Why Do My Photos Look Different When Printed

Print Great Photos

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

Once you have a digital camera, you'll need to find something to print out those great images. Here are the top picks from PC Magazine Labs.

Inexpensive Ink Jet Printer: If you're looking for a great ink-jet printer for around $100, ignore the more popular Epson and HP models, and focus on Canon's excellent S820 Color Bubblejet Printer. In our quality tests, the S820 beat all with its six-color ink cartridges, the output quality beats other low-end ink jets. It also prints faster than the competition, although Canon sells speedier models for more money. If you want a printer that will output on wider paper – up to 13″ x 19″ — the S9000 offers similar quality for around $400. Other six-ink Canon printers offer built-in memory slots and optional LCD screens so you can view and print pictures without a computer – but these add hundreds of dollars to the cost. Canon also sells the highly rated I950, which doubles the print resolution, although at more than double the price. All in all, the S820 is a bargain, and will work well for most shutterbugs.

Pro: Six inks, fast, great pictures

Con: Canon makes faster printers

Summary: Recent price drops have brought this printer down under $100. It's better than the competition and prints great pictures

Dedicated Photo Printer: For some users, a printer dedicated to printing just photos – typically on standard 4″x6″ photo paper – is the way to go. These models are expensive, but take most of the guesswork out of making prints to share with others. Sony makes our current favorite, the DPP-EX5 Digital Photo Printer. This printer uses dye sublimation technology to make prints that are as good as anything you'd get from a photo lab. It'll create photos on either 3″x5″ or 4″x6″ photo paper. It's not fast – each print takes about a minute – and not cheap either. The printer itself costs around $200, and 30 sheets of 4×6 paper cost $17 – that's a lot more than what the corner photo-lab charges to develop a roll of film. Another limitation – you'll need images on memory stick to use the printer without a PC, and that limits its usefulness.

Pro: Print photos without a PC, easy to use

Con: Memory stick only, expensive

Summary: Easy but expensive prints from either a PC or memory stick

High-end Inkjet Printer If you're looking for exceptional, archive quality color prints at very high resolutions (2880×1440 dpi), then you should check out the Epson Stylus Photo 2200. This printer uses Epson's UltraChrome color technology for long lasting prints that rival color prints from film. This printer uses no less than seven cartridges, and can accept paper as large as 19″ x 13″ and will even print panoramic shots 13″ wide, up to 44″ long. The 2200 also ships with a roll feed and cutter, allowing you to print rolls of prints (4″, 8.3″ or 13″ wide). Of course, this printer can consume ink like nothing on earth but each of the seven colors are in separate cartridges, so you only need replace cartridges as individual colors run dry. At $699 (MSRP), it's not cheap, but if you really want to print gorgeous, large pictures that will keep for years, it might be the right printer for you.

Pro: Superb color rendition, highly flexible print sizing, long print life

Con: Pricey, takes up a lot of desk space

Summary: If you want prints that rival photographic paper, check this one out

High-end Color Laser Printer: If you're looking for one printer that will do it all for projects and home office work, the QMS magicolor 2300dl from Minolta fills the bill. It's a complete color laser printer for just $800. Even better, it's faster and produces better looking pictures than color lasers that costing a thousand dollars or more. Pictures actually approach true photo quality on just plain paper – which will save you a bundle on supplies. It's not going to produce real photos akin to a photo processing center, but for many users, the combination of a laser and color will be enough.

Pro: Fast, nice quality, easy to set up

Con: Doesn't rival best photo printers

Summary: A good workhorse for your home or small office needs, it produces decent photographs on plain paper

Why Do My Photos Look Different When Printed

Source: https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/54410-print-great-photos

Share this post