Digital photography has advanced a great deal recently and has become the preferred method for most photography lovers. The number of people who print their own pictures with photo printers is increasing day by day.

If you want to start taking and printing your own digital photographs at home or office yet do not know how to choose a photo printer, you?ll definitely want to read on.

Types of Photo Printers

Types of photo printers vary and options on offer are mainly inkjet photo printers, portable photo printers, all-in-one photo printers, dedicated photo printers and professional photo printers.

Almost all the new photo printers in the market today provide great quality photo printing. Whether they are quite affordable or more expensive, most of them provide similar photo quality. Where they differ is usually with regards to their speed and features.

If you will be printing snapshots to share with friends and family, almost any inkjet photo printer will be fine for you. However, if you want to frame and display your photos or perhaps hang them on the wall in your home, you"ll need further consideration in choosing the right photo printer. Canon PIXMA iP5000, HP Photosmart 8450 and Epson Stylus Photo R800 are some examples of current popular inkjet photo printers.

Dedicated photo printers are built around thermal-dye technology. The maximum print size on these printers is often 4 x 6 inches. Within the same category, there are dedicated photo printers with larger output, up to 4 x 8 inches or 5 x 7 inches, and lightweight inkjets with a maximum 4 x 6 output size. The dedicated photo printers offer very good to excellent output; although they may offer a limited choice in paper size. If the only choice the printer offers is 4 x 6 inches and you want credit card -size prints, for example, you"ll either have to print two or three photos on the same sheet or waste some photo paper which may be very costly for you in the long term. Epson PictureMate and Canon Pixma iP6000D are some examples of current popular dedicated photo printers.

Some of the all-in-one printe rs also offer extra features for photo printing. With some of them you can print photos directly from your camera without connecting to a PC. Others offer a button for a proof sheet showing every photo on the card. You can select the shots you want to print with a pen by filling in the ovals that appear under each proof-sheet image and it will automatically print only the photos you select. HP OfficeJet 4215, HP PSC 1315 and Canon PIXMA MP780 are some examples of current popular all-in-one photo printers.

Professional photo printers are mostly used by professional photographers and graphic artists and provide larger outputs as a general rule. They are likely to need a minimum of 11 x 17 inches (tabloid size) or 13 x 19 inches (super-tabloid size). Professio nals may also need poster size. Professional photo printers usually include network connections, so you can share the printer in an office or a graphic-arts department. HP Photosmart 8750 Professional and Epson Stylus Photo R1800 are some examples of current popular professional photo printers.

A portable photo printer is a good choice for you if you are planning to print on the go. Most portable printers offer a good print quality and are usually light weighted (between 2 to 5 pounds) and conveniently sized. HP PhotoSmart 375 and Canon PIXMA iP90 are some examples of current popular portable photo printers.