What Makes a Photo Printer, Exactly? True photo printers—in contrast to standard inkjets that manufacturers merely call photo printers—fall into two broad categories at the consumer level: dedicated photo printers, and near-dedicated ones. As the name indicates, dedicated (also known as "small-format") photo printers are designed to print nothing but photos. You simply can't use them for outputting documents, because they don't accept letter-size paper stock. They are limited to snapshot sizes, comprising maximum paper sizes of 2 by 3 inches, 4 by 6 inches, or 5 by 7 inches (or panoramic variations on these sizes). The Best Black Friday Photo Printer Deals* For more of the best Black Friday deals, check out our full coverage. *Deals are selected by our partner, TechBargains But this category of printer isn't defined just by its limits. These printers are relatively small and portable. They're also much less computer-centric printers than they are standalone consumer electronics products, with an emphasis on ease of use. In contrast, near-dedicated photo printers, at least the ones at the consumer level, are aimed at serious amateur photographers. They offer professional-level output quality, can typically print at sizes up to 13 by 19 inches, and often demand a reasonable level of sophistication to get the best results. What both categories have in common is that they focus on printing photographs. Here is what you need to consider to make the right choice. Do You Even Need a Photo Printer? There's no such thing as a dedicated or near-dedicated photo printer all-in-one, but some dedicated photo printers add functions beyond printing. (That said, many inkjet-based home and office all-in-ones do print excellent photos; see our guide to the best all-in-one printers for our tops picks there.) Most include menus with basic editing features that let you crop an image, remove red-eye, and the like. A few add so many editing choices that they are essentially home photo kiosks, often including a large touch screen to let you easily give commands. Models like these often also add features such as the ability to scan slides and film negatives. Some also include enough in-device memory to store hundreds of photos, so you can bring the printer with you, show the photos, and print them out on the spot. A few dedicated photo printers are even built into other kinds of devices, such as cameras. Near-dedicated photo printers don't offer the same kinds of extras as dedicated models. By definition, however, they're also capable of printing standard business documents, although it's generally a waste of their talents—like using a brand-new Porsche as a town car. Some are harder to use for standard office printing than others, mainly because you may have to swap out ink cartridges when you switch between glossy and plain paper. If you must use a near-dedicated photo printer for office printing as well as photos, even occasionally, be sure to pick one that lets you switch easily between photo paper and plain paper. What Does It Cost to Print? Check the running cost and total cost of ownership if you can. (Our reviews are helpful in this regard.) Unfortunately, this may be impossible for near-dedicated photo printers, since there's currently no widely accepted standard for calculating cost per photo with devices like these. For dedicated photo printers, however, the cost per photo is typically easy to calculate, because most manufacturers sell print packs with enough ink and paper for a given number of photos. To get the cost per photo for a dedicated photo printer, simply divide the cost of the print pack by the number of photos it will print. To get the total cost of ownership, multiply the cost per photo by the number of photos you expect to print over the printer's lifetime, and then add the printer's initial cost. This total is the best basis for comparing prices. Do You Print in Black and White? With most printer categories, you should consider whether you really need color. Photo printers turn the question on its head, so you should consider whether you need black and white, which many printers can't handle well. The most common flaw in black-and-white printing is a tint, or different color tints that show up in different shades of gray. If you print black-and-white photos, you'll need to check out black-and-white photo quality apart from the printer's color photo quality. This is more often a problem for dedicated, rather than near-dedicated, photo printers, but you need to consider it in either case. (In our reviews, we note such tints and their severity when we encounter them, but we don't use monochrome images to test small-format printers.) Assessing Printer Size: Portable or Desk-Bound? Inexpensive dedicated photo printers range in size from small enough to fit in a pocket to too large to carry very often. If you want to bring a printer with you to events like parties or Little League games, pick a size you won't mind carrying. Also, consider whether you'll need to run it from batteries. If so, make sure there's a battery available, if only as an option, and find out how many photos you can print on a full charge. Near-dedicated photo printers are far larger than most standard inkjets, because they're typically designed for printing on cut-paper sheets as large as 13 by 19 inches, as well as banner-size variations in some cases. Some print from roll paper, as well. Beyond the printer size itself, some printers in this class need additional room behind them to feed large paper stock or accommodate a roll feeder. To print on