Although it is mainly individuals using their home printers who want to learn how best to print their photos, many businesses also need to know about photo printing. Companies mainly use photo printing in order to create marketing materials and work newsletters, as well as resources for trade shows and exhibitions. In this guide, we reveal everything you need to print high quality, flawless photos.
Essential Photo Printing Tips
Choosing the right printer
A huge part of printing great quality photos is choosing the right printer. If you intend to print a lot of images, it may be worth investing in a dedicated photo printer. Amongst the best ones on the market right now are:
- Canon PIXMA iP4850
- Canon PIXMA MG5150
- Canon PIXMA MG6150
- Epson Stylus Photo P50
- Epson Stylus Photo PX720WD
- HP Photosmart Premium C309G
- HP Photosmart Plus eAll-in-One
- Lexmark Interact S605
If you need to print large-scale photos, you will need to get a large format photo printer to work with. As you would expect, this kind of printer is a little more expensive than a standard size photo printer. The best models available at the moment are:
- Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II
- Epson Stylus Pro 3880
- Epson Stylus Photo R3000
- HP Officejet 7500A Wide Format e-All-in-One
Using the right ink
Just as important as choosing the right printer is ensuring that you are using the best quality and most appropriate ink cartridges with which to print your photos.
The ink you choose will depend on the manufacturer of your printer. All manufacturers have specialist photo printing ink cartridges i.e. Epson photo printers tend to use Epson Ultrachrome or Epson DURAbrite inks.
Paper
It simply isn’t possible to print great quality photos on standard printer paper. You need to instead get yourself a high quality type of specialist printer paper, choosing either a gloss (for deep, vibrant colours), semi-gloss (everyday quality) or matt (rich texture, finger print resistant) finish.
Adjusting the settings
Now that you have your supplies, you are nearly ready to print. Before you begin, however, you need to adjust the settings on your printer to get the quality you are after. Follow these tips:
- Remember that the resolution of your images can affect the size that is the most suitable for your prints, so you may need to adjust one or the other. For example, reduce the size of low resolution prints to get the best quality result.
- Adjust printer settings according to the quality you want and the printer paper you are using. For great quality prints, use the highest settings available.
- After printing, leave your photo prints to dry properly before touching or using.
Author Bio: Christine works for Cartridge Monkey, the UK’s leading supplier of cheap ink cartridges. Christine loves to write about photography, graphic design and photo editing.
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