Digital photo printing - without a PC!

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:00

IT Industry - Development

Digital camera owners are taking photos as never before, sharing them via email or on a website and burning them to CD and DVD. They're also choosing to do the traditional thing'¦ and print their photos. Only the good ones, of course.

After all, if you printed them all, you'd be awash in photos you didn't want, which is what used to happen when we only ever used traditional film cameras. But with digital technology, you can delete the photos you don't need and only print the good ones out.

So it should come as no surprise that photo printing at home has become very popular, giving us the closest thing possible to a 'digital Polaroid'. Indeed, almost any colour printer you buy today can easily take A4 and photo sized photographic paper, which you need to produce photo quality prints, with each photo usually taking about a minute to print.

Now, thanks to the latest portable photo printers, turning digital photos into regular photos you can put into an album or share with others is simple and satisfying. Not only is it fast at around 60 seconds per photo but it's quite affordable, with prices from under 50c through to around 80c per photo, depending on the brand and model of portable photo printer you buy. Better still, the latest colour inks and photo papers can produce photos that last up to and over 100 years when stored properly, or more than twice the life of traditional 'silver halide' film processed photos before they start fading. For more information on the life of digital prints go to www.wilhelm-research.com/4x6/WIR_4x6_Prints_2004_12_07.pdf and you can see the independent results for yourself.

There are two major printing technologies used with photo printers today. On is called 'dye sublimation' technology which uses rolls of coloured plastic sheets in a special cartridge to transfer your image onto photographic paper, with the end results being a printed photo in your hands. The second and arguably better technology is inkjet cartridges, as used in your existing colour inkjet printer. The major difference between 'dye sublimation' and colour inkjet technology is the lifespan of the photo under ideal conditions before fading starts to occur, and as evidenced by the Wilhelm research, this favours the latest inkjet photo printers.

Photo printers usually cost between $199 and $399. Some models also let you print photos wirelessly from your camera phone and others can take battery packs letting you print from anywhere - even in the middle of a park, making them even more useful in today's digitally connected world.

Let's take a look at the most popular portable photo printers on the market today. Note, more competitive prices can be found in stores and online, but the ERP listed is as advised, so be sure to shop around!

HP Photosmart 375 Compact Photo Printer
ERP: $399
Web: www.hp.com.au
Rating: 5 Stars

Verdict:
HP's new photo printer is quite versatile, letting you print photos from a range of sources, and is exceeding easy to use, as all photo printers are these days. You can attach a camera directly to the printer using a USB cable or you can plug in all the popular types of postage-stamp sized digital camera memory card directly into the unit and see the photos on the built-in, flip up 2.5 inch colour LCD screen. The screen also allows a measure of basic digital editing functions to be undertaken on the unit itself, such as red-eye reduction and cropping, further reducing the need to turn on your PC just to print out a photo.

HP's brand new 'Vivera' inks have been reformulated for even better photo quality and according to the Wilhelm research, colour photos printed on this unit with HP's inks and paper last for 82 years when stored properly - the second highest result in the test. HP have also lowered the cost of paper and ink, with a special Photo Value Pack now available. This gives you a tri-colour inkjet cartridge, a black cartridge and 125 sheets of 4x6 borderless photo paper for $62.50, giving a per photo cost of 50c a print. Two optional extras are also available, one being a rechargeable battery pack for $139 that prints around 70 4x6 photos before needing a recharge. The second optional extra is a Bluetooth adapter which lets you print wirelessly from your camera phone and this retails for $99. An excellent and feature packed photo printer!

