6 Tips for 'Album Ready' Quality Photo Prints.

Ever wanted to make a hard book album out of some of the hundred images of our kids, spouse, family and etc taken with our digital cameras? Nowadays affordable printers allow us to print quality photos.

Below are 6 tips to help us produce some memorable photos for our albums.

1. Camera Settings.

Good photo printouts require good camera settings. Set your camera to capture quality 4r prints. We can do so by setting it to take photos at a minimum of 1,024 by 768 in 300dpi resolution.

2. Photo Editing.

Editing our photos can be a convenient task as some printers are sold with an image editing software bundle. Utilize an image editing software to edit unwanted red eyes caused by flash, deleting an unwanted object from the photos like a zit on the forehead, correct or enhance facial features, adjust color settings, and many more.

When cropping a picture it is best we follow the 'rule of the thirds' to ensure a proportionate photo composition. Assume a grid of two evenly space vertical lines & two evenly spaced horizontal lines, creating nine rectangular sections of the photo. The focal point of the photo (the object you photographed) should be placed anywhere around one of the line intersections.

3. Premium Photo Paper.

Premium photo paper is best to ensure good photo finish as the colors are well accepted on the paper without blemishes and irregular print quality. There are two main factors that a affect the quality of an image. The first is brightness & the second is absorption. Brighter (or smoother) paper will produce optimal printing results. Avoid papers with high absorbency as the ink tends to spread while settling thus producing poor images.

4. Original Ink Cartridges.

There are many third party ink cartridges for many types and brands of printers sold in stores. However, the quality of the printouts by cheaper substitute cartridges tend to be over rated. Photos may have their colors fade away as opposed to utilizing original ink cartridges as they were manufactured to meet a high standard in order to ensure that our memories are presented at its best.

Refurbished ink cartridges tend to clog easier which waste ink in the printing process & not to mention distorting our photos. Therefore it is advisable to replace it with a new & original ink cartridge.

5. Printer Care.

Printer care is essential for producing consistent quality photos. A good printer will usually come with a solutions center to help troubleshoot & correct common problems. Close the paper protecting lid when the printer is not in use as dust & pet fur may lodge on & accumulate on printer parts. It can cause unsightly smudges on printouts as ink becomes trapped on the parts. Regular printing will help ink from clogging up the printhead & ensure consistent beautiful photos perfect for our photo viewing pleasure.

6. Quality Photo Albums.

There are 2 varieties of photo albums which are the hard cover & soft cover types. Hard cover types are more durable and will protect photos better than soft cover photo albums. Photos placed in soft cover photo albums are more susceptible to bending & distortion of the photo. Also, some types of albums have standard manufactured sized slots to insert photos. Such albums usually allow only one standard photo size.

Additionally, we can use album which has a sticky background and a single plastic covering for every album page. It allows us to arrange our pictures to our liking and also combine different sizes of pictures in a photo album.

Happy viewing! - Abas Kamal bin Sulaiman.