Choosing The Right Photo Paper And Ink Cartridges For Your Inkjet Printer

Introduction

We all love taking digital photos and sharing them with family and friends. With more and more of us printing our pictures at home, how do we successfully achieve that 'photo lab quality' look?

Follow these 5 simple tips and you're on your way to creating crisp, vibrant, long-lasting digital prints every time with your home photo printer.

1. Choosing the right photo paper

True of false? Digital prints don't last as long as traditional prints. False! Using the right paper is key to your success. Printing onto plain copier paper will just make your prints look dull and faded.

By using a good quality photo paper specifically designed to produce high-quality, true-to-life colour images you'll get equally good or better results than traditional lab-developed photographs.

2. So which type of photo paper should I use?

There is a wide variety available for every type of print or project, ranging in thickness and finish. Choose from your ink jet printer's own brand of photo paper or a good quality, alternative brand at competitive prices. It's good to shop around.

The type and texture of the paper used has direct relation to how well prints look. If you treasure photos, use photo paper and ink that help ensure prints last long, are light and water resistant. Some premium papers resist fading for 25, 50 or more years and have the look and feel of traditional photographs.

Ink jet paper characteristics:

- Paper weight
This refers to the thickness of paper. Generally bond or office copier paper is the most common weight used by consumers, averaging around 80gsm, whilst paper used to print photos is usually thicker, ranging between 150gsm and 215gsm.

- Paper brightness
All ink jet papers come in a range of levels of brightness, known as whiteness. Brightness is rated on a scale of 1 to over 100, with the higher the number, the whiter the paper. For example: Brighter and whiter means better, more vivid colour prints.

- Check the brightness rating of paper
Many manufacturers may claim their paper is "bright" or use a similar term on the packaging. So before buying your photo paper, check its number rating. For top quality printing, get paper with a brightness rating of 95 and above.

3. What inkjet photo finish should I use?

There's a variety of photo paper finishes available, ranging from extremely glossy to matte. Glossy produces deep, vibrant colours while matte offers rich textures and resists fingerprints. High quality inkjet paper is coated and results in sharper images, displaying brighter colour and more detail. Gradients are smoother and are very important for printing quality photos and other half-tone images.

Inkjet photo paper comes in three finishes with variations on each. The basics are:

Glossy - high shine with the look and feel of traditional glossy photo lab paper.
Semi-gloss - satin lustre and a slight bumpy surface. Less shine than glossy.
Matte - dull surface with no glare or sheen. Often used when prints are displayed under glass.

4. Choose the right paper size

Photo papers come in a variety of sizes. The most popular size used to achieve photo-lab quality, is 4" x 6" paper. A perfect fit for most photo albums.

Print spectacular panoramic photos, such as a tropical sunset, using 4" x 12" paper. When you're making studio-quality enlargements of family or pets, 13" x 19" is ideal. And try 11" x 17" paper for calendars and posters.

Some printer models have software, which helps you quickly and easily print common sizes or even select a custom size.

Photo paper comes packaged and pre-cut in the most popular sizes, and can be purchased online and in office supply stores

5. Choosing your ink

Ink jet printers offer the most cost-effective colour photo printing solution. Most printer manufacturers will recommend their own branded ink cartridges. Significant investment in developing and testing their inks and papers will have taken place to ensure they produce finer colour gradations, richer colour saturation and better colour solids. However, with the soaring costs of branded cartridges, more and more people are turning to quality alternative compatibles. There are many alternatives on the market, making your budget stretch that bit longer, without compromising the quality and reliability of consumers' requirements.