best printer for digital cameras

[aqua maniac]

recantly, I got a sony digital dsc-s75/s85 still camera. The pics. i have takin look great- that is until i print them. does anyone kno of a printer that makes good pics?

[ShirleyM]

What kind of printer are you currently using?

One problem may be this:

Pics look great on a computer monitor at 72 dpi, which is what most webshots are. However, if you print them at 72dpi, they are grainy, not much color saturation, etc.

If you have a way of shooting high quality, converting to 200 or 300 dpi, then sizing to a reasonable PRINT size (it will be different from PIXEL size) they should look pretty good on an old printer, and great on the newer ones.

Btw, 72 dpi is the same pixel size as print size.

hth,

Shirley

[aqua maniac]

my printer is a hewlet packerd jeskjet 932c. it is about 1 year old
where do i convert the dpi? thanks

[ShirleyM]

I convert with PhotoShop. You can change the print size (physical size when printed) or you can change the dpi, which would change the PIXEL size on a monitor.

It's the photo editing software that changes the dpi, not the printer.

Also, when scanning a photo printed from film you can set the scanner to scan at whatever dpi you need.

~ Shirley

[Buehlz]

the dpi (dots per square inch) would be decided by the quality that your camera takes the photos. I have a HP Photosmart 315 that takes up to 1600 x 1200 pixel photos it is a 2.1 mega pixel camera. I have 3 differant setting at witch I can take photos Good quality (640x480), Better quality(1600x1200) and Best quality(1600x1200). If you plan on printing your photos you should have it on the Best quality. Your camera the sony digital dsc-s75 is a 3.3 mega pixel camera has the abilitys to take up to 2048 x 1536 pixel photos. That is plenty good enough to get a GREAT looking 8 x 10 print out. Your printer on the other hand Hewlett Packard Deskjet 932C Printer can print upto 2400x1200 dpi. My printer is a Hewlett Packard Photosmart 1115 that can print up to 2400x1200 but has photo capabilities. Me personally believe that the problem is either in the software that you are printing the photo with and/or the photo capabilities of your printer. My suggestion would be to by a quality photo printer.

[ShirleyM]

You're right, Buehlz, on the quality settings, however even on highest quality the image size being 1600 x 1200 if you look at the dpi in PhotoShop, or any program that will show you the dpi, you'll most likely see 72 dpi, unless it was a scanned image with the scanner set to 300 dpi, for example.

So, I convert to 200 or 300 dpi, bring the image size in Inches to what I want, for instance, 5x7, then send to the printer.

If you print the pixel size instead of the print size, then the image is huge and quite distorted.

We quite possibly are talking about the same thing, but differently.

There's Pixel size (number across by number down), and number of dots per sq inch (pixel density, resolution). You could have a large pixel size, but small dpi, spread thinly when printed out, thus the need to convert it to 300 dpi with software capable of doing that.

When I convert to 300 dpi and leave it at 5x7 inches, it prints nicely and is 5x7. However, if I publish it on the Web or view it on the computer monitor in pixel size, I would either need to bring the dpi down to, say, 72, or leave it 300 dpi and change pixel size to something much smaller, such as 600 x 429. Then, as a pring, it's TINY (2x1.43"), but as a screen shot, it's plenty large enough.


72 dpi, pixel size of 504x360 = image size of 5x7 inches.

300 dpi makes it 2100 x 1500 dpi, image size of 5x7. See how the density, or resolution, improves? The physical image is the same, but the Web view would be outrageous and look fuzzy. But, in "print view" with the software program, such as PhotoShop, it looks great and prints great. If you have it set up like that but the software can't display it in print size, and sends it to the printer in pixel size, it will be huge and look blurry.

Making sense? It would be easier to show you than to say it in words. Basically, it boils down to having your camera on best quality, your software capable of converting to 200 or 300 dpi, and your printer capable of printing a much higher quality than the photo image is.

hth,

~ Shirley