Kodak Printer Dock Series 3
ERP: $599 including EasyShare Z700 Kodak Digital Camera
Web: www.kodak.com.au
Rating: 3.5 stars

Verdict:
Kodak sell one printer dock for every three Kodak digital cameras purchased by consumers, making them very successful at promoting the benefits of printing out digital photos. They've done this by making a digital camera that literally plugs on top of the photo printer, doing away with cables or fiddling with digital camera memory cards. It's actually the closest thing you can get to an actual 'digital Polaroid' style camera and the concept has proven to be very popular. Now Kodak have taken this concept to the next level, by introducing cameras bundled with photo printers, effectively giving the photo printer away for free. According to the Wilhelm research, Kodak's previous generation of printer docks produced photos that should last for 26 years before fading occurs - much longer than most competing dye-sublimation printers, but Wilhelm testing hasn't taken place on this new model. While this isn't anywhere near as long lasting as photos printed using inkjet technology, it's still a reasonably long time if you don't intend keeping the photo forever.

Kodak's paper and colour cartridge bundles cost $39.95 each and come with 40 sheets of 4x6 photo paper, coming in at just under $1 per photo. While this is more expensive than other units, the simplicity of the Kodak solution is undeniable and the cost is affordable for photos when you need them. Anyone wanting large volumes of photos printed are always advised to have them printed in store simply for convenience. As a two-part solution that bundles a 4 megapixel digital camera with a 5x optical zoom, this unique combo certainly deserves consideration. A 5 megapixel camera with 10x optical zoom and the same printer dock is also available for $799, while the Kodak Printer Dock Plus on its own for earlier Kodak digital camera models is available for $399.

Sony DPPFP-30 Digital Photo Printer
ERP: $299
Web: www.sonystyle.com.au
Rating: 3.5 stars

Verdict:
Sony's latest stylish photo printer has dramatically slimmed down in size and in price, putting it reach for all consumers. Relying upon dye sublimation technology, previous models of this printer scored the lowest in the Wilhelm results for colour levels after several years, and without the considerable testing resources of the Wilhelm Research Centre we are unable to confirm how much this latest model improves on each photo's colour lifespan. However, this new model features 'SuperCoat2' laminated print technology, boasting much higher colour fast resistance and extreme durability, so it would seem that Sony have made serious effort to address the previous scores adding greatly to the allure of this compact, space saving model.

It produces quality digital photos in around 90 seconds each which is slower than other models in this guide. It comes with a 40 piece print pack, comprising of 40 blank photo sheets and a cartridge of dye sublimation colour to match. An 80 sheet pack is $59.95, which works out at just under 75c per printed photo. You connect your camera to the printer using a USB cable, making it suitable for any digital camera that works with the PictBridge standard, something found on the majority of digital cameras available today. With a reduced prize, a reduced size and the claim of a dramatically improved photo lifespan, this model is in the running despite slower photo printing times.

Epson PictureMate Personal Photo Lab
ERP: $299
Web: www.epson.com.au
Rating: 5 stars

Verdict:
Epson's PictureMate photo printer stunningly takes the top spot in the Wilhelm tests, boasting a colour photo life of 104 years. This seriously eclipses traditional photo processing which can instantly be evidenced by looking through your old photo albums of yellowing and/or fading photos. Epson use a special 6 colour 'UltraChrome Hi-Gloss' inks and photo papers to achieve the stunning lifespan result. In addition to USB Pictbridge compatibility, the Epson can also accept all major types of digital camera memory card. Better still, you can connect an external CD burner or Zip drive via a USB connection and back up digital images from the camera memory card directly to those devices. Also included is a nifty carrying handle, truly evoking the concept of portability. The Epson is also one of the few printers that can take an optional Bluetooth adapter (ERP $187) allowing you to print wirelessly from your camera phone. While the Epson does not have an inbuilt LCD screen, it can print proof sheets, crop photos and add classic borders. Photo print costs are also excellent at just under 50c per photo. The killer features of this printer include the amazing lifespan of the photos, the six ink colour printing system, ensuring truly rich photos, low printing costs and a low cost for the printer itself, definitely making this a very strong contender in this guide.

