[shuttertalk]

I was just reading on usenet regarding someone doing a test with inkjet prints mounted in direct sunlight, vs laser in the same conditions. In both tests, they folded the paper so that one portion would be exposed and the other covered.

After six months, the inkjet prints were faded by about 50%, while the laser prints were not!

Interesting huh? I would like to see more conclusive results, but laser may be the way to go, if they can get the quality to match inkjets...

[peter]

i think the problem is that they generally do not print at as high a resolution ..

[StudioJ]

Speaking of printers, I just ordered a Canon i9950 after reading all the reviews and finding out that it was a good couple of hundred dollars cheaper than the equivalent A3 (13 x 19") Epson although you can't print from a roll of paper.

I have been using the Canon i560 and formerly the Epson Photo 700 something, the problem with the older inkjets I've found is that the blacks weren't very good and the colours weren't as rich and vibrant. I'm hoping that will be solved and I'm looking forward to doing some big A3+ prints after seeing how well they come up in the shop.

[peter]

Where is your shop/studio located ? .. maybe adam and me should come visit ... haha..
i heard kodak are relasing a new type professional of paper soon .. for inkjet printers..

[dewy]

Where is your shop/studio located ? .. maybe adam and me should come visit ... haha..
i heard kodak are relasing a new type professional of paper soon .. for inkjet printers..

You may look, with your eyes and not your finger, unless you wish to return home with out any fingers remaining and a very sore and streatched rear end, haha.

Studio: Is that printer from the Pixmia range? noticed a HUGE difference between the Canon i455 (normal bubble jet) and the Canon ip4000 (pixmea)

[StudioJ]

Sorry Peter, what I meant was I liked the prints in the shop when I checked it out, the studio is based in Ballajura its just a home studio I'm not that well off

Dewy, nope its not its a big sucker it weighs in at around 10kgs it has 8 ink tanks with light black, photo black as well as red and green for richer colours. I've noticed a lot of reds on inkjets come up rather orange so lets hope that fixes it.

[peter]

OoOOoOO .. one of those ones that can print A2 or larger ?

[StudioJ]

No it only does A3+ which I have no idea how big it is, I'd say that is slightly bigger than A3 (2 x A4 pages or 13 x 19") plenty big enough for my liking, I don't see myself printing anything bigger, which is what I said when I bought the A4 printer now I've outgrown it 18 months later.

[peter]

haha i see ..
i find that ink cartidges cost too much though ..

[adam]

We live near Ballajura haha

Last time my dad wanted to print many pictures for someone; checked the price at the shops, and for about the same amount of money, he bought a printer.
We used it once to print these pictures and then packed it away.
unfortunately.... I didn't remove the cartridge, and I think it's blocked, and now it's spoilt

Now the printer is sitting in a box next to me.

I always use laser printer to print my uni assignments (I think my printer can do ~3000 pages on one cartridge); from my experiences with inkjet printers, it's usually a lot less, and sometimes have the problem of touching it before its dry. Technology has probably changed by now (has it?);

Although my inkjet printer says up to 1440dpi and my laser printer is 600dpi, I find the laser printer prints out nicer pictures (though black and white); because you don't see all the dots on the page (or was it that I wasn't printing at the highest quality? Unfortunately I can't test this now because the printer isn't working..)

Colour laser printers sound nice also, but very expensive... I think might as well spend some more and get a photo printer

but for now, I'll rely on the shops to print my pictures.

Another thing is that the inks on the inkjet, In year 12 I was carrying my assignment around and it started raining... the ink began to smudge...

[peter]

thats why you have to get special paper that will retail the paper.. or apply a spray coat or laminate it ..

[Soundy]

I was just reading on usenet regarding someone doing a test with inkjet prints mounted in direct sunlight, vs laser in the same conditions. In both tests, they folded the paper so that one portion would be exposed and the other covered.

After six months, the inkjet prints were faded by about 50%, while the laser prints were not!

Interesting huh? I would like to see more conclusive results, but laser may be the way to go, if they can get the quality to match inkjets...

It's because of the very different fundamental ways in which each printer works. Inkjets apply small blobs of liquid, usually water-soluble, to the paper. Being water-soluble, it tends to run if you get it wet, and the pigments can fade.

Laser printers are based on static electricity: the drum is given a static charge, the laser (or series of LEDs in some designs) then reverse that charge in the desired pattern, and the toner, which is charged the same as the drum, then sticks to the paper in the areas where the laser has been applied, the same way a balloon sticks to the wall after you rub it in your hair (no offence to the follically-challenged).

The next step is what makes all the difference: the "toner" in a laser printer is a fine powder of a form of plastic; the paper comes off the drum and through the fuser, which is a set of heated rollers. The toner is literally melted into the paper where it fuses with the paper fibers. Because it's plastic, it's virtually impervious to dampness (although the paper itself usually isn't), and because in color lasers, it's really colored plastic, it also extremely fade-resistant.

Most color lasers I've seen so far, however, are only a three- or four-color system vs. some photo-printers that are now using up to 8-color systems; and because the colors can't blend the same way they can with liquid inks, lasers tend to be better for graphics than for photos.

[StudioJ]

You can buy a variety of fixatives for the front of your inkjet prints, varieties of gloss, semi-gloss and matte, liquid gloss film is another really cool one but I've only ever seen it in A4 (Letter) sized sheets. Most of the sprays UV protectors to save fading. At the moment I'd do about 50-80 prints at home and around half that at the lab unless a wedding comes up or recently the end of a kids football season that had the parents wanting shots of their kids.

I can get fairly decent output from the printer and even Canon and Ilford paper isn't overly expensive. Hoping to turn out some brilliant results with the new printer, colour laser looks pretty good, they could even use that waxy paper that I can't remember the name of :/