Attention! The accuracy of the information and the results of the ranking is subjective and is not an advertisement.
7 best printers for printing photos
Choosing the best photo printer for home and office
Author: Vladimir Nyenets
Today, among the printers and multifunction printers for printing photos, the products of the companies are of the greatest interest. Epson and Canon. If you do not consider the simplest four-color systems, then the printers of the first manufacturer have the lowest print cost, and the second-rate best quality. Fans of brands may not agree with this statement, however, thanks to the implementation features of printing technology, Epson heads are more adapted to the possibility of using refillable cartridges or a continuous ink supply system, but the company's available solutions have problems with black.
The accuracy and naturalness of the reproduction of shades is largely determined by the volume of color gamut - one of the main technical characteristics of ink. However, the carriers should correspond to them, and the profile used should be set up for the printing device on this pair. The conclusion from the above suggests itself - there are no miracles and cheaper ink is always inferior to the original. So much, that is another question. For adequate transfer of complex color plots requires coverage of at least 600 thousand cubic deltaE. The conditional criteria for amateur photo satisfies a figure of half a million such units.
When choosing the best printer or MFP for printing, a kind of “steepness” of an inkjet printer is considered minimum ink drop size. In general, this is true. Only here, marketers always “forget” to clarify that their device shows a record indicator not in all colors. For example, yellow drops are usually larger (4-5 pl) and the print resolution is limited to just this value. By the way, it is not so great. Moreover, the homogeneity of “painting” depends much more on color synthesis and rasterization algorithms.
Ranking of the best photo printers 2018 - early 2019
| Category | A place | Name | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best cheap photo printers | 1 | Canon PIXMA TS8140 | 9.7 / 10 | 11 840 |
| 2 | Epson L3070 | 9.5 / 10 | 17 480 | |
| The best high-end photo printers | 1 | Canon PIXMA PRO-100S | 9.8 / 10 | 37 567 |
| 2 | Epson Stylus Photo 1500W | 9.7 / 10 | 2 390 | |
| 3 | Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 | 9.7 / 10 | 42 910 | |
| 4 | Epson L1800 | 9.2 / 10 | 46 890 | |
| Top Professional Photo Printers | 1 | Epson SureLab SL-D700 | 9.7 / 10 | 332 000 |
Best cheap photo printers
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11 840
Opens our ranking of top Canon PIXMA TS8140 photo printers. Appreciating the replacement of gray ink with blue helped as a color rendition to the new models of this Canon line. Unfortunately, to the detriment of the ability to print highly artistic black-and-white pictures - they are now slightly "violet." But the granularity of fillings with a blue tint has decreased (sky, snow, etc.), and the color coverage has increased. The latter, primarily in the green and red regions of the spectrum. In addition, the manufacturer reworked color synthesis algorithms, thanks to which he was able to almost completely “eradicate” the characteristic black dots on the prints. Pay attention to the prints of the younger members of this family, they are available. At the same time, it is worth clarifying that using the maximum resolution of the TS8140 is possible only when printing through a driver, i.e. not in the case of direct connection of a mobile device to the multifunction device. Of the unpleasant moments worth mentioning voracity automatic cleaning system. Even if you print only color photos, the pigment ink cartridge is still empty. And vice versa. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Very good photo printer for home: small-sized, photo is just super, two-sided printing, automatic on / off. |
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17 480
A good photo printer, deserving a lot of positive feedback on the forums. This printer model will be of interest to those users who need a relatively inexpensive universal device with a large resource and the ability to print 10 × 15 photos with acceptable quality. Note that black ink is water-soluble, therefore, for serious workflow little suitable. For important office tasks and passing amateur printing of pictures, the best option would be a four-hundred series device (with a pigment “business” dye), for example, L4160. The main problem that the future owner of the recommended MFP may face is the choice of suitable media. By the way, for L3070 declared maximum paper density of 256 g / m2. In the opinion of users, it is not worth trying to “offer” media to a device denser than 230 g / m2. There is Wi-Fi Direct, a memory card device reads, cloud-mobile services supported. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.5 / 10
Rating
Reviews
The photo on glossy paper 10x15 cm with a density of 230 is very good, if not to say “excellent” for a 4-cartridge device. Colors withstands, copes with contrasting transitions, draws small details, halftones displays. Excellent prints from both a computer and a smartphone. |
The best high-end photo printers
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37 567
