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The digital age has put the photo printing industry just about out of business. You can take professional quality photos with your smartphone these days and print the picture at home. No reason to pay a fortune and wait days to get your pictures back.
Yet, many people don’t realize that to print professional style photos at home requires a little bit of know how. The learning curve is not at all steep, you just have to understand a few basics if you want to be happy with the results.
In this article, I will go over several things you can do to make sure your home printed photos look amazing.
Get a Photo Printer
There are printers that can print photos and then there are photo printers. They are limited in the sense that they can’t print out documents and scan things for you, but they do one thing and do it well.
If you plan to print lots of pictures then this type of printer will pay for itself. They work simply and are very easy to use, though most are geared towards serious amateur photographers.
When you don’t want a photo printer
Many all in one scanner and printers do an excellent job at printing quality photos. Epson and Brother are both very good brands that use inkjet printers to print photos.
Just make sure you have all the Brother drivers to use the printer effectively.
They might not give you the extras that you get from a photo printer, but with the right editing and settings you’ll get good results.
Look for a resolution of at least 4,800 x 1,200 dpi in color. The higher the resolution the crisper the details in the photos are going to be.
Watch out for fading
If you use a regular printer and want to hang your photos on the wall, be prepared for some fading. If you keep them in an album then they will be sealed away from the sunlight and will be safe.
On the wall they will fade over time. Use inks specifically formulated for photos that don’t use water in them.
Networking ability
If you take a lot of pictures with your phone, then you know what a pain it can be to get those pictures to your printer. Usually you have to share the pictures with your laptop or PC, then hook your computer up to your printer and then print.
With Wi-fi, you can send your pictures right from your phone to your printer in many cases. And with editing apps, you can have the photo set up to look extremely professional before you send it to the printer. And with the ease of putting a filter on.
Photo paper
Lastly, you’ll want to use the best photo paper to make sure that they print without streaking and get sealed just as a normal photo would do. That way they can be displayed without fading and look just like a picture should.