Photo Only Printers: The Top Three

In this ever increasing paperless word, having personal items as printed keepsakes is still of great importance to many. Even with the uncountable number of photo sharing websites and social networking technologies, having a good old fashioned photo that one can physically hold in their hand is still worth a thousand words. If the immediate solution is to print photos on a traditional printer, often the results are subpar, and the effort involved to obtain a great print can sometimes be discouraging. Fortunately, there are some great photo printers on the market to simply the job. Here are three of the top rated.

In order for a photo to print at an acceptable quality, a high resolution is needed. Additionally, inks that support a variety of colors help bring out a photo's rich and colorful qualities. Although there are many other technical specifications, these are two of the most important features to consider when selecting a photo only printer.

Having established itself as a printing giant for a few decades now, HP (Hewlett Packard), has obviously made the list. Not only has it made the list, but it has made the list with more than one model - and with high rating from experts and user reviews according to toptenreviews.com. Taking the number one spot is the HP Photosmart Pro B8850. The B8850's standout feature is its ability to print photos of varying sizes - something that many photo printers don't do. The B8550 is an excellent printer for a photo enthusiast or a professional photographer that has the need to print portrait sized photos, along with 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 prints. With this particular printer, photos can be printed at 4800 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch). Speeds with smalller photos are incredibly fast with an output of a single photo in 10 seconds. Another standout feature: the Photosmart B8850 doesn't use typical ink, but rather pigment ink which acts more like a dye. This allows for many varying forms of stock such as gloss, standard, canvas and more to be fed through the printer.

Coming in at second, is the highly rated Epson PictureMate Charm PM 255. Also with a history in the field of imaging technology, Epson offers this model which has a great focus on quality. This compact and portable photo only printer can print at 5760 x 1440 dpi, however this comes at the sacrifice of speed. A 4 x 6 photo takes a little under a minute to print, yet based on reviews; the quality is well worth the wait.

Making the list again for the number three slot is HP. The HP Photosmart A646 is a typical sized photo printer that prints not only prints typical 4 x 6, and 5 x7 prints, but uniquely also prints 4 x 12 panoramic mode photos. The A646 also allows for over 300 options to be applied to a photo all form the printer itself, and without a connected PC. These include photo changes, frames, borders, and more.

Sources/Resources:

TopTenREVIEWS: HP Photosmart Pro B8850
TopTenREVIEWS: Epson PictureMate Charm PM 255
TopTenREVIEWS: HP Photosmart A646