• Use Photo Printers at Home

• Select the Right Photo Printer

• Choose Photo Printer Paper, Ink, Accessories

• Find Photo Printers on eBay

• Buy Photo Printers With Confidence

Use Photo Printers at Home

Use Photo Printers at Home

Having a photo printer at home puts you in creative control. Photo-editing software allows you to adjust things like brightness and contrast and if you don't like the way a picture comes out, you can simply print another photo. You can also explore your creativity and print black and white or colour pictures for things such as gifts, scrapbooks, or holiday cards.

Best of all, having a photo printer at home enables you to share photos with loved ones on the spur of the moment, without a trip to the local photo store or waiting for delivery. You can even print photos for your friends while you’re with them.

Select the Right Photo Printer

Select the Right Photo Printer

Two common types of photo printers are inkjet photo printers and dye-sublimation photo printers. (Dye-sublimation printers are also called dye-sub printers and thermal-dye printers). Consider an inkjet photo printer if you want to print photos as well as coloured documents and reports. Consider dye-sub photo printers if you want a dedicated photo printer. Also check the picture sizes that your photo printer can create. Most can print 4x6 pictures, but if you’re interested in wallet-sized prints, make sure the printer can accommodate.

Get to know inkjet photo printers
Most inkjet photo printers shoot ink through tiny nozzles at the page, making it possible for them to inexpensively create good-quality photos at a decent speed. Most inkjet printers use a CMYK colour scale (C is cyan, M is magenta, Y is yellow, and K is black). Inkjet printers then use a technique called dithering to fool your eye into seeing more colours. A great example of dithering is colour pictures in the newspaper. If you look closely, you’ll notice the dithering.

Some of the higher-end inkjet photo printers print with additional colours like a light cyan or light magenta, allowing them to create higher-quality pictures. Inkjet photo printers print at reasonable speeds, allowing them to be used for other projects as well as photos. Some popular inkjet photo printers include HP photo printers, Canon photo printers, and Epson photo printers.

Explore dye-sub photo printers
Dye-sub photo printers briefly heat a CMYK colour ribbon, transferring colour to glossy photo paper. Cyan, magenta, and yellow can all be printed in a variety of shades and these shades can combine to produce nearly 17 million colours. Even at a 300 x 300 dpi resolution you can achieve the crisp, clear colours associated with much higher-resolution inkjet printers. Some popular brands of dye-sub photo printers include Canon dye-sub photo printers, Kodak dye-sub photo printers, and Olympus dye-sub photo printers.

Choose Photo Printer Paper, Ink, Accessories

Choose Photo Printer Paper, Ink, Accessories

The quality of the pictures you’ll get out of your photo printer is determined as much by the paper as by the printer.

Pick up photo paper
Photo paper is a must. Using regular paper results in flat, discoloured prints. Quality paper can create rich, textured prints. Make sure that the photo-quality paper is compatible with the photo printer. Different companies make paper that differs slightly in colour and texture, which can affect the quality of photo prints. Often, printer companies sell paper and ink packages. Using these packages will ensure that the colours and textures of your prints are accurately reflected.

Find ink cartridges and replacement ribbons
Figure the price of replacement ink cartridges or dye-sub ribbons into the final cost of your photo printer. For example, to figure the price per print produced on an injet photo printer, take the cost of the ink cartridge and divide it by the quantity of pictures it can print. Most prints cost between $0.45 and $1.00.

To determine what kind of ink cartridge or ribbon your photo printer needs, check the photo printer's manual. While third-party ink and cartridges are available, often for a discounted price, be aware that minute differences in ink quality can affect your pictures.

Find Photo Printers on eBay

Find Photo Printers on eBay

Once you know what type of photo printer you want, go to the Cameras & Photo portal, click Printers, Scanners & Supplies, and then click Photo Printers, and start searching for item listings on eBay.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. You'll find links for Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Olympus, Sony, and Other Brands.  

• Keyword search: Search eBay title listings for specific words. For example, if you want to find dye-sub printers, type "dye-sub printers" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available. You can also find photo printers in eBay's Computers & Networking category. From the portal, click the Ink Jet & Photo Printers link under Printers. 

Buy Photo Printers With Confidence

Buy Photo Printers With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to C$1,250.

• eBay Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.