Choosing a photo printer

For various business purposes, you usually have to print texts. But sometimes there is a need for printed photographs; they are even more relevant for home use. Therefore, it is important to know how to choose a photo printer correctly, what subtleties and nuances you will need to pay special attention to.

The printer has long been transformed from an "exotic curiosity" into an ordinary part of the office, and even a simple residential building. But the difference between their individual varieties has not gone anywhere. For rare printing of photographs of a purely utilitarian nature, a traditional inkjet device is also suitable. For the truly passionate, however, a dedicated photo printer is a much better choice.

Some of them can only print on special grades of paper. There are also restrictions on the size of the print. The difference between specific versions can also be expressed in:

• speed of work;
• the number of tones worked out;
• the ability to print with pigment ink in gray or black;
• the range of information carriers from which the printout is made;
• the presence of liquid crystal screens that allow you to view the picture, edit it, crop it;
• index sheet output options;
• network connectivity;
• methods of image formation.

It is worth noting that this name itself is not entirely correct. It would be more correct to talk about thermal transfer photo printers. However, for marketing purposes, a more abbreviated name has been circulated. For practice, it is more important that such models now differ much less from devices with other printing principles in terms of price and quality than before. And yet, photography enthusiasts prefer “sublimation” models.

Ink is not used in such systems. Instead, they put cartridges with a special film, more likely reminiscent of colored cellophane. The film contains powder of 3 different colors (most often yellow, blue and purple). The head is capable of providing strong heating, due to which the solid quickly turns into a gaseous state. The heated vapors of dyes are deposited on the paper.

Sublimation printing requires the use of a special type of paper that reacts to gaseous ink in a specific way. In one pass, the system can evaporate powder of only one color, and therefore it has to print photos in three steps.

Sublimation printers:

• more expensive than inkjet;
• guarantee excellent print quality;
• provide excellent color reproduction;
• eliminate fading and fading over time, which is typical for inkjet printing;
• more often they work with small-sized media (even printing on A4 sheet will have to be very expensive).

The essence of this printing method is quite simple.To create an image, drops of an especially small size are used. A special head helps to output them onto paper or other media. An inkjet photo printer can be found at home more often than a "sublimation" machine. For its work, the piezoelectric technique is often used. Piezo crystals change their geometry when an electric current is applied to them. By varying the current strength, the drop size is also corrected. And this directly affects the colors and even individual shades. This method is very reliable. Piezoelectric inkjet printing is typical for Brother, Epson brands.

Thermal jetting is typical of Lexmark and HP products. The ink is warmed up before being ejected onto the paper, which builds up pressure on the print head. It turns out to be a kind of valve. After reaching a certain pressure, the head passes a given amount of ink onto the paper. The droplet size is no longer regulated by electrical impulses, but by the temperature of the liquid. The simplicity of this system is deceiving. In a second, ink can undergo hundreds of warm-up and cool-down cycles, and temperatures reach 600 degrees.

Contrary to the opinion sometimes still encountered, A laser printer does not burn out dots on paper with a beam. The laser inside is aimed at the drum unit. It is a cylinder that is covered with a light-sensitive layer. When the drum unit is negatively charged, the beam leaves positively charged areas in some places. Negatively charged particles of toner are attracted to them, according to a fundamental law of physics.

This process is referred to as "image development" by the printer. Then a special positively charged roller comes into play. Toner will naturally adhere to the paper. The next step is to warm up the paper itself to about 200 degrees using a so-called stove. This stage allows you to reliably fix the image on paper; It is not for nothing that all the sheets coming out of the laser printer warm up slightly.

It is this format that is most often used in office activities and in government agencies. It is widely used by various publishers. And it is precisely the A4 format that must be used for the preparation of various educational works, articles sent to magazines and newspapers. Finally, it's just more convenient and more familiar. That's why when choosing a printer for home, it is most appropriate to choose the A4 format.

It is more correct to choose this format of printers for the preparation of various publications and newspapers. It will be more convenient to print on it:

• posters;
• posters;
• tables;
• charts;
• other wall illustrative and informational materials.

A5 and A6 formats are useful if you need to prepare photographic materials for:

• postcards;
• mail envelopes;
• miniature books;
• notebooks;
• notebooks.

Most often, A6 pictures are used for an ordinary family album and for photo frames. These are images, the dimensions of which are 10x15 or 9x13 cm. If the size of the photo frame is small, you will need photos A7 (7x10) or A8 (5x7) cm. A4 - these are already pictures for large photo albums. A5 - a photograph of the size of the cover of a standard student notebook; A3 format and larger ones are really needed only for professionals or for large wall photos.

It is also useful to take into account information on the correspondence of the usual options for the size of images to the polygraphic classification. It turns out approximately like this:

• 10x15 is A6;
• 15x21 - A5;
• 30x30 - A4;
• 30x40 or 30x45 - A3;
• 30x60 - A2.

Top photo printers for home use include model Canon PIXMA TS5040. You can also use a similar pattern in a small office. The device prints in 4 different colors in inkjet. It was equipped with a 7.5 cm LCD display. Will delight users:

• the presence of a Wi-Fi block;
• print a photo in 40 seconds;
• the ability to receive prints up to A4 size;
• synchronization with key social networks;
• front panel adjustment.

