PRINTERS Having taken your image, committed it to your computer and run it through your chosen software programme, you will probably want to view it in print. Here you will be able to see the fruits of your labour and it is worth taking the time and effort to make sure your printer is right for the job. You can send your slides, negatives or digital images to a professional lab where they will provide you with (hopefully) superb pictures but this can be expensive - the cheaper option in the long run would be to produce them yourself. .A printer can be used for anything - printing the typed word, graphics, photographs (or a combination of all three), banners, posters and even T-shirt transfers! Conventional Printer: The usual printer for home use is the Colour Ink or Bubblejet. They work by squirting ink onto the paper through hundreds of minuscule nozzles. Cartridges contain liquid ink that is heated and forced into each nozzle making a tiny bubble, hence it's name, and it is this action that produces the image. How much of which colour ink is used is dictated by the computer and only the minutest of quantities is laid on the paper at so many dots of ink per inch (DPI). The printer will indicate the DPI available on that model - the higher the DPI capability, the better the resultant print quality will be. Thus if a printer model states 1200 x 600 DPI it will lay a maximum of 1200 dots per inch up and down and 600 across. As with scanners, printers have their own software from which print output can be altered to suit individual needs. The printer is connected to the computer and they communicate with each other via a cable You tell the printer what functions to carry out, ie. paper and print size, quality, colour, black & white, number of copies, etc. via the computer and once the appropriate paper type is loaded into the machine (sheet or multiple fed) the printer will start to produce your work. The time taken will depend entirely on the model used, with an A4 photo quality print taking anything from a few to 30 minutes depending on quality and file size. Choose your paper with care as this will have an effect on the finished product. (see the Accessories section) Inks A typical inkjet printer uses 4 colours of ink to produce an image - these are magenta, cyan, yellow and black. Printers that offer 'photo quality' printing incorporate a further two low-density inks of magenta and cyan which are used to blend colours, thereby producing a more subtle effect. The inks are contained in either individual colour cartridges or combined cartridge units. The latter is less cost effective because the whole unit has to be replaced when one colour is exhausted. Thermal Printers With the advent of digital cameras, an additional type of printer is now available that can be used as a 'stand alone' by not needing a computer to produce prints. These are called Thermal Enprint or Dye Sublimation Printers. They work by using a heated head to transfer colour dyes mixed with wax onto a high gloss paper or by the paper itself being impregnated with dyes that are activated by heat and fixed by light. Thermal printers produce more or less photographic images but are very noisy in the process - fans are working constantly to cool the imaging heads and stop the printer from catching alight! The operating menus can be accessed either from the machine itself or by plugging it into the TV and viewing onscreen. The printer can print directly from a digital camera's flashcard or it can capture TV or frozen video images making this type of printer quite versatile. Whatever type you decide on, choose according to your needs - the cost not always determining quality. Some less expensive ones will produce excellent quality prints for albums but if you are looking for quality enlargements up to A4 or A3 size you will need to look at the more professional models, which of course will be more expensive.