Current inkjet photo printer models cost anywhere from $50 to $400. As a general rule, faster inkjet photo printers a re the more expensive option. A typical dedicated photo printer costs between $150 and $400 . Professional photo printers start at about $500. The all-in -ones usually cost between $100 and $800 and portable photo printer prices vary from $200 to $350.
Please keep in mind that most photo printers do not come with a printer cable that connects the printer to the computer so remember to include printer cable cost in your budget; their prices range from $5 to $25.
Digital Photo Printer Specs to Consider
Here are the important points to consider when buying a photo printer: Resolution. Resolution is the maximum number of dots (dots per inch or dpi) that the printer can print in a square inch. In theory, higher resolution will give better results and will print more details which is especially important for printing graphics. The higher the resolution, the sharper and clearer your results will be. However as a marketing ploy, manufacturers inflate the resolution numbers . These numbers are not the only factors to be considered when looking at print quality. The ink cartridges or toner cartridges, the number of colors used, the paper and the method of printing (at which quality you are printing) are also great factors in print quality. Dpi resolution in the printing arena is the equivalent to pixels in a digital photograph. A digital photograph is made up of thousands of pixels. Resolution is one of the most important aspects of photo prin ting. You will want a photo printer with a resolution of at least 1200 dpi. To test the real print quality of the printer, it is best to print out a sample rather than just looking at its resolution.
Speed
Photo printers have similar speeds to standard inkjet printers. However, compared to inkjet printers, they can be slower when printing text as photo printers are specially designed for photo printing. If you plan on making a large number of photo prints, speed will also be a n important factor for you. In that case, get a fast printer, though keep in mind that their prices are higher.
Printing without a PC
If you want to print your pictures directly from your digital camera without using a computer, then you can select a photo printer that has this feature. Such photo printers have memory card slots and most are compatible with the PictBridge technology. So you can use a PictBridge compatible camera and print directly from these printers.
