If you come to compare the development processes involved in digital and film photography development, you’ll find out how big a difference there really is between the two. Whereas in film development you’d have a long, strenuous laboratory process to go through with the photos, digital photography offers the same results at the push of a button. A photo printer’s button that is.

Until a few years ago, photo printers were not advanced enough as to output photo qualities equal to those developed in film laboratories. This has changed lately and now almost all photo printers can actually attain the same quality level found in film photo development, the high-end models even surpassing this level. So if you’ve set out to buy a photo printer, the quality of the photos is not necessarily the biggest of your concerns, since in 95% cases it will be good, especially for the casual photographer.

What you’ll want to look for in a photo printer is its features, its speed and the size of the photos it can print. Based on these factors, photo printers can be placed under three distinct categories: all purpose ink jet photo printers, dedicated printers and professional photo printers. Let’s see what each of them has to offer:

All purpose ink jet printers

These photo printers are usually integrated in a classic file printer, hence their “all purpose” tag. They work on ink jet technology and the quality they can dish out is enough for most casual photographers. However, most models are not particularly fast in printing the photos so if you are going to use your photo printer heavily, you might want to try something faster.

Dedicated photo printers

Dedicated photo printers are called this way because their only use is photo printing and nothing else. Being “dedicated” to this single process allows them to obtain better qualities and performances and most models will be able to print on larger paper sizes than all purpose printers. The paper size limit is usually 4 or 6 inches which makes them ideal for photography enthusiasts, but not necessarily fully functional for professional users who need larger paper sizes to work with.

Professional photo printers

These are dedicated photo printers with a twist. They’re aimed specifically for professionals making a living out of photography and digital photo development and they offer the possibility of printing on larger paper sizes such as 11 or even 17 inches (and on high end models, sizes might even go over 17″). Obviously, this comes at a higher price, but professional photo printers are essential for anyone that wants to be serious about his work.