What to Look for in a Photo Printer

May 07, 2023

With digital photography dominating the market, it's less common for photographers to ever see their images in print. While bright digital displays are a great way to view our images, there's just something special about holding a well-made photo print in your hands. Enter the photo printer.

Rather than continually adding to a collection of digital images you rarely look at, why not invest in a great inkjet photo printer? The right printer can make your photographs into cherished artwork you can touch and connect with — and not just when you’re scrolling through a drive, digital camera storage, or online account.

If you’re interested in a photo printer but have no idea where to start, or if you’d never considered investing in a photo printer and are curious to learn more, here are some of the key things to consider about photo printing.

For most home photo printing, inkjet printers are ideal. Inkjet printers are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and fairly reliable. Their ink cartridges are easy to change, and you can use a variety of photo paper types with these handy devices. Plus, most models can create fine art prints with high DPI. Most photo printers on the market today are inkjet printers.

Dye sublimation printers are typically intended for the professional market. They’re capable of printing small, high quality color prints very quickly. Unfortunately, dye sublimation printers offer less flexibility in paper types, paper finishes, and paper sizes. Most of the time, home printers are limited to glossy paper prints in a small size.

When investing in a home photo printer, it's important to make sure you’ll have the ability to produce large or small prints as needed. Large-format printers are very expensive to use and maintain, and they require more ink cartridges than smaller printers. For that reason, large format printing is less ideal for home use.

The best photo printer will let you print medium to large images at home without investing in lots of ink or expensive equipment. A maximum paper width of 13 to 15 inches will allow for small, different-sized frameable prints at home. Many printers will also accept rolls of paper so you can print long panoramas.

Many photo printers on the market use the term "archival" and guarantee a print life of 50-100 years. If you invest in a photo printer, you’ll want the prints you create to last a long time. Archival printing usually involves a long-lasting pigment-based ink system rather than coloring agents. That makes them last longer, because those more common coloring agents have a much shorter life span and reduced light resistance. By selecting an archival pigment printer, you’ll have peace of mind that your high-quality prints will stay beautiful for years to come.

Print resolution is also an important consideration. Resolution is measured in DPI (dots per inch). Essentially, the higher the DPI, the less noticeable the dots will be, and the more detail your finished prints will have. At a minimum, your photo printer should have a resolution of 4,800 x 1,200 DPI.

Professional photographers or consumers who plan to do a lot of printing will want to pay special attention to photo printer speeds. Your gear should be able to keep up with your printing needs, and waiting for a slow printer to spool up can be irritating.

As you shop for a photo printer, look at its maximum printing speed. While you may feel comfortable waiting for 5 minutes for a single print to finish, that time can add up if you have a lot of images in your queue.

Canon and Epson are the top two names in photo printing among professional photographers and enthusiasts. Both offer a variety of photo printers, including all-in-one printers, scanners, printer/copiers, and more specialized dedicated photo printers.

If you plan on only printing photos, you can focus on a dedicated photo printer. Many photo printers deliver a variety of connectivity options, from memory card and USB inputs to Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.

Both Canon and Epson offer great models capable of high resolution, archival, black-and-white, or color image printing. Ultimately, features and budget will be the most important factors in your photo printer search.