Camera Labs

i less than zero knowledge of photo printing

i just got this printer from my sister
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productD ... #prodspecs

its a cheap model but from what i understand, printers have gotten very capable over the last few years.

will this be able to print decent photos?

and if so, what do i need to get started?

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E-3!
12-60 2.8-4.0
12-60 2.8-40 [Also going]
40-150 3.5-4.5
70-300 4.0-5.6
Fl-48

Hard to say how well it will do as a photo printer. From my observations, there are printers that are optimised for document and printing and others for photos. Yours is probably somewhere in between.

I would suggest getting some good quality photo paper and ink.

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Graham
Flickr

Just to add my 2 cents to this conversation. It's not on a technical level though, just economic.

One aspect you should not overlook is the price of ink. Cheap printers usually mean that they are accompanied by high ink prices. That's marketing for ya!

Another aspect to take into consideration is the consumption rate of the ink.

dont forget expensive printers accompanied by expensive inks

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

Read the reviews on it:

1 person says:

"Got the printer free after the combination of the purchased of Toshiba laptop. 1. The Lexmark.software is not 100% compatiable with Xp. It had a bit hanged up after I played games every time. 2. The quality (no solid color) of the printer is low that can't compare to my old HP printer which I brought 5 years old. 3. An ink is 'Too' expensive($20pc) to be replaced from C.C. only as everyone said 'not recommend it' in this post."

Another one says

"nice to get it free with computer purchase. decent printing but not high quality. I found universal color ink refill kit for only $15 and can fill it about 6 times. It's the only way to worth using it, if you don't mind refill ink yourself. OtherwiseI would throw it away or just use it for scaning job only, cause original ink cartrige cost $20 each way too much."

And the last one says:

"After attempting to scan or copy or print photos I got my old HP allin1 back out and bought some new ink and will keep useing it. Gave the lexmark to a friend who then gave it to someone else."

So i would guess its not that great

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i found it rather lame that the black ink was not included with the printer, and in order to print documents in anything OTHER than a dark blue, id need to spend 20 dollars.


ok then, my next question: assuming i do want to print a photo... do i need to buy special ink?

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E-3!
12-60 2.8-4.0
12-60 2.8-40 [Also going]
40-150 3.5-4.5
70-300 4.0-5.6
Fl-48

Mildly off-topic, but I found printing at home more troublesome than involving professionals. All my printing is outsourced and I've colour-managed my workstations to match the profiles of those printers. I can get high quality results and more importantly, have little limit in the way of how large I can print.

And to cap it all off, the cost is actually lower now that I've outsourced (no need for ink, paper, and the initial outlay).

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Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Ed, i knw u use the color calibration tool, but how do you combine that lets say to a place that prints your photos? Is that possible will they give you the info that you need for a correct "print" calibration so to speak?

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Indeed they do provide that colour management profiles. Colour management can get complex, but I've made sure my workflow is suited to a particular printer, the printing method and the type of paper with the service I use. That means selecting the correct profile to work with when I'm using CS3. A correctly tuned monitor will help all this.

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Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/