Most printers, including most so-called photo inkjet printers, have one thing in common: They're meant for all-purpose printing—text, graphics, and photos. Some do a better job with some kinds of output than with others, but they aren't designed for one specific kind of output. Dedicated and near-dedicated photo printers are different. They're designed with one goal in mind: printing high-quality photos on photo paper.

In theory, these photo printers can use any technology. In practice, the only two technologies (so far) that offer true photo quality are inkjet and thermal dye (also known by the misnomer "dye sublimation"). Thermal-dye printers use heat to transfer dye from plastic rolls to paper with a plastic coating.

Dedicated photo printers—aimed primarily at home users who want to print their photos with as little work as possible—are easy to spot: You can't use them for anything but photos—practically if not literally. Thermal-dye paper looks and feels like photo paper, so it's useless for standard printing. Also, most dedicated photo printers are limited to small formats, with a maximum paper size of 4 by 6 inches, although some can print 4-by-12-inch panoramas as well. For those who want to print larger photos, a few small-format printers can print at up to 5 by 7 inches.

Go To Source » (72)

You can have the best digital camera on the block, but that won't matter if your prints are no good. The fact is that to get the most out of digital photography, you need to devote as much time to learning about photo printers as you do about digital cameras.

Part of the challenge lies in knowing which photo printer will best suit your needs. Another part is understanding which features that are commonly touted by printer manufacturers really matter.

Go To Source » (68)

Lexmark has a large range of inkjet printers and a larger range of all-in-ones, but the printers often seem to be the same mechanisms dressed up in different cases. The Z2320 is an entry-level device, based on twin, integrated print head and ink cartridges.


Coloured in white and light grey and with a smartly embossed silver Lexmark logo on its top surface, this printer has just one control, a power button. The paper feed tray at the back folds down over the printer's top cover and the output tray slides in underneath the machine, so it can have a very small footprint when it's not actually printing.


At the back are a single USB 2 socket and the plug-in power supply. This is a clever innovation on Lexmark's part, though it has been around a few years, as it enables different power packs to be slotted in for different regional voltage supplies, giving the manufacturer an easy way to change between PSUs. It also saves on lumbering the customer with a cumbersome, cabled power block knocking around on the desk.

Go To Source » (61)

A lot has been written about printers, most of it extremely boring; I plan to carry on that tradition.


Until home printers came along, we relied on professional printing outfits to produce our work.

While the results were excellent, it was inconvenient.

The first printers available to the home user were so-called impact printers.

These beasts worked like a typewriter, in that a print head, made up of a matrix of pins, moved back and forth along a shaft while paper scrolled beneath it.

The pins hammered the paper through an ink ribbon, leaving characters imprinted on the paper.

These printers are characterised by their tractor-feed paper (remember computer paper, with the holes down each side?) and their extremely loud screeching while printing.

Many a secretary was deafened after years of sitting next to one of these puppies.

The printers worked well and many are still in use.

Indeed they are still available, though they are relatively expensive.

Then ink-jet technology came along and changed home printing for ever. Now everyone can print professional-looking, high-quality documents, even photographs. Ink-jets work by blowing ink onto the paper.

Go To Source » (52)

TROY Group, Inc., a Worldwide leader in Secure On-Demand Printing Solutions, announces our new line of MICR Printers based on the HP LaserJet P4014n, P4015n, and P4515n series printers. TROY's full-line of MICR Printers provides built-in features which help secure your on-demand document printing process.

The TROY MICR 4014, 4015 and 4515 Printers are available in three security configurations, giving customers a range of fraud deterrent and operational security options. The TROY MICR 4014, a base level MICR printer, provides all the TROY recommended options necessary for reliable check printing. The TROY MICR 4015 and 4515, a MICR Secure model, include additional features providing a higher level of security for use in higher risk printing environments. TROY's fully featured MICR Secure Ex printer, available as a TROY MICR 4015 and 4515, offers the highest level of security available to financial professionals. The TROY Secure Ex product line offers 3-position key lock control, paper tray locks and enhanced printer firmware security to discourage casual and professional fraud. All three models ship with TROY's unique ExPT(TM), Exact Positioning Technology that insures precise placement of the MICR line for reliable check processing.

Go To Source » (162)

This portable photo printer looks like a Sanrio lunch bucket for kids, which is perfect actually, as it gives off the impression of something light and easy to carry (which it is). The compact Canon SELPHY CP770 photo printer is one of the newer additions to Canon's SELPHY line of compact photo printers, and seems made for that person who is just so impatient to print photos that he/she must print while the party is still going on.

Go To Source » (188)

Washington - You can have the best digital camera on the block, but that won't matter if your prints are no good.

The fact is, that to get the most out of digital photography, you need to devote as much time to learning about photo printers as you do about digital cameras.

Part of the challenge lies in knowing which photo printer will best suit your needs. Another part is understanding which features that are commonly touted by printer manufacturers really matter.

Go To Source » (205)

The Pro suffix to a range of printers and all-in-ones usually denotes a heavyweight office device and this is certainly true of HP's OfficeJet Pro K5400n, though its price, currently just under £80 including VAT, is still substantially cheaper than a colour or even most mono laser printers.

We mention the laser printer comparison as HP is selling the machine as a direct alternative and claims speeds of up to 10ppm in ‘laser quality' mode. Is it really a viable alternative to a laser printer for office use?

There is a continuing trend in inkjet printers and all-in-one devices to use permanent or semi-permanent print heads. This means when you replace the device's consumables, you're only paying for extra ink and not a new set of inkjet nozzles. This doesn't necessarily make the device cheaper to run - that depends on the pricing of an ink cartridge - but it should reduce the amount of wastage and recycling.

Go To Source » (70)

At first glance, the Lexmark Z2420 Wireless Inkjet Printer looks like the printing equivalent of the $1 menu at McDonald’s: enough features to fill your plate at a low MSRP of $79.99. This new printer offers built-in wireless network connectivity and prints at a respectable 18 ppm in color and 25 in black. It works with both Mac and Windows, weighs a shade under 6 lbs., and offers software to help you rotate, crop, resize and touch up your photos. With all the basic features you look for in a home office printer, the Lexmark Z2420 Wireless Inkjet Printer looks like a good deal, right? According to the experts, it all depends on what you need and how you plan to use it.

Go To Source » (236)

Hewlett-Packard Co. is likely to cut jobs in its division that makes ink cartridges and computer printers, according to reports. H-P employs 3,500 at its plant in Roseville, but that division does not have operations there, said Ryan Donovan, a spokesman for H-P.

Go To Source » (56)