Photo printers are becoming the digital darkroom technology of the 21st Century. This article tries to find out which of the photo printer vendors offers the most value for the money. It is based on technical and market research and interviews with David Spencer from SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratories, one of the most prominent analysts in this market.
Other research analysts we consulted are QualityLogic, Wilhelm Research, and Lyra Research.

These analysts —and user experience— have found that:

• Dye-based systems are superior for high-gloss photo printing


• The number of inks used in the system determines the visible quality of the photograph, with 8 inks offering the best performance


• Ink and paper are matched to each other, and therefore must not be separated out of risk of decrease in quality and life span


• Resolution only determines print quality up to a point, after which the visible improvement is nil with a severe increase in printing cost in terms of printing performance


• The servicing method (cartridge cleaning cycle) in large part determines the cost per print


• Cost per print cannot be decreased by using third-party refill ink cartridges


• Cost per print cannot be decreased by using single-ink cartridges


• Black & White printing cannot be done with the same quality as a silver halide print, unless using grey and black only inks


• User-friendliness and customer guidance are important factors for driving consumer success in the photo printing market.

Of these issues, the quality factor is the least different among competitors. While print quality remains important to the user, operating costs and user-friendliness are the characteristics that set different vendors’ offerings apart.

Every vendor delivers good quality prints with its top range model. HP can provide the most realistic looking photographs, with less risk of metamerism (metamerism is a shift in hue, which is caused by the human eye’s physical limits when it comes to seeing colours correctly. An example of metamerism is when you think dark blue socks are black, until you hold them side-by-side with a pair of black socks) while Canon and Epson provide brighter colours, which turns photo quality by itself mostly in a simple matter of taste; just like we had people liking Agfa film better than Kodak, and others liking Fuji better than Agfa.

However, everything surrounding the delivery of that quality is what sets the three vendors apart. Here, HP offers the most value for money, both in terms of operating cost and user-friendliness.
Operating costs are much lower for a HP Photosmart printer than for any of the competing products. For example, HP offers guaranteed cost-per-print Photo Packs, delivering an all-in solution to the customer who can immediately start printing at a fixed price per print.

HP also displays a better care for the consumer. As an example, ease-of-use for a HP customer transcends the box contents with dedicated web sites, Tips & Tricks guides, and downloadable software. This increases the photographing and photo printing experience by ensuring customers do not have to endlessly experiment —wasting paper and ink in the process— before being able to output their first successful digital print.

The cost of printing a photograph with an inkjet printer is the result of a number of factors such as the price of the inks and paper, and the ink spillage as a result of cleaning cycles.

Servicing Costs

Starting with the latter, we interviewed SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory who found some vendors to be less careful when it comes to spillage as a result of cleaning cycles than others.

SpencerLab’s CEO David Spencer said each vendor has its own problems with ink spillage. However, Spencer said that some vendors use excessive amounts of ink in their cleaning cycles which may not be counted in corresponding yield claims.

The servicing of photo printers has three components:

• A cleaning cycle is initiated when ink cartridges are replaced


• A cleaning cycle is initiated on a periodic basis


• Some vendors initiate a cleaning cycle at each start-up of the printer.