Digital Photo Tips by Duane Brovan

 

Personal Color Printers!

If you plan on printing out your own digital photos, you will need a color printer connected to your computer. There are many types of personal printers on the market some are good for printing photos or text and some both. Here we will concentrate on Color Printers that are used to print color photos. These printers can range in price from $50-$5,000 with the typical printer costing around $200. Some of you might need help in connecting and setting up your printer to your computer. Most printers have specific programs (drivers) to work with your computer and they have to be loaded and turned on before the computer and printer can communicate together.

 Types of Color Printers and Papers:

Not all color printers can print Photo Quality Prints. If color photo quality prints are what you want, get a printer that states “Photo Quality” prints. They will print plain color prints and also Photo Lab quality prints only if a special “Glossy Photo Paper” is used. Some papers and printers can print “Archival Quality Prints” which means their prints should keep bright color for 50+ years. Typical photo prints can start to fade in months, especially, if placed in a location where the sun hits them. One good thing about taking your own digital photo is that you can always reprint the photo! For most persons a printer that will print Archival Quality Prints is too expensive $500+. Best to use a Print Lab (either in Redding or On-line). At first I would use a local lab, that way they can help you with the color adjustments to your prints.

Monitor vs. Photo Print

(what you isn’t what you get!): Once you start printing your color photos you will notice that what you see on your monitor does not look at all like the print you just printed! This happens because your printer and monitor are not “Color Matched”. For most a trial and error period will happen. Use the smallest size Glossy Photo Quality Paper your printer will handle and test print after each adjustment attempt. After awhile you will know that you have to add a specific color even if it looks right on your monitor.

Useful Tips:

Always use the same brand paper and inks as your printer (i.e. HP Printer, HP papers, and HP Ink Cartridges). You can void your warranty if you don’t use the same brand of paper and inks. Plus, the printer is matched to its specific paper and inks giving you the best possible print. Modern “Glossy Photo Paper” is similar to the old Polaroid photos, they develop after they have been printed out. They are specially designed to work together in this developing process and using a different brand could create problems (big problems)! Let your glossy photo print dry for a day, if possible, before you handle it. New printers usually come with partially filled ink cartridges. So make sure to purchase an extra set of ink cartridges when getting the new printer. As with digital cameras there are many choices for a person to make when picking out a “Photo Quality Printer”. It would be advisable to get good competent advise from a person knowledgeable in the entire digital photo process prior to the purchase of a photo printer. Once you get the whole process down you will enjoy a great freedom in what you can see hanging on your wall. For more information on the digital photo process go to web link: www.duanebrovan.com/digitaltips or go to www.GoShingletown.com and click on the Free Digital Tips Icon

Duane Brovan is available for digital photo consultations and tutoring:

Call 474-4041 Email: Duane@DuaneBrovan.com Visit: www.duanebrovan.com/digitaltips