How to Buy an Inkjet Printer to Print Photos

The user who wants to print documents and photos at home should consider getting a photo inkjet printer. A photo inkjet is distinguished from a standard inkjet by including special features devoted to photo printing. For example, many photo inkjets offer six or more additional colors. A standard inkjet relies on four. Because different photo inkjets offer such a variety of features, a potential buyer has to be well prepared when looking for the right printer. Follow these steps to know how to buy an inkjet printer to print photos:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Decide on your price range beforehand. You can buy an excellent photo printer at any price range. Print quality does not vary greatly between inexpensive and high-end printers. A higher price usually indicates that the printer offers advanced or specialized features.

2. Determine what features you would like in a photo printer. Some printers come with PictBridge support that allows you to print directly from a similarly-enabled digital camera. Others may offer the ability to print from memory cards, or a color LCD and front-panel interface or more ink colors.

3. Make a list of available photo inkjet printers in your price range. Look for reviews of these printers in magazines, online publications and web forums. Write down the special features of each printer, as well as relevant quotes from the reviews about print quality, speed and technical requirements.

4. Go to a shop and try out selected printers from your list. If possible, use your own paper for test printing to reduce the variability of the output. If you are not allowed to print out samples on your own, then have the staff provide output samples from every model in question.

5. Compare the samples carefully. Pay attention to image detail, sharpness, saturation, brightness, contrast and range of color. Look out for printing artifacts such as dots and bands. Tilt the paper to see if darker colors become too flat and glossy—a problem known as “bronzing.”

6. Make your final selection and purchase.

Tips & Warnings

• When considering price range, also consider the additional costs from buying replacement ink cartridges and paper. Of course, these costs will depend on the volume of printing you are planning to do.
• More ink colors and more features does not automatically mean better print quality. Be sure to make test prints to compare with the output of other models.
• Before you do output sampling, go to a commercial photo shop and have them print a copy of your test image. Use this as a base for comparison.
• If you plan to do much black-and-white photo printing, make sure you print a run of black-and-white samples as well.
• Be aware whether your digital camera will work with the special features offered by a particular model of printer.