The youngest model of the professional Canon PIXMA line is focused on photo artists. The printer supports the vast majority of existing formats, so you can print any photos on it, including traditional 10x15. But still, the main purpose of the device - widescreen A3 + and black and white pictures. To ensure proper quality in monochrome printing, the manufacturer equipped this model with black, gray and light gray cartridges. In general, an 8-color system with four lights ensures soft undertones and amazing smooth gradients. Printing pictures, due to the use of a new thermoelectric head in the printer, is performed very quickly. At the same time, high temperatures completely eliminate the use of inexpensive ink, and, given the small capacity of the original cartridges, the cost of the print cannot be called available. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
For A3 + format the photo printer is compact enough. Yes, a little expensive, but I completely control all the nuances of printing photos. |
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2 390
Honored veteran of the segment of semi-professional photo printers, with well-known advantages and disadvantages. The first are accurate color rendering, A3 + format, and ease of installation of CISS. Six cartridges with water-soluble ink (including two light), as well as a drop of 1.5 pl provide good detail, correct reproduction of half-tones and high-quality light fill. Of course, such dyes are not the best choice for documentary printing, don't forget about it and rely on the versatility of Stylus Photo 1500W. Among the second the main place is occupied by problems with the capture of sheets.In the new printer, it appears when printing on low-cost media, but over time, the corresponding video begins to "mess up". I have to help him grab the paper or periodically clean it with a rubber band. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Small dimensions for A3 + printer. After installing the CISS, cartridges are not needed. I use ink from Epson L800. |
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If amateur photography rarely takes place in monochrome, then this artistic device is more than relevant in a semi-professional environment. Accordingly, the means of printing such images should provide the expressiveness of the game with light and shade. In this sense, the presence of a gray dye in a high-level photo printer is strictly mandatory. Interestingly, colorists Epson decided to completely do without light ink, but they added red to the palette of this novelty, due to which XP-15000 color gamut was slightly increased. Of the controversial decisions, we note the rejection of support for memory cards. However, the pictures of this level with kondachka not printed, so the loss is not critical. The photo printer supports wireless connectivity, including Wi-Fi Direct technology. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
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46 890
Technically, the printer is a widescreen analogue of the L800 model. If you need to print not only photos, but also posters or posters up to A3 + inclusive, pay attention to this device. It also uses a 6-color cartridgeless system, which provides excellent detail images, the correct transfer of complex shades and smooth color transitions. A large resource of consumables allows the manufacturer to talk about the record low cost of prints, so the photo printer may be interesting in terms of commercial applications. By the way, the lack of the L1800 is the same - black and white photographs have a weak saturation and distinct blueness. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.2 / 10
Rating
Reviews
If you use the original ink, problems during operation does not arise. But then everyone decides for himself - more expensive and without a headache or cheaper, but with a waste of time and nerves. |
Top Professional Photo Printers
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332 000
Extremely compact minilab jet for professional photographers. Convenient when traveling away. Easily pull a load of 2-3 thousand prints per shift, while it does not have the minimum standards, like minilabs with a "wet" process. Dignity - the mass. For example, he can make prints up to a meter long, i.e. suitable for the manufacture of panoramas / calendars / dust jacket. The roll holder is a conventional spindle, which allows the use of any paper of a suitable type and width. By the way, the “regular” ink of the SL-D700 is water-soluble, but its MicroPiezo AMC print heads will miss other types of dyes: pigment, eco-solvent, UV and even sublimation. In addition, the loss of a small number of nozzles on the quality of photographs has virtually no effect. There are also disadvantages: it makes a lot of noise, the connection is only via USB, it costs a lot.For the last point - you can search for a technical "twin" of the recommended printer sold under the Fujifilm Frontier-S DX100 trademark. Its price is a quarter lower. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
The best photo printer for business: photo studios, instant printing kiosks for documents, field sessions, marketing departments. The cost of printing about 6 rubles. This is higher than that of large machines with a “wet” process, but quite adequate for the tasks performed. |
What kind of photo printer is better to buy?
If your “norm” is one and a half to two dozen photos per month, it is better to buy a printer with refillable cartridges. With small or irregular print volumes, the problems of drying the nozzles come to the first place, and here the models of the sublimation type are beyond competition.
To print more photos, it makes sense to use a photo printer equipped with CISS. Given that most of the images are printed in a maximum of A4 format, the best printers for printing photos at home can be considered models from the average price range. It is advisable to purchase a wide-format printer if a large proportion of prints will be made on sheets A3.
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Updated: 02.02.2019
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