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onesubdrvr
12-14-2005, 08:58 PM
I recently printed some pictures on my printer, when printed 1/2 page (5x8), they are nice and clear,....


When I take the size down to 4x6, they get grainy, is that just the nature of the beast, or is there something I can do to clear them up?

What's the best 4x6 photo printer available? I want my pictures to look near real photo quality, like my 5x8's

Thanks
Wayne

Schnook
12-15-2005, 06:43 AM
We went down to circuit city recently and the lexmark rep was there. He showed us the 'photo' printer with the LCD screen for about 250 and the photo quality printer which was about half that. He said the only difference was one had a screen. I'll call the wife to get the model #. The ink cartridges are relatively cheap, about 40 for both. Print quality is really good, everyone in the family is sending us their valuable photos to scan and print, if that's any indication. The included software allows you to print different photos on one sheet of paper, so that saves some $, and it's got a fax option that comes in handy.

Rootsy
12-15-2005, 07:22 AM
lets see if i can explain this clearly and not sound off my rocker or like an idiot...

when you take a photo with the camera.. say you take it at 5 megapixel... in real life that sucker is going to be about 12 x 20 or something like that if you printed it 100% size.. @ 72 pixels / inch. Now some cameras will increase the pixel / inch resolution so the photo will be smaller... when you resize a photo smaller the program doesn't shrink pixels.. it removes rows and columns of pixels... if you enlarge the photo it doesn't add pixels it stretches them or duplicates rows and columns or something of that sort... so enlarging photos almost always makes them blotchy... if you make them smaller, of a significant amount you'll end up with weird angular overlapping due to columns and rows of pixels being cut out in order to make the photo physically smaller in size...

therefore it is generally better to take a photo LARGER in size and make it smaller since you can still maintain decent image quality but going too far in making it smaller will degrade the clarity... you also have to be sure to maintain the aspect ratio of height and width or it'll make the photo look screwy also...

that make any sense?

JR

gcarter
12-15-2005, 07:41 AM
I'm not a Photoshop expert like some here, but it's a convenient tool to resize with. Also it will maintain the aspect ratio automatically like Rootsy was talking about.
Additionally, it will allow you to work with a copy of your photo so that you can keep the original high resolution picture on file.

RedDog
12-15-2005, 08:44 AM
....
When I take the size down to 4x6, they get grainy, is that just the nature of the beast, or is there something I can do to clear them up?
What's the best 4x6 photo printer available? ...
Wayne
It is likely something to do with the way you are resizing them - not your printer. In general, printing to a smaller size gives me better results. I have a 3 or 4 year old cheap HP 5550. Cost less than $100 bucks and prints great from 4x6 up to 8x10. I would like to upgrade but really can't justify it for the amount of printing I do. You could just go online to Walmart / Sams / Costco and upload your photos for 1-hour printing. That is probably cheaper than printing them yourself.

Carl C
12-15-2005, 12:26 PM
Wayne, I recently switched to digital photography. I have a mid-grade 4.1 megapixel camera and a HP photosmart 8250 printer. This printer uses 6 ink tanks. My advice is to buy the best photo printer you can find.

My photos are BETTER than film!!!!!!!!!