Printer Technology
Today’s color printers make instant photos possible.
Several types of printers exist, but the most common
and affordable technology is inkjet printers. Today’s
inkjet printers are capable of printing what many
consider to be photographs because of new tech-
nologies. The inkjet printer industry changes almost
as frequently as digital cameras, but a few basic
rules persist regarding how to print great photos.
The advertised dpi of inkjet printers does not equal
the resolution it can produce on paper. Printer
manufacturers will say their printers can print
1200 ×4800 dpi or 1440×720 dpi (dots per inch).
These numbers are the number of dots the printer
can squirt into a square inch of glossy paper as it
prints an image.
Suppose your printer is advertised as having 1200×1200 dpi resolution. This means it
can squirt 1200 dots per inch onto the paper. This is notthe same as 1200 ppi. The
printer must create a rainbow of colors using only four to seven inks. Inkjet printers are
only capable of printing specific colors because they have a specific number of inks.270 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TODIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
FIGURE 18.1
Thanks for the
confusing
marketing-
speak! A
printer’s adver-
tised resolution.This chapter focuses
on inkjet printers. Dye-
sublimation printers and laser
printers should also be researched
by budding photographers to see
whether they can match the cost-
per-page of inkjet printers.WHAT ABOUT DYE-SUBLIMATION PRINTERS?
Dye-sublimation printers use a thermal process to transfer colored dyes from a roll of thin
polymer film onto special print media. The process uses layers of dye (cyan, magenta, and
yellow) that are deposited on the paper in three passes. Continuous tones are possible with
this technology because the inks can blend together. In addition, there is no noticeable
grain with dye-sub printers. Today’s inkjet printers, which are much more versatile, have
recently been able to match the quality of dye-sublimation printers.