I had an Epson photo printer that was dissapointing and is sitting in the floor now waiting for my next trip to the recycling center. My intention was to go solely with a service - was using Wal-Mart because I could get them next day for 19 cents a print, same day for a little more.
However, with an artist wife, two kids with school projects and my own amateur photography hobbying, there was still a need/desire to be able to print photos at home. Local radio station has a computer guy show on weekends and after listening to a show that was dedicated to photo printers I bought a Canon Pixma ip6600D. Less than $200 bucks, variety of photo sizes, drinks a lot less ink than the Epson did, and print quality is great. It's not what I consider large, but may not be what you think of when you think portable. Looks like about 14"x10"x6" - with the ability to fold everything up so it can be a basic square shape when not in use.
Lots of our stuff still goes to Wal-Mart, but rush jobs and creative work gets done here on the Canon. I bought PhotoShop Elements and I get a lot of good comments on some of the things I have been doing. My aunt recently saw a photo of her parents that started with a photo that she had made years ago by taking of a copy of the original 1930 photo (her thumb was visible on the edge). She demanded to know where I had gotten my copy and didn't believe it was from her photo until I showed her how I did it.
The quality of the prints that this printer produces is as good as anything I've gotten from Wal-Mart. The only drawback is that you have to let them dry for 24 hours before you handle them, put them in a frame, etc. Anything less than that and the finish tends to be too fragile to stand up to contact without smearing, or otherwise ruining the image.
renegade said:
I am a semi-pro (digital) photographer and I use a Canon printer for proofs, but never for a print I expect to sell. If I am selling it or plan for it to last many years, only a real photo-lab print will do.
It took a little experimenting before I found the right combination of paper, printer settings and software to get it right. I was very surprised to find that which program I chose to hit the print button from made a big difference in how the prints turned out. I can use PhotoShop Elements to create the image and then use three different programs to open the file and print it without any further editing and the three prints all come out looking differently. Basic photos without editing printed here on the Canon or at Wal-Mart look nearly identical (some differences in hues). I am going to experiment by printing one of my edited photos here and then taking it on disc to the local photo lab and have them make a print so I can compare the two.
(DW)
