Output

Output

Printer

In December 2002 I finally took the plunge and invested in a printer. This is an HP Photosmart 7350 with a resolution of 4800x1200. I dithered between buying this one and a similarly priced Epson - in the end I decided that the 4800x1200dpi was better than 5760x720dpi, not to mention it being a good deal faster. The only drawback is the lack of roll-feed and cutter - although it does have a tray for 4"x6" papers (you can just see it here - it's the black flap on the out tray). Click here to read about the papers I use.

Fpr professional printing I recommend Photobox.co.uk. They produce the best quality prints I've seen, plus the service is great. Prepay is the cheapest option, and they also do a wide range of gifts (bags, frames, glass etching...)

Websites

I use my BT Yahoo! Broadband space as a temporary holding site for pictures I want people to see. The service is faster and more reliable than others - and the Yahoo! features are really useful.
For longer-term work (such as the promotional website I'm working on for the band of two friends) I use 1&1. They're cheap, reliable and give you £400 of free software.

CD-R/CD-RW

Sending large numbers of glossy pictures can be expensive - particularly if you don't know which pictures everyone wants. I tend to burn pictures to CD-ROM when people want a lot of them. Cheap brands seemed a waste of time until recently. Nowadays though they all seem fairly reliable.

Papers

Large - So far I've only tried Kodak's range of Premium Picture Paper in A4 size, Ultra-glossy.
4"x6" - PC World were doing a buy one, get one free deal on packs of 50 of the HP Premium Photo cards. The quality seems good. Kodak's version is also good, but the lack of tab means white borders round the edges
Greetings cards - Avery ones seem to work well, although I prefer the HP ones. Ilford ones are a bit too floppy.
Fellowes CD labels & liners - though I think I prefer the Avery.
Bog standard photocopier paper.