10 Tips for Printing Great Photos from Your Home Computer

If you want to print high quality photographs from your home computer and get the best out of your printer, we offer some tips to help you in doing so:

1.   Printer maintenance - keeping your printer in top condition is of paramount importance: if the images you print are faint or there are some dots missing, you should clean the printhead. You can do this by using the print head cleaning utility in your printer’s software (you can also access it from the printer options in the Windows Control Panel).

2.   Print regularly – print a photograph at least once a week, even if you don’t need it. Keep in mind that the print nozzles in inkjet printers can occasionally clog and printing will prevent the nozzles from bungling.

3.   Use the original (OEM) ink cartridges – yes, they’re expensive but they were also specifically designed for your printer and will help you if you want your photos printed in highest quality possible. It’s the same with spare parts; it’s common sense that the same manufacturer provides the best ones (e.g. if you have a Ricoh, using Ricoh spare parts or if you have a HP the using HP spare parts, will ensure your printer’s best performance)

4.   Choose the right type of paper – pick according to your needs: printing on quality paper will give you better photos, but it will also cost you more money. Regular paper absorbs the ink, meaning some colors and smaller details will be lost, so the best option is photo paper. Photo paper comes in two varieties – glossy and semi-glossy. Glossy paper is reflective and shiny, but also smudges often, which is not the case with glossy paper, but it cannot support as much details as glossy paper can.

5.   Set the printer for the type of paper you’re using – after choosing the type of paper you’ll be using don’t forget to adjust the printer. Some printers have sensors that automatically detect the type of paper, but those tend to be unreliable, so always set the type of paper you’re using manually.

6.   Explore the printer’s auto fix feature – most printers have some automatic fix features which can both help you and do damage – they can correct some basic photo bugs such as red eyes but also undo some effects you wanted to have. After you get to know it, you’ll know to use it and when to shut it off.

7.   Use an editing program – by using an editing program you’ll be able to crop, resize and manage colors easily. Even the most basic editing programs have simple-to-use tools for fixing the usual problems in photos, such as the red eye or backlighting. In some cases editing programs will enable you to print photos in higher resolution than when printing directly from a camera or a memory card. Even if you’re an amateur, you don’t have to buy expensive programs – there are a lot of free ones available on the Internet.

8.   When editing, use copies – Before you start editing, even if you’re only making minor adjustments, make a copy first. That’s safer than editing first and saving under another name later – you don’t want to accidentally overwrite the original.

9.   Don’t make corrections too soon – How the photographs look on your computer screen will never be the same as their printed version, so before making any significant editing print an unedited version of the photo, if possible. Of course, you can make some general adjustments such as cropping, but make additional adjustments only after you see how the printed version of the photograph looks like.

10. Explore your drivers – Every printer’s drivers have several settings that may help increase your photo’s quality – whether your only choice is good/better/best quality or there are some advanced options such as adjusting contrast, brightness, specific color levels and more. Experiment with those settings; once you get to know them, you’ll be able to adjust them for each photo you print.

Author Bio: Ana is a blogger with a passion for technology, She loves writing and sharing her knowledge about all things related to technology with anyone that will listen. She is currently working on a project for Artonery, a company that specializes in supplying toners and spare parts for printers and copiers.

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