The 7 best photo printers in 2024 for creating lab-quality prints at home
The latest home photo printers can put the pros to shame.
You can produce lab-quality prints of your favorite images at home with minimal effort. Your prints can be ready in mere minutes and you can choose the print size and quantity of prints you want. Just be sure to use premium photo paper, and pigment inks (when possible) to generate the highest quality results.
- Best photo printer: Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550
- Best budget photo printer: Canon Pixma iX6820
- Best photo printer for most users: HP Smart Tank 7001
- Best 2-by-3 inch pocket photo printer: Polaroid HiPrint Generation 2
- Best 4-by-6 inch photo printer: Kodak Dock Plus 4Pass Instant Photo Printer
- Best all-in-one photo printer: Canon MegaTank Maxify GX2020
- Best premium photo printer: Canon imagePROGARF Pro-1000
Pro Tip: To save a fortune on ink, we recommend choosing a photo printer that relies on refillable ink tanks, as opposed to traditional ink cartridges.
What is the best photo printer in 2024?
Our in-house team of tech experts has curated this roundup of the best home photo printers. Some are so versatile that they can create prints from digital images up to 8.5 by 11 inches using premium photo paper, while others are specialty printers that can produce 2-by 3-inch or 4-by-6 inch, full-color prints from your computer or mobile device.
Best photo printer overall: Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550
Printer type: All-in-One Inkjet | Max. Photo Size: 13 x 19 inches | Print resolution: 5,760 x 1,440 dpi | Ink type: 6x ink tanks (black is pigment ink, colors are dye-based | Max. print speed (color): 12 ppm | Connectivity: Ethernet, Wi-Fi, SD card | Display: 4.3 inch color touchscreen
When it comes to home photo printers, it doesn't get much better than this. This is an all-in-one SuperTank printer, so it uses high-capacity ink tanks, as opposed to costly ink cartridges. You also get 5,760-by-1,400 pixel resolution, so your prints will look sharp, vibrant and extremely detailed.
You can generate lab-quality prints at home in a wide range of sizes -- from 4 by 6 inches up to 13 by 19 inches when you use premium photo paper. The printer relies on Epson's own Micro Piezo varied speed droplet technology combined with six Claria ET photographic dye inks to produce vibrant and lasting color or sharp black & white prints.
Each 4-by-6 photo winds up costing about about 4 cents. And the printer comes with enough ink to last up to two years. In addition to serving as a high-quality photo printer, the ET-8550 can serve as a 4,800 dpi, 48-bit scanner and versatile photocopier. For convenience, the printer supports wireless printing from computers or mobile devices. While you can use this as an everyday printer for generating sharp text documents, it'll serve you much better as a photo printer and scanner.
Best budget photo printer: Canon Pixma iX6820
Printer type: Inkjet | Max. Photo Size: 13 x 19 inches | Print resolution: 9,600 x 2,400 dpi | Ink type: 5 color ink system (pigment-based black, dye-based colors) | Max. print speed (color): 10.4 ppm | Connectivity: Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB | Display: None
For less than $200, the Pixma iX6820 creates lab-quality prints at up to 9,600-by-2,400 dpi resolution using a five-color ink tank system. This is a significantly higher print resolution than what's offered by most consumer photo printers. For non-photographic prints, expect a print speed of 10.4ppm (color) or 14.5ppm (black & white). As with any photo print, generating lab-quality prints takes a bit longer.
The computer supports wired or wireless printing from computers and mobile devices. Prints can be created in sizes between 4 by 6 inches and 13 by 19 inches. The printer's high performance ink system consists of four dye-based inks that can generate professional looking photos. A pigment-based black ink produces exceptionally crisp text, too.
The iX6820 uses one-picoliter sized ink droplets to produce sharp, exceptionally detailed photos. In terms of photo print speed, the iX8620 can generate a borderless, 4-by-6 inch photo in approximately 36 seconds. For everyday printing, expect up to 10.4 ppm (color) or 14.5 ppm (black & white).
