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Are color laser printers an option for photo work? I'm looking for an
11x17 printer. I'm frankly not sure I can tell the fine detail
difference of quality between various inkjets and if I was selling
prints, I would probably have them printed for me on photo paper. The
advantage I see with laser is cheap toner compared to ink supply and
much much increased speed of printing and it would be very suitable for
B&W printing office stuff too.

This web site seems to cover all that but I can't really follow it to
any useful conclusions: http://www.laser-printer-reviews.org/
--
Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net
Triteleia Natives
http://www.triteleia.com
(415) 722-6037

Paul Furman wrote:
> Are color laser printers an option for photo work? I'm looking for an
> 11x17 printer. I'm frankly not sure I can tell the fine detail
> difference of quality between various inkjets and if I was selling
> prints, I would probably have them printed for me on photo paper. The
> advantage I see with laser is cheap toner compared to ink supply and
> much much increased speed of printing and it would be very suitable
> for B&W printing office stuff too.
>
> This web site seems to cover all that but I can't really follow it to
> any useful conclusions: http://www.laser-printer-reviews.org/

I just bought a color laser today. I will continue testing it tomorrow.
I was very pleased that it was as good as it is. However, I was not
expecting all that much. It is not as good quality print as the much less
expensive (original price) inkjet it is replacing, but it is good enough for
many uses. I will have a better idea after I have had more time with it.
It may be good enough for tabloid (11x17) size prints as they are not viewed
as close as most photographs.

Stop by somewhere that they sell them. Let them print out a sample
print (or many places have it set up so you can do it yourself) and see for
yourself. Keep in mind the subject choice and tweaking of the print will
make that one the best it can do, your mileage may vary. Larger prints
will not be less sharp than the test, assuming your original will hold up.

I try to follow up tomorrow.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Joseph Meehan wrote:
>
> I just bought a color laser today.

>
> I try to follow up tomorrow.


Thanks. What model is it? Price? I can't even tell paper size from the
hp site. That web site said you need the new 1200dpi (non-interpolated)
to get good photo results. A buddy got an hp a few years ago for only
$800 & he was happy but not really a discriminating photographer type
guy. So many confusing unhelpful web sites.



--
Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net
Triteleia Natives
http://www.triteleia.com
(415) 722-6037

"Paul Furman" <paul-@-edgehill.net> wrote in message
news:jsmdnZ2dnZ1eXQbSnZ2dnZ3QZN-dnZ2dRVn-...
> Are color laser printers an option for photo work? I'm looking for an
> 11x17 printer. I'm frankly not sure I can tell the fine detail difference
> of quality between various inkjets and if I was selling prints, I would
> probably have them printed for me on photo paper. The advantage I see with
> laser is cheap toner compared to ink supply and much much increased speed
> of printing and it would be very suitable for B&W printing office stuff
> too.
>
> This web site seems to cover all that but I can't really follow it to any
> useful conclusions: http://www.laser-printer-reviews.org/
> --
> Paul Furman

My opinion is that color lasers are more for graphics arts work than for
producing photo quality prints. You'll get a good looking page for a
brochure, but there's really no way to get anything that resembles a real
photograph to hang on the wall.

Paul Furman wrote:

> Are color laser printers an option for photo work? I'm looking for an
> 11x17 printer. I'm frankly not sure I can tell the fine detail
> difference of quality between various inkjets and if I was selling
> prints, I would probably have them printed for me on photo paper. The
> advantage I see with laser is cheap toner compared to ink supply and
> much much increased speed of printing and it would be very suitable for
> B&W printing office stuff too.
>
> This web site seems to cover all that but I can't really follow it to
> any useful conclusions: http://www.laser-printer-reviews.org/

IMHO, laser printers aren't quite as good as inkjets. They can't
generate dots as fine as the inkjets. They also can't dither
enough to produce the subtle color range of an inkjet with a 6 color
ink cartridge.

Laser toner is (for all intents and purposes) just plastic powder that
gets spread onto to the paper and melted in place.. It generally has
a glossy look to it. As a result, when you look at a laser print at
an angle, you see glossy patches caused by the difference between
areas with more and less fused toner.

"Conrad" wrote...

> I'm with a small group that is purchasing an H-P 1200D color laser
> ($219, but as low as $169 from the net). A review last month in PC
> magazine listed the H-P 2600n ($400 street price) color laser pretty
> highly - even with photos. I'll be very interested in seeing how photos
> print out.

One word of caution that may or may not apply to this model printer is to
check what type of paper stock this model will process. The biggest worry
with laser printers is the fuser is very hot and possibly some photo paper
that isn't designed or approved for that model can damage it. Or, you might
be locked into a very narrow selection of paper stock that might not fit
your future needs. It's best to ask before taking the plunge. Good luck.




