I had heard good things about the quality of output from HP’s new addition in the Photosmart Pro series of photo printers. But I was pretty skeptical nonetheless. That was, until I was invited to test one at my friend’s  home (who IS a professional photographer). Color me impressed (excuse the pun).

Where do I start? With the most important aspect, I suppose. Output quality is dynamic, vibrant, and just downright stunning. The B9180 uses an 8 ink system that produces amazing images, especially on high quality photo and fine art products. I really was expecting a disappointment when I first witnessed the prints coming through the first time. Disappointment turned out to be disbelief.

Important to note is that this is not a standard ink dye system. This photo printer behemoth uses a pigment application instead, which is apparently supposed to help the final product keep it’s vibrancy longer. Though I think dye inks can last just as long with proper protection and storage.

My friend had his networked with one other desktop in his home, which is a nice feature and one I don’t recall noticing on other, comparable brands.

I did notice that the Photosmart B9180 was a MONSTER! The sheer space absorbed by the printer was significant. Printing takes place straight through the unit, so a large amount of rear clear space is required. I can’t say for sure what the weight of the unit was, but it was a beast. I’d hazard to guess it was at least 40 lbs., maybe slightly less.

Also, it was mentioned to me that the calibration and setup process was a bit odd, and time consuming. However, the calibration process was “automated” to allow for other tasks to be done while you waited for the hour or so process to be completed.

Print speed, while not important with this category of printer, was respectable. We witnessed a few 13 x 19 prints come out in about 5 minutes total. Not bad at all.

All in all, I still can’t believe I have to eat crow regarding the HP Photosmart series. The Pro B9180 was just stellar, and really is worth the money for those looking to produce professional quality prints on a smallish budget. It’s definitely one of the best photo printer units out there right now.

A look at the Samsung CLP-315 gives a good indication that manufacturers of laser printers are heading in the right direction at least. This particular laser printer packs a solid punch, and at a reasonable price. The CLP-315 is the successor to the CLP-300, which was in itself an adequate model. But several improvements have helped to make the CLP-315 a definite step up.

Size is a factor in laser printing for personal use, and this model is one of the smallest yet. Weighing in at around 25 pounds, the CLP-315 is light, compact, and easy to install. Simply unpack the printer, hook it up, and go. The initial cartridge ships right in the unit, so no preparation is necessary for it.

Printing speeds, while much faster than any inkjet printer, can be a bit slow for a laser printer. But for the price it is not that much of an issue. It is rated at about 4 pages per minute for color.  Most color laser printers of this speed tend to be much larger, and not suited for personal use.

Output quality is what we’re really after here, and the CLP-315 does a satisfactory job printing graphics and photos both. Though the final product tends to be less than actual photo quality, the improving performance of laser printers like the CLP-315 provides a glimmer of hope for laser photo printing. The typical defects of laser photo printing are here, though they seem to be minimized as much as possible given the price point and technology. Issues such as dithering and paper distortion can occasionally rear their ugly heads, but this happens much less than you might expect. The fills from the CLP-315 are accurate and fairly smooth. Colors are bright as well.

Overall, laser printers such as the Samsung CLP-315 do an amiable job as photo printers given their limitations. While still not the best choice for high quality photo output, this laser printer is enough to convince anyone that this technology is not yet out of the game!

ZINK™ is a product of the genius at ZINK Imaging, Inc., a Massachusetts based company with a manufacturing facility in North Carolina (to manufacture the special ZINK™ paper). Founded in 2005, the company is a mish-mash of digital imaging experts, scientists, and business professionals, with the goal of getting their new technology in to as many consumer homes as possible. Through a network of partnerships, ZINK™ has become a well known inkless alternative in the imaging community.

The key to ZINK™ is in the paper. Manufactured in house, ZINK™ paper contains all the elements needed to produce lush, inkless photos. By all appearances, the ZINK™ paper looks like any other photo paper. Only when activated by a ZINK™ enabled printing device, through a heating process, does the difference become readily apparent. Zink Amorphochromic™ Dye Crystals, embedded within the ZINK™ paper, activate during a special heating process. This brings the cyan, magenta, and yellow colors alive. . . along with a special polymer coating. The process is similar to the dye sublimation process, except that there are no special layers, or panels, required to produce color. All that is needed is stored safely within the ZINK™ paper. The heating process uses highly specific heat “pulses” to determine which color of the rainbow that each crystal will produce. It’s a truly remarkable process that’s taken years for the team at ZINK™ to develop.

Current partnerships with Tomy, Polaroid, Dell, and others have made it possible for ZINK Imaging, Inc. to get several models of ZINK™ enabled products to the market. Pricing for these products is very reasonable, as one can pick up a ZINK™ enabled device for around $100 pretty easily.

As with dye sublimation printing, the downside to printing with ZINK™ is the limit on paper selection. ZINK™ paper is a bit expensive, though the cost per print may be on par with many inkjet printers depending on the costs of the cartridges. The biggest issue is the size limitation, which currently resides at 4 x 6. There are also 2 x 3 and 3 x 4 sizes, but 4 x 6 is the maximum size at this point. Still, there is always the possibility of larger paper sizes if manufacturers of ZINK™ enabled printing devices decide that there is a market for it.

Overall, ZINK™ is an exciting development in the photo printing community. Whether or not it becomes the dominant form of photo printing in the future remains to be seen, but it gives us a clear indication that new and better tech will eventually get us away from cartridges permanently.