Best photo printer for most users: HP Smart Tank 7001
Printer type: All-in-one inkJet | Max. Photo Size: 8.5 x 14 inches | Print resolution: 4,800 x 1,200 dpi | Max. print speed (color): 9 ppm | Connectivity: Wireless, USB | Display: None
The HP Smart Tank 7001 is a versatile home printer that can print, photocopy and scan. It uses ink tanks, as opposed to costly ink cartridges, and comes with enough ink to last the average household up to two years. So before you even need to buy more ink, you can generate up to 6,000 black-and-white pages or 8,000 full-color pages.
For regular documents, print speed is up to 15 ppm (black & white) or 9 ppm (color). Generating high-quality photo prints takes a bit longer. The 7001 can also handle two-sided printing. Photo print size options range from 3 by 5 inches up to 8.5 by 14 inches.
The printer's 4,800-by-1,200 dpi resolution ensures you can generate impressive looking and highly detailed prints from your digital images, especially when you use premium quality photo paper. We like that the 7001 does a nice job as a versatile photo printer, but handles creating full-color or black-and-white documents equally well.
Best 2-by-3 inch pocket photo printer: Polaroid HiPrint Generation 2
Printer type: Thermal | Max. Photo Size: 2 x 3 inches | Print resolution: 291 dpi | Ink type: Polaroid HiPrint (dye diffusion thermal transfer) | Max. print speed (color): 1 ppm | Connectivity: Bluetooth | Display: None
If you're constantly on the go and want to be able to create 2-by-3 inch glossy prints from just about anywhere, the Polaroid HiPrint Generation 2 pocket printer is what you need. This is a battery powered printer that fits in a pocket. It uses dye diffusion thermal printing technology, so there are no messy inks to deal with.
Simply load in a bundle of Polaroid HiPrint photo paper into the printer, charge the battery and the printer will be able to generate prints wirelessly from your mobile device. The printer comes with 20 sheets of specialized 2-by-3 inch photo paper to get you started. Each sheet of paper has a peal-away backing that transforms it into a business card size sticker.
Meanwhile, the Polaroid Hi-Print mobile app allows you to edit and customize your images with frames, filters, text and emoticons before printing them. Each print takes approximately one minute to generate. On a full charge, the printer can produce up to 20 prints.
Best 4-by-6 inch photo printer: Kodak Dock Plus 4Pass Instant Photo Printer Bundle
Printer type: Dye Sublimation | Max. Photo Size: 4 x 6 inches | Print resolution: 24 Bit, 16.7 million colors | Ink type: Kodak 4Pass | Max. print speed (color): 1 ppm | Connectivity: Bluetooth, dock | Display: None
For someone who enjoys creating old-school photo albums or showcasing 4-by-6-inch photos in traditional frames, the Kodak Dock Plus 4Pass Instant Photo Printer is a dedicated, tabletop photo printer that uses specialized 4Pass photo paper and dye sublimation technology instead of regular inks.
As a result, you can simply insert the specialized Kodak paper into the printer and it can create a 4 x 6 inch, lab-quality print in about one minute. Each print is created using layers of color with a laminating process, so your prints are fingerprint proof and water-resistant. In fact, they're designed to last for more than 100 years without fading.
The printer holds 10 sheets of photo paper at once. This bundle comes with a total of 90 sheets of photo paper to get you started. Based on more than 14,900 user reviews on Amazon, the Kodak Dock Plus 4Pass Instant Photo Printer has earned 4.2 stars out of five. It supports wireless Bluetooth technology, but has a built-in dock for printing images from your smartphone. The main limitation of this printer is that can create only standard 4-by-6 inch prints.
