Photo Printing

Photo printing problems usually start with photo paper selection and size because there are so many printing options available in modern photo printers today. Another common problem photo printing consumers have is printer ink usage, refills and cartridges. A lot of unsuspecting home printer’s don’t realize how extremely expensive desktop digital photograph printing can be.

So photo printing can present quite a few problems, but if you utilize these 10 photo printing tips, you should find a few little hints to help your next phto printing project run a little more smoothly.

The first photo printing tip is an essential element to success for every home photo printing project, paper selection. For optimal quality prints it is important to use the paper suggested by your printer’s manufacturer that is designed to work with the specific brand of ink your printer uses. This is especially important if you are printing high resolution photographs for a gift or an important presentation.

Photo printing paper usually comes in glossy, semi-gloss, and matte finishes which produce the best, lifelike photo prints. Most personal ink jet printers, all in one and photo printers can also print photos on specialty papers as well as postcards, labels, stickers, calendars and envelops. However these types of specialty papers can cause your photo printer to jam, its best not to use paper with cutouts or perforations, extremely textured paper stock, and very smooth, shiny coated surfaces if they are not made for your specific printer.

To get the best photo printing results when printing on different sized papers like postcards or envelops, you need to adjust the paper width and length guides on your printer paper tray. Then, open the photo printer Properties or Page Setup dialog box and set the appropriate paper size, scaling, and orientation options.

To save money on photo printing ink, print the first copy of your projects in the draft mode. You can easily extend the lifespan of your ink cartridges by printing at least the first copy in the ‘draft’ or ‘fast draft’ mode. This setting uses a smaller amount of ink and prints at the fastest speed. Use this for quick printing to check spacing and placement or if you just need a quick black and white copy of a document. To set your photo printer to print in the draft mode, open the Printer Properties or Print dialog box, and select the Draft Print quality setting.

Check your ink level before starting a final photo printing project. Nothing is more infuriating than running out of ink in the middle of an important photo printing project. Most photo printers will alert you of your ink level, but just in case you can check the level of your ink cartridges manually by opening the Print Properties dialog box and clicking the Services tab. Click Service this device, and then select the Estimated Ink Levels tab. Click the Print Cartridge Information button for ordering information. It’s a good idea to keep extra ink cartridges handy to avoid delays while you’re printing.

You can save a ton of money on ink and paper by using the optimal print settings and using the recommended weight of photo paper on your prints. After you’ve run a draft of your project and are ready for you final copy, Set the Print quality to Normal, and use the photo paper recommended by the manufacturer that was designed to print quality photos with less ink.

To conserve your color ink cartridges when printing and copying pages from the internet, only use the color when you need to. This comes in handy when you’re printing color pages from the web, but you’re only interested in the text, or when you’re printing a test page of a color document to check spelling or alignment before final printing.

To print a color document in black-and-white, simply adjust your settings to print in grayscale. Open the Printer Properties dialog box, click the Color tab, and select Print in Grayscale. Remember to adjust your settings again when you’re ready to print the document in color.

If you’d like to see how several pages look before you print final copies, you can save paper by printing multiple pages on a single sheet. Your photo printer software can automatically resize your document’s text and images to fit on one printed page. Open the Printer Properties dialog box, click the Finishing tab, and select the number of pages you want to print on a single sheet from the Pages Per Sheet and Posters drop down list.

Finally, photo printing tasks always seem to get smudged, how long do you really have to wait for a printed photo to dry? Humidity, temperature, and the specific type of paper and ink you’re using all effect the amount of time it takes for your prints to dry. Generally, however, a color photo takes longer than a black-and-white text document. If you’re printing a heavily saturated image, or if you’re printing on any kind of specialty paper, set your print aside for at least 10 minutes before handling to give the ink time to dry completely.

When you’re printing photos or more than one page at a time, most printers automatically wait for a certain amount of time between prints to ensure adequate drying time. You can increase or decrease this interval using your printer software.