Need photo printing tips including which paper to use {thread moved}

[kantonburg]

I scored one of the HP d135s from Staples yesterday and this is my first "photoprinter"

I'm a total newbie to printing photos and basically first of all what is the best photopaper to use? It came with 3 sheets of HP photo paper which was very nice I thought.

Another thing is say I scan a 35mm picture and want to print a 3x5 or 4x6 or 8x10. How do I set it to print at those sizes?

Any other tips you can provide would be great.
Thanks.

[Speedfreak]

I have a 2 year old Epson printer and I think all these companies adding "photo" to the name of their printers now is just a gimick. AS long as you get good paper, any decent printer will do. Even when using ink that cost me $3/cartridge off of Ebay. ;)

I have learned that in this situation, getting quality name brand paper is a must. I have used the cheap "GQ" stuff from Frys and it is not good at all. It seems to bleed. I know it's the paper becuase I get awesome ressults since I started using Epson Photo Paper.

before you print a photo, check your print settings and make sure that you have the type of paper set to photo paper and that your dpi is cranked up. I set it to the highest dpi (mine being 1440) when printing picures.

As for printing smaller sized picures, there should be adjustment levers on the paper feed that will keep the smaller paper straight when feeding. Then, in the print setup, there should be other choices for paper size so just choose the right one.

Hope this helps.

[spigidygak]

Usually the paper from the company your printer is made is best for the printer. There is quite a difference. Also I'd recommend not using the highest setting possible. That is if your printer has that like ridiculous dpi of 2500x2500 or whatever it is. Most of the time that just adds more time to printing and wastes more ink without yielding better prints. Sometimes even worse prints. But this is dependant on your printer. You have to pretty much play around with it. For printing smaller prints, there are two ways to about this. One is to use regular 8x11 and use a paper cutter or the easier way is to buy the sized paper you wan. The setting for changing paper size is different to each printer and also depends on what program you are using to print.

[kantonburg]

Ok I'll take a look at the paper size thing.

Another thing is with our new Fiji 2650Z the pictures are HUGE when opened in IE to preview compared to our Fiji 1400Z. I like the smaller preview size. How do I fix this.

Example

2650Z (http://www.ournuccio.com/baz1.JPG) set at 1MP
1400Z (http://www.ournuccio.com/baz2.JPG) set at 640x480 fine quality

[svenhomey46]

I have been using Epson printers for several years now, and presently using C80 as newest. I've tested all but HP papers, and found the Canon Pro and Kodak Ultima best printing. Each manufacture has several grades, and if looking for best image qualiity, go with top grades. Price goes up as well. Canon Pro and Kodak Ultima can be found pretty cheap online. I got mine from Buy.com and internet Geeks for $7-9/15 sheets(8x10). Plan on spending at least $8 a pack for 15 sheets. Canon had a good promo, buy 2, get a third via mail for free. I stocked up and been very happy.

There are many opinions about picture paper, and if you are doing a lot of photo printing, I would buy some different high grade packs and test them on your favorite high res photo.

What I do is keep a good stock of the above two papers, and also buy Epsilon brand 100 packs from ink4art.com for everything but best photos. These 100 packs can be really cheap, around $30 with coupons they often have going. Check dealmac.com for coupons. Having two photo paper options, I have found, is a good way to go.

Good luck.

[spigidygak]

Originally posted by kantonburg
Ok I'll take a look at the paper size thing.

Another thing is with our new Fiji 2650Z the pictures are HUGE when opened in IE to preview compared to our Fiji 1400Z. I like the smaller preview size. How do I fix this.

Example

2650Z (http://www.ournuccio.com/baz1.JPG) set at 1MP
1400Z (http://www.ournuccio.com/baz2.JPG) set at 640x480 fine quality

Uhm that has more to do with the resolution the picture is taken at. So it will be huge since its a bigger file and better quality. Here's a rule of thumb for printing sizes: wallet 640x480, 4x5 768x512, 5x7 1152x768, 8x10 1536x1024. I'd suggest using a better picture file viewer than just IE. ACDSEE is an excellent browser.

[kantonburg]

Yea I suppose browser windows will view images at the resolution that the picture is.

I downloaded slowview and it's really nice. Acdsee is my next tryout.

Thanks

[Grimm]

For the best printing, use the HP photo media. They are especialy designed to work with the HP inks. Nothing else can work any better. I have done media and ink tests on this (profesionaly).

As for printing specific size images you are going to have to find an application that supports that (like MS PictureIt!) or do the math and work out the dpi and pixles to reach the size you want.

[kantonburg]

Originally posted by Grimm
For the best printing, use the HP photo media. They are especialy designed to work with the HP inks. Nothing else can work any better. I have done media and ink tests on this (profesionaly).

As for printing specific size images you are going to have to find an application that supports that (like MS PictureIt!) or do the math and work out the dpi and pixles to reach the size you want.

Thanks Grimm. I actually figured out the size ordeal. HP included software (huh imagine that) that I didn't see first time around. It was hidden in the menus when I was browsing through desktop icons before.