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   Top Rated Digital Cameras >> Top Rated Digital Photo Printers

A List of Some of the Top Rated Digital Photo Printers

This Week's Free Shipping and Special OffersWith all of the great digital photo printers on the market, it is getting easier, cheaper and more convenient to print photos from your digital camera at home. Dedicated photo printers offer very good to excellent photos. Typically a dedicated photo printer costs $150- $400 and uses thermal-dye technology. However, you are usually limited in paper size to 4x6. Some like the HP Photosmart A636 will also print 5x7. Look for a rechargeable battery option, which will make your photo printer portable so you can take it with you and print from wherever you are.

What to Look for When Buying a Photo Printer

PRINT SIZES

Consider what print size will fit your needs. Do you plan to mostly print 4"x6" or a variety of sizes? Some printers only print 4"x6" while some higher end printers can print wallet size, 4"x6", 4"x8", 5"x7", 4"x12" panoramic and 8.5"x11".

DOES THE PRINTER HAVE MEMORY CARD SLOTS

You can upload your photos to your computer and then print, but the fastest and easiest way is to insert camera’s memory card directly into your photo printer. There are many different types of memory cards so check that the printer you are considering can accept the type of card your digital camera uses. A number of better printers have a variety of memory slots such as SD, XD, CF and MS to accommodate a variety of cards.

LCD DISPLAY

It helps to see what you're printing. A high quality printer usually has a built in LCD display. Some printers even let you edit your pictures right from the printer, allowing you to crop, rotate, brighten or add borders.

PHOTO QUALITY

Pixels (dots) matter. Better photo printers offer up to 4800 x 1200 dots per inch. That means extremely sharp, lab-quality photos. Some printers can automatically remove red eye as the photos are printed.

Here are some of our favorite, top-rated digital photo printers:

All-in-One-Printer:

Canon Pixma MP990 Wireless Photo All-In-One Printer
Excellent all-in-one that can also be used as a stand-alone photo lab without a computer. Features ChromaLife100+ 6-color ink system includes a unique grey ink, which helps you achieve exceptional monochrome and color values. Extremely fast: Prints 4 x 6 inch photos with awesome 9600 x 2400 color dpi resolution in about 20 seconds. Built-in duplexer, scans and prints from 35mm film, has network and Wi-Fi support. Cons: No fax.

 

Favorite Cheap Photo Printer:

HP Photosmart A646 Compact printer

Compact, dedicated photo printer with kiosk-style touch-screen controls and easy installation. It prints 5x7, 4x6 and up to 4x12-inch panoramas. Fast, small and prints great photos. A a great bang for the bucks and easy to use.

 

 

Larger Format Printers

Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II Inkjet Photo Printer Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II Inkjet Printer

Extremely fast and outstanding quality. A must-have for those who want to print lab-quality prints at home. Prints Photo Lab quality 11-inch x 14-inch color photo approximately 1 minute 23 seconds. Awesom resolution - up to 4800x2400 dpi FINE printhead technology. Prints without borders up to 13"x9". Support for fine art paper up to 13"x19" with two separate paper paths, including front feeder for heavy-weight paper types. Professional printer features using Easy-PhotoPrint Pro plug-in software. Ambient Light Correction feature; optimizes color output to match the specified lighting condition. High performance individual ink system 8-color dye-based system features Photo Cyan, Photo Magenta and Red ink tanks. Cons: printer is large and b&w printing is so-so. But incredible color printing. A great buy.

 

Canon Pixma PRO9500MkII Inkjet Photo Printer

Produced amazing prints. Features 10-color pigment ink system for professional image performance up to 13"x19" Superb resolution - up to 4800x2400 dpi FINE printhead technology. Professional quality B&W photos with matte black, photo black and gray inks included. Professional printer features using Easy-PhotoPrint Pro plug-in software and the Ambient Light Correction feature optimizes color output to match the specified lighting condition. Compares to or exceeds what you would get from a lab. A great printer.

HP Photosmart B8550 Photo Printer
Prints stunning photos at up to 13 x 19 inches. Second tray for up to 5 x 7 paper. Sleek and sexy looking but large. This printer is meant for printing larger photos, not just 4x6 prints. Print quality is outstanding. A great printer for the amateur as well as the serious photo enthusiast.

 

 

HP Photosmart Pro B8850 Fotodrucker Photo Printer
A professional grade printer for printing up to 13 x 19 inches at a reasonable price. Prints gorgeous photos. It has fully automated self-calibration and a pigment-based ink system for long-lived photos. Meant for the serious photo hobbyist. Easy to set up but large.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended Merchants:

Amazon is one of our favorite resource for buying printers. They have great prices and a huge selection of digital photo printers and free shipping on purchases over $25. They also have an excellent return policy.

Best Buy offers weekly sales and you can order online and pick up for free at your local store. See this week's sale events and free shipping offers at BestBuy.com.

RitzCamera.com carries all major brands of printers as well as digital camera, and accessories. In addition to competitive prices and good discounts, they offer free shipping and no sales tax.

Wal-Mart is also a great resource for digital printers. Wal-mart has frequent sales and promos including low shipping specials.

Shop Kodak for Photo Printers - a huge selection of Kodak digital photo printers.

For a list of discounts and sales offered by these merchants and others, click here.