Best all-in-one photo printer: Canon MegaTank Maxify GX4020
Printer type: All-in-one inkjet | Max. Photo Size: 8.5 x 47 inches | Print resolution: 600 x 1,200 dpi | Ink type: 4x pigment inks in ink tanks | Max. print speed (color): 13 ppm | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | Display: 2.7 inch touchscreen
We're huge fans of the Canon MegaTank Maxify GX4020 because it's a printing powerhouse that's ideal for most busy households. It serves as an everyday printer for full-color or black-and-white documents, but also has built in scanner, fax and photocopying functionality. The 2.7 inch, full-color touchscreen makes using the printer super easy.
As a photo printer, the GX4020 offers plenty of versatility. Unlike many home printers, this one uses all pigment inks, which means that when you generate prints from your digital images, they'll feature rich, vibrant and detailed colors -- with no bleeding. The printer's resolution is up to 600 by 1,200 dpi, which is enough to generate high-quality prints and sharp text.
Regular document print speed is up to 13 ppm (color) or 18 ppm (black and white). Of course, printing photos on premium photo paper takes a bit longer, but the results are worth the wait. And you also get support for wired or wireless printing. One highlight is that the GX4020 uses ink tanks, not traditional ink cartridges. This makes it very inexpensive to maintain. With full tanks, you can generate up to 6,000 black and white or 14,000 full-color pages.
Whether you have kids that need to create colorful school projects and reports, or you need to generate full-color reports, charts and graphs for important work-related projects, the GX4020 can handle it all with very low operating costs. This is also a great printer for a home office. For an amateur photographer, we like that the printer can generate prints in a wide range of sizes, including panoramic prints up to 8.5 by 47 inches.
Best premium photo printer: Canon imagePROGARF Pro-1000
Printer type: Inkjet | Max. Photo Size: 17 x 22 inches | Print resolution: 2,400 x 1,200 dpi | Ink type: 11 pigment ink cartridges | Max. print speed (color): 4 minutes 10 seconds per 17 x 22 inch borderless print | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | Display: 3 inch
The Canon imagePROGARF Pro-1000 is the ideal printer for a professional or semi-professional photographer to have on-hand at home. It creates high-resolution, full-color or black-and-white prints up to 17 by 22 inches, at a resolution up to 2,400 by 1,200 dpi.
This is a wide-carriage printer, so it can generate output that's up to 17 inches wide, as opposed to standard printers that are limited to an 8.5-inch printing width. As a result, the printer does take up more space on a desk. As for speed, you can generate a lab-quality, borderless, 17-by-22 inch print on premium photo paper in just over four minutes.
One standout feature is that the Pro-1000 can work with a wide range of photo papers, including fine art media that's up to 0.027 inches thick. The printer is equipped with a large print head that takes full advantage of Canon's proprietary fine print technology using pigment-based inks. The main drawback to this printer is ongoing operating cost, since it relies on 12 separate ink cartridges to generate incredibly accurate colors and deep blacks, especially when using premium photo paper or fine part paper. (This includes 11 color ink cartridges and one Chrome Optimizer cartridge that helps to improve color consistency on coated papers.)
For anyone who's looking to create professional-looking images, this is the photo printer you need. The printer's integrated, 3-inch touchscreen makes operating the printer very intuitive. We like that the printer comes with the Print Studio Pro plug-in for Photoshop and Lightroom. This plug-in makes it easy to send high-quality, large-format files to the printer. There's even an Accounting Manager feature that tracks the cost of consumables, including ink and media, so calculating print costs is quick and easy.
For more advice choosing a home printer, check out our coverage of the best wireless printers in 2024, best inkjet printers of 2024 and best all-in-one printers for 2024. And for expert advice on choosing the best tablet, Android tablet, Apple iPad, tablet for kids, desktop computer, wireless headphones, noise cancelling earbuds, laptop computer, budget-friendly laptop computer, Chromebook, laptop computer for college, smartwatch, Android smartphone or cell phone, be sure to check out our continuously updated tech coverage.
