By Calvin Siew
20/03/2003
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/digitalliving/tips/0,3800004921,39121551,00.htm

	A dye-sublimation printer

One of the current developments in the industry is the demand for photo printers. With the digital camera market expanding, manufacturers have been spurred on to increase quality while reducing costs to gain market share in this newly profitable business.

As the rise of such units came so quickly, some end-users are having difficulty choosing one and are often confused by the jargon.

	A photo inkjet

When looking for a photo printer, your decision will most likely come down to buying a dye-sublimation printer (dot-free printing) or an inkjet printer. There are a few considerations when picking. We will focus on: Cost; terms of usage; quality; speed; and of course, ease of use.

The five key factors

Costs

|

Usage

|

Quality

|

Speed

|

Ease

|

In Summary

The five key factors

Cost of consumables and printer

If you’re a budget user, there’s no need to even consider dye-sublimation (dye-sub) as, besides the startup cost of the printer, each 8R prints is expensive, with some brands ranging from S$5 to S$7. If budget is a big issue to you, look no further than inkjets. Inkjets provide good value for money as such printers can be had without high overheads and running costs. With the money saved by choosing inkjets, you could give yourself a better digital imaging experience by perhaps purchasing better photo-editing software and media.

What do you intend to use it for?

How and what you intend to use the device for also has a bearing on suitability. Is it just going to be a dedicated photo printing unit? If the answer is no, start listing out what tasks you’ll require it to perform. Between the inkjet and dye-sub technologies, you’ll find that the inkjet is inherently able to perform other office tasks without incurring high costs and with compatibility with lots of print media.

Quality or quantity?

These two really go hand-in-hand to a certain extent. If you want fastest prints, more often than not you’ll lose quality in some form or another. Quality is known to be rather subjective. The best way to decide what constitutes good quality to you is to actually obtain sample prints. It’s a good thing today that most manufacturers actually provide specimens from the units they are selling. This way, you can judge the printers individually. Between dye-sub and inkjet technologies, you’ll find that dye-sub brings out the best reproduction in terms of both subtle and continuous tone images. This is not to say that inkjets can’t produce good-quality photos. In fact, with specially coated papers, users will find most inkjets performing up to their expectations.

What's your speed limit?

Patience may be a virtue, but in our day and age, time has become rather tight. Most users have difficulty fitting things to do in one day and every minute counts for such people. Currently, inkjet print speeds vary from model to model, with dye-sub printers performing faster in most instances. Users are advised to check reviews of these units and decide what is acceptable.

Is it easy to use?

The last thing that anyone wants is to spend a rather large sum of money on something they are afraid to use. There really is no point to buying the absolute “best” equipment on the market, only to dread using it. Different manufacturers go about seemingly similar tasks in different ways. Always make the salesperson work when buying a product. Ask for a demonstration, especially for tasks that you want the unit to perform. This way you can get a feel of how the printer and its utilities interact with you.

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.