Because there are so many photo printers on the market these days, it can be difficult to easily find the one that is right for you. A lot of photo printers advertise features and statistics that might not mean a whole lot to most people. HP has Vivera inks; Epson has UltraChrome. What's the difference? Who knows. The HP Photosmart 8450 has a resolution of 4800 x 1200; the Epson Stylus R320 has 5760 x 1440. Are you going to notice that difference? Hard to say. With so many minor differences between different models and different manufacturers, it is better to focus on the big issues, like the following:



1. Decide how serious you are about photo printing. You can spend anywhere from $50 to $500 or more on a photo printer, so you need to figure out if this is something you are really interested in or just something you want for occasional use. Unless you are a professional or someone who plans on selling your prints in some way, you probably don't need to spend over $200. There are plenty of models in that price range and most should give you good results.

2. Figure out which features you will actually use on a regular basis. Photo printers are packed with extra features these days, including color LCDs, memory card slots and inputs for digital cameras. But how often are you really going to use these things? Many of the features advertised on photo printers involve using the printer as a standalone machine - in other words printing without the use of your computer. That may sound neat, but in reality how many people print pictures directly from their camera or memory card without looking at them on their computer? Viewing and editing photos on a 2