Digital Photography: Color Inkjet, Laser & Dye Sublimation Printers

For the vast majority of photographers, a high quality inkjet printer is the main choice when it comes to outputting their digital image files. Image quality from today's inkjet printers rival prints made from photo labs and prints made in the darkroom from paper and chemicals. Most inkjet printers are capable of printing upto A4 in size and many now also cover A3 with a few high end machines going above this size. At first glance the cost of a high quality inkjet printer from one of the main manufacturers such as Epson, Canon or HP seems too good to be true as many printers are very low in price. Unfortunately the catch comes when you add in the costs of printing with expensive manufacturers ink cartridges & photographic or art paper.
Inkjet printer inks are still very costly and just a few months of prints could very easily cost more in ink and paper than the full cost of the printer. Fortunately many compatible inks are now just as good as original inks from the big inkjet manufacturers and cost substantially less. It is always worth shopping around and reading the reviews of past customers before purchasing compatible inks. For most photographers, one of the mid range photo inkjet printers will be more than good enough for most printing jobs in terms of speed, quality and the availability of photographic glossy or art paper. For advanced photographers and even professionals, one of the higher end models from Epson (HP and Canon are also worth considering) will meet their needs for high quality images through the use of UltraChrome inks.
		Photo Inkjet Printer

Color and Mono lasers are also capable of outputting high quality images but they still lack the true photographic quality of traditional and inkjet prints. For most everyday tasks at work or home where photographs or graphics are required for projects or homework, laser prints can be the best choice as the laser toner printing costs are far lower than inkjets and dye sublimation printers. In recent years the cost of both color and mono laser printers have dropped substantially and are now highly affordable for the home as well as the small office.

The final printer available on the market is the dye sublimation printer which is mostly used to produce small 6" x 4" or similar sized prints for home users. Inkjet printers however are replacing dye sublimation printers as inkjets can produce high quality prints on photographic paper as well as text and diagrams on a variety of different plain and coated papers covering all sizes from mini passport sized prints to A4 and above.

To give an idea of some of the best photo printers on the market today, here is a list of the top 10 bestselling photo printers.

Top 10 Bestselling Photo Printers

1. Epson Stylus R2400 Photo Printer

2. Canon Pixma iP1800 Photo Inkjet Printer

3. Canon Pixma Pro9500 Professional Printer

4. Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Series 3

5. HP Photosmart 8750 Large-Format Printer

6. Canon SELPHY DS810 Photo Printer

7. HP Deskjet 9800 Wide Format Printer

8. Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Printer

9. Epson Stylus Photo R800 Inkjet Printer

10. HP Photosmart D7360 Printer