A photo printer can be useful even if you are not a photographer or print photos for commercial use. These days, people have photo printers in their homes for domestic, personal use.

Lately, photo printers have become very affordable. They have also come in very small and very portable sizes. This feature has made it even more useful. Think of a situation where you went to holiday with your friends and you are unable to share your photos simply because you cannot find a print shop in the locality. And since every second spent with friends and family is a memory-worthy moment, photo printing takes on an even more unquantifiable value, that of sentimental one.

Modern Photo Printers

There are several types of photo printers to choose from these days and one of these option is the photo printer that can stand or work alone. This means that you need not connect the printer to a computer to get access to your camera or memory card. The printer comes in as a plug and a play device which can work independently without the intervention of a desktop or laptop. You can directly insert your memory card or USB stick or camera directly to the printer and can browse photos from the printer display itself to get to print the right picture. You will, however, have limited options for editing these photos.

Top Photo Printer Brands

There are several brands of photo printers for you to choose from. To name a few you have Epson, Canon, HP, Lexmark and Kodak. All of these brands offer good, quality, portable printers.

Selecting The Right Printer

There are a few things that you need to keep in mind while trying to select one.

1. Make sure that your digital camera and photo printer is compatible.

2. You should have more than one option to connect the digital camera to the printer. In most units or models, you can connect to the printer by way of USB cable or by its SD or memory card.

3. To minimize your cost in the future you need to think about the cost of paper and ink as well. If you prefer matte over glossy prints, make sure you choose the printer that prints matte as not all printers can print matte.

4. Another thing you need to figure out is that how often you are going to use your printer. If you plan to use it frequently then you can buy an inkjet version. However if you would not use it that often then go for the thermal-dye technology which uses inks that do not dry.

5. Find out, beforehand, whether you want to print pictures other than its standard 4-by-6 inch size. This is because most printers support this format only and for printing in other formats you need to buy the more expensive ones.

Last but not the least, make sure your photo printer model comes with a comprehensive manual and with a software package. This software should be compatible with your computer and should have enough options of photo editing.

Get reviews of the best best photo printers. Discover your choices for the best Canon photo printers in the market.