It is easy to print a photo on a printer on your own if you have the necessary programs on your PC and minimal knowledge of how to do it correctly. The brand of your device, be it Epson, Canon, HP, or another, does not fundamentally matter. But it is also important to choose the appropriate type of paper, prepare the photo for printing and follow the basic recommendations (available at the end of the article).
What Type of Printing to Choose
For printing photos at home, you can use one of two types of printers – inkjet or dye-sublimation. The first variety is the most common. The inkjet printer produces highly detailed images in a variety of formats on all available paper sizes. An option that can be activated is a continuous ink supply system (CISS). It allows you to save on regular replacement of cartridges. All that is needed is to periodically top up the ink of a certain color.
In a dye-sublimation printer, the working material is a solid dye. As it warms up, it turns into gas and “lies” on the paper sheet in the form of the desired image. The output is even more detailed and rich in shades than an inkjet MFP. Disadvantages – a higher cost, as well as a limit on the format of the picture (10 × 15 cm or 15 × 20 cm).
- It is also important to correctly insert the cartridge into the printer after replenishing the stock of “consumables”. Find practical tips here.
We select Paper: Matte or Glossy, Thickness
The quality of the resulting image directly depends on the type of paper used. You can, of course, use the usual one, but you cannot achieve truly decent quality with it. To do this, it is better to purchase special glossy or matte-type photo paper.
Glossy is thicker than matte. And also photo paper is divided into branded – made by large companies (Epson, Canon, etc.) specifically for their own office equipment – and universal for any brand and type of printer. Before buying, read on the case of your MFP or on the manufacturer’s official website for information on suitable types of paper.
Useful:
- Table of paper sizes of different sizes .
- Photo sizes for printing .
Preparing a photo for printing: basic parameters
You can preliminarily prepare a picture for transfer to a printer using special software from the manufacturer of the device, as well as standard free image editing programs – XnView, Picasa, etc. First, the image itself is corrected: changing the brightness, contrast, adding effects. The second stage is to set the format of the final version: height, width, paper size and orientation, number of copies.
- On our site, there is a separate instruction for printing photos 3 by 4 and 10 * 15. And if you want to make a printout of an already finished picture, then you first need to scan the photo on the scanner and work with it as with a regular image.
More Related to Printer:
How to print a photo
Windows Print Images
Perhaps the simplest and most understandable way:
- Go to the folder with the file, double-click on it with the left button to start the program.
- On the top panel, click on the “Print” tab, then select this option again.
- A window will appear. First, select the printer, paper size from the drop-down lists. If it is possible to change the image resolution, set the required parameter.
- At the bottom of the window, under the preview of the photo, set the number of copies and make sure that there is a checkmark next to the “Fit to frame” command.
- Then click on “Options”.
- In this tab, you can activate additional options for the image itself and the printer.
- Then, in the column on the right, set the position of the photo on the paper sheet, and finally, click “Print”.
Paint
- Right-click on the file, select “Open with”, and in the proposed list – Paint.
- Another option is to find the program via Start. Paint is located in the Standard category.
- When the program opens, select the top tab “File” – “Open” and load the image.
- Follow the path “Main Menu” – “Print” – “Page Setup”.
- In the window that appears, set the paper size, feed method, image orientation, centering, margins, scale. In the end, click OK.
- The next step is to go to the “Print” option in the main menu.
- In this window, select a printer, set additional settings. When everything is ready, click “Print”.
Photoshop
- Launch the portable or online version of the editor. Select the “File” – “Open” menu.
- After uploading the image, go to the same menu and click “Print”.
- You can make a preliminary preparation of the photo in Photoshop. Select the file format at the top, width, and height in pixels or mm. A paperclip-like icon indicates proportions. Set additional parameters, click “Save”.
- Reopen the file, click “Print”. Choose a printer, number of copies, color, paper size, scale. When all parameters are set, start the process.
PriPrinter
- First, download this utility from the official site and install it on your computer. The address is shown on the screenshot. Scrolling down with the slider, you will find green download buttons.
- After installation, launch PriPrinter. From the File menu, choose Open.
- First, set the “All Files” option at the bottom. Specify the path to the picture, click “Open”.
- In this utility, you can edit the image. The Crop and Effects tabs have different options for manipulating the photo.
- At the top right, select a printer. The gear icon will open the advanced options window.
- When everything is ready, click on “Print”.
Adobe lightroom
This program provides a wealth of options for editing a photo before sending it to print.
- To add a picture, click Import.
- Specify the path to the file. Then click Import again.
- In the Develop tab, you can process and edit photos.
- Next, go to the Print section at the top. In the upper block of settings, move the Width slider: it determines the level of the black border.
- After that, the paper size, orientation, position of the photo on the sheet, and the number of copies are indicated.
- Pressing the Printer button activates the menu for additional settings of the MFP.
- When everything is ready, click Print to start the procedure.
How to print a poster or poster on multiple A4 sheets
If the size of the photo is significantly larger than the standard A4, you need to use a trick and divide it into several sheets. We talked about this in more detail in the article on printing large drawings.
Recommendations
To get high-quality images, we suggest that you learn a few useful recommendations:
- The choice between glossy and matte paper depends on whether you plan to frame your photo or not. If so, we recommend a matte finish.
- When the image seems to be insufficiently bright, contrasting, with defects, then this must be corrected.
- The brightness and saturation of a photo in electronic form and on paper may often not coincide. It is better to do a test copy of the print in order to understand the “character” of the image.
- After processing the file, save it not in jpeg, but in a tiff. This format will give the best quality Printer.
- The resolution of the picture should be good – preferably from 600 dpi.
- Use Dropbox or similar to print directly from your smartphone.
- MFPs with a Cloud Print Ready label can print images from cloud services from any device.
- You should not immediately put the finished photo under a frame or in an album. Allow at least half an hour for the paint to dry completely.
