What is the difference between a photo printer and a regular printer?
HP photo printers, typically called HP Photosmart printers, are great for everyday documents, spreadsheets and things you
normally print. But they also include special features for photographers, including big image displays, multiple memory
card readers for printing without a PC, 4" x 6" photo paper trays, editing functions like red-eye removal, and creative color
effects and borders. These features make them a faster and easier way to print lab quality photos.
They are available in different sizes and shapes, depending on what you want to do:
Dots per inch (dpi) is a measurement of print resolution that indicates how many individual dots a printer can create
on a page per square inch. For crisp, colorful, professional-looking photo prints, a photo printer needs at least
600 x 600 dpi. Otherwise, your photos may turn out pixilated (that is, objects will appear speckled and blocky).
HP Photosmart photo printers offer up to 4800 x 1200 dpi color prints, for amazingly sharp, lab-quality photos.
What other factors affect the quality of the photo prints?
Number of inks
All HP Photosmart desktop printers and almost all HP Photosmart All-in-One printers have six or more ink wells.
The result is dazzling, vibrant photos with improved shadow detail, better color accuracy, sharpness, and long life.
With 6 ink printers, each printed pixel can combine 32 superfine ink droplets for up to 72.9 million colors!
Type of ink
HP Vivera inks provide an exceptionally smooth finish on glossy photo paper for brilliant photo quality
and fade resistance.
Size and placement of ink drops
A typical HP ink cartridge manages hundreds of microscopic nozzles placing tiny droplets of ink (one third the
width of a human hair to be exact) precisely where they're intended for sharp, clear photos every time.
Borderless photos are printed without a white border around the photo. This allows the ink to go all the way to the
edges of the photo paper.
All HP Photosmart printers offer borderless printing, including the
compact Photosmart printers
Will photos printed at home last as long as lab-processed photos?
The HP Vivera inks, along with
HP Premium Plus photo paper,
provide light-fade resistance superior to that of lab-processed silver-halide photos-up to 100 or more years for six- and
nine-ink printing systems.¹
All compact photo printers are capable of printing borderless 4" x 6", 4" x 8", and 4" x 12" panoramic photos.
Some compact photo printers also print 5" x 7".
Desktops and All-in-Ones are capable of printing the same sizes as the compacts, but can also print borderless
8.5" x 11" and 8.5" x 24" photos.
Professional photo printers
Select HP printers, such as the HP Photosmart 8750
and HP Photosmart B9180
professional photo printers are capable of producing breathtaking photos up to 13" x 19".
How can I tell if the printer will be easy to use?
HP Photosmart printers are designed with ease-of-use in mind. Look for the following features to make photo printing a
breeze:
Color LCD displays that allow you to see and edit your photos before you print
4" x 6" photo trays dedicated to photo prints
Direct photo printing without the need for a computer with slots for your camera's memory card
Multiple memory card slots for whatever format you need
The HP Photosmart D7360 printer
has an innovative 3.4" touch-screen display and it's the easiest and fastest way to print lab-quality photos²
(as fast as 1.5 minutes for 4" x 6" photos).
What is direct photo printing, or printing without a PC?
Direct photo printing means you can print affordable, lab-quality photos directly from memory cards or straight from your
camera—without even going near a computer.
Read more about connectivity under question 13:
"How do HP Photosmart printers connect to my computer or camera?"
Most HP Photosmart printers, including
All-in-Ones, and
compact photo printers,
allow you to edit photos right in the printer. For example, you can view your photos on your printer's LCD screen and
remove red-eye in a few simple steps. You can also crop and rotate photos and add creative effects like sepia and black
and white, custom borders, and more—all without a computer.
See a demo
of the creative effects on the A616 and A716 compact photo printers."
What if I want a photo printer but I also want to scan, copy, and fax?
HP Photosmart All-in-Ones produce the same beautiful color photos as desktop and compact HP Photosmart printers. On top of
that, they also scan and copy—in one compact, easy-to-use, time-saving device.
Select HP All-in-Ones, such as the
HP Photosmart C7180,
even have faxing capabilities.
Do HP Photosmart printers have two-sided printing?
Many HP Photosmart printers allow you to print on both sides of the paper by manually turning the paper over yourself. But
the ability to automatically print on both sides of the paper not only saves time, it also saves money by using up to 50%
less paper.
A two-sided printing accessory,
called a duplexer, is an easy add-on to most HP Photosmart printers and All-in-Ones.
How do HP Photosmart printers connect to my computer, camera, or mobile phone?
All HP Photosmart printers can connect directly to your computer via USB, but there are several more options available.
PictBridge
This technology allows you to connect and print photos directly to most HP Photosmart printer from your
digital camera camera—all without a computer.
Memory card slots
HP Photosmart printers include a multitude of memory card slots for whatever card format you prefer. You can also
print directly from your card without a computer.
Networking (wired and wireless)
Some HP Photosmart All-in-Ones allow you to connect to your home network via an Ethernet or wireless network
connection -- making it available to multiple computers. You can also purchase the
Wireless Printing Upgrade kit
to turn any HP printer into a wireless printer.
Bluetooth
HP offers an optional Bluetooth wireless accessory for camera phone photo printing that can be used with
most Photosmart printers.
See all available wireless accessories.
The kind of photo paper you use is extremely important to the quality and longevity of your photos. HP offers a variety of
photo papers and finishes to be used depending on your needs. For photos that resist fading longer than lab processed photos
use HP Premium Plus photo paper.
For more information on choosing HP photo paper,
use this guide.
HP Photosmart printers aren't limited to photo paper, though. They can print on heavyweight card stock, iron-on transfers,
inkjet fabric sheets, vellum, and more! Visit the
HP Activity Center
for tons of creative ideas for your printer.
Printable version
