Does the perfect photo printer exist? Unfortunately, what may be ideal for others may not be right for you. And if you're the kind who prefers to buy based on looks, be prepared for the possibility of bringing home a lemon. To help you choose a photo printer that's right for you, we've listed out the specs to watch out for.

	Printers specs			What to look for
	Resolution/quality Speed Connectivity Versatility Ink and media Noise, size, weight Running costs Compatibility Price and support			Print resolution/quality Print resolution is usually specified in dpi or dots per inch. While it's true that with higher resolution comes sharper images, in the world of photo printing this may not always tell the full story. For instance, an inkjet printer with a resolution of 2,400dpi may not give as good an output as a dye-sub with 300dpi. This is due to the fact that for inkjets, each dot is actually a cluster of many drops of ink. Dye-subs on the other hand, produce continuous tone images which allow for solid colors. Also, when photo printing, we're not only concerned about sharpness, color gradations are also important. Gradation refers to a way of combining elements (color in this case) by using a series of gradual changes. Nothing hurts an image more than this factor as the resulting picture will look totally unnatural. In order to achieve good color gradients, printers employ halftone algorithms. Halftone is a tone or value halfway between a highlight and a dark shadow. Through these algorithms, the printer is able to trick the human eye into believing a bigger range of colors by varying the size, pattern, and number of dots. It's no secret that a larger palette of colors will allow for a better blend, resulting in more realistic outputs. Some manufacturers have been able to prove the advantages of improving color print quality via increasing the number of colors per dot rather than boosting resolution or dpi. They also showed that by just enhancing resolution, you'd sacrifice speed and encounter problems with excessive ink on plain paper. Hence, it is important to look out for both the resolution (dpi; the larger the number, the better) and ink drop volumes (usually in picolitres; the smaller, the better). The combination will give you a better understanding of the print quality of the unit. A good starting value would probably be something in the order of 4,800dpi and 2 to 4picolitres.

 

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