PictureMate Photo Printer

When printing direct from memory cards you need to make an index print first. This generates up to 20 thumbnail size preview photos per page and assigns a number to each photo. Unless you use the Print All option you need to be able to tell the printer which pictures you want printed. You can also mark your photos beforehand in the camera using the DPOF (digital print order format) option, the printer will automatically print the marked images. Before printing a picture you can specify a crop number and the printer will automatically crop and enlarge the selected area. You need to print out a Crop Template as shown here, only one is necessary and can be used for future reference, the cropped areas don't change from photo to photo. Here's a side-by-side 600dpi unaltered scan of an Epson PictureMate (left) print and a HiTi 640DL (right) print. The HiTi 640DL is a dye sublimation printer with very true color rendition. The PictureMate's color gamut is very good and produced nearly identical results to the HiTi printer but with a little more cyan in the flesh tones and a noticeable boost to the greens and reds. Most consumers like the printed colors to be more "punchy" than real life so this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Epson Film Factory Software Epson's Film Factory software lets you store and organize your photos, edit your photos, easily print thousands of photos in all the popular photo sizes, create greeting cards, sticker prints, index prints, photo album pages, personalized calenders, and more. You can import photos from TWAIN-compliant digital cameras, scanners, etc. Film Factory supports Epson PRINT Image Matching II and is Exif Print compatible. Image enhancement tools allow you to automatically or manually adjust color, brightness and contrast. Rotate, trim, crop, add soft focus, correct for red-eye or fix multiple photos. Convert color photos to B&W or Sepia tone. In addition to organizing, editing and printing images, Film Factory lets you create HTML pages of your pictures for display on web pages. It runs on Windows 98, Me, 2000, or XP computers as well as Macintosh computers with Mac OS® 8.6 through 9.2.2 , Mac OS X 10.1.5 or higher. Steve's Conclusion We reviewed the HP Photosmart 245 last year and because that printer sells for the same price (~$200), looks very similar and offers many of the same features as the PictureMate it makes for a good comparison product.   Epson PictureMate HP Photosmart 245 4 x 6" photo prints only Yes Yes Ink system 6-color, pigment 4-color, dye Photo gray ink No Yes, optional Smudge and water resistant Yes No 100 year longevity Yes No Print time (approx.) 120 secs. 90-120 secs. Print resolution 5760 dpi 4800 dpi Memory card slots CF/SM/SD/MMC MS/MSPro/xD CF/SM/SD/MMC MS/MSPro/xD USB Card reader Yes Yes Standalone operation Yes Yes Color Preview LCD No Yes, 1.8" True 4x6" borderless paper Yes No, tear-off tabs PictBridge direct-print compatible Yes No PC / Mac USB connectivity Yes Yes Optional Bluetooth wireless connectivity Yes No Per-print cost ~$0.30 ~$0.46 The PictureMate is a good choice for today's digital camera users that only need to make 4 x 6-inch size prints. If you want to make larger prints then look at the larger photo inkjet printers from Canon, HP or Epson -- the PictureMate is strictly a 4 x 6" size printer. It's small and very portable, it even has a carrying handle built right in to prove that it was designed to be portable. The only thing the PhotoMate lacks to make it a "perfect" standalone printer is a color preview LCD. The PictureMate's pigment inks offer the same print longevity as a dye sub type printer as well as smudge and water resistant qualities. It's easy to use and produces excellent, lab quality photo prints in about two minutes, with or without a computer.

US visitors PM 260 PictureMate Dash Photo Printer (5760x1440 DPI, Color, PC/Mac) $ 152.55 at PC Connection $ 139.95 at TECHONWEB $ 152.16 at PCNation.com $ 149.00 at Buy.com $ 149.99 at J&R $ 139.95 at B&H Photo-Video $ 138.24 at NextWarehouse.com $ 138.38 at A Matter of Fax

UK visitors PictureMate 290 Inkjet Printer (1.62 PPM, 5760x1440 DPI, Colour, PC) £ 228.56 at Ameiva (Printware Ltd)

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