Best Professional Photo Printer

For your newly minted entrepreneur sister, Carl suggests the Brother Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax. He shows you the LCD display screen with which your sister can enter instructions for the printer’s various functions.

You note that the screen is a lot bigger (over 3 inches) than what you see on most printers. Carl also tells you about the printer’s wireless capabilities, which you know your sister will see as a plus.

Another benefit Carl points out is that unlike other printers, which stops working when one of the color cartridges runs dry, Brother ink cartridges run on their own individual path.

This means your sister will only have to replace one cartridge at a time, making the process a bit cheaper.

Just as you’re about to put the Brother printer into your shopping cart, Carl clears his throat and tells you that he feels the responsibility to tell you about the experience that other customers have had with this and his other picks.

The first thing that Carl tells you is that almost none of his customers have had a problem with the photo printing function. However, some customers have complained about the fact that this Brother printer has to operate on either a wireless or wired platform. It can’t do both at the same time. Your sister may be a bit annoyed at the fact, but you think she’ll get over it quickly after she sees all of the benefits this printer will bestow on her business.

Best Photo Printer for the Tech Newbie

For your grandmother who finally buckled down and got a digital camera last month, Carl suggests the Epson Picturemate Charm Personal Photo Lab Inkjet Printer.

He tells you that this printer gives your grandmother the ability to preview and edit photos using easy-to-follow instructions that appear on the LCD display screen.

Carl thinks your grandmother will also appreciate that the printer is both portable and fast, printing out a 4×6 photo in under 40 seconds.

Carl says there were two main complaints about this portable photo printer. He points to the small size of the LCD screen and said that your grandmother might have problems judging the quality of photographs on a 2 inch screen.

You assure Carl that your grandmother has 20/20 vision. He also said that some cost conscious customers complained about the fact that Epson sells their ink cartridges and paper in the same package.

In other words, you can’t buy Epson ink or paper separately. Your grandmother is a thrift warrior, do you think she’ll make it work somehow. You put Carl’s pick in your shopping cart.

Best Portable Photo Printer

You briefly mention that your baby brother is going on a road trip to Las Vegas with a couple of his fraternity brothers. After regaling you with semi-snore inducing tales of mischief conducted at Comic-Con, he picks out the Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printer.

Carl tells you all about the printer’s Portrait Image Optimize function and how it identifies the faces in all pictures and corrects for backlight and red eye. He also emphasizes the fact that this particular printer doesn’t need a computer to work, a great addition for any car trip.

Carl does warn that at .30 to .40 a print, the cost per picture is a bit high. Another complaint that he got from customers is that the printer doesn’t reproduce pictures larger than 4×6.

You think about it for a minute and decide that your little brother was spoiled enough. If he wants larger pictures, he can get a job or ask Mom and Dad for another photo printer. You put the Canon SELPHY CP800 Compact Photo Printer with the rest of Carl’s picks.

Best Cheap Photo Printer

You ask Carl what kind of photo printer you should get for your cousin, whom you haven’t seen since your tenth birthday party over two decades ago.

Your mother put a massive guilt trip on you to buy your cousin a birthday gift, but the only thing she could tell you about her is that “she likes to take pictures.” You proceed to tell Carl that you want this photo printer to be cheap and to do what it’s supposed to do for a reasonable amount of time.

Carl points you in the direction of the Canon InkJet Photo Printer. He thinks that your cousin will like the photo printer because it’s lightweight and won’t take up a huge amount of space on her desk.

Carl also introduces you to the Easy Photo Print EX software, which will allow your cousin to edit her photos before printing them.

Carl also describes to you customer complaints about how the printer eats up ink like a starving animal and the expense that causes.

In addition, some other people didn’t like the amount of noise the printer made when it was performing its main function. You’re beginning to form doubts about this printer when you ask Carl how much it cost.

When he tells you that it’s under $100 and that it’s far and away from the best you were going to get for that price, you have the Canon PIXMA iP2702 Inkjet Photo Printer join its brethren in your shopping cart.

Best Overall Photo Printer

You notice that Carl is eyeing the plate of jelly donuts that the pubescent looking manager put behind the register. Since he was so helpful, you decide to put Carl out of his misery after he helps you with your pickiest gift recipient: yourself.

You tell Carl that even though you’re no Annie Leibovitz, you take your amateur photography seriously. You want a photo printer that creates photos with an amazing amount of color and detail, has the ability to handle different types of paper and can print from devices other than your computer. You also add that price is no object.

You watch as Carl scratches his head in thought, interrupting the lively yet quiet sprouting of his untamed mane. He then clears his throat and takes you to an out of the way corner of the photo printer section.

You and Carl walk all the way to the end of a row of sleek, expensive photo printers, all of which you think you’d like. It is at the last photo printer that Carl stops and pauses, as if in awe of the sizable but sleek model.

Carl introduces you to the Canon PIXMA Mark II Inkjet Printer. You mention that you’re already giving your cousin a Canon PIXMA. Carl simply shrugs his shoulders and says that “the best is the best.”

Carl tells you all about the ambient light correction feature on this photo printer.

This feature lets your photos self-correct its color output according to the light in the room in which you’re viewing them. Remembering that you wanted to be able to use different types of papers in your printer, Carl talks about the 2-way loading system, which allows you to put photo papers in the front of the printer and other types in the back.

As Carl goes on about the Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II, you get more and more excited. Even when he tells you that some customers had issues when feeding paper into the printer, you’re not deterred. As an added bonus, Carl tells you he can personally show you how to feed paper into this printer to avoid that problem.

Another problem that Carl brings up is the printer’s tendency to use up ink quickly. You tell Carl that your grandmother spent the last three decades bringing up a thrift warrior in training and that you’re confident in your ability to find cheap ink. Carl smiles as you gingerly put this printer into your shopping cart.