First Printer

Fazi27

Fazi27

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Mariusz
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Hi Guys!

i'm aware that "first printer" question was asked few dozen times on TP forum, but most of posts are out of date already...

I was planning to get a printer for quite a time now, but was finally "made" by my girlfriend to buy one. She'll even pay for it :) So i believe now is better time than ever!

I don't want her to spend fortune on it, the maximum is probably going to be around £150. Obviously, because of budget i'm not going to get anything bigger than A4, but i rather have dedicated photo printer than all-in-one. Also print quality and cost of running are very important to me, don't care that much about speed of prints.

Could you please make some recommendations?
 
Really? No recommendations at all? ;) well, I think I'll find my way around and finally pick one, but a little help would be nice.... ;)
 
You could spend half that and get a Canon Pixma ip4700/ip4800, great colours, 5 ink tanks.
 
I'd agree with Graham, the IP4700 seems to get some great reports. The 5 inks will give you enough colour range for superb pictures.

Put the change towards a screen calibrator like a Spyder pro or save some extra and get a Colormunki that will calibrate your screen and printer.

Getting a calibration system and learning how to use it will save you hours of heartake and gallons of ink.

Another possibility would be to buy the printer and get some refillable catridges off cityink express. I use them in my Pixma Pro 9000 II and they seem to do the job spot on.
 
Guys, thanks for your recommendations and tips. I have just looked up ip4800 and ip4850, they both look spot on, just what I've been after.

As far as screen calibration - is it really necessary on 27" iMac?

Is there anything else I need to consider? I'm using LR3 for post processing, and probably will use it for printing as well? Do I need to set up any printing profiles, etc?

Thanks again.
 
Colour calibration isn't an abolute must but when I first bought my Spyder system it was like night and day. I went from dark prints to decent prints in less than an hour.

It doesn't matter what make or model of monitor you buy they will all be slightly different.

If you want to get into printing yourself it's not a must have but defo a must give thought to :D
 
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It will be "for fun/leisure" printing at beginning for sure. If I'm not happy with results I will defo think about calibration.
 
Yes you can, just use the standard equipment like a Spyder or Colormunki system.

It may not be truly perfect with a laptop but I'm sure you will notice the difference
 
I just sign in with the other post to have Spyder sent to me in some time (probably few months, judging by the waiting list) for free, only the postage needs to be paid. One of the TP members had a great idea and is very generous indeed. My only concern is the compatibility with mac osx, as I've read in few places that people couldnt use it on their macs. Any tips?
 
I have the Canon 4500 - it's my second Canon printer.

Keep with the genuine inks and it's excellent as using third party cocked my first Canon up. If you do go for third party ink make sure it's in genuine cartridges:thumbs:
 
Thanks for the tip! I actually bought Canon today. My girlfriend started to push for all-in-one, so I decided to go for mg5250. The printing spec is the same as ip4850 and it uses 5 inks as well. Now I need to get some decent photo paper. Any suggestions?
 
Fazi27 said:
Hi Guys!

i'm aware that "first printer" question was asked few dozen times on TP forum, but most of posts are out of date already...

I was planning to get a printer for quite a time now, but was finally "made" by my girlfriend to buy one. She'll even pay for it :) So i believe now is better time than ever!

I don't want her to spend fortune on it, the maximum is probably going to be around £150. Obviously, because of budget i'm not going to get anything bigger than A4, but i rather have dedicated photo printer than all-in-one. Also print quality and cost of running are very important to me, don't care that much about speed of prints.

Could you please make some recommendations?
Click to expand...

I've posted this recommendation a couple of times on other threads but I recommend a used HP 8750 I got one off eBay for around £100- brilliant printer, A3, prints B/W (dedicated grey cart so neutral) and built like a tank! Downside is the size, it's massive :)
 
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