Print your digital photos
Get your digital photos from a printer or online photo store
By Deena Waisberg
You’ve taken loads of fabulous photos with your digital camera and now you want to print them. Should you do this yourself or use an online photo service? Microsoft Home Magazine compares these two methods so you can choose the one that is right for you.
Please click the links below to learn about
Printing your photos at home
Although you can use a regular colour inkjet printer to print photos at home, consider getting a photo printer (an inkjet printer designed specifically to print photos). It will allow you to print 4” × 6” or
5” × 7” or 8” × 10” pictures. And most come with four-colour ink which does a commendable job.
Taking printable pictures
Once you have the printer, you need to select the photos you'd like to print. How do you get the best quality?
Photos are made up of digital dots (or pixels). You'll want a certain resolution (or dots per inch) to get a clear picture. George Perdicaris, digital media maker and instructor at Toronto Image Works, a school that teaches new media computer training, recommends a minimum of 150 dots per inch (dpi), although 200 dpi is ideal.
The more pixels (or megapixels) your photo contains, the larger you can print and still maintain a resolution of 200 dpi. Here is a general guide for the number of pixels (or megapixels) you need for various sized prints.
| Pixels | Megapixels | Photo Size |
| 1600 x 1200 | 2 | 4” x 6” |
| 2000 x 1500 | 3 | 5” x 7” |
| 2500 x 2000 | 4 | 8” x 10” |
To check the number of pixels (or megapixels) your picture contains, go to your Pictures folder, highlight the photo and find the dimensions under Dimensions.
Your printer will come with software that will allow you to adjust the settings such as print quality, size, layout, type of photo paper and number of copies.
If you are doing casual printing, an intermediate line of photo paper will do, but if you want to print an 8” × 10” and frame it, step up to a professional-grade photo paper, advises Perdicaris. Professional-grade paper is heavier and lasts longer — 100 years or more. An intermediate line of photo paper is less than half the cost.
Choose a glossy or matte finish. “Colour jumps off the page more with glossy,” notes Neil Stephenson, technical marketing manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon.
Using an online photo service
Alternatively, you can use a photo service to print your pictures. Many retailers have Web sites, including Black's On-line Photo Centre, Shoppers Drug Mart Easypix Online, Future Photo and London Drugs Photo Station, where you can order prints online.
You first register for free and then use a web page to upload your pictures from your hard drive to what the sites call an “album,” “darkroom” or “folder,” which is basically your own space.
Once the photos are uploaded, you can edit them by cropping, rotating, sharpening and more using simple tools provided on the sites.
The size you choose — whether you’re using an online photo service or printing at home — should depend in part on the resolution of your digital photo. The sites will warn you if the picture doesn't have a high enough resolution for the size you've requested.
You can also choose the finish (glossy or matte) and the number of copies. "We're finding that customers are ordering prints in large quantities, 30 or more," says Phil Chapman, director, imaging products and services at Black’s.
Next, you enter your shipping, billing and credit card information. You can have the prints sent to a nearby store or to your home, if you’re willing to pay an extra shipping charge.
Consider convenience and ease
You can't beat the immediacy of printing your own photos. By printing photos of family events herself, Sabatini can send them out to friends and family right away. "It takes me about 30 seconds to print one photo," she says. With a photo service, you have to wait at least 24 hours and as long as a week to receive your photos.
When printing your own photos, you also have control over the process. "I can crop the photos, enhance the colour and even put two photos together [using an image-editing program] to get the prints exactly how I want them," explains Sabatini.
However, you can make the photo worse if you don't know what you're doing. The advantage of using an online service is that the pros know how to do colour correction, so you can count on a professional-looking print.
