I got my parents a laser printer recently to save long-term on ink costs, since they don't print often. One of their requests was to print 5x7 photos but I can't use the regular Canon glossy paper because that's only for inkjet. After some searching online, I can't seem to find 5x7 photo paper designed for laser printers.
One thing that you should be able to do, is cut 8x10 paper in half. On a regular printer I just print one 5x7 on one end of an 8x10 sheet, then run it back through to print on the other end.
due to the limited nature of the the laser system they don't make dedicated "photo" paper. color control/accuracy is rather limited . you should be able to print on heavier stock plain paper though.
my regular home printer is a epson eco printer which uses bottled ink instead of cartridges. it produces nominal good images (better than laser) but nothing like my P800
I have an Epson Picture Mate that gives excellent prints on 4x or 5x7 paper. $149 at Amaqon. Prints are great. Just as good as the big printers. They are small, light, portable and read any SD card.
sjms wrote:
not quite a informed statement. there is quite a difference in the chemistry (pigment vs dye, color gamut) in some of those "big printers".
but then good enough for the family shots and the ability to reprint easily.
$33 for a cartridge set
how many 4x6 and 5x7 do you get out of a set of cartridges?
The paper and ink are sold together, though the ink runs out sooner than the paper.
The PMs are great for casual use and very portable. The main limitation is that the standard print speed is fast and results in what would be called the low resolution on a true photo printer. Color is just fine.
It's funny, I just gave a local hospice society my HP 252dw with a bunch of paper today. One of those papers I was just telling them about look great for graphics and small photos...
Check out HP Laser Glossy Brochure Paper 200 gsm, it produced surprisingly good results for a laser printer. My elderly parents think photos on it look wonderful! (Seriously, they couldn't tell the difference between it and prints from my P800 )
Ming-Tzu wrote:
I got my parents a laser printer recently to save long-term on ink costs, since they don't print often. One of their requests was to print 5x7 photos but I can't use the regular Canon glossy paper because that's only for inkjet. After some searching online, I can't seem to find 5x7 photo paper designed for laser printers.
Any suggestions out there?
I have a Canon color laser MFP and bought 28lb premium color copy paper from Hammermill for those times when better picture quality was desired. It's letter size and can easily be cut down to size. It does result in superior looking color prints compared to regular ~20lb copy paper stock. But as noted already, laser printer output is inferior for photo-quality output compared to inkjet. It's fine for sticking photos on the fridge or collages on a wall for a non-critical audience. Keep in mind though that printing images will much more quickly go through toner/ink than printing text and that laser toner cartridges are not inexpensive (if buying OEM). From the 'trial' toner cartridges that came with the Canon MFP, I've probably printed less than 30 8x10 equivalent color prints and am at about 40% color toner remaining. Black is down to 10%, but I do primarily use the printer for printing B&W text or printing color text documents as B&W. For infrequent use, I do agree laser is better for not having to worry about clogged print heads, etc.
I use HP Presentation paper with my color laserjet and it produces a brochure quality print. For 5x7 color prints you best bet is a dye sub printer as there will be no issues with clogged inkjet heads.
(Seriously, they couldn't tell the difference between it and prints from my P800 
)