Photo Printers

A photo printer is a printer (usually an inkjet printer) that is specifically designed to print high quality digital photos on photo paper. These printers usually have a very high number of nozzles and are capable of printing droplets as small as 1 picoliter. more...

Home
Bags, Cases & Straps
Binoculars & Telescopes
Camcorder Accessories
Camcorders
Digital Camera Accessories
Digital Cameras
Film
Film Camera Accessories
Film Cameras
Film Processing & Darkroom
Flashes & Accessories
Lenses & Filters
Lighting & Studio Equipment
Manuals, Guides & Books
Photo Albums & Archive Items
Printers, Scanners &...
Photo Printers
Canon
Epson
Hewlett-Packard
Kodak
Olympus
Other Brands
Sony
Printing Software & Supplies
Scanners
Professional Video Equipment
Projection Equipment
Stock Photography & Footage
Tripods, Monopods
Vintage
Wholesale Lots

History

Photo printers have exploded in popularity in recent years thanks to a drop in prices and the increased use of digital cameras. Prior to the rise in do-it-yourself home printing, photo printers were typically priced much higher than standard inkjet printers and were mostly used by professionals. Epson then began to market photo printers to all consumers with their Stylus Photo line. Soon after that, Canon began offering inexpensive photo printers and eventually all other major printer manufacturers followed.

Recently, the major printer manufacturers began releasing compact photo printers. These models only print 4 x 6 photos and do not require a computer. They are meant to used as mini photo studios where the user hooks up their digital camera or memory card and prints directly from there. There are also larger format photo printers that are used to print 8'x11', 10'x14' even larger size photo paper. Mainly these larger format printers are manufactured by Canon, Epson or HP.

Differences Between Photo & Inkjet Printers

What typically sets photo printers apart from standard inkjet printers is their use of additional cartridges, either speciality photo inks or just variations on the standard color cartridges. In order to produce more vivid and realistic pictures, photo printers use colors like photo cyan, light magenta, yellow, and light black. The increased range of colors produces better results, while the increased use of black or gray colors enhances black and white prints.

Photo printers may also have digital media readers (memory cards) to conveniently print pictures without a computer. Some can also print directly from a camera that supports the ability (PictBridge). Most standard inkjet printers lack these features.

Photo printers must be used in conjunction with photo paper in order to achieve the best results.

Confusion

Many inkjet printers currently sold to home users are marketed as "photo printers". This is because there are no official specifications designating what is and isn't a photo printer, so almost every printer on the market makes the claim that it can be used to print photos. Technically, every inkjet printer is capable of printing photos, which is why they are marketed as such. But, not all models can effectively and economically print photos the way that dedicated photo printers can. Because the demand for consumables (printer ink, photo paper etc.) increases as more people print their own photos at home, printer manufacturers have decided to stretch the definition of what a photo printer really is.

Read more at Wikipedia.org