Having your own photo printer not only gives you creative control over your project, but also allows you to have total control of your time.
Advantages of a Dedicated Photo Printer
While nearly all printers will print photos, the quality, size, and durability of these photos are compromised. Stand alone photo printers have markedly higher resolutions than standard printers. Stand alone photo printers come with photo editing software, allowing the user to edit photos on the printer panel, rather than tying up the computer. The best photo printers allow you to use either the computer or their printer-based editing software. In addition, photo printers support the smaller paper sizes of conventional prints.
What You Should Know About Image Quality
Ink-jet technology is behind most photo printers. Prints are made by spraying tiny dots of ink in a pattern to form the photo: the more dots per inch (DPI), the better the resolution. The DPI is the maximum number of horizontal and vertical dots per inch that the printer can produce.
The first number is the vertical dots-per-inch (DPI) and speaks to the quality of the resolution. In other words, more dots mean a higher quality print resolution. The second number is the horizontal dots-per-inch and speaks to the maximum width of the picture that the printer can print.
Why Ink Matters
Two things to consider when shopping for photo printers are the ink cartridges and the quality of the ink. The lower end photo printers support a four color ink combination. Higher end photo printers support a six color ink combination. Before purchasing a printer investigate the cost of printer cartridges and the average number of prints per cartridge.
All photo inks produce a good image. For the best quality look for inks that resist water damage and fading. Before buying a photo printer, thoroughly investigate the types of inks available for that particular printer.