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Understanding Printing Digital Images Part Two


People who own a computer usually have a printer, many times a printer that is able to print digital photos. Following are some tips so that you can get the best pictures when you are printing your own images.

Every big manufacturer of printers makes their own ink and paper. For most images that you print you can use almost any type of ink and paper; however when you want to get the best color reproduction for your photos you will want to use the brand of ink and paper that matches your printer. Every paper brand will be formulated to give you the best results for a certain brand of ink. If you start mixing brands you'll get colors that appear altered.

When you are choosing the paper that you're going to print your digital photos on you might be tempted to buy archival paper which is often considered to stop your pictures from fading over 20 years. This type of paper is expensive so before you spend the money think about this: the bits and bytes of your digital images won't fade over time. You can reprint the digital images any time you want to recapture the original color.

However, this is not to say that the type of paper you use isn't important. You will need to buy specialized paper for photographs that has been designed for the inkjet printer. You can buy this type of paper in a variety of finishes such as mat or glossy. Make sure that you store the paper in a cool spot that is away from any direct sunlight. You will find that photographic paper costs more than regular paper for printing so you will want to watch how much you use and waste. You can use photo printing software to help you align your pictures on the paper so that the max amount of space is being used.

Ink for printing will also be quite expensive. So that you don't waste ink make sure that the settings on your printer are accurate for the type of image that you are going to be printing. For example, if you are printing a picture that has a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) you won't need to use the "best" or "high" setting on your printer. The "normal" setting should work just fine. When your printer is set to the "high" setting it will use up more ink and at the same time the image won't be any noticeably better if you're printing at 300 dpi or higher.

So how do you know if the image is 300 dpi? You can calculate this simply by dividing the dimensions of the image (in pixels) by 300. If your picture is 3000 pixels in width by 2100 pixels in height then the max size you can print will be 10" by 7" (at 300 dpi). You will be able to print pictures bigger than this (as low as 200 dpi) but if this is the case you won't want to choose the "best" printer setting in order to produce a good image.

Dedicated Printers

Another option to using an inkjet printer for your pictures is to buy a dedicated printer for your photos. These printers use a different technology for printing with the result being pictures that are very high quality. The disadvantage to dedicated printers is that they are often limited to a picture size of 4" by 6". Although the photos are quite small they will be easy to store.

Dedicated printers use what is called "thermal dye" technology. The dye on a ribbon is transferred to the plastic coating on the paper. The end result is a picture that looks much more like a traditional photograph than the pictures that are created with inkjet printers. Pictures from a dedicated printer will usually last longer than pictures from inkjet printers simply because of how the ink is put down on the paper. Every color is printed as a unique layer and this means that there is a finishing overcoat that protects the picture from deteriorating.

Dedicated printers are easy to use and usually come with editing functions that are basic. These printers can print images right from your digital camera, or memory card. If you buy a model that is battery operated you can use it anywhere.