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Over the past few years, computer professional-caliber photo printers have come a long way, and today’s top models can turn out large prints of impressive quality rivaling those made by the high-end printing services catering to commercial and art photographers and demanding enthusiasts.
To give you a good overview of what’s currently available out there in printer land, we’ve selected three of the best-performing, most popular high-performance printers on the market and described each one in detail below.
Our Top 3 Picks of Best Photo Printer For Photographer
Contents
Epson P900
Borderless Printing Supported Photo Printer For Photographer
The P900 churns out exceptional images and artwork up to 17 by 22 inches, as well as breathtaking banners up to 17 inches wide by 129 inches (10 feet, 9 inches) long. Like the P800 before it, the P900 is superb, with terrific output, highly productive software, and competitively low (for this genre) running costs.
During our tests, the P900 efficiently handled everything thrown at it, producing impressive oversize photos, artwork, and banners. It effortlessly takes the P800’s place as our Editors’ Choice for professional-grade photography and graphic art inkjet printers.
The P900 comes with an all-new, highly detailed, and color-calibrated high-definition 4.3-inch color touch screen. Unlike the control panels on previous models, this one lets you configure print jobs and the printer itself in ways that previously required the use of separate software, such as Epson’s Photo+ and Epson Print Layout apps or Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. This control panel is far superior to what you’d find on most other professional-grade photo printers.
To get the highest-quality prints from this or any other near-dedicated photo printer, you’ll need high-end printing media. The P900 can print on 17-by-22-inch cut sheets and larger 2- and 3-inch core 17-inch-wide paper rolls.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Prints borderless banners and panoramas up to 17 inches wide
- Uses UltraChrome PRO10 pigment inks for increased color gamut
- Switches from photo black to matte black ink automatically
Cons
- Paper roll adapter costs extra
- Expensive
HP Tango X
Excellent Print Quality Photo Printer For Photographer
HP TANGO X is among the first printers to support voice control. They are designed to work primarily with mobile devices—desktop PCs and laptops are an afterthought—and they have the unique distinction of letting you print snapshots from your smartphone for free.
We tested the Tango X, which delivers print speeds, output, and running costs comparable to similarly priced competitors without all the smarts.
Connectivity consists of dual-band Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct. The Tango X has no USB port or other means of connecting by cable to anything apart from its AC outlet. Beyond the Wi-Fi, your phone can transmit traffic to the Tango X via the same cellular network it uses for calls, texting, and the like.
From an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, you can contact the printer from anywhere via the HP Smart App. If you need to print from a desktop PC or laptop, you can download Windows drivers from HP’s site, but you’ll still want to do the initial setup with Smart App.
HP’s Smart App allows you to print to virtually any HP printer, not just the Tangos, from mobile devices locally and remotely. When connected to a Tango printer, though, HP Smart App downloads additional files and configures itself to support Tango’s unique features, such as the ability to scan and copy from your smartphone mentioned earlier.
The Tango X and the HP Smart App also send you notifications, including print-job completion, ink and paper levels, printer errors, and if your wrap is closed—no matter where you are—via Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct locally and over the cellular network remotely.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- IFTTT scripting for extending smart capabilities.
- Impressive print quality.
- Competitive ink costs with Instant Ink, plus free snapshot printing from your smartphone.
Cons
- Borderless prints limited to 5-by-7-inch.
- “Scans” and “copies” only via smartphone
Canon Pixma TS5320
Smart Home Support Photo Printer For Photographer
This Canon holds up to 200 sheets in two 100-sheet trays, one upfront and one that pulls out and up from the rear. The rear feeder can also hold up to 20 sheets of letter-size photo paper, which is a lot of capacity for a budget inkjet all-in-one.
The TS5320 also has an auto-duplexer for two-sided printing, which the TS3320 lacks, and can print borderless photos up to letter size instead of stopping at 5 by 7 inches. You also get support for Instagram’s 3.5- and 5-inch square photo media formats.
Standard connectivity consists of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE (Low Energy), plugging into a single PC via USB 2.0, and PictBridge Wireless for printing from compatible Canon cameras. Mobile device support includes Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Mopria, and the Canon Print app.
Like many consumer AIOs nowadays, the TS5320 supports voice-activated printing and scanning via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant smart speakers or a smartphone app.
As a TS series Pixma, though, photos are the TS5320’s specialty, and it prints images quite well for an under-$100, four-ink AIO.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Borderless prints up to letter size.
- Strong mobile device support.
- Smart home voice activation.
Cons
- No SD card or USB thumb drive support.
- High cost per page.
Conclusion
Epson’s SureColor P900 produces exquisite photos and artwork on cut sheets and paper rolls up to 17 inches wide, making it an excellent choice for professional photographers and graphic artists.
The latest pro-grade inkjet printers all offer pigment-based, multi-cartridge ink systems with multiple monochrome inks for superior reproduction of blacks, have extremely fine ink delivery nozzles, and can turn out ultra-hi-res color prints in sizes of 13 x 19 inches and up.
Many also provide advanced features such as state-of-the-art processing engines, built-in or optional software and management tools, vacuum feeders to keep media flat, color LCD monitors, and multi-channel wireless connectivity.
HP’s Tango X “smart printer,” the first we’ve tested with voice activation and smart home features, is all about printing from mobile devices. It’s not perfect, but given its unique free-snapshot printing angle, it will be a tough act for future models to follow.
If the prospect of unlimited free smartphone-sourced photos, low-cost documents via Instant Ink, and excellent overall output is appealing, you should seriously consider the voice-activated Tango X. It’s a strong first effort in an emerging field.
The Canon Pixma TS5320 does a fine job with the text, graphics, and especially photos, making it a good basic AIO for families who require moderate printing and copying. To see other options, visit Amazon.com
