Your Handy Guide to Using an NFC-Enabled Printer on a Mobile Device
Keen to print directly from your mobile device to an NFC-enabled printer?
We know how attractive that idea can be! Especially when you dread the following printing scenarios:
Needing to log on to your laptop just to print a few documents
Being confused by the convoluted set-up process involving wireless printers
There are many perks that an NFC-enabled printer can bring to your home or office. Read on to find out how you can print from your mobile device via an NFC-enabled printer, as well as the benefits that NFC enabled printers bring.
What is NFC printing?
As its name suggests, NFC printing, also known as Near Field Communication printing, works by establishing the wireless network connectivity between a mobile device and a printer when they are in close proximity. This is a form of short-range wireless technology that most modern smartphones, tablets and devices have.
With such technology, you can literally walk up to the printer, tap your phone on it and watch as your selected prints are printed right before your eyes.
NFC technology has made printing so convenient and fuss-free that you don’t need to log on to your PC or laptop just to print a document!
How to print from Android mobile devices using NFC printing
To use NFC Printing, both your printer and your mobile device must come equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Let us walk through the processes needed to activate it on both devices.
How to activate NFC on Android mobile devices
#1 Check if your mobile device supports NFC
Are your mobile devices already NFC-enabled? Well, you will be glad to know that the latest Android smartphones and tablets are mostly NFC-enabled. You can check by searching on your device settings for “NFC”.
(Unfortunately, as of now, there isn’t an easy way for iOS devices like iPhones to print using the NFC technology.)
#2 Activate NFC on mobile device
To activate NFC on your Android phone or tablet, follow the steps below:
On your Android device, tap on “Settings”
Select “Connected devices”
Select “Connection preferences”
You should see “NFC” and “Android Beam” options
Turn both of them on
Once NFC is activated on your mobile device, you can direct your attention to the printer.
How to use an NFC-enabled printer
#1 Check if your printer supports NFC
How do you know if a printer is NFC-enabled? Most printers will have an NFC icon located on the printer—this will also be the area where you should place your device to establish a connection.
#2 Enable NFC on Brother printer
To turn on the NFC capability on a Brother printer, follow these simple steps:
Select Settings (screwdriver icon)
Select “All Settings”
Select “Network”
Select “NFC”
Select “ON”
Select Home (house icon)
#3 Install and use Brother iPrint&Scan app to select the print job
To print via NFC on a Brother printer, you will need to install Brother iPrint&Scan App on your mobile device.
If you are printing a photo or a document, ensure that the memory card containing the image or document has been inserted into the mobile device.
To select the print job, here are the steps needed:
Open the Launcher on the mobile device
Tap the Brother iPrint&Scan icon (carefully read and accept the terms of the license agreement)
Select the document to be printed
#5 Establish NFC connection and print
When the Print Preview screen is displayed, hold your mobile device against the NFC icon on your Brother printer. Be sure to line up both the NFC tags.
Once your mobile device is connected, you will hear a sound and “Touch to beam” will be displayed on the mobile device’s screen.
Simply tap your device’s screen to proceed with printing, while maintaining the proximity, and voila! You have just printed directly from your mobile device to your NFC printer!
Benefits of NFC Printing
NFC printing has become a popular mode of printing because it is fuss-free and convenient.
What users appreciate the most is its fast and seamless connection. Thus, the quick tap-and-print process of NFC printing can help to optimize business productivity.
Brother’s NFC-Enabled Printers
Searching for the best NFC-enabled printer for your home or corporate office? Check out some of Brother’s best printers with NFC features!
Looking for the Best Black and White Printer for Your Home? Look no further!
Having trouble deciding on the best black and white printer for your home? Wondering if you’ll save more money replacing your old colour printer with a black and white printer?
Let us help you to resolve your dilemma!
In this article and infographic, you will discern the differences between colour printers and black and white printers, see how they compare in terms of cost, page-yield, and other variables, and learn how to choose the best monochrome laser or inkjet printers for your home printing needs.
Black and White Printer VS Colour Printer
If you already own a colour printer, but rarely ever print in colour, the question you may ask yourself is this: “Should I ditch my colour printer for a laser black and white printer?”
Technically, you could just print in black and white or grayscale by changing your print settings. However, that may not be the best solution going forward.
Here are the two biggest reasons why you should consider switching to a monochrome printer.
Cost
In the long run, your printing costs could go up as some printers require you to change the entire colour cartridge once a certain colour is low or empty. You’ll then end up paying for the colours that you are not even using!
That’s not all. If you only need to print in black and white but accidentally selected an incorrect setting, your printer will use up other colours too.
