My scrapbooking life changed a few years ago when I purchased a new tool. Now I don’t think I could live without it. It is my portable photo printer. I hadn’t purchased a photo printer before this because I had a hard time finding the size I wanted and because the cost per print was much higher than what I was used too paying. I wanted to be able to print 4×6 and also 5×7. Most didn’t do the larger size. This printer is an HP Photosmart A616 and I love it. Not only did I get those print sizes that I wanted, but this particular printer can do 4×12 panoramic prints as well.
Printing at home costs more per print, but I find in the end it actually costs me less. This is true because I only print the photos I really want when I want them. No leftovers, no unused photos, no duplicates lying around. I use Photoshop Elements to crop & correct my photos before I print and if I am using small sizes I can arrange multiple photos on one sheet of paper. This means less cropping trash going into the garbage.
I found that this printer was freeing because my photos were actually holding me back from scrapping. I would have a pile of digital prints that I had to wade through. I had to decide which ones I really wanted to print. I had to wait until I had enough favorite saved up to upload to a printing site (or burn to a CD for in store printing). Then I got this pile of photos back and felt overwhelmed that I had to scrap them all right away. It was just too much for me. Having my own printer & editing software meant I could have my photos in whatever size I wanted when I wanted them. It actually made it easier for me to create!
I don’t know what printers are on the market today, but if you have been thinking about a portable photo printer go searching and see what you can find. You just might find what you are looking for.
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