Any printer is capable of printing a basic photo, but some are far better than others. Every model on this list is primarily built around photo printing, but that doesn’t mean they can’t print documents, most of them are great home-office printers. Photo printing is what they perform best and excel beyond that of a standard printer.
When choosing the best photo printer it’s important to factor in your requirements and how often you print.
Best Photo Printers 2024
Photo Printer Requirements
A dedicated photo printer can easily be spotted by having at least 5 inks, this would be the standard CMYK and an additional pigment-black plus, the best photo printers usually come with a high media weight support of 250gsm or higher.
There would be a few requirements to consider as the best photo printer for a professional photographer may not be the best for home photos and quick snapshots. It is not as obvious as the purchase price being the only thing to consider.
Purchase Price
Starting with the most obvious, what is your budget for a photo printer? There are affordable options available such as the Epson XP-970 giving great print quality for fast and basic pictures or the higher-priced professional-level Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300. Depending on your uses, the affordable options can be more suitable, smaller, easier to use and have fewer cartridges making these the most popular form of photo printer.
Running Costs
Running costs are known to be high when printing photos due to the amount of colour and page coverage used. However, costs can be kept lower using inktank-based printers like the Canon G650 or Epson EcoTank ET-8550, they come with refillable tanks of ink giving a high yield of prints compared to traditional cartridges.
Do You Need Colour?
Not all photos are printed in colour, in fact, a black and white photo can give a bright and colourful image a moodier feel. Most photo printers come with a pigment-black but some of the high-end Epson photo printers will come with more tones of black and grey. A great example is the Epson SC-P900 with a matte black, photo black, light grey and grey ink cartridge. Having more cartridges will increase the accuracy of a colour, especially in black-and-white prints where the difference of tones is important.
Maximum Print Size
In most cases, photo printers reach paper sizes of A3 or higher. However, there are a few of the more affordable printers which have a maximum size of A4, this is done to minimise space and purchase costs. Some of the high-end photo printers even take rolls of paper perfect for printing banners.
Pigment Or Dye Based Ink
Inkjet printers usually tend to print with a dye-based ink, these inks can arguably provide more vibrant and saturated prints. However, dye inks are water-soluble, they bleed when wet. Pigment inks are found in the top quality photo printers, they offer more accurate colours and are safe for archiving over 25 years.
Specifications:
- A4 Print, Scan & Copy
- USB & WiFi Connectivity
- 4800 x 1200 DPI
- Borderless Printing
- 6 Ink-System
- Print Up To 275gsm
Reasons To Buy:
- Very Low Running Costs
- CMYK, Grey & Red Inks
- Affordable 6 Dye-Based Ink System
- Standard 3-Year Warranty
Reasons To Avoid:
- No Double-Sided Printing
- Slow Print Speeds
The best photo printer for home users, the Canon PIXMA G650 is a small A4 all-in-one inktank printer built for top-quality photos.
The standard connectivity options for a home printer of USB & Wi-Fi means this printer is both easy to set up to a PC, Laptop or mobile device with the Canon PRINT app. Canons PIXMA G650 is a fully dye-based ink printer too. Featuring six ink bottles (An additional red and Photo black) adding to the already brilliant colour reproduction. A single set of ink bottles can print around 3,800 photos at 4×6” making this one of the most economical photo printers available.
Keeping the printer small to fit on most desks around the home does limit the speed of prints, taking a quality-over-quantity approach. Only being able to print 3.9 A4 pages per minute is disappointing, this would not be ideal when printing longer documents. However, the outcome of the finished print is well worth the wait.
Specifications:
- A4 Print, Scan & Copy
- USB & WiFi Connectivity
- 5760 x 1400 DPI
- Borderless Printing
- 6 Ink-System
- Print Up To 256gsm
- CD/DVD Printing
Reasons To Buy:
- Small Size
- CD/DVD Printing
- High Print Resolution
Reasons To Avoid
- High Running Cost
- No Double-Sided Scanning
Epson built the Expression Photo XP-8700 around home photo printing. Featuring a 6-dye-based ink cartridge system producing great quality photos, this “Small-In-One” printer will fit neatly on most desks.
Using six low-yield ink cartridges instead of the EcoTank system does make this printer expensive to run. And without double-sided scanning, making copies of longer documents is time-consuming by manually changing the page with each scan.
However, for a small and affordable home photo printer, the high DPI on the Epson XP-8700 provides neat lines and clear prints even on heavily detailed photos.
