Help needed with printing photos...

[Guest]

Hey everyone, i need some help printing out some photos i have. In my local dollar store i bought 34 really cool picture frames and i only paid 17 bux. It was a buy one take the second one free. At the same store i bought a pack of 20 sheets of 4X6 paper.
I have an HP 5150 printer. I got home and printed a picture on the dollar store paper and on a sheet of HP Premium Paper. I didnt use the photo cartridge and to my surprise, the dollar store paper looks better than the HP Premium Paper.

Does anyone have any tips or information i should know about printing my own pictures at home?

Does the paper you get make that much of a difference?
Does getting the photo cartridge help any?

Thanks for your help!

 

[DemonOuterverse]

The photo cartridge enables the printer to print in 6-colors (Cyan, LightCyan, Magenta, LightMagenta, Yellow, blacK) which typically does give a better quality print than just using the CYM (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) & K (blacK) cartridges. Six-Color printing, unless I'm mistaken is the same as big name photo shops use to print. The possible reason for the better print without the 6-colors is that the paper was a low grade so it ended up printing like a normal pic.

(I'm spelling black as blacK because the abbreviation they use for it is K and not B, which is for blue)

I'd go ahead and pop the photo cartridge in and print a sample on the HP paper. I'm willing to be $0.02 USD that the quality will be vastly improved.

IMO, Kodak's paper tend to be the worst of the Brand-Names. It seems to fade way too damn fast. SOME dollar store papers have various problems like bleed, slow dry time, fading, etc.

 

[Weird Harold]

Does anyone have any tips or information i should know about printing my own pictures at home?

Does the paper you get make that much of a difference?
Does getting the photo cartridge help any?

The Quality of Paper and Ink are mostly going to affect the durability of the print although going too chep on either is going to affect the immediate quality as well.

The only way to get the best your printer is capable of producing is to experiment with the tips and recommendations in your printer's user manual -- bearing in mind that the printer manufacturer is going to recommend their own line of paper and ink over third party vendors' products.

FWIW, I have an EPSON Stylus printer but I found that HP's Photo papers are better than EPSON's and among the cheapest brand name photo papers -- although I get very good results with the generic bulk Glossy Photo Paper my daughter bought at an OfficeMax clearance sale.

There are different types of Photo Paper and the same image will look different when printed on Glossy paper than it does on "Satin Finish" (textured photo paper).

If you're printing pictures to frame, I'd say using the Photo Ink cartridge for your printer would work best because it's less likely to smear or fade on "photo quality" paper. The type of paper is going to make a bigger difference than the brand -- i.e glossy vs satin rather than HP vs EPSON vs CANON. Experiment and find a paper you can afford that gives the results you like best.

 

[DemonOuterverse]

although I get very good results with the generic bulk Glossy Photo Paper my daughter bought at an OfficeMax clearance sale.

I'll have to give that paper a try then. I've only stuck with the HP stuff.

Now I just have to find the damn disc for my printer.

 

[Weird Harold]

I'll have to give that paper a try then. I've only stuck with the HP stuff.

Now I just have to find the damn disc for my printer.

You'll need to be very prolific to make it worth while -- it comes in boxes of 5,000 sheets, which is why she could give me 500 sheets or so without noticing the shortage.

She uses for her business so 5,000 sheets of glossy photo-paper could be written off as a business expense. It also only comes in 8.5x11 so printing 5x7's is a bit wasteful unless you've got a program to print multiple images per page.

However, you might be able to find generic photo-paper in smaller lots than the bulk paper -- "White Shark" makes a wide range of quality printer papers but I haven't shopped for paper in several years so I don't know what they offer in photo-quality paper.

The important thing is to find a paper that works for you -- unless you're planning on printing thousands of pictures, a large package of photo-quality paper is going to last you a long time once you get over the "I can print my own pictures" kick.

 

[Guest]

The photo cartridge enables the printer to print in 6-colors (Cyan, LightCyan, Magenta, LightMagenta, Yellow, blacK) which typically does give a better quality print than just using the CYM (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) & K (blacK) cartridges. Six-Color printing, unless I'm mistaken is the same as big name photo shops use to print. The possible reason for the better print without the 6-colors is that the paper was a low grade so it ended up printing like a normal pic.

(I'm spelling black as blacK because the abbreviation they use for it is K and not B, which is for blue)

I'd go ahead and pop the photo cartridge in and print a sample on the HP paper. I'm willing to be $0.02 USD that the quality will be vastly improved.

IMO, Kodak's paper tend to be the worst of the Brand-Names. It seems to fade way too damn fast. SOME dollar store papers have various problems like bleed, slow dry time, fading, etc.

nice tip on the 6 cartridge, i wasnt aware of that. I'll get me a photo cartridge tonigh and try that out. I don't really care about fading, it's only photos i've taken with my digital and i want to send some copied to my grandma in portugal. So i doubt that they will fade out that fast.
And i read somewhere ur not supposed to frame ur inkjet pics until 24 hours later for optimal results, is that true or not?

 

[Guest]

The Quality of Paper and Ink are mostly going to affect the durability of the print although going too chep on either is going to affect the immediate quality as well.

