laser or ink jet?? Help

K

kidlane

New Member
I need a new printer and I don't know which to get, I keep getting different advice! I need the printer for scrappbooking, printing lots of pictures, printing images, and regular priting issues, such as letters. What do you guys think? I also want one that I don't have to keep changing the ink cartridge all the time. I'm I asking for too much?? :confused:
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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I have a Xerox color laser printer that uses solid ink and I love it! But I assume you don't want to shell out $3000 for a new printer.

Ink jets suck - I don't care what brand or model. It's good enough for the kids to print their homework but not good enough for photos or real graphics. Too smeary and the color's always off.

For photos, get yourself a Shutterfly or Ofoto account (http://www.somd.com/mp/photography/index.php). That way you can get whatever photo prints you want from your digital camera. or even scan regular photos and have copies made.
 
SmallTown

SmallTown

Football season!
Originally posted by vraiblonde
I
Ink jets suck - I don't care what brand or model. It's good enough for the kids to print their homework but not good enough for photos or real graphics. Too smeary and the color's always off.
Click to expand...

I disagree. The new photo printers coming out (ink jet or otherwise) are VERY nice for pictures and graphics.

If you're doing a lot of text, a personal laser printer will give you very nice quality. And you won't replace the ink nearly as much.
 
Grimtooth

Grimtooth

New Member
Well for what it's worth I do 3D graphics alot and have found these questions before. Here's my thoughts on this...

Pictures via Laserjet will always be outstanding the bubble and inkjet varieties may look cool at times but generally you will find that you will run out of ink faster with them when doing alot of full or even 1/2 page prints. It reallly depends on what your needs are. That and the quality is just not there. I have tried several of the various Inkjets mostly the Cannons and they have nice looking images at the stores but the Laserjets have excellent images but are pricey.
Here's what you have to ask yourself.


Do you plan on making 10 or more images a week or month?

If no then check out the photo printer option they are getting better for the amature or occassional users.

What type of paper do you plan to use glossy, plain old paper etc.

This will factor in the quality of the image produced. But again the better the paper the more costly it gets. Take into consideration that you will want to do a test run for the image placement and sizing prior to using the more expensive paper.

Do you think you will have alot of black space in the image i.e. a really cool shot of say the Hubble will have alot of black ink used up.

This will determine whether you should purchase in the case of an inkjet more of the black cartridges or more of the color cartridges. The laserjets will tend to last a bit longer and again they will still have the superior image quality that you are probably looking for.

Is this for personal images or for professional copy type work that you will be doing.

Personal you could get away with the photo printers at a more affordable price tag. I have not played with these yet but preliminary checks seem to indicate that they are the closest thing to laserjet quality but they tend to be smaller images as well.

Professional dont even waste your money on anything less than Laserjet.

Remember you get what you pay for. In the long run the Laserjet quality as well as speed will give you less headaches but the initial walletectomy will hurt. But once thats over and done with you will generally be quite pleased.

Have you considered taking your images and saving them out as .PNG files and taking them to a professional to have them printed? Enlarged, Matte etc..
This last option is not bad since you 1 only have to deal with a finished photo and the professional shops can setup the photo to the size etc that you need. The fees involved are not that steep.
and you can easily reproduce the images in the event your selling artworks etc.


Just some stuff to consider.



Grimtooth....
 
A

alex

Member
If you are looking at inkjets I like the Espons. They make some models where each color is a separate cartridge which I really like. I have used the Canons but they don't last very long (print head died 13 mos after purchase cost $50 plus shiping and labor to repair). I like the Espon Durabrite inks. They hold up very well to wear and tear ( I use them for labels) and they do not bled. The only thing about them is the color on the screen and the color they print from my PC is not the same. They are spot on when printing from my Mac.
 
C

Chaz214

Guest
For your usage, I would recommend either a Canon or Epson photo inkjet printer. My wife does a fair amount of scrapbooking and our Canon S820 has served well. Most people cannot tell the difference between our prints and ones from the photo lab. Canon's new line of printers have added an additional photo specific color to further enhance photos. I can print between 60 and 100 4X6 prints before I need to change any of the ink cartridges.

The photo quality of your prints also largely depends on the quality of your digital camera. If you have a 1-2 megapixel camera, the most expensive laserjet is not going to produce a decent looking print above 4X6.

Good luck!
 
K

kidlane

New Member
:biggrin: Thanks, for your help guys!


Now I have another question someone may know the answer to..
How do I remove dirt from photos without damaging the photo itself?

Any bidders?:confused:
 
Angel

Angel

~*~*~
Laser all the way. I have had two different ink jets and they definitely didn't do well by my photos.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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Originally posted by kidlane
How do I remove dirt from photos without damaging the photo itself?
Click to expand...
Photos you've printed out or regular photos? Regular photos, you can remove most debris with a moistened Kleenex. If it's something you've printed on an inkjet printer, you're out of luck - all it does is smear. And even if you try to give it a scrape, it'll take the ink off with it.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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I still say get a Shutterfly account and let them print you some professional photos. It's cheap and easy.
 
K

kidlane

New Member
I did look into shutterfly, they seem great , I think I will give them a try and see if it's all what they promise. :)

The dirt is off regular photos, older ones though 15- 18 years old??

Just wiping them with a tissue just makes a smear. I don't know what is on some of them maybe cigarette smoke (when we use to smoke 10 years ago)

I thought about acholcol (from the drug store, but I didn't want to damage them.

Anyone??? Thanks!:shrug:
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
You know what you should do? Take a photo that you don't really care about and experiment on it. Try alcohol, ammonia, etc. and see which works without destroying the photo. Let us know what works.
 
SmallTown

SmallTown

Football season!
Re: Which Printer to Buy?

Originally posted by PoliticalAnlyst
After some research I decided on the Canon i960 because of reviews and familiarity with Canon's reputation relative to photography gear. I've had it for about 2 weeks and the quality of the photos is outstanding. In the long run, it should be cheaper than running back and forth to the local photo store to get enlargements. I was able to get some fantastic deals on Kodak photo paper on-sale at Staples. I should have bought more because this stuff is expensive.
Click to expand...

Good choice! I bought an i950 back in the summer and love it. When printed on the regular photo paper or the "pro" paper, output is outstanding and has the look and feel of a print I get from the store.

The new HP model actually does have separate ink tanks now. But I still like the output from the cannon better.
 
K

kidlane

New Member
Well, i'm back from using shutterbug! I loved it! You can crop and edit your pictures, take red eye out, choose frames. This really has cut down on alot cropping I had to do the pictures before I would scrap them. Although, it takes about 2 weeks from start to receiving your pictures the end results were great!:clap:
 
K

kidlane

New Member
Guess What?????

Will take fingerprints, smugs, dirt off pictures and not harm the picture?

Flannel, just take a peice off a old flannel shirt or old pj's and rub arcoss the picture, no lint, no smearing the picture! Work's great!
Just thought I would let you guys know!
 
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