The market in photo printers is huge and rather than suggest a particular brand or model there are a number of things to consider before handing over your money.
Photo Printers use either Dye based Inks or Pigment Inks.
Epson was the first company to ship a printer based that used pigment inks, which are made up of tiny, encapsulated particles that sit on top of the paper, instead of being absorbed into a paper's fibers, which is what happens with dyes.
The most important reasons for using pigment inks are archival print life and color stability. The dye inks used in most early inkjet printers exhibited signs of fading or shifts in color after a short period of time (as quickly as days, in some cases). As a result, the graphic art and fine art markets turned to pigment inks. Pigment inks are much more stable and can last more than 200 years on some paper types under ideal (museum-quality lighting and framing) conditions.
The Paper you use is as important as the ink in measuring print life. Glossy papers, with their slick finishes, are usually the worst offenders in terms of print life, but any paper with so-called optical brighteners€"used to make a paper's finish bright, bright white€"will have some issues with either ultraviolet light or atmospheric pollutants , like ozone, which can quickly break down dye inks on unprotected prints. It's usually best to use paper produced by the same company that manufactured the printer. Remember printer companies make their money from selling you the ink and paper rather than the printer itself. You may think the printer is cheap but you'll be surprised how expensive running it is.
Pigment inks aren't perfect€"they're generally more expensive than dye inks, and they don't have the brightness and broad color range (or gamut) that dye inks have. And, most printer manufacturers continue to push the print longevity of dye inks. Many dye-based prints, kept under glass and away from direct light, can last for up to 25 or 30 years, which is more than adequate for most of us. But some tests show that some dye/paper combinations show archival life of nearly 100 years, that's the primary reason why dye printers aren't going away any time soon.
Another problem that some early pigment inks had was a phenomenon called metamerism, which is essentially the human eye detecting a shift in color when viewing a print under different light sources. For example, an image might look normal under fluorescent light, but exhibit a greenish color cast when viewed outside in bright daylight or under a reading lamp. Metamerism plagued the first generation of pigment inks, but Epson, who pioneered pigment inks as a mainstream technology, worked extensively to reduce this (through more chemistry than I need to know about), and companies like Canon and HP are reaping the benefits of Epson's initial forays into this market.
Custom inks
In addition to the big three printer manufacturers, a small cottage industry composed of third-party vendors has arisen that provides custom ink sets. I'm not talking about the low-cost cartridge-refilling companies; I'm referring to companies who have created a wide range of pigment ink sets that work in commercial printers and provide even greater tonal range for specific printing needs, most commonly (but not limited to) black and white images, especially some of the split-toning methods that originated in the darkroom. Cone, for example were one of the first companies to use quadtone black inks, four black inks of varying densities that produced truly neutral (or custom-toned) monochrome prints of stunning quality.
The bottom line
When thinking about why you would want a more expensive, pigment-based printer and specialized papers, there is one compelling reason: money. If you are a photographer or an artist looking to sell your work, the stability and longevity of pigment-ink-based prints means that you can do so without worrying about a buyer coming back in a year complaining that your print has yellowed or turned green. Remember also to choose good quality paper.
I've used printers from all the big manufacturers over the years but having spent many years producing traditional wet process prints I have to say I've always been disappointed with the results from a desktop printer. I use my local pro lab for all my printing, I find that you still can't beat a print produced in a lab or print produced using traditional wet process techniques, particularly with black and white. Short runs of colour prints (under 5) are cheaper to do at home than at your local pro lab. But I think it's cheaper to do a run of 20 A4 prints at your local pro lab than it is to do it at home.
More here: http://www.weddingphotographerslondon.uk.com/
Photo Printers use either Dye based Inks or Pigment Inks.
Epson was the first company to ship a printer based that used pigment inks, which are made up of tiny, encapsulated particles that sit on top of the paper, instead of being absorbed into a paper's fibers, which is what happens with dyes.
The most important reasons for using pigment inks are archival print life and color stability. The dye inks used in most early inkjet printers exhibited signs of fading or shifts in color after a short period of time (as quickly as days, in some cases). As a result, the graphic art and fine art markets turned to pigment inks. Pigment inks are much more stable and can last more than 200 years on some paper types under ideal (museum-quality lighting and framing) conditions.
The Paper you use is as important as the ink in measuring print life. Glossy papers, with their slick finishes, are usually the worst offenders in terms of print life, but any paper with so-called optical brighteners€"used to make a paper's finish bright, bright white€"will have some issues with either ultraviolet light or atmospheric pollutants , like ozone, which can quickly break down dye inks on unprotected prints. It's usually best to use paper produced by the same company that manufactured the printer. Remember printer companies make their money from selling you the ink and paper rather than the printer itself. You may think the printer is cheap but you'll be surprised how expensive running it is.
Pigment inks aren't perfect€"they're generally more expensive than dye inks, and they don't have the brightness and broad color range (or gamut) that dye inks have. And, most printer manufacturers continue to push the print longevity of dye inks. Many dye-based prints, kept under glass and away from direct light, can last for up to 25 or 30 years, which is more than adequate for most of us. But some tests show that some dye/paper combinations show archival life of nearly 100 years, that's the primary reason why dye printers aren't going away any time soon.
Another problem that some early pigment inks had was a phenomenon called metamerism, which is essentially the human eye detecting a shift in color when viewing a print under different light sources. For example, an image might look normal under fluorescent light, but exhibit a greenish color cast when viewed outside in bright daylight or under a reading lamp. Metamerism plagued the first generation of pigment inks, but Epson, who pioneered pigment inks as a mainstream technology, worked extensively to reduce this (through more chemistry than I need to know about), and companies like Canon and HP are reaping the benefits of Epson's initial forays into this market.
Custom inks
In addition to the big three printer manufacturers, a small cottage industry composed of third-party vendors has arisen that provides custom ink sets. I'm not talking about the low-cost cartridge-refilling companies; I'm referring to companies who have created a wide range of pigment ink sets that work in commercial printers and provide even greater tonal range for specific printing needs, most commonly (but not limited to) black and white images, especially some of the split-toning methods that originated in the darkroom. Cone, for example were one of the first companies to use quadtone black inks, four black inks of varying densities that produced truly neutral (or custom-toned) monochrome prints of stunning quality.
The bottom line
When thinking about why you would want a more expensive, pigment-based printer and specialized papers, there is one compelling reason: money. If you are a photographer or an artist looking to sell your work, the stability and longevity of pigment-ink-based prints means that you can do so without worrying about a buyer coming back in a year complaining that your print has yellowed or turned green. Remember also to choose good quality paper.
I've used printers from all the big manufacturers over the years but having spent many years producing traditional wet process prints I have to say I've always been disappointed with the results from a desktop printer. I use my local pro lab for all my printing, I find that you still can't beat a print produced in a lab or print produced using traditional wet process techniques, particularly with black and white. Short runs of colour prints (under 5) are cheaper to do at home than at your local pro lab. But I think it's cheaper to do a run of 20 A4 prints at your local pro lab than it is to do it at home.
More here: http://www.weddingphotographerslondon.uk.com/
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