The pros and cons
| Inkjet |
Dye-Sublimation |
|
Technology |
An inkjet printer employs a non-impact method. It sprays extremely small ink droplets out of nozzles onto paper to create an image. | Dye-sub printers use dyes that are particularly stable and highly resistant to fading. The prints are made by applying heat to a ribbon. This produces a colored gas that dries on the specially coated paper. |
Advantages |
• Low cost.
• Ideal for businesses with low-volume printing solutions. |
• Best-quality
photo prints. • Reproduces good, subtle and continuous tone images. |
Disadvantages |
• Due to the
fibrous nature of paper, the sprayed-on ink dots are absorbed, yielding
less sharp edges and faded colors. Specially coated papers will most definitely
be required for photo prints. • Inkjet speeds are very slow. • Printing transparencies is much slower as the density of ink needs to be increased. |
• Expensive. • Require specially coated paper. |
Recommended
for |
Home or SOHO users. These printers are great for those who just require the occasional photo but who mainly do document prints. | • Graphic artists
and publishers who require the best-quality continuous tone output. • Professional photographers using digital cameras will appreciate the subtle details that dye-sub printers can produce. |
