Photo Printers |
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Last Updated: June 1, 2007
I prefer to have a local photo lab print my digital photos rather than printing them myself. It's cheaper, I get better results, and I don't have to calibrate the monitor and printer. Serious photographers that print their own photos use Epson photo printers. The printer has an ICC color profile printer driver, the photo paper is on rolls instead of sheets, and has 8 inks. The printers start at $400 and the inks are about $100 to replace all 8 colors.
4×6 Inch Snapshot Printers
The 4×6 inch dedicated photo printers look cute and are a convenient way to print a photo or two, but I still don't like them. They cost about $0.29 per photo, which is more expensive than many photo labs like Shutterfly.com, Costco or Wal-Mart. Although I haven't used any of these printers, my biggest concern is color accuracy. There needs to be a way to calibrate the monitor and printer. I've had photos color corrected on a calibrated monitor, but the photos come out too yellow, too blue, too red, or too green on an uncalibrated photo printer. If you are still interested in a snapshot photo printer, then here are some reviews:
Four 4 x 6 Inch Photo Printers Head-to-Head, Tom's Hardware, Jan 2007
Top 5 Snapshot Printers, PC World, Dec 2006
Your Personal Photo Lab, PC Magazine, Oct 2006
Ink Jet vs. Thermal Dye Photo Printers, PC Magazine, Apr 2006