Photo printing

[TOPEC]

does any buddy here print their own photos?
what kind of photo printer do you use?
is it one of those multi function printers, or a dedicated photo printer?

i'm thinking of getting a reasonably priced photo printer, something along the lines of the canon ip4600, sorry no pro4600 for me lol.

i want to print some of the pics i took, and i'm sure there will be more downt he road as i take more pics.

[Kite]

I have a friend with a Canon photo specific printer. He paid about 20K for it. It will print pictures something like 32" x 16 feet. Refills cost close to $2k.

Quality is amazing.

Is this what your looking for?

I recommend to just get your pictures printed at a photo place (or even costco). Most consumer photo printers that I've seen have subjectively not been the best quality. Make sure you check out some sample prints before hand to make sure you happy with the quality.

[Kite]

It will also be worth while to check ink prices for the printer and how often you will need to replace them.

[Senna4ever]

What is the maximum size you'll be printing? For small printers, like up to 13"x19" prints, Epson printers are the best out there. Printing at home is not as easy as you might think. You'll need a monitor calibration device for sure, or else your prints won't come out looking anything like on your monitor...and you might want to calibrate your printer if you want to be very critical.

Even if you take your images to a photofinishing place, make sure you work on a calibrated monitor to ensure colour matching.

I personally use an older Epson R320 6 colour printer. Great colour prints, but not very good B&W. I may be more critical than most people though.

[sebberry]

I am by far a pro, but I have a Canon Selphy ES2 printer. Paper size is fixed at 4x6". It's not an ink-jet printer, it is Dye Sublimation. You buy the paper and dye in packs together. It does cost a bit more to use than having photos printed at the local photo place, but the instant gratification factor is high and the quality is easilly very good.

The dye sub technology means no dots like with an inkjet printer. Also where an inkjet printer fails is being able to print varying intensities of one of the colors. Dye sub prints the pictures one color at a time. It's pretty neat to see the photo developing. First the yellow layer is printed in varying intensities, then the magenta then the cyan followed by a clear protective coat.

[!MiKrofT]

I use an Epson RX680 6 colour printer with continuous ink feed system.