Unlike inkjet and laser printers, a dye-sublimation printer uses heat to activate the transfer of dyes onto the page. 4 “panels” contain the dyes used to transfer. Each is the same size as that of the medium being printed on. The color selection is cyan, magenta, yellow, and a special overcoating which acts in place of black. This overcoating also adds a layer of protection to the medium so that it is water resistant as well as resistant to UV light.
Probably the most unique and interesting aspect of the dye-sublimation printing cycle is that rapid changes in the heat expelled from the printing head produces the color changes present in the image being produced. The rollers move the page as heat diffuses the dye and it becomes solid ink immediately thereafter. After this is done with all four “panels”, the image is ready.
Some negatives of using dye-sublimation printing is the fact that printing is limited to the special paper exclusive to them. Also, sizes are fixed to that of the printer. Images produced through these types of printers are suitable for photo printing, but for graphic design elements and similar object printing, the prints can be inferior to that of today’s more advanced inkjet printers.
Pricing for dye-sublimation printers varies, though you can typically find models from top manufacturers in the $100 and up range. This is very competitive with inkjet as well as some laser printers.

Santa’s Personal Favorite (We Think)

Personal inkjet photo printers are a dime a dozen these days. Only a select few manufacturers really dominate this category, and Canon is one of them. So what is so great about the Canon PIXMA iP4820 Premium Inkjet Photo Printer? Probably the fact that it delivers very high quality photo prints at amazing speeds for really cheap. It has not one, but two 150 page paper trays. This means you could load photo and standard printing paper, allowing you to put those 5 cartridges to work between the two without moving a muscle. Auto-duplexing is standard with the iP4820, allowing for easy two-sided printing as well. It prints at lightning speeds (tops in it’s class, actually) without sacrificing output quality. Speaking of output, the photo print quality is probably on par with your standard lab prints, which is quite high for a personal inkjet at this price range. As a personal inkjet printer, it truly stands out above the competitors and does an amiable job as a dedicated photo printer. Sure, more expensive professional units can outperform the iP4820, but as is typical with that class of dedicated photo printers, the price is a huge deterrent to your average shopper. The iP4820 would make a fine addition to any Christmas list this year.

Professional results without the “Professional” price tag

No doubt about it, Canon knows how to make an amazing photo printer for less. Perhaps you’ve perused some of the other previous posts here and become familiar with the sparkling history of Canon’s Pixma Pro series. This year, they have done it again. Though the Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II Inkjet Photo Printer has only experienced modest improvements over the original Pixma Pro9500, they are improvements worth mentioning (and paying for). The most notable improvement is print speed. While still clocking in a little slow, the Mark II version of the Pro9500 is faster than it’s predecessor, with NO loss in output quality. Few professionals lend much weight to print speed, but the increase is a pleasant addition for those of us just looking for a good photo printer for around the house. Moreover, the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II produces lush, spot on prints every time. Though it is an inkjet, gradients flow beautifully from it’s 10 different cartridges and there is consistent tint throughout the print. Even the most ardent professionals will see this baby as a great investment with such premium output results. It is designed to work with a plethora of quality paper, but shines with the “fine art” papers. It can accommodate sizes up to 13 by 19 in this regard. It uses your standard USB connection with the option to print directly from your camera. On the downside (because you knew there would be one), the Mark II wont be fitting in anyone’s stocking this year, as it is a bit on the large side (34 pounds), and will require plenty of surface space in order to properly feed it. Even so, the Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II is among the top tier of professional quality photo printers, for less.

Have a Multi-Functional Christmas

Perhaps the individual you’re shopping for this year would really like to have a nice photo printer, but they really need something that does more than just print pretty pictures. Thankfully, Hewlett-Packard has a solution for them. Introducing the Photosmart Premium Fax eAIO (All-In-One) Printer. First, rest assured that simply because this is a MFP (Multi-Function Printer) is no reason to dismiss it’s photo printing ability. On the contrary, the PPF eAIO can produce vivid, lab quality output and at a reasonable 3 ppm (page per minute) speed. It boasts above average photo quality for an inkjet, utilizing it’s 5 ink cartridges pretty well. Only an occasional artifact may appear during heavy printing, barely noticeable if at all. It’s additional features include scanning, copying, and faxing. You can even scan to a memory card or USB drive if you so desire. It’s a bit on the heavy side, weighing in at around 23 pounds, and it can hold around 125 pages in the tray, 50 in the document feeder, and 20 in a separate photo tray. It supports eprinting (e-mailing of photos for it to print directly) and wireless printing as well. All of the additional features provide for a very suitable multi-function machine for around the house or at the office, but the higher quality of the photo printing function really makes this a great choice for those who can’t (or simply don’t want to) settle for a photo printer only.

The Power of the “Cube”

This next device falls squarely in the camp of AWESOME! With millions of people all over the world living on a steady diet of mobile device candy, it was inevitable that the printer industry would capitalize on the craze. And thanks to the new VuPoint Solutions Photo Cube, the holidays will indeed be “Merry & Bright”. So, what makes this little puppy such a great gift this season? Where to begin. For starters, it works with the latest and greatest mobile devices on the market. This includes the iPhone 4, Android, iPad, iPod, etc. More and more people are using mobile powerhouse devices as their “camera” of choice (as proven by the massive number of photos uploaded to sharing sites on the web from said devices), and the VuPoint Photo Cube makes it extremely easy to get those digital photos onto physical paper quickly. The “Cube” uses the latest thermal dye technology to print good quality 4 x 6 photos, simply by docking your device to it and starting the necessary app. It utilizes only one cartridge, which can print up to 36 images (it comes with a trial cartridge which can print 16 images). It prints at a brisk speed, and you have the option of grouping images at smaller resolutions onto one print in various patterns. Unfortunately, the VuPoint Photo Cube is exclusive to the previously mentioned mobile devices. You can’t use it to print images from your computer, USB device, or memory card. However, for the mobile device junkie in your family, it is guaranteed to make their’s a “Holly Jolly” Christmas.

Be sure to check out our last post for more good photo printer gift choices by clicking here!