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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

How to Get the Best Quality Photos

~ This is a featured post. ~

As an avid photographer, I take my prints seriously. They’re an expression of you and what you think is important in life, and if you like to scatter them throughout your home as I do, you want people to be viewing the best quality you can provide. Not everyone can afford to go to a top-quality printers though, and why should you when it’s just as easy to do it yourself? So, here are some top tips for printing the best photos to wow your guests. 

Camera vs Computer
Many cameras these days have the option to print straight from the device, rather than having to upload them to a computer first. Surprisingly, both approaches can produce very different results, so it’s a good idea to test the different settings available first, so that you don’t print out dozens of images only to find that they’re of a very poor standard.

Choose an InkJet printer
Printer manufacturers have caught on to people’s desire to print their own images at their leisure, so if you can, invest in an InkJet printer. These have been made specifically to cope with the demands of photograph printing, and will give you a far cleaner and more professional image with little bleeding of lines, when compared with a standard printer.

Are you using the right settings?
Of course, every printer is going to be different, so make sure you have all the right settings selected before hitting “Go!”. For example, under the quality section on most printers, you’ll have an option to print for media or magazine; while quality is usually automatically selected for you at “good”, you have the option to change this to “best”. These are very simple settings that can make a huge difference.

Follow all the rules!
You’ll find that most manufacturer’s give guidance in their manuals about obtaining the best results, so it’s always a good idea to check the handbook. However, if that’s too technical, consult their websites instead. They may have blog posts or other guides available online that are written in brief, how-to formats.

Buy different samples
Other factors that can make the world of difference are the materials you’re using. Try different paper samples to see if there’s a difference in quality, and make sure that the type of ink you pick is the correct one for the job, and for your model of machine. As this can end up costing a fortune if you go to the wrong place, always buy from a specialist website for these supplies, such as cartridgepeople.com.

Try photo editing software
Finally, if it’s the image itself that’s bugging you, there are tonnes of free photo editing software downloads that you can use to increase exposure on shots, reduce blur and so on. It’s worth doing your research on the best one for your needs, but you can check out a good guide here.

How do you use your family photos? Let me know in the comments section…