Best color laser printer for 4x6 photo printing?

October 10, 2011 7:18 PM

Best color laser printer for 4x6 photo printing?

I'm looking for the best color laser printer for 4x6 color photo printing.

I'm sick of buying ink for my current photo printer because I don't get many prints out of the ink cartridges, and they don't store well if I leave the printer un-touched for a few months.


Any suggestions? Also, if you can provide a website with a comparison of color laser photo rpinters, it would be much appreciated.

I'm interested in average cost per picture, and figuring out if matte or glossy paper work better with color laser photo printers.

Thanks hive mind!

posted by thankyoumuchly to Technology (5 answers total)

No color laser printer is good for printing photos.
posted by kindall at 7:56 PM on October 10, 2011

Kindall's right. Color laser is really only useful for charts and graphs and such.

The cheapest way to print photos is to upload them to Walgreens or Costco, or wherever.
posted by rockindata at 8:04 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding that laser stinks for photos. Plus, toner is much more expensive than inkjet cartridges; to the tune of $500 for a full CMYK change.

If you don't want to take your photos to the nearest drugstore, online printing services are cheap and (relatively) fast.
posted by supercres at 8:06 PM on October 10, 2011

If all you want to do is print 4x6s, then a dye sublimation printer (e.g. the Canon CP800) will produce better results more cheaply, about 40 cents per print. They don't have the ink drying problem that inkjets do, as far as I know.
posted by jedicus at 8:10 PM on October 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I've printed with just about any type of equipment (professional and consumer-oriented) and service (ditto) that you might name, and for basic, 4x6 prints, my preferred method is to use the instant-print kiosk at my local drugstore (Shoppers, in Canada, for what it's worth). The machine gives dye-sub prints (which are preferable to inkjet prints, material- and storage-wise, and light years nicer than what any laser printer is going to put out) for a per-print cost comparable to what you'd pay to make the same prints at home. And you don't have to bother procuring your own equipment and supplies.

I should stress that these are entirely different prints than the one's you'll get from the one-hour or online services at the same stores. Those are made on LightJet-style printers, and their quality can vary tremendously. They're sometimes quite good, but you'll really need to shop around.
posted by wreckingball at 9:42 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]