Contrary to popular belief, printing in grayscale actually uses colour to help create better tones, smoother transitions, and more print detail in the midrange. So think twice before you print with grayscale, expecting only the black cartridge to be used.
Ultimately, if you are sure that you only need black for your printing, getting a black and white printer can help you save costs on both the printer and its cartridges. A monochrome printer is generally cheaper than a colour printer. Black ink or toner is also cheaper than CMYK ink or toner.
Page yields
Monochrome printers also have higher page yields than colour printers.
As there is only one type of cartridge to cater for (i.e. black), the cartridges for monochrome printers can store more ink or toner of the same colour, resulting in higher page yields per cartridge.
Paired with its cheaper cartridges, you can look forward to a markedly reduced cost per page with a monochrome printer!
How to Choose the Right Black and White (Monochrome) Printer
So you’ve considered the pros and cons and decided that a black and white printer will suit your home printing needs to a tee.
But that’s not all there is in choosing the right black and white printer.
Knowing your printing preferences—such as whether you will need to print image-heavy documents or text-heavy documents most of the time—will also help you make the best decision.
Not Sure Which Color Printer Suits You Best? Here is Your Printer Buying Guide
Decided to take the leap and invest in a colour printer for your home or small office?
Perhaps you’ve created a gorgeous work of digital art and wish to share it with the world by displaying your art in your home. Or maybe you feel that having the right colour images can help to improve the impact of your work documents or presentations.
But how do you choose the best colour printer to meet both your professional and personal needs? After all, there are literally thousands of different colour printers out there.
The good news? Colour printers have evolved over the past few years—many models now offer superior photo-quality print results and convenient state-of-the-art features—so you are totally spoilt for choice. You will also be glad to know that most colour printers today include multiple functions like copying, faxing and scanning.
Types of colour printers
When searching for a colour printer, it’s generally a toss-up between an inkjet printer or a laser printer. This decision largely hinges upon what you print and how often you print.
Let’s consider inkjet printers first.
Qualities of an inkjet colour printer
An inkjet printer is a type of printer that works by expelling ink droplets onto paper. Such printers use liquid ink from individual color ink cartridges or internal ink reservoir tank, which are then expelled through separate nozzles—each one spraying a different colour of ink.
Pros of an inkjet colour printer:
Affordability
Cost is one of the biggest advantages of colour inkjet printers. Even the least expensive inkjet printers are able to produce images with great quality.
If price is a top-of-mind concern for you, then an inkjet printer would be your best bet for low-priced colour printing in a home/small office setting.
Excellent Print Quality
As we have alluded to above, the advancement of ink technology has enabled inkjet printers to provide high-quality output for both images and text. Due to their finer and smoother colours and detailing, inkjet printers are built for high-resolution photo printing.
With the level of quality of most colour inkjet printers today, it can be difficult to differentiate between a professionally-printed photograph and one that’s been printed using your inkjet printer – especially when printing on photo paper!
Smaller Footprint
Inkjet colour printers also tend to be more compact in size compared to laser colour printers. Even inkjet printers that are multi-functional do not have a large footprint. This makes them suitable for homes or workplaces that have tight spaces.
Cons of an inkjet colour printer:
Slower Speed
Most inkjet printers are designed for low-volume printing. Thus they may take longer to churn out large print jobs.
The slower print speed of inkjet printers, however, is slightly mitigated by the fact that an inkjet printer can start printing as soon as the printer is turned on, without needing any warm-up time.
Qualities of a colour laser printer
Colour laser printers combine the speed of traditional monochrome laser printers with the ability to print in colour. In laser printers, colour is added to the page by melting toner powder onto paper.
The initial cost of laser printers may be higher than inkjet printers. Likewise, the toner cartridges used in laser printers are also pricier than the inks used in inkjet printers. However, colour laser printers could still be an economical option in the long run due to their lower cost per page and faster print speeds.
Here is a breakdown of the main advantages and disadvantages of colour laser printers.
Pros of a colour laser printer:
Faster print speeds
Laser printers are traditionally built for speed (around 50 pages per minute!) while inkjet printers print slower at about 16-20 pages per minute.
When comparing your printer’s pages per minute (ppm) rating, do bear in mind that such ratings usually depict printing under optimal conditions—usually with documents consisting of unformatted black text sent to the printer. Once factors such as document formatting, colour, and images are thrown in, print speeds will tend to slow down.
Cheaper printing cost per page
Everyone knows that the higher upfront costs of laser printers and toner cartridges are partially offset by their lower cost per page. This is because laser toner cartridges can print significantly more pages than inkjet cartridges—even in colour.