The only way to get the best your printer is capable of producing is to experiment with the tips and recommendations in your printer's user manual -- bearing in mind that the printer manufacturer is going to recommend their own line of paper and ink over third party vendors' products.

FWIW, I have an EPSON Stylus printer but I found that HP's Photo papers are better than EPSON's and among the cheapest brand name photo papers -- although I get very good results with the generic bulk Glossy Photo Paper my daughter bought at an OfficeMax clearance sale.

There are different types of Photo Paper and the same image will look different when printed on Glossy paper than it does on "Satin Finish" (textured photo paper).

If you're printing pictures to frame, I'd say using the Photo Ink cartridge for your printer would work best because it's less likely to smear or fade on "photo quality" paper. The type of paper is going to make a bigger difference than the brand -- i.e glossy vs satin rather than HP vs EPSON vs CANON. Experiment and find a paper you can afford that gives the results you like best.

well, the idea isnt to go super cheap, but since i saw it there, i decided it was worth a shot. I mean, next to it i also saw a pregnancy test. Doesnt mean it's accurate or reliable... As most dollar store products. I tried finding more information on my printer, but because it's not a photo printer, it's just a normal one, i havent found anything yet. If anyone can help me out, it's a HP 5150. I usually go for glossy, i dont really like the textured paper...
Thanks for your help!

 

[Guest]

I'll have to give that paper a try then. I've only stuck with the HP stuff.

Now I just have to find the damn disc for my printer.

If you need the disc to install your printer or to get the printer software, go to HP.com and look up your printer model. You should be able to get everything there. If you need help doing that, don't be shy.

 

[DemonOuterverse]

If you need the disc to install your printer or to get the printer software, go to HP.com and look up your printer model. You should be able to get everything there. If you need help doing that, don't be shy.

It's an Epson Photo Stylus. I just moved crap around recently and just put it somewhere and forgot. Not that I have really had a need for it lately. XD

 

[Weird Harold]

And i read somewhere ur not supposed to frame ur inkjet pics until 24 hours later for optimal results, is that true or not?

It's probably a good idea, if not absolutely necessary to wait a full 24 hours.

Printer ink doesn't dry instantly and the solvent in the ink has to evaporate completely before you frame them. Not waiting until the ink dries can cause the picture to stick to the glass and/or allow the vaporating solvents to condense on the glass and fog it.

I don't really care about fading, it's only photos i've taken with my digital and i want to send some copied to my grandma in portugal. So i doubt that they will fade out that fast.

If you're not worried about creating a lasting masterpiece, then it's a matter of balancing the cost against the quality. Regular printer ink and generic "dollar store" glossy paper should be fine for the snail-mail equivalent of a an e-mailed image. On the other hand, if you're looking to provide a "keepsake" quality gift, go for the best paper and ink you can afford.

I still have about 15 sheets out of a 20 sheet pack of high-end HP Photo-paper I bought for a picture montage I created for a graduation present about four years ago. (I wasted four sheets before I got it exactly how I wanted it.) I don't use that paper for printing pictures when my daughter sees something and says, "can you print me a copy of that?" or for printing wallet-sized images that are going to get mangled and mashed about in a wallet or purse long before it has a chance to fade.

For a lot of purposes, just printing a picture on whatever happens to being the printer (usually just generic Inkjet Paper) is all the quality and durability that is needed -- there is no point in printing a masterpiece for the bulletin board at work, for example.

 

[Guest]

It's probably a good idea, if not absolutely necessary to wait a full 24 hours.

Printer ink doesn't dry instantly and the solvent in the ink has to evaporate completely before you frame them. Not waiting until the ink dries can cause the picture to stick to the glass and/or allow the vaporating solvents to condense on the glass and fog it.



If you're not worried about creating a lasting masterpiece, then it's a matter of balancing the cost against the quality. Regular printer ink and generic "dollar store" glossy paper should be fine for the snail-mail equivalent of a an e-mailed image. On the other hand, if you're looking to provide a "keepsake" quality gift, go for the best paper and ink you can afford.

I still have about 15 sheets out of a 20 sheet pack of high-end HP Photo-paper I bought for a picture montage I created for a graduation present about four years ago. (I wasted four sheets before I got it exactly how I wanted it.) I don't use that paper for printing pictures when my daughter sees something and says, "can you print me a copy of that?" or for printing wallet-sized images that are going to get mangled and mashed about in a wallet or purse long before it has a chance to fade.

For a lot of purposes, just printing a picture on whatever happens to being the printer (usually just generic Inkjet Paper) is all the quality and durability that is needed -- there is no point in printing a masterpiece for the bulletin board at work, for example.

Thanks on the confirmation about the 24 hours. Because my bedroom is such a whorehouse, i just need to figure out a way to keep the pictures away from the hands of everyone that comes in and wants to see them...

 

[Weird Harold]

Thanks on the confirmation about the 24 hours. Because my bedroom is such a whorehouse, i just need to figure out a way to keep the pictures away from the hands of everyone that comes in and wants to see them...

If you can keep people's hand off of them for the first ten to fifteen minutes, they should be dry enough to put in a shirt-box or drawer for the rest of the night. They just need enough air space for the solvents to evaporate into, and after the first few minutes it doesn't take much airspace -- as long as the air isn't going to be trapped under glass with the photo.