Specifications:
- Print Up To A2
- USB, Network & WiFi Connectivity
- 2,400 x 1,200 DPI
- Borderless Printing
- 12 Pigment-Ink System
- Print Up To 400gsm
- Print Banners Up To 1.2m Long
Reasons To Buy:
- Thick Media Support
- 12 Pigment Inks, Including Chroma Optimizer
- Professional Photo and Banner Printing
- Free 2-Year Warranty
Reasons To Avoid
- Expensive Purchase Cost
- Large and Heavy
- Expensive Replacement Inks
The best photo printer for professional prints. The Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-1000 is both large and expensive but the quality in the printed photos is unmatched, featuring 12 large ink cartridges including a Chroma Optimizer to increase the black density and prevent bronzing.
It’s also one of the few printers capable of sizes up to A2 and banner printing up to 1.2 meters long, this would be perfect for marketing material or panoramic prints. Support for media up to 400gsm makes this a great card printer too, whether it’s greeting cards, prints or marketing posters.
This printer comes with a free 2-year warranty as standard, this does not need to be registered.
Specifications:
- Print Up To A2
- USB, Network & Wireless Connectivity
- 5760 x 1440 DPI
- Borderless Printing
- 10 Pigment-Ink System
- Print Up To 900gsm (1.5mm) Thick
- CD/DVD Printing
- Optional Roll Feed Adapter
Reasons To Buy:
- Very High Media Support
- 10 Pigment-Ink System
- Professional Photo And Banner Printing
- Able To Print Roll Paper
Reasons To Avoid
- Expensive Purchase Cost
- Heavy Printer Weight
A very good rival to the Canon Pro-1000. The Epson SureColour SC-P900 is a feature-rich professional photo printer, the four black and grey cartridges provide incredibly accurate tones for black and white and white photos with 6 other colour inks to provide a fantastic vibrant print quality.
Where the Epson P900 really stands out is the GSM support, it can handle paper and poster board up to 1.5mm thick (Equivalent to 900gsm) which cannot be beaten by any other high-end consumer printer on the market.
Considering the top print quality and high media support, the SC-P900 somehow remains quite compact for an A2 printer and still fits neatly on a large desk setup. Another great feature of this printer is the optional roll feeder allowing panoramic prints up to 17″ wide and up to 120″ long.
The Epson SureColor SC-P900 is the best photo printer for black-and-white, professional-quality photos.
Specifications:
- A3 Print, A4 Scan & Copy
- USB, Network & Wireless Connectivity
- 5760 x 1400 DPI
- 6 Pigment & Dye-Based Ink System
- Print Up To 800gsm (1.3mm) Thick
- CD/DVD Printing
Reasons To Buy:
- Very High Media Support
- 6 Bottle Inktank System
- Professional Photo Printing
Reasons To Avoid
- No A3 Scanning
Photo printing can get expensive to run, Epson realised this and released the EcoTank ET-8550, a six-ink tank-based printer designed for top-quality photos. It comes with all the connectivity options needed to print from a desktop or Laptop through USB or Wi-Fi and support for mobile devices and cameras.
Thanks to a built-in 10.9cm LCD touchscreen, printing and scanning directly from the printer is simple, plus an SD card slot means there’s no need to transfer any camera images to a PC before printing.
Having an A4 scanner included in the printer with a great 1,200 x 4,800 DPI means copies are clear and accurate. We feel being able to scan A3 to match the print size would provide more use, especially when scanning images.
Thanks to the low running costs but featuring such great print quality, the Epson EcoTank ET-8550 is our best photo printer for beginner and semi-professional photographers looking to keep print costs low. The high purchase cost is more than made up for with such a low cost-per-print.
Specifications:
- A3 Print
- USB, Network & Wireless Connectivity
- 9600 x 2400 DPI
- 5 Pigment & Dye-Based Ink System
- Print Up To 300gsm
Reasons To Buy:
- 300gsm Card Printer
- Affordable Printer For Good Quality Photos
Reasons To Avoid:
- No Scanning
- No Double-Sided Print
The Printerbase top selling Printer for cards, crafting and home photos. The Canon PIXMA iX6850 is an affordable home printer perfect for beginner crafters and photographers.
A basic printer with no scanning or double-sided capabilities to keep costs low and a smaller size the PIXMA iX6850 performs best on photo printing with glossy paper. Colour prints are vibrant and ideal for framing, thanks to 4 Dye-based inks and a Pigment black to achieve accurate tones and crisp text.
The Canon PIXMA iX6850 is the best photo printer for use around the home and the 300gsm printing makes this perfect for beginner crafting on different types of papers.
