How to Print Photos to a Photo Inkjet Printer

With today’s technology it’s both affordable and easy to print high quality photos from your inkjet printer at home. Printing digital photos is only a bit more complicated than printing documents from your inkjet printer. Read these steps to learn how to print photos to a photo inkjet printer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Photo
• Photo paper
• High quality ink
• Printer

1. Transfer pictures to your computer. This can be done through a card reader, a Pictbridge USB connection or a CD from a photo developer. Refer to your camera’s manual to find out the best way to get the pictures on to your computer.

2. Buy the correct medium. For the best results, buy glossy photo paper made specifically for your printer.

3. Invest in some photo ink. If your printer doubles as a document printer as well as a photo printer, you might want to get some high quality ink just for photos.

4. Adjust your printer settings. Go to "Printers and Faxes" in your "Control Panel." Right click your printer and select "Properties." From here find a "Printing Preferences" page where you can change the quality of your prints. Set it to the highest setting possible, or if there is a preset set it to "Photo."

5. Load your paper. Set the paper upright into the feeding tray and slide the paper guide over so it is held straight. Have the glossy side up to be printed on.

6. Open up a picture. Find a picture to print on your PC and double-click the icon or open it up in your editing software.

7. Crop and resize your picture. It’s important to get your picture the right size so it fits on one page.

8. Select "Print Preview." Do a print preview and make sure everything looks good.

9. Print and let dry. Let your prints lay flat for a couple of hours and dry out. Don’t place anything on top of them or touch them with your fingers.

Tips & Warnings

• Some printers can print without a computer. You can hook up your camera directly to a USB port on the printer or insert a memory card and print from there.
• Generic paper is cheaper, but if you want consistently good results, go for the name brand stock.
• Run your printer’s maintenance operations regularly.
• Make sure to put your settings back to normal before printing regular documents. Don’t waste nice ink and high quality paper on text.