Everything You Need to Know About Photo Printers
The advent of the digital camera has caused many people to choose to print their own photographs rather than going to a photo developing store to have the photos developed. This has led to printer distributing companies to launch photo printers made specifically for this purpose.
The Difference between Photo Printers and Standard Printers
Unlike standard printers, photo printers can be used without connecting it onto a computer unit. Instead, photo printers are equipped with memory card readers and USB ports. Through these, the printer can print out all the pictures stored inside a digital camera and memory card.
Another difference between standard printers and photo printers is that these printers use what is called thermal dye technology. Inkjet printers spray the ink onto the paper during the printing process through fine nozzles found on the printer head. Photo printer heads melts various dyes from a dye ribbon onto the photo paper, which is often glossy in quality. This prevents any smearing to occur while the printed photo paper is allowed to dry. The method also gives your pictures a more natural and less pixilated appearance.
Also photo printers are less flexible than standard printers. Photo printers are manufactured for the sole purpose of printing photographs. This means that you would need to use a separate standard printer for printing texts.
How do Photo Printers Work?
Instead of using ink cartridges, photo printers use a cellophane roll. These rolls contain a section for the colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black. It also contains a section for a clear overcoat which is placed after the entire picture is printed.
The photo paper goes through heated printer heads and comes into contact with the cellophane roll. The dye from the cellophane roll then vaporizes and then saturates the surface of the photo paper. The change of the temperature when the vapor comes into contact with the photo paper turns the vapors back into solid form.
Common brands of Photo Printers
The most common brands of Photo printers are:
Epson
Canon
Hewlett Packard
Kodak
Brother
Things to Remember when You Buy a Photo Printer
Many standard printers are able to print out high quality photographs very close to photo printers. However, because photo printers can only print photographs, it is best to buy a photo printer only if you would need to print out large quantities of photographs as these could be more expensive than standard printers.
Check the features of the photo printer before you make a purchase. To get the optimum photo printer for your needs, it is best to get one that would allow you to print different sizes of pictures, able to print high quality colored and black and white pictures and compact so you could be able to bring this along with you to easily print out your pictures.
This Article is written by John C Arkin from MyOfficePortal.org the contributor of Office Supplies Information & Resources. More information on the subject is at Everything You Need To Know About Photo Printers, and related resources can be found at Best Photo Printers for Small Business.
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