Take a new photo-inkjet printer, add top-quality photo paper and send a high-res image its way. Nowadays, the result will likely be a breathtaking photo that rivals a print from a professional lab. The latest photo inkjets are that good.

Current OUT-OF-THE-BOX EXPECTATIONS

Recent improvements in inkjet printing technology are nothing short of amazing, and these advancements are even more evident in the niche category of photo-inkjet printers. After trying to get it right for more than a decade, through dozens of product generations, the Epsons and Canons of the world have nearly perfected photo-inkjet printer design. For most people, the nitty-gritty specs – the picoliter drop sizes and page-per-minute speeds – have become all but irrelevant. Every printer manufacturer sells models that will print both photos and text amazingly well for the average business or home user. And some of these printers can be had for as little as $99.

So why spend more than that on a photo-inkjet printer? That was our question when we set out to review four new models of varying prices. At $99, the Lexmark Z55se is the best buy of the group; the Canon S9000 is the most expensive at $500. In between, we looked at the $349 Epson Stylus Photo 960 and the $299 Hewlett-Packard Photosmart 7550.

How to get PHOTO-REALISTIC results

Our conclusion? There are obvious advantages to the pricier printers, but each model held its own. Picture quality, in fact, was not vastly different from one model to another. The advantages of the higher-price models were their extra features – borderless printing, roll-paper capacities, digital-camera-card readers, individual ink cartridges, ink longevity, better bundled software, and printer designs that seemed sturdier and more durable.


Lexmark Z55se Color Jetprinter

PRODUCT RATING

KEY POINTS: Surprisingly good photo prints from a low-price printer. Landscape shots and black-and-white images among the best in test group. Only average skin-tone prints. EASE OF USE: No complaints – easy setup and operation. PRICE VALUE: Great images for the price. RATED: 7 (out of 10).

This is a no-frills photo printer. It produces good-looking photos, but has none of the extras sported by some of the pricier models tested in this review, such as borderless printing, memory-card readers and separate color-ink cartridges.

The Lexmark Z55se does have a printing resolution of 4,800 x 1,200 dots per inch (dpi), which produces images that compare favorably with prints from the other models in this roundup. Granted, the photo prints weren't quite as rich in color, and the skin tones did not look as natural, but overall the images were surprisingly good – definitely on par with drugstore-developed 35mm-film prints.

Setup and operation was the most straightforward of the group. We had the Z55se plugged in and printing in five minutes. The unit comes with minimal software, and its control interface has fewer options than what we found in the high-end models, but it worked just fine.

One nice function, which worked well in our test, was the automatic paper-type sensor. Just drop in a sheet of glossy photo stock and the printer recognizes it and adjusts the driver settings accordingly.

Lexmark does not provide any light-fastness or print-longevity specs for its paper and ink (Canon, Epson and HP cite 25 years or more before fading occurs with their own ink-and-paper combinations). But on a positive note, the Lexmark Z55se was among the speediest in the group for text printing, coming close to Lexmark's 17 pages per minute (ppm). For a high-quality, full-color image printed from Adobe Photoshop, the printer took about seven minutes, which puts it about even, speed-wise, with the Epson Stylus Photo 960.

PRICE: $99.
CONTACT: Lexmark Intl. Inc., 800.539.6275, www.lexmark.com.


Hewlett-Packard Photosmart 7550

PRODUCT RATING

KEY POINTS: Many digital-camera-friendly features such as card-reader slots and integrated LCD screen. Great photo prints. EASE OF USE: Good. All functions worked as advertised. Setup was a snap. PRICE VALUE: A little steep. But if you need the dedicated digital-camera features, it's a fair deal. RATED: 8 (out of 10).

This is the most digital-camera-friendly printer in the group. The Photosmart 7550 has onboard card-reader slots for CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Secure Digital and Sony Memory Stick, so you can take the flash-memory media right out of your digital camera and load it into the printer.

The Photosmart 7550 has a small color LCD display built in, so you can preview images right on the printer. You can enlarge, rotate, resize, adjust exposure and perform other minor edits from the LCD and then print – without any computer interaction. In addition, you can plug an HP digital camera directly into the printer through an integrated USB port to print photos right from the camera.

Like the Epson Stylus Photo 960, the Photosmart 7550 uses seven ink colors – cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light magenta, light cyan and a dye-based black. But unlike the Epson's, the Photosmart 7550's inks do not come in individual color cartridges. This results in wasted ink if you print a lot of photos heavy in a single color.

In our test, image quality was superb and colors vibrant. The Photosmart 7550 can produce borderless 4 x 6-inch prints. And for large photo prints, it was much faster than the Lexmark or Epson printers, taking less than five minutes to print an 8 x 10-inch portrait.

