Best pure phot printer

[Sho'Nuff]

In sum:

Wifey wants a pure photo printer that can do 4x6 or 5x7 prints at very close to lab quality

I know nothing about such printers beyond the fact that they come in inkjet and dye emulsion flavors

I would appreciate recommendations

Cost is not really an problem, although size is. She wants one that is close to a lunch box in size.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rottie]

I love my Canon Photo Printer iP4000 my family thought my picture was taken from Photo studio.

Pro for Inkject
Cheap price
paper comes with many sizes
Can print text/document
Ink Refill easy amd cheap

Con for Dye Printer
Expensive
Limited paper size or must use special photo paper
Can't print anything like text/document or fun graphics
No refill for dye and expensive

That is all I can think of.

 

[Brutus04]

Canon seems to be the best for photo printing.

 

[Zepper]

I'd go for something like a Canon photo printer too, something like the iP6600D:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consu...ryid=184&modelid=11864.

You aren't locked into one brand of paper plus you can make up to 8x10 prints. And you can use it just like a dedicated printer if you wan't, no PC necessary. But if you really must get one of those limited units, then...

Here ya go: http://www.pcworld.com/article...88-page,1/article.html

I wouldn't have one myself.

.bh.

 

[Modelworks]

Between the cost of the ink, paper and then the resulting quality.
I have not found it worthwhile to have a photo printer.

You can use online services like
http://www.shutterfly.com/shop...ters_Prepaid_4x6_Plans

100 photos 4x6 for 15.00
The quality is better than anything a home user is likely to have and they ship them out usually the day or day after the print.

I hadn't considered online services till a friend recommended it.
I love it !
Plus all the other things they can do like, make your own christmas cards for 2.00 each, 8x10 prints, albums, etc.

 

[zig3695]

Originally posted by: Rottie
I love my Canon Photo Printer iP4000 my family thought my picture was taken from Photo studio.

Pro for Inkject
Cheap price
paper comes with many sizes
Can print text/document
Ink Refill easy amd cheap

Con for Dye Printer
Expensive
Limited paper size or must use special photo paper
Can't print anything like text/document or fun graphics
No refill for dye and expensive

That is all I can think of.

why cant you print text documents? i print them with my ip4000 all the time... am i just not getting something? btw, qft on the choice though, the pixmas ROCK. well, the 3000's, 4000's, and 5000's do, nothing else because of the chipped ink.

 

[Griffinhart]

Originally posted by: soxfan
In sum:

Wifey wants a pure photo printer that can do 4x6 or 5x7 prints at very close to lab quality

I know nothing about such printers beyond the fact that they come in inkjet and dye emulsion flavors

I would appreciate recommendations

Cost is not really an problem, although size is. She wants one that is close to a lunch box in size.

Thanks in advance.

I haven't used the HP or Canon photo printers but last year I got my Dad the Epson Picture mate. It works pretty well. I like how they sell print packs that include paper and ink together for a guaranteed amount of photos. It's simple to use as a stand alone unit or plugged into the PC. My Dad used to use those disposable 35mm cameras until I got him a nice little Canon Camera and this printer. He likes the quality better than the disposable and the local photo lab services.

Epson Print Packs run about $25 for a box of 100. They are available at various online sites or local staples, bestbuy, etc stores. Not too bad of a price really. Seperately decent 4x6 photo paper usually runs $15 to $20 for 100 sheets by themselves, so $25 for the paper and ink together is very reasonable imho.

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: zig3695

Originally posted by: Rottie
I love my Canon Photo Printer iP4000 my family thought my picture was taken from Photo studio.

Pro for Inkject
Cheap price
paper comes with many sizes
Can print text/document
Ink Refill easy amd cheap

Con for Dye Printer
Expensive
Limited paper size or must use special photo paper
Can't print anything like text/document or fun graphics
No refill for dye and expensive

That is all I can think of.

why cant you print text documents? i print them with my ip4000 all the time... am i just not getting something? btw, qft on the choice though, the pixmas ROCK. well, the 3000's, 4000's, and 5000's do, nothing else because of the chipped ink.

I think I misunderstood you I always print text document with my trusty iP4000 all the times.

 

[Zepper]

I make 4x6 prints for way under 25 cents each on my iP4300. I use clone tanks and whatever paper is on sale. A little color tuning and I'm ready to go.

.bh.

 

[Griffinhart]

Cheap printing is easy. Cheap printing with good results is harder. Paper's and Inks tend to be formulated to work with each other. I can use HP/Ritz paper on my Epson R200 with epson inks and the end result isn't nearly as nice as it is using Epson Paper with that ink. On the other hand I get outstanding prints on Ritz paper using generic ink from a cheap online source for 1/4 the cost. It takes a bit of testing before you find the right balance in my experience.

It's nice to be able to buy a single box and get the paper and ink at once and at a resonable price. It's possible to get cheaper printing than the papermate, but it's still pretty competitive for price while having outstanding quality and being extremely convienent.

 

[egale]

You never save money printing photos yourself, especially with the standard 4x6 or 4x5.3 sizes. If a photographer is charging you $50 for an 8x10, then you can start saving.

But you print at home for your own satisfaction. Now if you hadn't heard it before, there are two types of inkjet printers. 99% of whats on the market is dye based and the other 1% is pigment based. The advantage to dye based ink is that the color gamut is a bit wider and there is no bronzing. The big minus is that the prints fade. Some printers are better than others but dye inks will fade, sometimes within weeks.

Pigment inks are very durable. They won't run if you get the print wet and they will take 50 - 80 years to fade. I have an Epson R1800 which has now been replaced with the R1900 I think. I had a profile made for the printer with the paper I use and the results I get are fantastic. I know what I print will be around for a long time and I don't think anyone would look at the prints and say "ink jet printed at home".

If you are serious about photo printing and want your prints to be around a while, look at pigment based printers!

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Rottie
I love my Canon Photo Printer iP4000 my family thought my picture was taken from Photo studio.

Pro for Inkject
Cheap price
paper comes with many sizes
Can print text/document
Ink Refill easy amd cheap

Con for Dye Printer
Expensive
Limited paper size or must use special photo paper
Can't print anything like text/document or fun graphics
No refill for dye and expensive

That is all I can think of.

I second the ip4000 I loooove mine. Dye Sub printers have dropped A LOT in price though. Like 3 years ago I paid 200 bucks for my Sony and it's about 47 cents a 4x6. Canon has one that's 99 bucks and the prints packs are like 20 bucks for 100 prints. That's paper + the ribbon. Still more expensive than if you use refills on a ip4000, but with Dye Sub you get water resistant pictures that hold up much better than ink print ever would.

to previous poster, if she's REALLY serious about printing photos Dye Sub is the only way to go My Sony churns out the best 4x6's I've seen, so what they're like 50 cents a pop

 

[CU]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Between the cost of the ink, paper and then the resulting quality.
I have not found it worthwhile to have a photo printer.

You can use online services like
http://www.shutterfly.com/shop...ters_Prepaid_4x6_Plans

100 photos 4x6 for 15.00
The quality is better than anything a home user is likely to have and they ship them out usually the day or day after the print.

I hadn't considered online services till a friend recommended it.
I love it !
Plus all the other things they can do like, make your own christmas cards for 2.00 each, 8x10 prints, albums, etc.

The bad part is trying to upload 100 or move 6 mega pixel or greater pictures on the poor upload speeds most ISP's provide. It feels like dialup all over again. By the way Walmart has cards for like $0.33 I think.