Digital Photography printing 

Photography has place the process of developing pictures into the hands of the consumer. This includes digital photography printing -- anyone with a decent printer attached to their computer can print out their own photographs.

Digital images are usually transferred to a computer where they can be edited and processed with specialized software. You can downsize the pictures to make them easier to send by e-mail or post on web sites. However, for printing downsizing should be avoided. Always make sure you are transferring images to your computer at their full resolution.

The number of pixels in any digital image is fixed, so increasing the size of a photo means there are fewer pixels per inch. If the image is blown up beyond the standard of 300 pixels per inch clarity and sharpness will be reduced. Photos from cameras rated at two megapixels can be printed as large as 5.8" x 3.8" at 300 pixels per inch. A four megapixel camera can print photos as large as 8.2" x 5.4".

The first step in getting good-quality prints, therefore, is to make sure your images are at the correct resolution – at least 300 pixels per inch.

Editing

One of the advantages of digital photography is the capability to edit images before they are printed out. However,  if you make several edits to a JPEG file, and save the file after each edit, the quality of the image will decrease significantly.

In order to avoid this, try to minimize the number of edits to a JPEG image to one or two and save the edited image under a new file name. This will keep the original file intact. Alternatively, store the images in an uncompressed format like TIFF. This allows you to do as many edits as you wish without any loss of quality.

Photo processing shop.

Many photo shops have an online service which allows you to upload photos to their server. When they are printed, you can pick them up or have them mailed to you. Alternatively, do it the old-fashioned way – take your pictures directly to the shop.

Printing your own photographs

Here are a few tips to get the best results when printing your own photographs.

In order to get the most accurate colour reproduction for photographs it's best to use the same brand of paper and ink as your printer. Each brand of paper is formulated to give optimal results for a particular type of ink. Mixing brands may give you altered colours.

When choosing paper for printing digital photographs, you may be tempted to select special archival paper which is reputed to prevent photographs from fading for 20 years or longer. This paper is quite expensive, so before laying down the bucks consider this -- the zeros and ones that make up a digital image will not fade over time. You can always print the picture again to recapture its original brilliance.

You need to use specialized photographic paper that is designed for inkjet printers. It is available in different finishes from glossy to mat. Store it in a cool place away from direct sunlight because photography paper is more expensive than regular printing paper. Photo printing software can help you to position photos on a sheet of paper so that the maximum area is being used.

Ink is also quite expensive, make the proper settings on your printer for the type of image you are printing. If you are printing a picture which has a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch), for instance, there is no need to use the 'high' or 'best' printer setting – 'normal' is adequate. When the printer is set to 'high' it uses more ink and will not produce noticeably better prints as long as you are printing at or above 300 dpi.

How do you know your picture is 300 dpi? This can be calculated by dividing the dimensions of your image (in pixels) by 300. For example, if your image is 3000 pixels wide by 2100 pixels high, the maximum size the printout can be (at 300 dpi) is 10" x 7". You can print pictures larger than this (down to about 200 dpi), but in this case you want to select the 'best' printer setting to achieve a good printout.

Dedicated Printers

Dedicated printers use thermal-dye technology. Dye is transferred from a ribbon to the plastic coating of the paper and the resulting picture is more like a traditional photograph than the ones produced by inkjet printers. They also tend to last longer than inkjet printed pictures because of the way the ink is laid down on the paper. Each colour is printed as a separate layer and there is a finishing overcoat which can protect the image from deterioration.

The disadvantage to dedicated printers is that they are usually limited to a maximum print size of 4" x 6".  They are, however, quite small in size and easily portable.

These printers are easy to use and may include simple picture editing functions. They can print pictures directly from your digital camera or memory card, and battery operated models can be used anywhere.