LaserJet printers & photos? Possible?

[piratesmate]

I ran into a problem this morning. First the background....When our color printer bit the dust, DH got an HP LaserJet for B&W printing and was planning to get something else for color & photo printing. Well, that hasn't happened yet.

I need to print out some black & white photos for a Christmas gift I'm working on. However, I just noticed this morning that "photo paper" is not a choice as a paper type for our printer.

Has anyone used a LaserJet printer for photos? If so, what setting did you use? Cardstock? Transparency?

 

[dreams91]

Sorry, I just checked, I have an OfficeJet. It has the photo option. Have you looked online at their website? Maybe it suggest something?

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Has anyone used a LaserJet printer for photos? If so, what setting did you use? Cardstock? Transparency?

I have tried using the HP LaserJet that it is my office for printing color photos, and it does very poorly. I might be wrong on this, but I don't think the laser inks adhere to photo paper properly. I've tried regular glossy paper and matte and finally gave up. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[bubbasmom99]

I have a laser printer but have not tried to print on photo paper. I believe there is laser photo paper but I have not found it in stores, only online. Because there is such a thing, I guess there is something different about the way the toner adheres to the paper.

Don't the large photo printers at the labs use toner, like laser printers, or is it a different method?

 

[JudithM]

Piratesmate, my husband made the following comment when I read him your note here:

Because it is not an ink, but rather uses a plastic powder that is heat fused to the paper, you do not have to use photo paper to get a good image. You might want to select a 22# or 26# good bond paper. I've never tried photo paper in a laser jet. I would be concerned that the heat of the fusion roller would peel the special coating off the photo paper.

 

[piratesmate]

Thanks so much! I'd tried reading various reviews on the printer - no one mentioned photos. I tried going to the HP site & reading about the printer's features...again no mention of photos.

It seemed odd to me because it was always the LaserJets that gave the best quality output...of course that was years ago.

I didn't want to just try it without at least asking around first. What your husband said makes sense. I hadn't considered that. I think what I'll do is just try to print on some cardstock first. If the results are okay I might try it...but then again maybe I'll just stick with using the pix on cardstock. I guess I could use the photo service at WalMart too.

Has anyone used them for B&W photos?

 

[JudithM]

Deb, glad that helped ... sort of ... might not have been what you hoped for though ...

 

[tmt martins]

I work on production color printers and yes the paper does matter if there is not a setting for it you're taking matters into your own hand.

Using heavy will slow the speed and let the heater set the ink better but with a full coverage it might not slow it enough.You will get poor fusing (ink will rub off) or you can ruin your printer (the ink that doesn't fuse has to go somewhere).

My sugestion is try it 1 at a time a keep an eye on it as they print .Break up your printing if doing alot with some small text printing (will settle system down).
I hope this helps.

 

[bubbasmom99]

I found this article on Google, which sorta reiterates the same thing as above:

Laser Printers and Inkjet Glossy Photo Paper


Due to the differences in the way different types of printers produce their images, using paper not specifically designed for the type of printer you're using can cause problems.

Laser printers use a heated roller known as a fuser when printing, fusing the toner to the page. In the case of glossy photo paper, it's possible for the fuser to melt the glossy film covering on the paper, ruining the paper and potentially damaging the printer as well. While this may not happen in every case, the chance of damage to the printer is enough that using the wrong paper type is definitely not recommended.

Another possible drawback of using non-laser paper in a laser printer is that the toner may not correctly fuse to the page, smearing or running off easily.

A number of printer paper manufacturers produce glossy photo paper suitable for use on laser printer, and it should be available most places printer paper is sold.

 

[piratesmate]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the help. I'm wondering though, if they make special laser photo paper...what setting do you use?? I'm not expecting any of you to look it up - just wondering aloud. You know?

I guess I'll do the WalMart thing.