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Article Series: Computers
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Are
Photo Printers Worth Buying?
A
photo printer is a printer that is used specifically for
small, photo sized prints, such as three inches by five
inches or four by six inches. Photo printers were first introduced
in the early 1990s. Originally they used dye sublimation to
print photos. Currently, most photo printers use ink jet technology.
Photo printers produce vibrant, high-resolution photo prints.
Photo printers come in a wide variety of sizes to serve multiple
purposes. Some photo printers are extremely small, making them
ideal for travel. You can take these printers with you wherever
you have you camera to print photos on the spot. Most of these
portable photo printers bypass the need for a computer. They
connect directly to the camera itself, so that you can print
out your captured memories at your convenience.
Photo
printers can be classified into three categories. The
first is an inkjet photo printer. These are usually standard
text printers that offer a photo-printing feature. They usually
cost between $50 and $400. While these types of printers produce
high quality photos, they are costly and print at a slower
than normal page per minute speed.
The second category is the dedicated photo printers. These
printers are limited to printing photos; they are not usually
utilized for printing text documents. Dedicated photo printers
cost anywhere from $150 to $400. These printers usually print
the photos on glossy paper. These dedicated printers can be
inkjet or use dye sublimation. Inkjet photo printers rely on
cartridges with six color varieties, including black, yellow,
magenta, cyan, light cyan, and light magenta. However, dye
sublimation works by melting ink onto the pages to create a
photo.
The third category of photo printers is professional printers.
These types of photo printers are a bit more costly than the
other two categories. They start at $500 and are usually significantly
large printers. However, they boast faster print speed, productivity,
and outstanding picture quality. Professionals or serious amateurs
primarily use these photo printers.
If you like to have immediate access to tangible copies of
your photos, then a photo printer is probably well worth the
hassle. When buying a photo printer there are a few key factors
to consider. To begin with, make sure you find a printer that
will be able to print photos at the size you need. Photo printers
are available that are capable of printing pictures anywhere
from wallet size to full posters.
You should also consider the types of paper that are available
for the photo printer and its cost. In addition you should
check the prices of the cartridges that are required by the
printer so that you can accurately calculate the average cost
per page of operation the printer.
You should also select a photo printer that has a high resolution.
Resolution is generally measure in dots per inch or dpi. A
dye sublimation photo printer should have a dpi of at least
300 by 300. An inkjet photo printer should produce a dpi of
1,200 by 4, 800.
Photo printers are convenient easy to use devices. They have
the advantages of offering on the spot, high quality photos.
They can be taken with you and connected directly to your computer
or use the digital media card.
Despite
its obvious benefits, photo printers do have a few disadvantages
as well. To begin with they are significantly
more expensive than a normal inkjet or laser printer. They
also are slow and may not print normal text documents well,
if at all. In fact, the average photo printer takes one to
four minutes to print a five by seven inch glossy picture
at the
highest quality settings. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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