Digital sharing of photos may have reduced the urge to print a photograph after taking a shot with your digital camera. But printing photos offers you a lot of benefits as a photographer.
Here are some of the reasons why you should consider buying a photo printer and start enjoying the benefits of photo printing.
When you discover that you can easily transform your digital photos into some unique creative art with just the magic touch of a digital pen, it opens up a whole world of imaginative possibilities.
In this article you can find some handy tips on how to use a blender pen for the best results.
… Continue reading How to Use Blender Pen to Turn Your Photos Into Art Objects
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Girls think it’s cute but don’t count on it getting you any phone numbers on walks in the park. It’s cheap and easy but not a tramp. Give up? I’m talking about the Canon Selphy CP760 compact photo printer, of course.
I purchased the Selphy Sunday evening and through the miracles of the internet and a global transportation infrastructure it arrived on my doorstep Wednesday. And I’m so glad I did. It’s a fun little printer.
Despite it’s tiny size, the CP760 leans more toward the non-portable end of the spectrum than, say, the CP770 which comes in a plastic bucket or the ES30 which has an integrated handle and optional wireless and can run on batteries. No, this guy is intended to sit on a desk or table unobtrusively and quietly until needed. Although, technically, it’s small enough and light enough to move about if necessary and doesn’t require a connection to a computer to operate.
Color reproduction is very good at the default settings although reds are a little oversaturated for my taste.
… Continue reading Video review: Canon Selphy CP760 Compact Photo Printer
I hate printing photos at home. Every time I do it I’ve got to fiddle with printer settings, change the paper, do a test print, yadda yadda. It’s always been a pain in the neck. But, at least partly, I think that’s been because I’ve never owned a dedicated photo printer. I’ve always had my main document printer do double duty. Not only was it a pain, the results weren’t all that great anyway. Which is why I think I was so fascinated when I discovered compact photo printers.
I’d heard of them before, of course. Maybe it’s the price. Maybe it’s the new form factor. But something about this latest generation just clicked with me. Here is a class of printers dedicated to doing one thing and one thing only: print 4×6 snapshots. No fussing with loading the right paper. No worrying about running out of ink for your documents. No connectivity to a computer required.
I narrowed my final selection down to four: the Epson PictureMate Dash PM260 ($139), Canon Selphy CP760 ($77), HP A636 ($116), and the Canon Selphy ES30 ($136).
In a what?
It’s so weird, I don’t know how I missed it when it came out. I was out buying ink today when I stumbled across the Selphy. Somehow, those wacky guys over at Canon had the brilliant idea that portable photo printers ought to come in bucket form.
The Selphy CP770 (Amazon) is a playful little 4×6 dye-sublimation photo printer that comes in a plastic bucket big enough for its accessories, paper, and cables. The printer itself becomes the “lid” of the bucket and latches on with two large green plastic clamps. And you carry it around by the handle. On the bucket.
CNET Editors gives it a “very good” rating citing excellent photo quality, fast printing, and ease of use.
I’m still a little boggled. And yet I am intrigued. Would you dare bring this to a corporate or any other kind of “serious” environment? You’d have a hard time getting anyone to take you seriously. But, whip out this fruit tart of a photo printer at a child’s birthday party or family social gathering and fire off some 4×6’s at grandma and I predict you’d be the hero of the moment.
… Continue reading The Canon Selphy: A portable photo printer in a bucket
If you’re like most digital photographers, you probably don’t print photos very often. It’s become pretty common to go on vacations or day trips with friends and family and then exchange CDs full of photos or Flickr URLs or just send photos around as email attachments. I know lots of people still print photos, but let’s face it: lots of people don’t.
And, mostly, it’s a good thing. Back when folks had to print photos just to see them—and it was never free, not even to shoot them in the first place—they took a lot less photos. Granted, there’s a lot more crap we’re all subjected to. I heard a story recently from someone about how they’d casually send in photos to their kid’s school throughout the year. Photos of field trips and stuff. And how the people receiving those hundreds of photos used every single one for a slideshow that lasted an hour. Kill me now, right?
But there’s a lot more good stuff, too. Photography is partly a numbers game.
A little while back a new photo book printing service called Albelli sprang up. They gave us some coupon codes for a free medium landscape photo book. You used those codes and made your books. And the general consensus? Meh.
Have you used a photo book printing service that you love (or hate)? Please tell us about it in the comments below!
As for Albelli, here’s what some of you thought of the service:
Dan wrote:
I wanted to wait until I received the book before I wrote a review. The review is still in development but I’m glad I waited because the book arrived with some problems in it. The software also has some issues that should be resolved, which I’ll mention in a comment on the blog post.
The real problem I have is that four images printed incorrectly. Two were badly skewed/stretched, one had a handwritten press through from paper on top where I can see a handwritten “43” (it looks like a ballpoint pen was used with only a thin piece of paper on top of the photo for some reason) —
… Continue reading Review roundup: Remember Albelli photo books?
Fine Art Printing for Photographers (2nd edition, rocknook publishers) by Uwe Steinmueller and Juergen Gulbins, is an incredibly thorough, well-written, and interesting book about fine-art printing of digital photographs using ink jet printers. It covers all aspects of the craft and is written explicitly for the “ambitious amateur” and professional photographer.
Read on to learn more about the book and find out how you can get a free copy.
I must admit I didn’t know exactly what to expect when rockynook announced the second addition of this book. Before I received it, I’d completely missed the subtitle (Exhibition Quality Prints with Inkjet Printers). So my initial reaction was surprise followed by excitement as I scanned the table of contents.
Steinmuller and Gulbins make the case that today’s inkjet printers can deliver exhibition quality fine art prints and explain all of the details necessary to achieve that goal.
The authors devote entire chapters to the topics of printing techniques, paper and ink, color management, workflow, practical tips,
… Continue reading Review: Fine Art Printing for Photographers (2nd edition)
Last year I worked for a family with two wonderful children and when I left I wanted to make a photo book for them with some of the hundreds of photos I’d taken during the year. Well, things got chaotic as I packed up my life to move 3, 429 miles across the country, and in the end I simply didn’t have time to chose the photos, upload them to a suitable website, order the book, and wait for it to be delivered.
The idea came back into my head recently as I was thinking about Christmas gifts and this time I was just about organised enough to pull it off. But, man are there a lot of website offering photo books out there! So for those of you who might be looking for a quick comparison of prices here’s the little table I made while I was searching for the best deal.
|
Company |
Book Size |
Cost |
Shipping |
Other Info |
|
12×12 |
$54.99 $1.50/extra page |
$9.99 |
25% off order more than one. |
I don’t know if I hate cutting mats because I only do it a few times a year or if I only do it a few times a year because I hate it. If I did it more often I’d certainly be better at it which theoretically would mean it was easier for me. I mostly stick with standard, easy to find sizes. But once in a while I go off my rocker and want to do some goofy size and convince myself that it’ll be great to save a bunch of money doing it myself. I just finished cutting a bunch of mats tonight and probably saved about $100. But now I’m all grumpy. If you’ve likewise taken leave of your senses, here are some tips (to supplement the instructions that come with your mat cutter) that may help you keep your sanity:
… Continue reading 5 practical tips for cutting your own mats