Specifications:
- A3 Print
- USB, Network & Wireless Connectivity
- 4800 x 2400 DPI
- 9 Pigment Ink System
- Print Up To 380gsm
Reasons To Buy:
- 10 Pigment Inks Including Chroma Optimizer
- Banner Print Up To 990.6mm Long
- Top Quality Printing
Reasons to Avoid:
- Print Speeds Can Be Slow
The best photo printer title goes to the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300.
This professional photo printer is capable of beautiful prints on all types of media. Featuring a 9-colour pigment-based ink system with a Chroma Optimizer to enhance colours giving better image print quality.
Built for colour accuracy and high-quality prints, this printer matches perfectly with free Canon Professional Print & Layout software alongside Print Studio Pro to get the best print results with exclusive features. The Canon Pro-300 is easy to connect devices to, with a standard USB, Network and Wi-Fi connectivity. Pict bridge and Wi-Fi Pictbridge is available too on compatible cameras.
Media handling is fantastic with the Canon Pro-300 with the ability to print on media up to 380gsm, supporting photo paper, card stock, textured paper and inkjet-compatible stickers.
Specifications:
- A3+ Print
- USB, Network & Wifi
- 5760 x 1440 DPI
- 6 Dye-Based Ink System
- Print Up To 300gsm
- CD/DVD Printing
Reasons To Buy:
- High DPI
- High Print Speed Up To 29ppm
- Print Directly to Disc
- Epson’s Smallest A3+ Printer
Reasons To Avoid:
- High Running Costs
Photographers know, there’s nothing like a high-quality printer to perfect your images down to their final print. The Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 is built exactly for this, ideal for amateur and semi-pro photographers looking to improve their printing before getting into professional-level printers.
Being Epson’s smallest A3+ printer doesn’t include any hidden drawbacks, print quality is fantastic and compares well with some of the entry-level professional photo printers.
The only issue we found is the high running costs, especially when compared to InkTank-based printers. However, for a more budget-friendly printer, this was expected to be the case.
Specifications:
- A4 Print, Scan & Copy
- USB & Wireless Connectivity
- 4800 x 1200 DPI
- 5 Dye-Based Ink System
- Print Up To 300gsm
- Automatic 2-Sided Printing
Reasons To Buy:
- High DPI
- Print Speed Up To 15ppm
- Double-Sided Printer
- Small Size
Reasons To Avoid:
- No Slot For Memory Cards
The Canon PIXMA TS6350a is another perfect entry-level photo printer. Designed for versatile use in the home, capable of basic printing & scanning basic documents while still producing photos in a high enough quality to frame.
Having built-in USB and WiFi connectivity allows a simple connection between your desktop and mobile simple and quick, especially when printing from the Canon mobile app.
The standard Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black are complimented by an additional pigment-black to increase colour accuracy and deeper black tones like other photo printers. However, a low price and included 2-year warranty is appealing to those looking to keep their printing costs down.
Specifications:
- Print Up To A3+
- USB, Network & Wireless Connectivity
- 5760 x 1440 DPI
- Borderless Printing
- 10 Pigment-Ink System
- Print Up To 800gsm (1.5mm) Thick
- CD/DVD Printing
- Integrated Roll Feed Adapter
Reasons To Buy:
- High DPI
- Very High Media Support
- 10 Pigment-Ink System
- Professional Photo & Banner Printing
- Roll Feeder Built In
Reasons To Avoid:
- High Running Costs
A step down from the Epson SureColor P900, the Epson SureColour P700 doesn’t hold back in terms of its fantastic print quality, featuring a 10 pigment-based ink system including two blacks and two grey for perfect mono tones and shading in darker areas, with the additional six colours giving a bright and vibrant colour quality.
However, the stand-out features in the P700 come from the extraordinarily high media support and integrated A3+ roll feeder. Capable of handling incredibly thick media up to 800gsm, which rivals the Epson ET-8500 series and is only beaten by the P900. Having the built-in roll feeder does give this a slight edge over the other models.
The only issue we found is the high running costs, especially when compared to InkTank-based printers. However, for a 10 pigment-based system, we can’t complain.
Verdict
And there you have it, a Printerbase round-up of the best photo printers. Recommending a top option was difficult, so we’ve decided on two.
For home use, we would recommend the Canon PIXMA G650 thanks to its very low running cost but amazing final prints. Despite a slow speed, we found the outcome completely worth it.
For professional use, the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300 is our go-to. Providing the best in print quality and range of features. Including support of heavier media and the 10 pigment-based inks give prints the longest lifespans, ideal for framing and even archiving.
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