Evolution of the Home Printer

Today, most homes that are equipped with personal computers also have a printer alongside which is used for a number of purposes from printing out standard letters and documents to high resolution digital images.

However, while photo printing has become a common feature of most home printers today, it was not always the case and in earlier years the reproduction of photographs by standard inkjet printers was generally of a poor quality even when proper photo paper was used to print the image. Typically, the ability to print photographs in high quality was usually only found in more expensive printer models and for most people, the cost of true photographic reproduction was prohibitive. As a result, high quality photo printing was normally only found to be within the realm of professional photographers or on the high street by way of photographic development and equipment shops.

As digital cameras became more popular with consumers, so too did their need to be able to print photos with a quality that typically was not attainable by most standard inkjet printers. While these printers were able to easily deal with documents as well as print photographic images, their high level output invariably looked fuzzy and the colours they reproduced were often unrealistic. Recognising this desire by consumers for higher quality prints, printer manufacturers began to produce low cost home printers which could not only fulfil peoples' standard day-to-day text printing needs, but could also reproduce high quality digital images.

These newer home photo printers featured a greater number of ink nozzles which could deliver precision amounts of ink where needed in order to recreate the images, while individual colour tanks allowed for greater control of colour reproduction in comparison to earlier colour blocks. This in turn allowed photos to be produced with more vivid and realistic colours due to the increased range of colours and shades available, while even black and white documents could be printed with far greater sharpness and clarity than before. Many models also added scanning and photocopying functionality to allow for paper documents and older images to be digitally reproduced or manipulated.

Nowadays, these photo-capable home printers, such as those found in Hewlett Packard's Photosmart range, are available at a cost comparable to what a standard inkjet home printer would have cost several years ago. This of course makes them affordable and available within most peoples' budget for an all-round home printer solution; capable of printing both high resolution images and text, while even the most basic of models typically feature print, scan and copy functionality as standard.

What's more, the further up the range you travel and the more money you spend you can obtain higher specification printers with additional functions such as higher-resolution scanning and copying; duplex printing; facsimilie and even wireless printing so you needn't be physically shackled to a desktop computer in order to print; but instead can roam around your home sending documents and prints at will to your printer from any room in the house, making them ideal not only for home use, but also for home or small office purposes. Some can even print directly onto CDs.

Today's home printers offer a cost-effective mid-ground solution, marrying the ability to print out text documents with the ability to produce high quality digital images by combining both functions into a compact, single unit printer. This means consumers no longer need to choose between the two or compromise either function when choosing which printer best suits their needs. With the current home printers, users can print, scan and copy in vivid colour to generate not only crisp, clear text but also produce high quality photographs without the costs associated with professional printing, giving home, school and work projects an impressive edge.