Olympus P-10 Photo Printer
ERP: $199
Web: www.olympus.com.au
Rating: 3 stars

Verdict:
This photo printer is simultaneously the cheapest photo printer and the largest photo printer on the market. While it doesn't sport the super-easy portability of other models, it's a solid printer that combines an inexpensive entry price, reasonable photo printing cost and a rather speedy 45 seconds print time per photo. The Olympus scores relatively lowly on the colour fastness lifespan tests conducted by Wilhelm, as it uses dye sublimation technology, so you won't want to use this printer for photos you'll want to revisit in all their colourful glory 50 years down the track, but what it does, it does well, at a price that is reasonable and a speed that is fast. The P-10 uses the PictBridge standard, letting you plug almost any digital camera into the unit for quick and simple photo printing, but it doesn't come with any digital camera memory card sockets. The 100 sheet print and photo pack costs $79.95, giving you a print cost per photo of just under 80c.

If you want a reliable photo printer to sit on the desk that the family can use, this will certainly fit the bill, but it is interesting to note that advances by other manufacturers will make this printer more suitable for the non-professional photographer. It's definitely a good product that does the job well at a good price, but you'll probably be tempted by the other more expensive models in this guide.

Lexmark P315 Snapshot photo printer
ERP: $299
Web: www.lexmark.com.au
Rating: 4 stars

Verdict:
Lexmark have taken on the challenge with a photo printer that uses inkjet technology for longer lasting colour on your photos, a built in 2.5 inch LCD screen, a handle for true portability, PictBridge compatibility and can take all of the major types of digital camera memory cards. Print speeds come in at under 60 seconds per photo, with speeds as fast as 38 seconds quoted, but this excludes processing time which bumps up the total printing time to match that of most other photo printers on the market. Lexmark's first dedicated photo printer is a solid competitor, but without Wilhelm testing results we can't say for sure how the ink and paper competes with Epson and HP's stellar results. Lexmark's per-photo cost is 85c per print using Lexmark's paper and 6 ink cartdrige system, which also helps to deliver richer colours. The included LCD screen isn't just for seeing photos and navigating through menus - it also displays a timer countdown that shows you how much longer there is to go before your photo is printed and shows an animated guide to help you change cartridges when required. It has "Accu-Feed" paper handling which claims to virtually eliminate paper jams (although we experienced no jams while testing the other brands). It's definitely a solid printer, but the HP, Epson or the Canon are likely more alluring despite this printer's lower initial price point.

Canon DS-700 Selphy Photo Printer
ERP: $399
Web: www.canon.com.au
Rating: 5 stars

Verdict:
Canon have taken the concept of the multifunction printer and have inserted some of those smarts into their latest photo printer to great effect. To start with, Canon have taken their brand new inkjet Pixma printing technology using 2 picolitre ink droplets to produce very high quality printouts. A picolitre is a trillionth of a litre, and the smaller the droplet size the clearer the details you'll see in each photo. Canon have also introduced digital camera memory card slots onto their newest photo printer for the first time, greatly expanding its usefulness and easy compatibility. I couldn't find test results on Wilhelm for this new model, but with Canon's new Pixma printers and their high end Photo Paper Pro which "offers 100 years performance, producing prints that last well over a lifetime when stored in a photo album", it's clear that Canon, Epson and HP are each leading the way to prints that last for decades, if not centuries.

Although print speeds are a little over a minute, making it a little slower than some of the other photo printers in this guide, the DS-700 has a unique feature that's likely to catch your eye - the ability to plug into any modern TV set to view the photos on the large screen, not only to display slideshows of your favourite photos, but to enable quick and easy basic photo editing all done through a handy remote control. This viewing ability makes up for the lack of an inbuilt LCD screen, although as it is compatible with PictBridge (as most other photo printers are) the image can always be seen on the camera's LCD screen when the TV is off or no TV is available. Thanks to this printer's new printing technology, unique TV viewing ability, simple remote control and a print/paper bundle of Canon ink and high quality paper resulting in a per photo cost of 49c each, this printer is another very strong contender in the photo printing market.

Alex Zaharov-Reutt. Visit www.digitalmagazine.com.au to download a free PDF magazine called DiGiTAL co-authored by Alex that explains how to clean up Windows XP, print better photos, make free Net phone calls, visit interesting sites and much more!