The digital revolution in photography has changed not only how we take photos, but also how we view and share them. In many cases, when the memory card is filled, we transfer the images to the computer, maybe view them in the folder before we clear off the card. We may e-mail a favorite or two to friends or family, then seldom look at that batch of photos again.

Printing digital photos is a great way to get more enjoyment from your pictures. You can preview and sort the images, weed out the duplicates and order prints of several of your favorites for sharing. Not only will prints be likely to be viewed more often than pictures filed away on the computer’s hard drive, they will offer another way of archiving the image in case the hard drive crashes. So even in the digital age, photo albums and scrapbooks are still a great way to save, store and enjoy photos. And with the steady improvements in ink and paper technology, prints made on inkjet, dye sublimation or conventional color paper will last for decades before discernable changes occur when stored properly.

PRINTING AT HOME
Most printers and cameras made in the past 18 months are PictBridge compliant, so you can connect the camera directly to the printer and make prints without a computer. Many printers have card slots to read files from a variety of camera memory cards. Quite a few have LCD displays that show the image being printed. There are basically two types of printers for printing photos, dye sublimation and ink jet.

Canon CP400 4x6" Dye Sublimation Printer

With a dye sub printer, a heated print head and dye ribbons form the image and bond it to glossy paper. As a final step, a clear protective layer is added to the photo to help it resist moisture and fingerprints. Dye sub prints have very smooth tones, without the tiny dots that may be visible on inkjet prints. With dye sub printers, materials are purchased in complete packs that contain both the dye ribbon and paper to make a given number of prints. Most dye sub printers are small, compact units for making 4x6” prints and are perfect for making a few prints for sharing quickly. Kodak’s Printer Dock is a dye sub printer that interfaces with Kodak EasyShare cameras, eliminating the need for a connecting cord.

Inkjet printers spray microscopic dots of ink to make text and photos. The simplest printers have two ink cartridges, one containing magenta, yellow and cyan ink, the other holding black ink. More advanced printers have up to eight ink cartridges. Not only can the individual colors be replaced as needed, but there are in-between colors and shades (such as light cyan, red, photo black) that expand the color range and improve the accuracy.

Epson Stylus Photo R320 Inkjet Printer

Inkjet printers are available in a range of sizes. Some compact units like the Epson PictureMate and the HP Photosmart 375 are for 4x6” prints only. The majority, however, print from 4x6” up to 8-1/2 x 14”. Large models print up to 13x19” and professional wide-format printers print on 24” or wider rolls of paper. When printing photos with an inkjet printer, use a good quality paper made for photos, and set the printer’s inking levels to that type of paper. Both of these factors are important for getting the best photo quality from your printer.

HAVING A LAB MAKE YOUR PRINTS
Printing at home takes time and if you don’t have any to spare or if you don’t enjoy the sizing and selecting involved in printing photos, it is far easier to have a photo lab such as Porter’s make them for you. At a walk-in lab, you can bring in your images on camera memory cards or burned onto a CD and request the prints like you do from film. Many labs have self-service kiosks or print centers that allow you to set up the order the way you wish. Depending on the lab’s equipment, when this order is submitted it may go to the same printer as film processing, where it is printed on silver-based color paper. Other labs may print the self-service orders on special dye sub printers.

ONLINE PROCESSING
By using an online printer such as Porter's DigiPrint Processing Service www.porters.com, you gain the benefit of quality prints made by skilled technicians on sophisticated equipment, plus the convenience of being able to place the order from home anytime. Step-by-step menus walk you through the process of selecting your images, choosing the print sizes and paper surface and completing the billing and shipping information.