Printing Photos

KIOSKS –  cheap – convenient – often have specials – Best to edit your photos before you go to the kiosk and take them on a pen-drive which only has the photos you want to print.

ONLINE PRINTING – Best to edit your photos first – Try several companies to see who has the best quality and look out for special deals.
here are a few New Zealand sites –
Snapfish
Diamond Photos
Frog Prints

PHOTOLABS – Each city has companies that specialise in large scale printing on various mediums. Canvas, aluminium backs etc. Ask them for advice as the range of  printing and backing options are changing fast.

HOME PRINTING – There are 3 types of printers.

A – Home office printers – (Often have the code X) For general everyday letters
– not good for photos.

B – Multi Function Home Office Printers – (MFP) Print letters and Photos These scan – print – fax etc., and will produce OK prints –(probably only 4 inks)
Epson, Canon or Brother are best for quality,
Paper is called ‘media’ – Make sure you  select one that can use Photo Paper or you could use paper, such as ‘Premier Ink Jet Paper’ – or ‘Bond’ this has a higher quality surface than the normal cheap photocopy paper.

C – Dedicated Photo Printers ( Have the symbol P in printer code)
ONLY buy Epson or Canon (High quality and come with good software)
These are designed only for printing high quality photos using only photo paper and have lots more ink colours – (usually at least 6 or 7 inks, with preferably two types of black ink).
Need to use every 2 or 3 weeks to ensure nozzles do not block.
Must use the manufacturers (Epson / Canon) ink & paper only for best results.
Choose gloss or matt paper – buy 100 sheets for economy
Best to get A4 size for home use. Not economical to buy an A3 printer – better to get large prints made at a specialised photo printer company.

Features to check when buying a photo-printer – number of inks, (the higher the better the quality) –
– The weight of paper they can print – you may be able to print light cards
– Make sure it has a 6” X 4” postcard paper holder –  Can it print CD & DVD’s
– Make sure it can do borderless prints –
– Check it comes with good printing software, which controls the printer.
– Check the running cost per postcard print – (compare to kiosk and online)
– Can it take high capacity cartridges – which will be cheaper to run
– Can you use archival inks ie – (pigment inks)

RESOLUTION
Quality of the ink jets affects quality of photo –

INKS – Two types – Dye based and Pigment
Dye based inks lock into paper and look brighter, smoother and glossier than pigment.
But pigment is archival and fade resistant and should last over 100 years.
All prints should be kept out of the sun.

Recommended Home Photo Printers
Epson XP 630    NZ$200
Epson XP 530    NZ$179
Epson XP900    NZ$200
Epson XP 670   NZ$130
Canon Pixma MG7760bk NZ$270
Canon 9000 or 9100 or 9500 series