But it is worth noting the disadvantages:

• short service life of the plastic case;
• loud noise when starting;
• rapid depletion of ink.

A good alternative is also Brother DCP-T700W InkBenefit Plus. Such a device is useful even for large volumes of photo printing. 6 color or 11 black-and-white images will be produced per minute. Wireless connection is provided. Other features:

• 64 MB of memory;
• continuous supply of ink;
• printing in 4 basic colors;
• economical ink consumption;
• thoughtful software;
• easy refueling;
• relatively slow scanner operation;
• the impossibility of working with photographic paper denser than 0.2 kg per 1 sq. m.

If you need to choose a professional photo printer, then an excellent solution can be Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4025 DW. The developers of this model have taken care of maximum productivity, economy and quality of the programs provided. The monthly print volume can reach 20 thousand pages. The use of high-capacity cartridges is allowed. Experts note:

• decent photo quality;
• convenience and stability of connection in the wireless range;
• duplex printing;
• the presence of CISS;
• inability to print from memory cards;
• noisiness.

The HP Designjet T120 610 mm also allows the use of CISS. But the main advantage of this photo printer will certainly be a combination of compactness and the ability to print in A1 format. The image can be displayed not only on photo paper, but also on rolls, films, glossy and matte paper. Advanced software provided. The output of graphs, drawings and diagrams is guaranteed at the highest resolution, however, the glossy case gets dirty easily.

The industrial printer has a very good reputation Epson Stylus Photo 1500Wdesigned for 6 colors. The device can display a 10x15 photo in about 45 seconds. A3 print mode is supported. The capacity of the tray is up to 100 sheets. Experts pay attention to:

• excellent wireless connection;
• the cheapness of the printer itself;
• simplicity of its interface;
• the ability to add CISS;
• lack of a screen;
• high price of cartridges.

Among pocket photo printers, you should pay attention to LG Pocket Photo PD239. Its main purpose is to accelerate the display of images from a smartphone. The designers preferred the option with three-color thermal printing. By abandoning traditional cartridges (using ZINK technology), the system has only improved. One shot of a typical format can be obtained in 60 seconds.

It is also worth noting:

• full support for Bluetooth, USB 2.0;
• comfortable price;
• ease of management;
• ease;
• attractive design.

Canon Selphy CP1000 will be a good alternative to the previous model. The device uses 3 different ink colors. Sublimation printing (thermal transfer) supported. It takes 47 seconds for a photo to come out.

Choosing a good photo printer is not as easy as it sounds. Of course, manufacturers call many models unique and suitable for a wide range of tasks. However, in practice, completely unexpected problems can arise. First, you need to decide where you will use the photo printer. When operating his house, even the most active and enthusiastic photographers, the conclusion, in fact, of the pictures will be only part of the overall work.

Therefore, almost all people will have to make a choice in favor of universal and hybrid models. "Universal" are suitable for work on plain paper, for the output of typical text documents. "Hybrids" are usually also multifunctional devices. This is a technique with high print quality, and at the same time it is quite budgetary in price.

Of course, in any case, the printer resolution metric cannot be ignored. The higher it is, the better the image will be, all other things being equal.... It is also very important that the printer works with cheap consumables. If this condition is not met, then even an inexpensive device itself can hit your pocket hard. And in full measure all such requirements apply to photo printers purchased for medium-sized photo studios.

This is a device category that should only print photos. Conclusion on paper of something else - only in exceptional cases. A mandatory requirement is to support at least 6 working colors. The most commonly used palette is the CcMmYK type. Of course, the PictBridge feature is also useful; it will allow you to display images directly, bypassing the computer and without losing the specific settings specified on the camera.

For a purely photographic printer, print formats are especially important. It is highly desirable to support the output of A3 or A3 + images. It is also desirable to have access to various media. A pleasant addition will be the use of trays that are designed to print on CDs or small photo paper. You can find a model that meets these requirements in the assortment of almost any manufacturer, but Epson Artisan 1430 and Epson Stylus Photo 1500W are still considered the best.

Choosing a professional grade photo printer, it is required to immediately discard all devices that are unable to work with at least 8 colors. And it is better to focus on those with at least 9 colors. This will allow you to create very decent high-end prints or materials for advertising, marketing, design. It is useful to pay attention to the minimum and maximum weight of the paper used.

Getting your photo printer ready is not too difficult. First of all, you should evaluate the photographic materials themselves, and, if necessary, adjust their parameters using publicly available programs. Next, choose the option to print on matte or glossy photo paper. The first guarantees increased image contrast for subsequent lamination or insertion into a frame. The second is more commonly used by professional photographers.

In the print settings, you will need to set:

• size of pictures;
• their number;
• desired picture quality;
• the printer to which the job will be sent.

For full-fledged print settings, you can use the free editor "Home Photo Studio". It first selects the printer. Then they sequentially appoint:

• size of photo paper;
• orientation when printing;
• the size of the fields.

For information on how to choose the right photo printer for your home, see the next video.