large paper with some near-dedicated photo printers, you have to feed a single sheet from the front, after which the printer loads it by feeding it all the way out of a back slot on the printer, and then prints while moving the paper forward again. If you don't have enough free flat space for this approach to printing, look for a printer that can handle roll paper, that can feed large-size cut sheets from a standard tray, or that can do both. Connection Options: Wired or Wireless? More broadly, what do you want to print from? Most dedicated photo printers can print from a computer over a USB connection, but they're really meant as standalone devices. Almost all newer models come with Wi-Fi connectivity, and many can print directly from PictBridge-supporting cameras and memory cards. (Make sure the printer is compatible with the memory card format you want to use.) Nearly as many models can print from USB thumb drives. A few print from internal memory, but you need to transfer the files to the memory first, so find out what connection you need to use to transfer the photos. Finally, a growing number of compact models can connect by Bluetooth to print from smartphones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. The connectivity options for near-dedicated photo printers are much the same as for standard office printers. Some models offer just a single USB connector. Others add an Ethernet jack for easy sharing on a network. Some offer Wi-Fi connectivity, as well, and a few offer all three options: USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. Few models at this level offer PictBridge connectors or similar choices, because the assumption is that serious photographers will want to print from photo-editing programs on their computers. Is the Output Quality Up to Par? Whatever printer you're considering, be sure to check on the output quality before buying. With dedicated photo printers, the main print technologies used are inkjet and thermal dye. A printer of either kind will at least match the output quality you'll typically see in drugstore prints. With an inkjet, you'll typically buy your ink and your paper separately, so you'll want to match the printer maker's paper recommendations. With thermal dye, you'll get the ink cartridge and matching paper in a single pack, designated for a fixed number of prints. Another technology seen in small dedicated photo printers is known as Zero Ink, or ZINK. As the name implies, it uses no ink cartridges; instead, special ZINK paper, when heated precisely by the printer, generates the image from chemicals impregnated in the stock. ZINK technology is currently limited to printers with print sizes ranging from 2 by 3 inches to 4 by 6 inches, and the output quality doesn't quite stack up to inkjet or thermal dye. ZINK output is best described as "good enough" for photos that will wind up in a wallet or behind a refrigerator magnet. Any near-dedicated photo printer should offer output quality suitable for a professional photographer's exhibition prints, but you should obviously check to make sure. Keep in mind, too, that different people have different tastes, so choosing between two or more printers with superb, but slightly different, output may depend entirely on which one you like better. Note that the type of paper you use can make a difference in the overall effect for a given image, so ask what papers are available for the printer. Most manufacturers offer an assortment of fine-art papers for near-dedicated photo printers. In many cases, you can also get paper-specific color profiles for a given printer so you can use it with third-party fine-art papers, as well. Finally, two other issues fall loosely under the heading of quality: ruggedness and lifetime. Don't expect much in the way of ruggedness for fine-art papers for exhibition, but you do need it for stacks of 4-by-6s that you might hand out for people to look through. Photos from most printers today are reasonably waterproof and scratch-resistant, but some fare better than others. Claimed photo lifetimes also vary, with longer lifetimes obviously preferred. As a point of reference, traditional silver halide color prints last about 20 years when exposed to air. Print Speeds and Quantities: Do They Matter? Don't worry too much about print speed in these classes of hardware. For photos, quality matters more, and even the slowest printers today offer tolerable print speeds, at about 2 minutes for a 4-by-6 on our tests. Keep in mind, too, that measured speeds are typically slower than claimed speeds, and (as we note in our reviews where applicable) the speed for any given printer may vary depending on the source from which you're printing. The usual rule for printers is to find out the printer's monthly duty cycle (the maximum number of pages or photos the manufacturer rates that you can print per month), as well as its recommended duty cycle, and make sure the latter number covers more pages than you plan to print. Unfortunately, this is almost impossible with most dedicated and near-dedicated photo printers. That's because most manufacturers don't rate the duty cycle for these classes of printer. That's as inexcusable as a car manufacturer not telling you how often to change your oil, but, for now at least, it's the state of the business. Our rule of thumb for these printers? If you'll be printing enough that you're concerned about the duty cycle, and the manufacturer doesn't rate the duty cycle, don't buy the printer. You may need to look instead for printers aimed strictly at professional photographers