LyteByte

Last week I wrote the post about ‘How to create your own photo mosaic from your photo collection?’ and more often when we have some special photos of memories, we share it with our friends and family and last but not the least we tend to print it down. One may put these photos in a frame and keep it in a shelf around the living room or bedroom or may stick it on the refrigerator. Whatever it is, we expect it to be of good quality if not the highest quality as a home user.

As much as the confusion reigns in buying any product in this competitive world, it exists before buying a photo printer for home as there are thousands to choose from. The best way is to consider it category by category and go on in an elimination round. Think what is the purpose of the photo printer that you are willing to buy and this may determine the money you may want to put on it which usually ranges from $50 to $500 or more.

Yes, this is a new sleek printer from Samsung and Apple.

So here are the features that I would recommend to look for before you make up the decision:
Resolution
The first one that I would look into is the resolution in dpi (Dots per inch) also known as Max H-Resolution Color. But look carefully here as you infer the quality of the print from these numbers because this dpi varies for different technology like ink-jet or thermal or laser. DPI usually varies from 300 to 4800 or above and thermal printers have low numbers than ink-jet. But whatever it is, it’s better to get one a decent one from the category of your choice if not the highest. The highest and the latest would always mean the costliest, so it’s better to settle for the second best and you can also keep it for a reasonable time before you buy the next home photo printer. So buy a standard one like 1200 by 4800 dpi for ink-jet which is same as 300 by 300 dpi for thermal dye printers.

Brand
Buying a branded one usually tends to be a costlier one but you can it without thinking too much. It’s like paying insurance for your product. If you are willing to do a well research on other brands that you are considering to buy, it may be a better choice. The better ones are usually from HP, Canon, Epson, Xerox, Lexmark etc.

Size
The regular size of photos is 4 by 6 inches or little bigger than that is 8 by 10 inches. Most photos that you would print often would be within these sizes. But if you are a large photo enthusiast, you may consider tabloid sizes like 11 by 17 inches or even bigger tabloid 13 by 19 inches. These sizes would be great for wall hangings. But it’s better to settle for 8 by 10 inches and you can always print these extra large ones from a store.

Printer Type and Technology
Here the printer type we have considered is home photo printer but you can also buy printers which are also suited for regular day to day printing so that you need not have two printers near your computer! Considering the technology, the poplar ones for photo printing are ink-jet or thermal dye printers than laser. Most of the thermal printers are better than ink-jet for long lasting looks of the pictures and making it water proof.

Speed
Speed is the main factor when it comes to cost. Most of the printers may give the same quality but some offer high speed printing while maintaining the quality. As a home user, you may settle for low speed and save lot of money.

Operating Cost
You may end up buying a printer of your choice now and maybe reluctant to use it later because the running cost of using photo papers and ink may be very high. You may think that you can use third-party inks and paper but each printer is designed to work at its best with a particular ink, paper and software which run behind it. The physics behind the operation of the technology differs from product to product. You may see a slight difference in quality if you use third party products but if that’s reasonable quality, it may be the better choice.

Other Features:
Number of Ink Colors – Higher number of ink colors may give professional quality of pictures but may not be necessary for home user.
Connectivity – You can always connect the printer with USB to your computer. Higher connectivity features like wireless, connecting to multiple computers at the same time are of necessity but of choice.
Scanner – Again it’s only by choice. It’s a matter of need and want.
Other features like compatibility, built in additional features like CD or DVD -writer, Digital and multimedia card reader, touch screen, preview screen, laminator etc add up the price tag so it’s better to decide what you want exactly.

To make your choice better, you can always read some printer reviews before you go to the store or order it online.