Typical home printers will contain three to four ink reservoirs, whereas top-end photographic printers may contain 10 or more reservoirs to bring out as much color and depth in prints as possible. Inkjet models, combined with photo paper specifically designed for photography, are often considered the best option – but if you want to mass-produce images for purposes such as marketing or flyers quickly (and with lower quality), a laser model is still a possible option.
You also need to consider the paper size of prints that you want, whether or not you need double-sided print capabilities, and if Wi-Fi connectivity or direct-from-card printing is important to you during workflows.
There are some printers, too, that are inexpensive to buy but require a second mortgage for the ink or toner. When you’re considering which printer suits you best, you should also consider whether you need one purely for photography purposes – or if you plan to combine black and white document printing and color photos, for example, it might even be worth preserving one solely for image work to cut down on ink costs.
Below, ZDNET has compiled our top picks for high-quality photo printers on the market that will suit a variety of purposes and budgets.
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The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 printer is for those looking to maximize the quality of their images in hard copy. The 17-inch wide-format printer comes with an 11-color setup and the Chroma Optimizer ink system, air feed, and nozzle monitor to improve the print speed and performance of the hardware.
HP’s Envy Photo 7155 is a wireless inkjet printer and scanner combination capable of printing at a resolution of up to 14 ISO ppm in black and up to 9 ISO ppm in color. You won’t get in-depth, extremely detailed print photos with the limit of a black and tri-color cartridge, but this is still a solid, affordable option for those on a budget.
HP’s Color LaserJet Pro is a wireless laser printer capable of printing at a resolution of up to 600dpi. This option should be considered if you also want a fast means to print documents, and also comes with options for letter and legal-size prints – making this printer an all-rounder for business and marketing printing purposes.
The Epson Expression Photo XP-970, the best all-in-one printer, is compact for small prints, copying, and scanning. While expensive, this model is focused on quality over size and provides wide-format borderless prints from an app, the cloud, USB flash drives, and memory cards, and does not require a PC to operate. This printer uses Claria Photo HD 227 ink cartridges.
Prints can be generated with up to 5760 x 1400 dpi at 8.5 ppm in black and 8 ppm in color.
If you’re looking for a mobile printing solution to produce hard image copies on the go, the Kodak Dock Plus instant photo printer is the best portable option. This mobile printer connects to your Android or iOS mobile device via Bluetooth and is able to print color images at a 4 x 6 ratio.
A printer, in the same way as a camera kit, can be an investment into a business or hobby alike – and so you should consider what you are willing to spend.
However, the more the number of tanks, the more it can cost to keep a printer running.
However, if you want quick prints for business and marketing materials in quantity, laser models might be the better bet.