and retail stores. Ready for Our Recommendations? Whether you're a casual photographer or a pro, one of the photo printers below is sure to fit your needs. Whichever you choose, you're guaranteed to hold evidence of that great moment in your hand almost as soon as you capture it with a click. Need to print more than just photos? Check out our guide to the best printers overall. If you want the photos you print to look even better, read our basic photography tips and our advanced guide to fixing your photos. Canon imagePrograf PRO-1000 Review MSRP: $1299.99 at Pros: Exceptional print quality. Particularly good grayscale images. Supports sheets up to 17 by 22 inches. Built-in Wi-Fi.Cons: No roll-paper option.Bottom Line: The Canon imagePrograf PRO-1000, a 17-inch wide-format photo printer, churns out stunning photos with deep blacks and brilliant colors. We just wish it supported roll paper.Read Review Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wide-Format Inkjet Printer Review MSRP: $349.99 at Pros: Excellent photo quality. Prints borderless images from 4 by 6 inches to 13 by 19 inches. Uses new Claria Photo HD inks. Small and light for an oversize printer.Cons: Running costs a bit high. Prints speeds are slower than the competition.Bottom Line: The consumer-grade Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wide-Format Inkjet Printer produces output quality that's comparable with much more expensive professional models.Read Review Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 Small-in-One Printer Review MSRP: $199.99 at Pros: Exceptional output quality. Single-pass duplexing ADF. Large, easy-to-use control panel. Robust connectivity.Cons: High running costs. Low paper capacity. Bottom Line: The Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 is a small but capable photo-centric all-in-one inkjet for homes and small offices.Read Review Epson SureColor P400 Review MSRP: $599.99 at Pros: Generally excellent photo quality. Very good text quality. Fast for a near-dedicated photo printer. Prints from paper rolls.Cons: Rear paper feeder was often balky in testing. So-so graphics quality for a photo printer. Occasional tinting in photos.Bottom Line: The Epson SureColor P400 is moderately priced for a near-dedicated photo printer, it produces magnificent photo prints at a good speed, and it can print from paper rolls.Read Review HP Sprocket Select Review MSRP: $149.99 at Pros: Good print quality for a pocket printer. Special paper eliminates need for ink or dye cartridges. Easy to use. Larger prints than some similar models. Quirky image-tweaking and AR features accessible through app.Cons: On the slow side for a pocket photo printer. High running costs. Can't print from a PC. Connects solely via Bluetooth.Bottom Line: HP's Sprocket Select, an ink-free pocket printer, produces appealing wallet-size prints on the go. It's a solid choice for making novelty prints from a smartphone or tablet.Read Review HP Tango X Review MSRP: $199.00 at Pros: Small and spiffy. Voice control with supported smart home UIs. IFTTT scripting for extending smart capabilities. Impressive print quality. Competitive ink costs with Instant Ink, plus free snapshot printing from your smartphone. Cons: Borderless prints limited to 5-by-7-inch. Single, small paper input. "Scans" and "copies" only via smartphone.Bottom Line: HP's Tango X "smart printer," the first we've tested with voice activation and smart home features, is all about printing from mobile devices. It's not perfect, but given its unique free-snapshot printing angle, it will be a tough act for future models to follow.Read Review Pros: Good print quality overall. Small and light. Auto-duplexing print engine. Borderless prints up to letter size. Strong mobile device support. Smart home voice-activation.Cons: No ADF. No SD card or USB thumb drive support. High cost per page. Wasteful four-color/two-cartridge system.Bottom Line: The Canon Pixma TS5320 does a fine job with text, graphics, and especially photos, making it a good basic AIO for families who require moderate printing and copying.Read Review Pros: Excellent print quality. Robust connectivity. Compatible with smart home devices. Multipurpose tray for printing on custom media and optical discs. Two paper input trays.Cons: Lacks automatic document feeder. High cost per page.Bottom Line: The Canon Pixma TS8320 combines excellent six-ink photo and graphics output with a wealth of productivity and convenience features, making it a great family and home inkjet all-in-one.Read Review Pros: Prints 4-by-6-inch photos. Uses HP Sprocket app and ecosystem. Good range of editing features. Lets you add flourishes like stickers and frames to prints. Reasonably low per-print costs.Cons: Not pocket-size like other Sprockets. Lacks the connectivity and speed of some competitors.Bottom Line: The HP Sprocket Studio prints larger photos than previous Sprocket printers, and offers robust editing and photo-enhancement features.Read Review Pros: Smaller than its predecessor. Easy to set up and use. Good overall print quality. Robust mobile device app. NFC makes it easy to connect to a mobile device.Cons: Can't print from a PC. High running costs. Print speeds are slow compared with the competition. Mobile app crashed a few times during testing.Bottom Line: The Kodak Mini 2 HD Instant Photo Printer produces good-quality photos, and its wireless capabilities make it easy to connect to the mobile app. But somewhat slow print times and stiff running costs hold it back.Read Review

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