How do we calculate the cost per page?
Cost per page is the most accurate way of measuring your printer’s cost-efficiency. To calculate your printer cartridge’s cost per page, simply take the price of the cartridge and divide it by the expected page yield of one cartridge:
For black and white printing:
cost per page = cartridge price / cartridge page yield
For colour printing:
cost per page =(black cartridge price / black page yield) +( 3x colour cartridge price / colour composite page yield) + (drum price / total composite page yield)
High-volume print jobs
Colour laser printers are known to be workhorses—they simply come built with the capacity to quickly churn out large numbers of documents and pages.
Good colour print quality
With the technological advancements in laser printers, the quality of the colour prints has seen vast improvements in recent years. As such, whether you’re printing photos for personal use or professional use, you can expect excellent colour prints from your laser printer.
Cons of a colour laser printer:
More suited for document printing
Colour lasers are designed to print documents. While they can also handle graphics-and-text documents like brochures and newsletters, laser printers may not be optimal for printing photographs.
Larger footprint
Due to their relatively larger footprint, colour laser printers function best in larger offices and other professional work settings. If space is not an issue for you, you may want to consider colour lasers for your printing needs even in your home.
Quick and Easy Tips To Improve Colour Print Quality
How do professional photographers and designers create high-quality colour prints? This is the million-dollar question that we will address in this next section.
Vibrant colour yield (RGB to CMYK Colour Variances)
There are two ways to print in colour: RGB or CMYK.
RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. The RGB colour mode combines these base colours in varying quantities to form just about any colour you can imagine. For example, if you want to create a yellow colour, you would simply combine green and red.
CMYK works quite differently from RGB—here, the printer uses subtractive colours, or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. In CMYK mode, all of the colours are subtractive which basically means that the more colours you add together, the darker the resulting colour is going to be.
When printing documents on CMYK printers, do ensure that you are creating your documents in CMYK colour mode. If they are not designed in CMYK, you can also convert them to CMYK through a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop, or layout programs such as Quark Xpress or Adobe InDesign.
● Print Resolution
Print resolution is measured in DPI (dots per inch). The more dots there are in an inch of paper, the sharper the resulting image.
Your printer needs to have a resolution of 600 dpi in order to print high-quality documents (and 1200 dpi to achieve sharp, detailed images).
When shopping around for printers, you may notice that print resolution is always presented as a set of two numbers, for example 1200 x 3600 dpi. This means the maximum resolution of that printer is 1200 multiplied by 3600 dpi.
● Paper Type
Substandard paper can result in substandard colour print quality so be sure not to overlook this small but important factor! Often, print problems such as excessive colour bleeding or colour dullness can be attributed to low-quality paper.
How to Choose the Right Colour Printer
Now that you’ve learned the characteristics of both colour inkjet and laser printers, your next task is to choose the best colour printer for your use.
1. Print Quality
If you’re expecting to print a lot of photographs on glossy or matte photo paper, a colour inkjet printer may be the best fit for you as the quality of the output is superior when photo paper is used.
However, if printing on plain printer paper, the print quality of a colour laser printer is on par with an inkjet printer.
2. Print Volume
Colour laser printers also work well if you need to churn out many documents per day—for most home printer buyers, this usually isn’t a dealbreaker as they normally only print a few documents every few days.
Thus, as you can see, the right colour printer for you really boils down to your expected print usage and your preference in terms of print quality.
Types of Colour Printers from Brother
Considering getting an inkjet or laser colour printer? Take a look at these recommended models from Brother.
Best for Affordability
The DCP-T420W is an affordable colour inkjet printer that offers cost-savings in the long run due to the ultra high yield ink bottles, which allows you to print 7,500 pages in black and 5,000 pages in colour. It also delivers professional quality prints with crisp black text and vibrant detailed images.
Best for Features
The DCP-T520W combines multiple functions of printing, scanning and copying into one nifty printer. It uses the same ultra high yield ink bottles as the DCP-T420W, thus allowing you to enjoy better page yields and lower costs per page.
Best for Efficiency
If you have a need for speed, the HL-T4000 might be your ideal choice for a printer. It features automatic 2-sided printing, prints up to A3 size, uses ultra high yield ink bottles, and is able to print up to 22 images per minute or 35 pages per minute (in fast mode).
Best for Versatility and Overall Performance
Brother’s latest inkjet Multi-Function Centre MFC-J3530DW delivers business-class performance at a reasonable price. With low printing costs, you can print high volumes without constantly worrying about your bottom line. Furthermore, it also offers A3 paper printing capabilities, so you can expand and showcase your work without having to lose any details.
