Photo printers are printers designed to print good quality photographs on photo paper. They have many nozzles and have printing droplets as small as 1 Pico liter. Many have digital meter readers or memory cards that print without the help of a computer. Some of the latest printers can even print directly from a camera or from a camera in a docking station or "PictBridge" that supports this feature.

Before choosing a digital photo printer, assess your needs. Do note that photo-specialized printers may not be good at any other kind of printing, and even if these do print, it will be very expensive. When you buy a printer, keep in mind the running costs, including paper, ink, or toner. These costs are frequent, and they will have to be considered. It should also offer waterproof and long-lasting prints. Usually, thermal-dye printers have a clear over coating to shield the image, while inkjet printers are usually waterproof.

When choosing a printer, ensure that the proportions on the image sensor and printer match. If these do not, then the picture may have to be cropped or you may have to trim down the size to fit it to the page.

Memory is also an important factor, as processing images is a complex task. Many printers have the computing powers of a PC. In fact, some printers are capable of forming images in the memory before printing, and this makes the entire process much faster.

There are many types of printers you could choose from. Inkjet photo printers offer photo printing but are also capable of printing other material. Dedicated photo printers print only on photo paper, and professional photo printers are capable of giving large printouts. Photo resolutions of these are up to a maximum of 1,200 by 4,800 dpi. When you choose a printer, look for one that can print wallet-size as well as reasonably large pictures.

Printers use four colors, which are cyan, yellow, magenta, and black. Some photo printers also add light cyan and light magenta, and a few even offer red and green or red and blue. These additional colors add to the printer's color range and are able to print fine changes in color as in skin tones or the colors of fields. Some printers are also able to print halftones well. If you are into black and white photography, consider one that offers you printing with black and gray inks. Many color printers use composite ink to give you black and white prints.

Some of the photo printers available today are Tektronix's Phaser 140, Epson Stylus 800, Olympus P-400, Kodak Picture Maker Iris 3047HS, and more. Look at what each has to offer and take the one that suits you best.