Best Photo Inkjets

Photo-centric inkjet printers

If you're mainly interested in printing photos, inkjets designed specifically for this include lots of extras: more inks and ink types, additional software, LCD preview screens and more. Bear in mind that these printers cost about $700 to $800, a lot more than general-use printers (which are fine for printing snapshots), and they often aren't nearly as good at printing text documents as they are at printing photos.

Nearly every professional review site that evaluates the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 (*Est. $650) rates it among the very best. Rick LePage of Macworld writes that it "brings the feature set and print quality of $2,000 printers to the desktop of any serious digital photographer or graphic artist."

The HP Photosmart Pro B9180 offers a host of advanced features. Photo-i's Vincent Oliver commends the B9180's printheads, which "can detect a blocked nozzle and automatically switch the output to another nozzle." Simon Williams, writing for TrustedReviews.com, likes the way the B9180 can auto-sense the paper type and size you're using, so it won't print an image that's too big for the loaded paper. Reviewers also praise the efficient ink use, integrated software bundle, which includes a Photoshop plug-in, and simultaneously stored matte and glossy black ink cartridges that eliminate the need for manual cartridge swapping. As is typical of the models in this section, the B9180 is a large printer, with a total footprint of 26.5 inches by 42 inches with the paper trays telescoped open. It weighs more than 37 pounds.

Unlike some higher-priced competing models, the B9180 includes an Ethernet port for networking. The small LCD screen does not allow for photo previews but provides helpful status messages. Two paper-feed paths -- including a straight-through feed -- broaden users' media options. There is no option to use a roll of paper, a feature offered only on Epson printers. Reviewers say paper handling is excellent. Shutterbug's Jon Canfield notes that "print speed is on par with other photo printers from HP -- a bit faster than Epson, a bit slower than Canon."

The HP Photosmart Pro B9180 uses HP's Vivera eight-color, pigment-based ink system, with a permanence rating of more than 200 years. Document printing does not fare so well on the B9180, with complaints from reviewers about a slow printing process that results in fuzzy text.

Also highly rated, the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 (*Est. $750) uses Epson's UltraChrome K3 inks, rated to last more than 100 years without fading. The inks differ from Epson's regular UltraChrome inks in that there are three black ink cartridges. PCMag.com says the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 is notable for its beautiful black-and-white photos. Shutterbug's John Canfield says the R2880 shows much improvement over its predecessor model, the R2400; print times are shorter, while color gamut and monochrome prints are more vivid. One other improvement Canfield likes is that the R2880 can print on CD/DVD media. Photo-i goes so far as to say that the R2880 is Epson's best full-size inkjet to date.

The Epson R2880's print quality is praised consistently -- particularly for monochrome printing, something many photo printers struggle with. What Digital Camera notes that the R2880 has a convenient button for black-and-white printing, which produces excellent results. However, deeper blacks can be achieved by first optimizing images in Photoshop. The R2880 and other new Epsons come with a Photoshop plugin that What Digital Camera calls "the jewel in the crown" of the software package. Epson's other bundled software is not so well received and is cited in reviews as being too basic for the advanced capabilities of this machine.

Unlike HP's Photosmart Pro B9180, the Epson R2880 is not network-ready. However, the printer does include a roll paper feed, something mentioned frequently by photography site reviewers as a desired option. Print times seem average, but reviewers consistently say the unit's quality outweighs any consideration of speed.

A few reviewers echo a complaint made about the earlier R2400: It is inconvenient to manually swap matte and glossy black ink cartridges, and doing so wastes ink because the print heads need to be purged each time the switch is made. Still, even with these issues, the R2880's reviews are positive and enthusiastic.

If you're deciding between the Epson R2880 and the HP Photosmart Pro B9180, reviewers are reluctant to say that one absolutely produces better color photo quality than the other. When it comes to monochrome printing, the Epson R2880 clearly holds an edge over HP's B9180, but the HP costs about $50 less.

Canon's professional photo-printer line has recently been enhanced with the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II (*Est. $800). The new printer, an upgrade of the Pixma Pro9500 (Discontinued), gets some critical attention from photo-buff websites. Richard Baguley looks at the Mark II for PrinterInfo.com. He says that it's "a serious printer, in every sense of the word." It provides professional quality prints but is very expensive. Like its predecessor, the Pro9500 Mark II is very slow, according to Baguley, since it has 10 separate pigment-based ink cartridges -- including both matte and photo black. Shutterbug doesn't have a review, but notes in a short write-up that the Pro9500 Mark II was named the best expert photo printer for 2009 by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). The older Pixma Pro9500 received so-so reviews and critics generally recommended models from Epson and HP as better alternatives.