Finally, for anyone concerned about archiving photo prints, the Photosmart 7550 may have a big advantage. Printed on HP Premium Plus Photo paper, the company claims, images will resist fading for more than 70 years – longer than most chemically developed prints.

PRICE: $299.
CONTACT: Hewlett-Packard Co., 800.752.0900, www.hp.com.


Epson Stylus Photo 960

PRODUCT RATING

KEY POINTS: Great skin-tone prints and overall bright, punchy color. Many paper-handling functions, including a roll-paper attachment. EASE OF USE: Mediocre. Setup and operation take some time. PRICE VALUE: A fair deal, considering the great prints and variety of paper-handling capabilities. RATED: 9 (out of 10).

Pop the lid on the Epson Stylus Photo 960 and it seems like you're looking under the hood of a hot rod. Seven individual ink cartridges – for cyan, magenta, yellow and black, plus extra-light black, cyan and magenta – give the impression of some serious color potential.

Does all that ink make much of a difference? Yes and no. To the average Joe printing out Microsoft PowerPoint handouts, it really won't be noticeable. But viewed with a more critical eye, the subtle color shifts and overall brighter tones will stand out. The Stylus Photo 960 was the hands-down winner in our skin-tone portrait test, for example.

Beyond its gorgeous photo prints, the Stylus Photo 960 has several unique paper-handling features. It can print borderless pictures in 4 x 6-inch and 5 x 7-inch sizes. It works with print media up to 1.3mm thick. But the printer's most distinctive feature is how it handles roll paper. A roll-paper holder connects to the back of the printer, and an auto-cutter accessory attaches to the front. Using Epson roll paper, which comes in 4-inch and 8.3-inch widths up to 33 feet long, the Stylus Photo 960 can print one borderless print after another. It prints an image, cuts it off the roll, drops it in an included basket and moves on to the next print. You can even make panoramic prints as large as 8.5 x 44 inches. One catch: The Epson's roll-paper printing does not work with Mac OS X.

Using Epson photo paper, you can make water- and smudge-resistant prints (a nice option if you need prints that will hold up outdoors). Also, Epson guarantees 25 years of photo life before fading will occur, if you use Epson ColorLife Photo Paper.

Overall, the Stylus Photo 960 is a solid printer that produces beautiful photos and, if you need it, sharp text. For anyone who wants an inkjet to serve as a mini photo lab, be sure to look at this printer for its roll-paper function.

PRICE: $349.
CONTACT: Epson America Inc., 800.463.7766, www.epson.com.


Canon S9000

PRODUCT RATING

KEY POINTS: Can print on paper as large as 13 x 19 inches. Extremely fast photo prints. Can be used for PostScript proofing. EASE OF USE: All functions worked great. PRICE VALUE: Expensive, but you get a lot. RATED: 8 (out of 10).

We had high expectations for the Canon S9000. Because of its $500 price tag, we expected outstanding images, better bundled software, extra paper-handling options and an overall better printer. And in most areas, the S9000 came through.

From the start, everything about the Canon S9000 seemed more substantial than the other printers in this review. It's bigger and heavier and seems solidly built. It also can print on paper as large as 13 x 19 inches – great for making poster-size photos.

The S9000 uses six separate ink cartridges and prints 2,400 x 1,200 dpi. Its photo prints are bright, detailed and indistinguishable from high-quality film prints. However, the $349 Epson Stylus Photo 960 beat the S9000 in our skin-tone portrait tests.

For speed, this printer took first place by a mile. Borderless 8.5 x 11-inch prints took less than two minutes to produce. And the S9000 printed mammoth 13 x 19-inch photos in about four minutes. According to Canon, this speed is accomplished with 3,072 inkjet nozzles that can put 74 million dots per second on the page.

The S9000 comes with four software packages for a variety of digital-imaging applications. Its third-party software, such as iProof's PowerRip 2000, can be used for PostScript-proofing. The printer supports a large range of paper types and sizes – from envelope to poster. And when using Canon photo paper, the S9000 produces prints guaranteed to last 25 years.

Canon originally designed the S9000 for business users but digital photographers are becoming interested in it, the company says, especially as 4- and 5-megapixel cameras become more prevalent. With those larger file sizes many people want to print photos larger than the standard 8 x 10-inch size.

A final note: Canon will soon debut the second generation of this printer, the i9100, which will be able to print borderless 13 x 19-inch photos.

PRICE: $500.
CONTACT: Canon U.S.A. Inc., 800.652.2666, www.usa.canon.com.


Stephen Regenold is associate editor of Presentations magazine.


Also see:

Out-of-the-box expectations (sidebar)

Photo-realistic (sidebar)

Originally published in the April 2003 issue of Presentations magazine. Copyright 2003, VNU Business Media.