PC Pro exposes inkjets

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 14 Dec 2004 at 17:30

Extensive testing by PC Pro's labs has revealed that photographs produced by inkjet printers can be both far more expensive than those from traditional photo processors and fade far more quickly. But not if you choose the right combination of printer, ink and paper.

For a period of twelve months PC Pro's staff tracked how 150 colour photographs produced by inkjet printers from leading manufacturers survived being exposed to normal air and daylight.

'The results were astonishing, ranging from no fading at all, to one photo where every colour except cyan had vanished, and even that was cracking and flaking off the page,' said Nick Ross, PC Pro's deputy labs editor and author of the report.

'We also compared the cost of printing photographs yourself to having them printed from digital files by a photo lab. There's little point in being able to print pretty pictures on a cheap printer if they're going to cost four times more than on the high street,' added Ross. 'But the savings aren't uniform and for some sizes of print getting them done on the Internet saves a significant amount of money.'

To accompany the investigation PC Pro tested 14 of the latest inkjet printers and identified the one which produced the best combination of print quality, fade resistance, speed, ease of use and value for money.

The full results of the fade tests and cost per print comparisons along with full reviews of the inkjet printers can be found in the new issue of PC Pro, which goes on sale this week.