With the number of print houses out there these days, many photographers never think twice about creating their own prints from digital images. On the other hand, there are some good reasons to have the capability to print your own shots. Let's take a quick look at those, shall we?
First, it's not unusual to receive your order from a printer only to be disappointed with the colors, contrast, cropping choices, and all the other variables that come into play in the process. Printing your own puts you in control and lets you produce prints exactly as you envision them. With a good monitor, proper calibration and the right printer, you can produce better prints at home than you might expect.
Second, for general everyday prints, sending the images directly to your own printer can be far less expensive as well as faster. What you intend to do with the prints can make a bit of difference in the cost, but there's a lot to be said for no waiting for your order to be processed.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the range of printers on the market today gives you options for creating your own prints like never before. Whether you simply want to output a batch of 4x6's to send to the family or create your own photo posters, the printer you need is available. Here are a few examples that just might make you want to consider printing your own:
Canon Selphy CP1200 Wireless Portable 4x6" Photo Printer
If your objective is to create beautiful, borderless 4” x 6” prints with the least amount of effort, it doesn't get any easier than this. What's more, you can do it wirelessly or from your memory card, no matter where you are.
This awesome little portable printer is powerful, inexpensive and something that every photographer on the go should consider taking a look at. It's even available in your choice of black or white!
Epson SureColor P600 Wide Format 9-Color Printer
Taking things up a notch, let's say you want to print 13” x 19” borderless prints or panoramas up to 10 feet long, all with exhibition quality. (Okay, maybe that's taking it up more than one notch.) This printer will handle that, with Epson's Ultrachrome® HD inks and Resin Encapsulation Technology that delivers the richest blacks with an incredible level of sharpness.
You can't get this one in two colors, but we don't think that's going to be an issue. Get all the details here.
Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 Graphic Arts Printer
Although this isn't the largest, widest or most advanced printer available to the professional photographer these days, you wouldn't know it from the specs. We're not even going to try to list all of them here, but an 11-color ink system that matches even the most difficult colors, a built-in calibration tool and an air-feed system that won't mar or skew your prints should be enough to pique your interest. Find out just how sophisticated this 17” printer is here.
These are only a few examples. You can even easily own your own large-format printer if you want to create really big prints and you have the budget to justify it. No matter how far you want to take it, though, printing your own photos with professional results and the satisfaction of seeing them the way you want them is more attainable now than ever before. Take a look at these and some of the other incredible printing solutions from Hunt's Photo and decide what works best for your needs.