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One of the real benefits of digital imaging is printing photos on a desktop printer.  The quality of photos printed on most desktop printers available today is truly remarkable and the inks are archival quality.  And, it is easy and relatively fast to print photos from your computer. That said, I generally prefer to upload photos to an online print service for a number of reasons which I will discuss in a future post. (For information on online printing go to http://www.correctphoto.com/online_print_services.htm). But, when you need a photo fast, like when your wife wants a current photo of the grandkids to show her friends and is leaving in 15 minutes, the desktop printer is real handy. But, how do you print photos from your computer? Do you need special printer software or a complicated photo editing program to print photos? The answer to these questions may surprise you.

Microsoft Windows XP and Vista Print Wizard
Most people don’t realize that Windows XP and Vista operating systems have an easy to use print function for photo printing.  You really don’t need anything but your computer, printer and glossy photo paper (I recommend Premium paper from the printer manufacturer) to print photos. Here is a step by step procedure.

1. Select the photos you want to print from the My Pictures or Pictures folder and Right Click (Vista) on the photo file. (If you want to print multiple pictures hold down the Ctrl key and click on the photos you want to print and then Right Click.)  Select Print from the new window that popped up when you Right Clicked. To activate the Windows XP Print Wizard after you select the photo go to Picture Tasks on the left menu and select Print This Picture.

Select Print Wizard-Right Click/Print

2. Select Print Size, Quantity, Printer Preferences
In Vista the following window will appear where you select the Print Size, Print Format, the quantity of each to be printed and the type of paper.  However, before you hit the Print button click on Options and then Printer Properties. In Windows XP select Printer Preferences  in the Printing Options Window.  After setting the Printer Properties you will select the print format in the Layout Selection window.

Select Photo Size, # of prints, Options-Printer Properties (Vista)

3. Set Printer Properties
In both Vista and Win XP the Printer Properties window is where you can select the quality of the photo, type of paper, and other parameters. 

Printer Properties Selection Window

Select the type of paper, preferably Premium Glossy Paper, you are using and Best Photo for high quality prints. If you have color corrected the photo in a photo editing program, like CorrectPhoto (www.correctphoto.com), I would recommend unchecking the Photo Enhance print option because you don’t want the printer software to mess with your corrections. When you have made your selections click OK and return to the print window and click on the Print button and the printing will begin.

See, that was easy. Now for a word of caution. Printing on a desktop printer is not cheap. The paper is relatively expensive and you can quickly go through a lot of ink and you know how much that costs.  Printer manufacturers won’t like this advice since they make more money selling  ink than selling printers.  I would suggest you use your desktop printer for the occasional print you need in a hurry and use a photo lab or online photo service for the bulk of your photo printing. Yesterday, I printed several 8×10 prints for a friend and was amazed at how much ink was used in the process.

I hope this summary of photo printing with Windows was informative and helpful.  Here is a link for more information on printing photos on Microsoft’s web site.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/learnmore/waystoprint.mspx

Wayne   http://www.correctphoto.com