Print pictures from a laser printer?

[zedin]

Ok.. so I inherited a fairly nice hp color laser printer for free. I usually get my shot printed out at a lab since I never had the cash to invest in a good photo printer. The question I had is will a laser printer make decent prints provided I get photo laser paper? (assuming they make that) The output resolution is 600*600dpi so not as much as a inkjet printer. I would probably only use it for random shots and not quality prints that I would want to frame but more for photo album stuff.

 

[Bob_McBob]

To tell you the truth, I doubt you will get very high quality photo output from your laser printer. Generally, even a cheap photo inkjet printer will produce better results than a high quality colour laser printer. If you do want to try, make sure you get some nice heavy weight paper and set the printing driver to the correct paper type.

We have a colour laser at work with a printing agreement where each colour page costs 8.5 cents, so I happily use it for printing posters and such, but even at 8.5 cents for an 8x10 I would rather go to Costco for my proper prints.

 

[PopPicker]

I've got an Epson C1100 colour laser and it's great for what it's designed for, documents, brochures etc. It colour matching is not a patch on an inkjet.

There isn't a 'laser photo' paper as such but high quality white paper will give better results than normal paper, I use ultra white card 160gsm and 320 gsm for higher quality work such as my product and service catalogues.

It's definately not a replacement for normal photo printing not even for shots that don't matter. Also I doubt it has any sort of archival properties.

So my recommendation would be no

PP

 

[Rob]

lasers don't print "normal" looking prints even with photo paper. BTW, putting glossy paper in a laser printer also isn't a good idea as the toner won't stick properly (most likely) and it will then get deposited on all the rollers and will stuff up the next few hundred prints with odd random stains.

Get an inkjet photo printer - they're very cheap to buy, but be prepared to lose a small fortune on cartridges!!

Rob

 

[zedin]

be prepared to lose a small fortune on cartridges!!

Yeah.. That is why I have not gotten one yet. I figured I might give the laser a go since it was free but guess I will stick with Costco or shutterfly for now

 

[Bob_McBob]

If you are using Costco, make sure you download the printer profile for your store: http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/