Rita

Paul Furman wrote:
> Joseph Meehan wrote:
>>
>> I just bought a color laser today.
>
>>
>> I try to follow up tomorrow.
>
>
> Thanks. What model is it?

Konica Minolta magicolor 2400W

> Price? I paid $299 after rebate at the register (not required to mail in)



> I can't even tell paper size from the
> hp site. That web site said you need the new 1200dpi
> (non-interpolated) to get good photo results.

This one has 600x600; 1200x600 and 2400x600 options.

> A buddy got an hp a few
> years ago for only $800 & he was happy but not really a
> discriminating photographer type guy. So many confusing unhelpful web
> sites.

They have improved from only a few years ago and yet they are still not
the thing for a discriminating photographer to use for his best work.

This one is great for quick stuff and contact sheets, and it looks like
it is going to be good enough for some presentation stuff.

The use of laser gloss paper helps a little. The final surface is more
even and the colors appears more intense (blacker blacks).

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Rita Ä Berkowitz wrote:
> "Conrad" wrote...
>
>> I'm with a small group that is purchasing an H-P 1200D color laser
>> ($219, but as low as $169 from the net). A review last month in PC
>> magazine listed the H-P 2600n ($400 street price) color laser pretty
>> highly - even with photos. I'll be very interested in seeing how
>> photos print out.
>
> One word of caution that may or may not apply to this model printer
> is to check what type of paper stock this model will process. The
> biggest worry with laser printers is the fuser is very hot and
> possibly some photo paper that isn't designed or approved for that
> model can damage it. Or, you might be locked into a very narrow
> selection of paper stock that might not fit your future needs. It's
> best to ask before taking the plunge. Good luck.


Yes, you must use materials that are laser safe. Lasers get very hot
and many of the gloss inkjet stuff would melt in them and cause some real
problems.


>
>
>
>
> Rita

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

In article <jsmdnZ2dnZ1eXQbSnZ2dnZ3QZN-dnZ2dRVn->,
Paul Furman <paul-@-edgehill.net> wrote:

> Are color laser printers an option for photo work? I'm looking for an
> 11x17 printer. I'm frankly not sure I can tell the fine detail
> difference of quality between various inkjets and if I was selling
> prints, I would probably have them printed for me on photo paper. The
> advantage I see with laser is cheap toner compared to ink supply and
> much much increased speed of printing and it would be very suitable for
> B&W printing office stuff too.

Paul-

I have the HP Color LaserJet 4600. It does a beautiful job with photos on
plain paper. It may be cheaper to print a page than with an inkjet
printer. I often print sets of full-page photos of club activities. I
bind them into a scrapbook using the comb binding system to show to club
memebers at the regular meeting.

They are still just nice pictures on plain paper. There is a glossy photo
paper for laser printers, even one that is glossy on both sides. However,
the resulting glossy prints are quite poor compared to those printed on a
good inkjet printer.

A laser printer capable of 11x17 is likely to be much more expensive than
a good inkjet printer capable of 13" wide paper. If you are doing
production work, Epson (and probably others) has inkjet printers capable
of even wider paper, and large-capacity ink cartridges.

Other things to consider are whether fading or water resistance would be
an issue. Some inkjets are better than others. Laser toners are water
resistant. I assume toners are fairly good at fade-resistance, but
haven't seen any test results.

One drawback of laser prints is that the toner may stick to plastic,
similar to the way Xerox copies can stick to a vinyl notebook cover. When
you peel them apart, much of the toner stays stuck to the plastic!

Fred

I have a HP 3550 color laser and it prints unbelieveable color prints from
my Digital Rebel. It's very hard to tell the difference in prints compared
to the inkjet 7550 I have. I use the hp glossy laser paper and since these
printers use the organic "grown" toner (round dot dust instead of
crunched/ground toner) that means the toner blends better and with the
variable heating system on the fuser that means it isn't as hot or power
hungry as the old model lasers. These are "smart" laser printing devices.
You still need Laser paper as the multi layer paper of ink jets isn't
compatable. Just remember. All paper is not created equal. That's
important for printing photos whether it's on a laser or inkjet.

l8tr
Steve m...


>
>> I'm with a small group that is purchasing an H-P 1200D color laser
>> ($219, but as low as $169 from the net). A review last month in PC
>> magazine listed the H-P 2600n ($400 street price) color laser pretty
>> highly - even with photos. I'll be very interested in seeing how photos
>> print out.
>
> One word of caution that may or may not apply to this model printer is to
> check what type of paper stock this model will process. The biggest worry
> with laser printers is the fuser is very hot and possibly some photo paper
> that isn't designed or approved for that model can damage it. Or, you
> might
> be locked into a very narrow selection of paper stock that might not fit
> your future needs. It's best to ask before taking the plunge. Good luck.
>
>
>
>
> Rita
>
>
>