Best for Speed
Brother’s colour laser all-in-one MFC-L8900CDW delivers excellent colour performance with fast print/scan speeds. It also offers lower cost thanks to super and ultra high-yield toners. This intelligent multi-tasking printer is equipped with a dual CIS Automatic Document Feeder that allows you to scan up to 70 sheets directed to your preferred medium. It also comes with advanced security features.
Best for Home and Small Business
The Brother MFC-L3770CDW colour laser printer delivers superior colour performance and fast print and scan speeds, making it the perfect companion for your home or small business printing needs. This workhorse is able to boost your productivity with fast colour print speeds of up to 24ppm.
Conclusion
Deciding on the best colour printer for your home or office will depend on your specific printing needs and the factors that stand out the most to you.
We hope this detailed comparison between inkjet printers and colour laser printers will help you to make the right buying decision for yourself!
Confused About Auto Duplex Printing On Laser Printer? Here’s how
Clueless about auto duplex printing on laser printers? Don’t worry we’ve got you covered. Auto duplex printing is basically printing on two sides of the paper automatically. Yes, it means that you don’t have to flip the pages manually when you want two-sided printed pages.
But how do you do that? Is there a special switch that you need to flip? Read on to find out!
Manual VS Auto Duplex Laser Printer
Manual duplex printing can achieve the same result as automatic duplex printing — the only difference is that you will have to turn the page over yourself to print the other side.
On the other hand, in auto duplex printing, the printer does the flipping for you. This saves you time, money, effort, and paper!
An auto duplex laser printer helps you to enjoy higher print quality, faster print speeds, cleaner prints, lower print costs, and more efficient printing.
Check out some of Brother’s best Laser Duplex Printers
Here are some additional tips to enhance your printing efficiency:
Two Ways to Optimize Printing Speed
1. Use a Laser Printer
Compared to inkjet printers, laser printers usually print more quickly, regardless of whether your prints are in colour or monochrome (black and white).
2. Use Auto Duplex
As mentioned previously, auto duplex printing saves you the hassle of manually flipping the pages. Just press print, make yourself a cup of coffee, and come back with double-sided prints!
How do you set up auto duplex printing?
How To Do Auto Duplex Printing
Setting up duplex printing can change your printing routine and reduce costs. All you have to do is to follow the steps below:
Need Affordable Printers? Here Are The Best Printers For Students!
Are you a student who needs an affordable printer for your printing needs?
Tired of paying for expensive prints every time a school project is due?
Having to wait in the long queue at the school’s printing shop during submission deadlines?
Perhaps you are a parent who grimaces at the struggle of your children, and wishes to make their lives easier.
Students (and parents) rejoice! In this article, you will learn how you can save money on printing by investing in the right affordable home printers perfectly suited for your needs.
Why Do Students Need Affordable Printers
But first, let us address the elephant in the room — do children, teenagers and youths need printers?
The short answer is a resounding yes! Here are four reasons why students need low-priced printers at home.
Printing of School Projects and Assignments
With project-based learning and school projects being the norm these days, students need to print reports, essays, photos, and other assignments.
These may sometimes include colour printouts of charts and graphs, or captioned photos depicting different locations that they’ve been. It is also common for students to print out lesson plans and notes from their teachers.
Tertiary level students in universities may also need a printer to proof-read long essays or churn out copies of their research reports.
Printing of Personal Fun Projects
Beyond school projects, having an affordable printer also allows your child to stretch their imagination with fun personal projects.
They could design and print out a photo book documenting your last family vacation. Create a sign-board just for their room. Or write a fictitious story involving space aliens and cowboys!
A home printer also allows you to print out family photos — a perfect way to decorate your home during these times.
Expensive Shop Printing Costs
Beyond the above reasons, printing can also be increasingly more expensive at print shops with rising labour and rental costs.
While professional printers may be suited for large volume commercial prints, small-scale printing costs for home users are likely to be high. This is especially so for high resolution colour printouts for images such as photos, posters, or other illustrations.
Inconvenience of Printing in School or at a Shop
Faced with mounting pressures at school, students who need urgent print-outs of their assignments may find it frustrating to look for an available print shop.
Often, queues at such printing shops may form — especially close to project deadlines!
Besides battling other students to get your job printed first, you may also have to contend with occasions where the shop closes, like weekends, public holidays, or non-retail hours.
What To Look For in an Affordable Student Printer
Getting an affordable printer will help you to solve your student printing woes. You won’t need to go to a library or an internet cafe to print out your work, or rip your hair out when your regular print shop closes.
