Regular or super-sized? We check out six of
the latest options for high-quality inkjet photo printing at home
The entry list
1.
Canon PIXMA MG6250, $218
Unlike almost every other A4 colour printer
on the market, this one aims for high-fidelity black0nad-white photo output as
well
2.
Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II, $278
An extended range of eight dye-based inks,
including red and green, makes this A3+ printer a glossy colour specialist
3.
Canon PIXMA Pro-1, $585
Built like a tank and almost as heavy, the
new Pro-1 aims to steal Epson’s crown fir combined colour and black-and-white
A3+ printing
4.
Epson Stylus Photo PX830FWD, $630
With a conventional range of six dye-based
inks, there’s some old-school thinking behind this A4 printer, but it has
plenty of mod-cons too
5.
Epson Stylus Photo R2000, $1042.5
Pretty speedy for a pigment-based A3+
printer, the R2000 is well-connected with USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi built in
6.
Epson Stylus Photo R3000, $795
Epson’s top-of-the-range A3+ printer offers
famously excellent print quality but support for wide-ranging media comes with
hidden costs
There’s a lot to be said for a smartly
framed print hanging on the wall. You don’t need to power it up and wait while
an electronic gadget goes through all of its start-up procedure. It’s simply
there, ready and waiting for any time you want to look at it. What’s more,
print resolution is far higher than it would be on an electronic display
screen, whether it’s a handle device, a computer monitor or an HD television
set. Photo prints enable you to see your photos in all their glory.
There are also advantages to printing your
photos at home, rather than uploading images to an online lab. You’ll get the
finished article in a matter of minutes, or even seconds in some case, instead
of having to wait around for them to be delivered in the post. Better still, you
get full control over the whole process, so you can tweak relevant settings and
make any necessary adjustments to get exactly the results you want, fast.
The most mass-market printers these days
are so-called MFDs (Multi-Function Devices, also known as ‘all-in-one’
printers. These generally have a CIS (Contact Image Sensor), flatbed scanner
built into the top, enabling scanning and photocopying. They’re great for
documents and reasonably good for bringing old photo prints into the digital
world, but don’t quite match the image quality of top-notch, standalone photo
scanners like the Canon 9000F and Epson V600. The vast majority of MFDs also
lack a film-scanning adaptor, so can’t be used for photographic transparencies
or negatives.
Most of the latest all-in-one printers
feature memory card readers and colour LCD screens, so you can print
photographs direct from a camera’s memory cards without even needing to switch
on your computer. However, an increasing number don’t include a CompactFlash
card slot, which can be a pain for some SLR users. As an alternative, many
printers have a PictBridge port, so you can connect your camera directly to the
printer for computer-free orienting. Even so, it’s most likely you’ll want to
edit your images on a computer to some degree before printing them, to make
degree before printing them, to make them look their best.
Naturally, an A4 photo print can look a bit
lost on a big wall. The next step up is an A3+ printer, which can create
borderless prints up to 483x329mm (19x13 inches) in size. At more than twice
the size of A4 prints, they give you much more of a wow factor, ultimately
though, no matter what size your photo prints, the most important factor is
image quality.
To produce a large colour range or gamut in
inkjet printing, there’s a tradition of using six different inks, adding light
cyan and light magenta to the basic CMYK mix. Epson still uses this range of
dye-based inks in many of its A4 Stylus Photo printers.
Dye hard
Many years ago, Canon switched to a system
that uses dye-based CMYK inks for 4A photo printing, plus a secondary
pigment-based black ink for document printing. The MG6250 also adds a grey
dye-based ink, which increase the gamut for colour printing and also makes for
better black-and-white photo prints without unwanted colour casts.
Dye-based
CMYK inks
Moving up to A3+ printers, most models
feature pigment-based inks. The molecules are rather larger than in dye-based
inks, so they tend to give more robust results, especially on matte photo
papers, which don’t have a glossy coating. This helps to avoid fading and gives
greater resistance to environmental factors like humidity and ultra-violet
rays. However, even dye-based prints should last for decades when framed, and
over 100 years when mounted in an album, if you use printer manufacturers’
genuine inks and photo papers.
One particular advantage if pigment-based
inks is that a matte black cartridge is often available. This gives a better
quality finish on matte media. However, as you’ll see in our Epson R3000
review, swapping between glossy and matte printing can come at a cost.
A downside of pigment-based inks is that
they can look uneven and have a lack of shine for glossy prints. Some
pigment-based printers therefore include a ‘gloss optimiser’ cartridge. This
applies an even finish over the ink once it’s laid onto glossy paper, to make
the print look smoother and shinier, as well as adding richness and vibrancy.
While many of the latest A4 printers are reducing
their number of inks from the conventional six, most A3+ printers go the other
way. Some add extra colours like red and green, as in the case of the dye-based
Canon Pro9000 Mark II, which extends the gamut for potentially stunning colour
quality. Others add extra mono cartridges, in various shades of grey, aiming
for the ultimate in black-and-white photo print quality, while still delivering
excellent colour output.
Let’s take a look at which printer will
suit you, and the way you work…
“Even dye-based prints should last for
decades when framed, or over 100 years in an album”
Shop smart: keep it real
Drop for drop ink is notorious for being
among the most expensive liquids you can buy over the counter. Internet stores
are awash with cheap alternatives to genuine ink cartridges, but what price
quality?
Cheap inks may enable decent results for
document printing but, when it comes to ensuring accurate colour rendition,
high levels of sharpness without colours bleeding into each other, and good
longevity without fading, it’s generally best to stick with the printer
manufacturer’s genuine ink cartridges.
The same usually holds true for photo
papers, as the ink and paper are designed to work together to maximize
performance. However, printer makers are increasingly supporting leading
independent brands of high-quality glossy and matte media, giving you more
choice in the papers you use.
