Epson, Canon and HP Photo Printers

Photo Printers have come a long way during the last ten years. I will be covering ink jet technology which was first developed in the late 80's.

There are other types of printers, like dye sublimation printers but I will not cover this technology for right now.

Ink Jet machines works by spraying small colored droplets of ink onto paper. With the latest development in archival ink and photo paper exhibition quality prints that will last for generations have become available to everyone, that is of course if you can and want to spend that kind of money.

The first pigment based equipment had less gamut and the pictures came out dull and was lacking "pop" compared to dye ink printers. The technology advanced though and the pigment image quality became as good or better then dye based technology.

As of this writing (September 2008) the least expensive pigment ink printers are the Epson R1900 and HP B9180. Both of these printers can print on up to 13" wide paper.

Epson Photo Printers

Epson have definitely been the leader in this category, actually it was the only game in town for a long time and they have been keeping to innovate.

Canon and HP have during the last couple of years caught up and now both also make high quality pigment inkjet photo printers.

HP B9180

HP B9180 with a Canon All-in-One machine on top.

Epson Pro 4800

Epson Pro 4800 with 220 ml cartridges inserted. 110 ml cartridges is also available.

Epson Pro 4800 have been replaced by the Epson Pro 4880.