(About 560 words)

What Comes After You Have Your Pictures in Tip Top Shape?
by Donald Cummins, APCUG Representative, Fresno Personal Computer Users Group, California

Paper and ink are a team – one without the other is just paper or ink.  Paper is one of the least understood or overlooked items.

Paper should be used with care.  A wedding picture may be a total loss if you put it on the incorrect type of paper. If the picture is taken on the soft side (not very sharp) and printed on very glossy paper, it will make it look out of focus. It would be much better if it is printed on less glossy paper or, even better, on a matte-finish paper. Many of the wedding photos may need to be printed on a number of different types of paper to find the best results.  At the same time, the ink cartridges may need to be changed from one group of photos to another.

Some people feel you should use only one brand of paper that is made for your brand of printer; e.g. Epson printer should only use Epson paper and Epson original ink cartridges.  They say do not “mix and match.“  Others say stick with one brand of paper or ink and know everything about them. This can be a huge effort at the beginning but may pay off later.  Each photo should be and must be looked upon as being unique unto itself.

Now this is where ink comes into play.  There are two types of ink dye and pigment.  Dye inks produce somewhat brighter colors and are prone to fading.  They now may last 10 years or longer. Pigment inks are less bright and last longer than dye ink on photos.

Some feel that the larger number of dots per inch is one of the biggest things that will enhance the finished photo.  The other side says 1440 dpi is all you really need.  The droplet size may be the finishing touch to the photo if your printer can put down a droplet size of four picoliters and/or smaller; this is too small for our eyes to see.  Some printers are even putting down droplets as small as 1.5 picoliters. 

Does the ink bleed through or run or take forever to dry and cause the paper to cup up?  Some will lay down the ink in a number of passes and others may lay the ink down in one pass.  One may require the paper to move through a number of rollers and others will pass straight through.

One item which can affect the finished photo is how thick the paper is. You need to check how the paper moves through the printer because the way it moves will control how thick the paper can be.  

Printers now have many more capabilities than four or five years ago.  They have more ink colors, ink placement size, and speed than ever before.

For detailed printer information, check the following websites for their information on printers, ink and paper information:

Epson – www.epson.com
Canon – www.canon.com
Hewlett-Packard – www.hp.com

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author.  The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.