MAKE PRINTS AT HOMEThere are now many places online to have your photos printed, such as Shutterfly, EZ Print, Printroom etc. WalMart and KMart also print photos from digital images. These reprints may actually be cheaper than printing them yourself when you consider photo paper and ink costs, and they don’t smear when wet. But there is something rewarding about printing your own photos when you need them and whatever size you want even if cropped to an odd size. The printers available on the market today produce beautiful digital camera prints that closely resemble lab photographs. Although printing at home can be time-consuming – especially if you’re printing a lot of photos -- there are many instances when you will want to make your own prints. It’s important to evaluate the cost of the consumables (ink, paper, etc.) when deciding which printer to use and how often to use it. There are many different features on each printer, but the main technologies are as follows: • Inkjet printer – Far and away, the most popular way to print photos from your home PC is the inkjet printer. High-quality inkjet printers, in combination with the right photo paper and inks, can give you beautiful prints. There is also a wide variety of specialty inks and papers available that will allow the creative digital photographer to create everything from custom greeting cards to works of art. Some of these printers can now accept memory cards, allowing you to make prints without a computer. • Dye sublimation printer – Special “dye-sub” printers are now available specifically designed for printing your digital photos at home. These printers use special ribbons and heat-sensitive paper to produce photo-like prints. These usually print on paper that comes in standard photo sizes (4-by-6 inches, 5-by-7 inches, etc.). These printers can be very small, are fast and are quiet. Tips for making great prints 1. Keep your camera set at the highest possible resolution and lowest compression settings. 2. Avoid using Digital Zoom – while digital zoom may get you closer to your subject, it often produces an image that is distorted and fuzzy. 3. Edit your images with a photo editor as to tone (lightness/darkness), color saturation, cropping, and sharpening. Then size the picture and print from the editing software. How can I get the best prints from my inkjet printer? Practice. Making the best prints is not a science, but rather a craft. You get better as you make a print, evaluate it, make adjustments and try again. Here are some tips on getting better prints from a photo quality inkjet printer: Be sure the dpi (resolution) of your image file is correct. All inkjet printers today are optimized for an image at 180-300 dpi at the printed size. The printer resolution is how the dots of ink are laid down on the paper by the printer and has nothing to do with the dpi of the actual image file. Image dpi higher or lower than 180-300 dpi (the actual number will vary depending on the printer, the paper used and your personal preference) will produce worse images from the printer. A high dpi for printer resolution can help make the image more photo-realistic to a degree, but this also depends on the pattern of how the inkjet puts the ink down. Paper. You must use the right paper, a paper optimized for photos. There are many choices available now, from glossy to matte to watercolor and canvas surfaces, but the paper must be white enough and coated properly for inkjet inks. Use the same brand as your printer or order specialty papers from online suppliers. inkjetgoodies.com and itsupplies.com sell paper. Set the driver carefully. When you go to print, check on the printer’s properties. You must choose the proper image quality (usually “Best” or "Photo") and the right paper. You may have to experiment with a couple of sheets of paper to get the right setting if your particular paper isn’t listed. Test. Try a print, evaluate it, make adjustments to the photo and print again. Ink. Don't use cheap inks! Use the same brand ink as your printer or buy a good 3rd party brand online such as Media Street or other good quality ink from inkjetgoodies.com. Printing Direct Many of today’s home printers let you print directly from your camera or your camera’s media card but that takes most of the fun out of digital photography and gives you little or no control over how the picture looks, if it needs cropping or lightening or darkening, etc. This is a feature I would only recommend if you don’t have a computer, or if your computer is busy or if you don’t have time to transfer pictures to your computer. Some cameras will let you select how many prints to make. Some printers have an LCD screen on them, so you can choose which pictures to print, and add borders, text and more. These printers come in two varieties: Direct slot printers – These printers have slots for inserting your digital media cards, then choosing which prints you want to have made. Direct camera printers – These printers connect to cameras either through a cable or by placing the camera directly on the printer. Some of them will charge your camera’s battery at the same time. Recommended Photo Printers: You might ask what are the differences between all-purpose and photo printers. Here are some quick answers. Photo printers generally have more ink colors (6 - 8) for truer color reproduction. They have very small droplets of ink for smoother prints. The latest and most expensive models are pretty fast at printing photos and moderately fast on text but cheaper models are slower. If you have a business and need faster text printing, then you might do better with an all-purpose printer, which normally have only 4 colors, black, cyan, magenta and yellow. For home use, photo printers are fine. Another feature that many new photo printers have is separate ink tanks for each color. Thus you buy only the one you need at the moment, instead of replacing the whole cartridge of all colors if one runs out. Epson and Canon generally make the best inkjet photo printers. I got a Canon i960 in November and it makes really nice prints. The 3 yr. old Epson (which my husband is using) made beautiful prints too but the Canon's are better and look more like what I see on the screen. Epson's latest models have a different print engine and different ink type than my old one, and the ink is more durable. I think the lastest models compare favorably to Canon. Read printer reviews at Steve's Digicams and other places and decide for yourself which model is best for you. Here are some letter size models listed below. Both companies also make wide carriage models that take up to 13 x 19 photo paper. Review of Canon i960 here
and here Some current Canon models: i900D (insert memory card directly into printer), i960 and i860 -- wide carriage model i9100 Some current Epson models: Stylus Photo R200, R300, R300M (Built-in 2.5" Color Preview Monitor), R800 -- wide carriage model 1280, 2200 One last comment: you can pay $50 extra to get a printer that you can insert your memory card into and do direct printing without a computer, but I recommend you take that $50 and buy a good photo editor and edit your photos first as they will look much better after a little tweaking! You can edit your photos and print them directly from the editing program. Elements offers a picture package whereby you can print several of the same picture on one page. There is also a $20 program which allows you to print different pictures on one page, saving you money in the long run if you print your own photos. Buy good replacement ink and specialty papers, etc.: Inkjet Goodies Buy good photo paper, photo CARDS (with envelopes) that you can print your photos on Red River Paper IT
Supplies also sells PremierArt
Print Shield spray to spray inkjet prints to make them last
longer.
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