Photo Printer

A photo printer is basically an inkjet printer that is optimized for printing photographs. Because a photo printer is designed to print photographs, special attention is paid to the color and quality of the photo instead of speed and text quality.

How Do Photo Printers Work?

Photo printers work much like regular printers, but they use six-color ink cartridges and photographs are printed on special photo paper. Photo printer color cartridges are typically

• Cyan


• Magenta


• Light cyan and


• Light magenta


• Yellow


• Black

Some photo printers may use a technology called thermal-dye technology or dye sublimation. Unlike regular photo printers, which may also have other uses, thermal dye photo printers are used exclusively for photos. Photo printers include digital memory readers or “memory cards” which makes it easy to print pictures without a computer or directly from the camera.

Overview of Photo Printer Types

Inkjet photo printers are by far the most popular type of photo printing device. In a nutshell, an inkjet printer sprays tiny amounts of dye-based or pigmented ink onto the paper through several nozzles. Most photo quality inkjets have a resolution of 2880 dpi or more, which produces sharp, pattern-free prints. While the vast majority of inkjet photo printers offer six different colors of ink, several seven-color inkjets have emerged on the market today. Seven-color inkjet photo printers tend to create smoother prints.

Dye-sublimation or “dye-sub” photo printers are not as popular due to cost, but they produce a shaper and higher quality photograph. With the dye-sublimation process, a heating element transfers tiny dots of color from a three or four-color ribbon onto the paper.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Photo Printers

Inkjet photo printers are typically low cost and they offer a wide variety of models. They offer long-life prints, they can handle a wide variety of paper types, and depending on the model, the print quality is considered good to excellent. On the down side, inkjet photo printers can be slow, prints are less durable, colors may shift under certain types of light and it can take several hours for the ink to dry on photo paper. Dye-sub photo printers offer rich color, long-life papers, they are extremely fast, and they are designed to handle heavy workloads. On the downside, dye-sub photo printers are more expensive than inkjet photo printers and print size and paper selection tends to be limited.

Photo Printer Costs and Purchasing

Color inkjet photo printers may be purchased from just about any computer, electronics, or office supply store for as little as $100. Dye-sub photo printers can be purchased from computer, electronics, or office supply stores as well but for several hundred dollars up to more than $1,000. Photo printers may also be purchased directly from retailers and manufacturers online.

By Michelle Burton