The photo printers that use multiple ink cartridges (4 to 8 ink cartridges) provide better quality, sharper and clearer pictures. Most of these printers use 4 colors (cyan, yellow, magenta, and black).

Many photo printers additionally use light cyan and light magenta. And a few printers also use red and green or red and blue in addition to the other 6 colors. The photo printers that use multiple ink cartridges are inexpensive to maintain as you can replace only the color that is empty. There is an added option to use a gray ink cartridge in some of the photo printers. If you opt to get this cartridge, you will have better quality rich blacks, whites and grays. Some photo printers provide long lasting fade -resistant photo prints that keep their colors for many years.

Also consider the paper handling features of the photo printer when buying it. What is the paper capacity? Depending on how often you will print, you can determine how many sheets your printer should hold to suit your needs. Usually personal printers hold 100 to 300 sheets which is quite sufficient. What type of media does the photo printer accept? Can it print on thicker papers for example? Some can also print on envelopes. If you are looking to use different media such as postcards, envelopes, glossy photo papers, transparencies, or iron-on transfer sheets, make sure to get one that accepts these kinds. Most personal photo printers handle letter and legal size paper. Some photo printers also provide double -sided printing. With some photo printers you have the option of printing directly on CD’s.

Some photo printers have two built -in paper trays of different sizes which allow you to print photos without switching paper. On some printers, you can even fill one tray with photo paper and the other with plain stock.

When buying your photo printer, ensure it comes with a warranty and that you carefully review the coverage. Get written explanations of your printer’s warranty explaining its coverage. Get a warranty that covers all the parts (and labor) of your printer’s components. Get information on website services of your printer’s manufacturer. Find out where and in which circumstances you will be allowed the services and how much they will cost you. If you know that you will use the photo printer excessively, we recommend buying an additional warranty from the store where you purchase the printer. Test your printer immediately after buying it.

Epson Picturemate Deluxe offers fast and easy photo printing, editing and printing at home or office. You can print your photos on glossy 4×6 paper. With this photo printer, it is a quick process to make a direct printing from any PictBridge compatible digital camera and memory cards, and you don’t need a PC. You can view your images in clear details on its photo viewer. Epson Picturemate Deluxe lacks an adapter for mini SD cards.

This is truly a very good medium level photo printer. Here are some of the important specifications and features (and my comments) of Epson Picturemate Deluxe:

* There are a lot of image options, including mini-wallets, fun Disney borders, and Borderless

* Premium 2.4-inch photo viewer for selecting and editing photos makes the selecting and printing of the photo pretty good

* Direct photo printing from popular digital camera memory cards without a PC with memory slots of all sizes

* It uses the Advanced Micro-Piezo ink jet print technology that is optimized for photo printing

* Up to 5,760 x 1,440 color dpi resolution which is more than any normal home user would probably need

* Printer supports CompactFlash Type I and II, Secure Digital (SD), MMC, Memory Stick (including PRO, Duo, MagicGate), SmartMedia, Microdrive xD-Picture Card

* ContrastPLUS 5-color ink system; built-in two-sided printing (again great for a home printer, you probably will not use it a lot but still is good to have)

* Printer ink cartridges: T5570 ink cartridge (6 Color) (PrintPack)

Here what comes in the regular box: Epson PictureMate Deluxe printer, power cable, starter PictureMate photo printer ink cartridge, 20 sheets of PictureMate Photo Paper, CD-ROM, user guides; Epson Software Film Factory (PC and Macintosh compatible, P.I.M. and Exif Print-enabled0029

The street price of this printer ranges between $175 and $250 but this is only a part of the story as we all know. It is the supplies that will make the bulk of the cost of ownership.
With Epson PictureMate deluxe, printer supplies cost seems to be reasonable with OEM cartridge being about $35. There are also quality compatible cartridges that you can use for about only $12 or so.

Now lets calculate the true cost of ownership (per month) of this printer. This is how we calculate cost of ownership of a printer: “number of prints per month” times “cost of the printer cartridge” divided by “the yield of the printer cartridge”.

For example, lets assume that you will print 20 photos per month using this printers ink cartridge set that yields about 20 photos and a set of cartridges cost $35 for the genuine Epson brand ink cartridges. The monthly “cost of ownership” is then

(20 photos) x ($35) / 20 pages = $35 / month. A little pricey, but if you were using the Epson compatible replacement cartridges (good quality ones exist and comparable to OEMs unless you are in professional photography printing of course), the cost of ownership would be a much more reasonable of about $12 / month with the same formula.

Digital photography has advanced a great deal recently and has become the preferred method for most photography lovers. The number of people who print their own pictures with photo printers is increasing day by day.

If you want to start taking and printing your own digital photographs at home or office yet do not know how to choose a photo printer, you’ll definitely want to read on.

Types of Photo Printers

Types of photo printers vary and options on offer are mainly inkjet photo printers, portable photo printers, all-in-one photo printers, dedicated photo printers and professional photo printers.

Almost all the new photo printers in the market today provide great quality photo printing. Whether they are quite affordable or more expensive, most of them provide similar photo quality. Where they differ is usually with regards to their speed and features.

If you will be printing snapshots to share with friends and family, almost any inkjet photo printer will be fine for you. However, if you want to frame and display your photos or perhaps hang them on the wall in your home, you’ll need further consideration in choosing the right photo printer. Canon PIXMA iP5000, HP Photosmart 8450 and Epson Stylus Photo R800 are some examples of current popular inkjet photo printers.

Dedicated photo printers are built around thermal-dye technology. The maximum print size on these printers is often 4 x 6 inches. Within the same category, there are dedicated photo printers with larger output, up to 4 x 8 inches or 5 x 7 inches, and lightweight inkjets with a maximum 4 x 6 output size. The dedicated photo printers offer very good to excellent output; although they may offer a limited choice in paper size. If the only choice the printer offers is 4 x 6 inches and you want credit card -size prints, for example, you’ll either have to print two or three photos on the same sheet or waste some photo paper which may be very costly for you in the long term. Epson PictureMate
and Canon Pixma iP6000D are some examples of current popular dedicated photo
printers.

Some of the all-in-one printe rs also offer extra features for photo printing. With some
of them you can print photos directly from your camera without connecting to a PC.
Others offer a button for a proof sheet showing every photo on the card. You can select
the shots you want to print with a pen by filling in the ovals that appear under each
proof-sheet image and it will automatically print only the photos you select. HP OfficeJet
4215, HP PSC 1315 and Canon PIXMA MP780 are some examples of current popular all-in-one photo printers.

Professional photo printers are mostly used by professional photographers and
graphic artists and provide larger outputs as a general rule. They are likely to need a
minimum of 11 x 17 inches (tabloid size) or 13 x 19 inches (super-tabloid size).
Professio nals may also need poster size. Professional photo printers usually include
network connections, so you can share the printer in an office or a graphic-arts
department. HP Photosmart 8750 Professional and Epson Stylus Photo R1800 are some
examples of current popular professional photo printers.

A portable photo printer is a good choice for you if you are planning to print on the go. Most portable printers offer a good print quality and are usually light weighted (between 2 to 5 pounds) and conveniently sized. HP PhotoSmart 375 and Canon PIXMA iP90 are some examples of current popular portable photo printers.