Epson, and HP all make
decent printers. However, I'm biased toward Canon because it was the
best deal when I was shopping for a new printer last year.

So I suggest you read as much as you can about the various models. Some
suggested reading material can be found here:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/
(Printer Reviews)

http://www.tomshardware.com/
(Peripherals & Consumer)
 
John H said:
On 23 Mar 2004 00:17:50 GMT, (e-mail address removed) (JMooreTS) wrote:
Click to expand...

Please take a shot at the Canon pigmented black issue in the posting earlier
today 0322 14.43.

Morgan O.
 
I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
have. All opinions are welcome.
Click to expand...

In brief...

For photos choose and Inkjet printer.

There are two types of inkjet printer

1) Those with the heads built into the printer
Carts are cheaper in theory but if the heads block the heads are
expensive to replace.

and

2) Those with the heads built into the ink carts
Carts are more expensive but you get new heads each time.

There are two types of ink:

1) Dye based ink
Dries faster, but fades more easily.
Good for general use and printing on plastic (eg overhead slides)

and

2) Pigment based ink
Dries slower, prints last longer
Good for professional use.

The more carts the printer has the better the quality - or at least thats
the theory - some printers have 7 or 8.

See if you can find retailers that will print your test image on the
printers you are interested in. Then do a side by side comparison.

Experiment with different papers: Some makes of paper seem to work well in
all makes of printer. Some makes work well in one printer and are hopeless
in others.

Never buy "light use" carts. They usually contain 50% of the ink for 80% of
the price.

Refilling your own carts: This is easier to do with some printers than
others - so check on the web before you buy the printer if you want to do
this.. I only recommend refilling printers that have the heads built into
the carts but other people refill the other type all the time.

Digital cameras typically take 4:3 aspect ratio images. If you want 6"x4"
prints something has to be sacrificed.

If you edit a jpeg image and save it as a jpeg, then repeat this process
several times the picture quality degrades. Best use Tiff format.

There is little point buying a $1000 printer if you don't have a $1000
camera. The resolution (dpi) is usually limited by the image NOT the printer
... or put it another way..Don't try and enlarge your prints too much. Most
people recommend you print at no less than say 200, 250 or 300 dpi depending
on who you ask. In the end it's up to you - some images seem to look good
when enlarged to 100dpi and others don't even though the resolution is the
same.

Colin
 
Nice summary HOWEVER

Photos printed on some DYE based inks and papers can last up to about 25
years which was pretty much what traditional method of color photography
pictures lasted.


:
: :
: > I would love to hear any recommendations and warnings you guys might
: > have. All opinions are welcome.
:
: In brief...
:
: For photos choose and Inkjet printer.
:
: There are two types of inkjet printer
:
: 1) Those with the heads built into the printer
: Carts are cheaper in theory but if the heads block the heads are
: expensive to replace.
:
: and
:
: 2) Those with the heads built into the ink carts
: Carts are more expensive but you get new heads each time.
:
: There are two types of ink:
:
: 1) Dye based ink
: Dries faster, but fades more easily.
: Good for general use and printing on plastic (eg overhead slides)
:
: and
:
: 2) Pigment based ink
: Dries slower, prints last longer
: Good for professional use.
:
: The more carts the printer has the better the quality - or at least thats
: the theory - some printers have 7 or 8.
:
: See if you can find retailers that will print your test image on the
: printers you are interested in. Then do a side by side comparison.
:
: Experiment with different papers: Some makes of paper seem to work well in
: all makes of printer. Some makes work well in one printer and are hopeless
: in others.
:
: Never buy "light use" carts. They usually contain 50% of the ink for 80%
of
: the price.
:
: Refilling your own carts: This is easier to do with some printers than
: others - so check on the web before you buy the printer if you want to do
: this.. I only recommend refilling printers that have the heads built into
: the carts but other people refill the other type all the time.
:
: Digital cameras typically take 4:3 aspect ratio images. If you want 6"x4"
: prints something has to be sacrificed.
:
: If you edit a jpeg image and save it as a jpeg, then repeat this process
: several times the picture quality degrades. Best use Tiff format.
:
: There is little point buying a $1000 printer if you don't have a $1000
: camera. The resolution (dpi) is usually limited by the image NOT the
printer
: .. or put it another way..Don't try and enlarge your prints too much. Most
: people recommend you print at no less than say 200, 250 or 300 dpi
depending
: on who you ask. In the end it's up to you - some images seem to look good
: when enlarged to 100dpi and others don't even though the resolution is the
: same.
:
: Colin
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
 
Life is fun said:
Nice summary HOWEVER

Photos printed on some DYE based inks and papers can last up to about 25
years which was pretty much what traditional method of color photography
pictures lasted.
Click to expand...

The HP printers that use the #57 and #58 cartridges can make prints that last
73 years under glass or 49 years open air:
http://www.wilhelm-research.com/hp_5550_preview.html

Wilhelm recently released test data on the #59 photo gray cartridge, with a
rating on 115 years for the Photosmart 245 printer printing grayscale prints
with the #59 cartridge:
http://www.wilhelm-research.com/4x6_permanence_preview.html

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
Microsoft MVP
 
CWatters napisa³:
There are two types of ink:

1) Dye based ink
Dries faster, but fades more easily.
Good for general use and printing on plastic (eg overhead slides)

and

2) Pigment based ink
Dries slower, prints last longer
Good for professional use.
Click to expand...

Can you give the exaples of these two types?
 
ATZ said:
CWatters napisa³:


Can you give the exaples of these two types?
Click to expand...

Ink type has less of an effect on photo durability than the resin coated
photo paper used for printing.

I don't think it matters that much which type of ink you use. Select
your paper carefully for the task at hand, and you should be satisfied
with the results.
 
Sorry, but that is just not true. With Epson, for example, on the SAME
Premium Photo Glossy paper, their dye based inks (1280, for example), have a
life of roughly 25 years. Their pigment based inks (2200) have a life of
about 100 years.

Same paper.

Tom
 
On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 03:51:33 -0500, Bill wrote:

=>I don't think it matters that much which type of ink you use. Select
=>your paper carefully for the task at hand, and you should be satisfied
=>with the results.

Ink and paper react with each other, so that the ink +
paper combination is crucial for both colour rendition and
durability. In addition to the site given by CWatters, look
at Wilhelm Research site (google it.)

HTH
 
Wolf said:
On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 03:51:33 -0500, Bill wrote:

=>I don't think it matters that much which type of ink you use. Select
=>your paper carefully for the task at hand, and you should be satisfied
=>with the results.

Ink and paper react with each other, so that the ink +
paper combination is crucial for both colour rendition and
durability. In addition to the site given by CWatters, look
at Wilhelm Research site (google it.)
Click to expand...

That's why I said "carefully".

We all know that some paper and ink combinations work better than others
for colour rendition and lightfastness. My point was that it doesn't
seem to matter if you use dye or pigment based inks - they all have
reasonable durability with the correct paper.
 
Tom Scales said:
Sorry, but that is just not true. With Epson, for example, on the SAME
Premium Photo Glossy paper, their dye based inks (1280, for example), have a
life of roughly 25 years. Their pigment based inks (2200) have a life of
about 100 years.

Same paper.
Click to expand...

I agree with you but your example doesn't mean it's an ink problem. They
need to be matched.

HIV/Aids kills some people faster than others - same virus.
 
I guess I was not clear. Premium Photo Glossy IS a recommended paper for
both Epson inks and therefore matched.

Tom
 
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