Before you run out to get any affordable printers you can find, consider these factors when you choose a printer that is best suited for a student.
Print Quality of Printer
Low cost shouldn’t equate with low quality. While searching for the best economically-priced printer, you’ll need to ensure that your printer doesn’t skimp on print quality.
Check that your value-for-money printer can print out various documents with perfect clarity. It would be such a shame if your hard work came out with a bunch of blurs, lines and smudges!
Space Needed for Printer
Next, consider the space you have for your printer. You wouldn’t want a printer that takes up too much space, given the constraints of your room.
Try to find one that is compact yet packed with the features that you need for your school and personal printing needs.
Cost of Printer — Think Long-Term Costs
Lastly, you’ll need to consider the price of the printer itself, as well as its running costs.
Often, students and their parents opt for the cheapest printer available in the market without considering the ongoing cost of its consumables. Such costs may add up — especially when the volume of school work that needs to be printed goes up.
There are four running cost components that you should consider:
Printer Ink or Toner Cost
Printer Paper Cost
Printer Electricity Consumption
Printer Maintenance or Repair Cost
Printer Ink or Toner Price
The printer ink or toner is one of the biggest running costs when it comes to owning a printer. You wouldn’t want to get a cheap printer that has a huge cost for its ink or toner.
You may want to consider if the majority of your print jobs are to be in black and white or colored. This will help to determine your budget for the cartridges — yes, colour cartridges are more expensive.
Do also be careful of using third party ink or toners — those may not be suitable for your machine and may damage it in the long-term.
It is wise to find a balance between your cost-per-page and the upfront printer cost.
Once you have these costs figured out, it would be easier to see if a printer will burn a hole in your pocket in the long term.
Pro Tip: If you’re looking to get an inkjet printer, you should use it at least weekly to maximize its cartridge use. Idle printers can dry up cartridges or result in clogged print heads.
If you are not printing constantly, and have longer idle time in between prints, it is better to get a laser printer. While the upfront costs of Laser printers may be higher than inkjet printers, toner replacement wouldn’t be as often. Besides, laser printer toners are dry powders which wouldn’t dry up with time.
Printer Paper Price
The next cost to consider are your paper costs. There are different types of printing media and they all have different prices.
If you need to print art pieces on a certain print medium, its costs and compatibility may vary from printer to printer. Getting these special papers from the same printer brand ensures that your printouts will be of a premium quality — it also helps you to avoid printer jams and other mishaps.
If you are just printing regular documents, sticking to regular A4 plain paper shouldn’t be much of a problem. A cost saving tip is to buy your printing paper in bulk or during a sale — it is much cheaper than buying them individually.
Printer Electricity Consumption
This next cost might seem negligible to some, but with any electrical appliances, the electricity consumption costs of your printer do add up over time.
Where possible, look for printers that have a deep sleep mode or energy saving functions. This might not seem like an important cost to consider in the beginning — however, in the long run, it will save you a considerable amount.
Printer Maintenance and Lifespan
What’s the point of buying a printer which spoils the next year? Fixing it or buying a new one altogether can be both troublesome and costly.
To prevent this, ensure that you buy a reliable printer with a good warranty. Often, this is a good sign that its maintenance costs will be manageable.
Do also look out for printers from established trustworthy brands that provide reliable customer service. This can help you to reduce your printer maintenance costs, and minimise the need for you to replace your student friendly printer every few years.
Where To Buy The Best Printers for Students
If you are looking to buy the best affordable printer for students, here are a few printers from Brother that can meet a student’s needs for affordability, high print quality, low consumables prices, and compact in size.
Looking for a Nifty Photo Printer? We’ve Got You Covered
Picture this — You’ve taken tons of photos of your kids, your family home, and even your two cats. You’ve shared them on social media, and occasionally, get to relive those special moments as you scroll through the memories that your smartphone throws up.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hold physical prints of those precious photos in your hand? Or to frame your priceless captures to be hung on that empty wall in the hallway?
In today’s Internet, smartphone and wireless-powered age, making physical photo prints can be as easy as snapping your fingers. You can send photos directly to your home printer (no computer or wires needed), or better still, print photos on a portable printer with a few taps on your phone.
Thinking about investing in a portable photo printer? Photo printers in the Philippines come in all shapes, sizes, and specifications. How do you buy the right photo printer for your home or office? What kind of inks do you need to consider? More importantly, what features should you consider?
In this article, you’ll learn all about the different types of photo-friendly portable printers, how to choose a portable printer, as well as the range of printers small and lightweight enough to be easily transported yet robust enough to handle your everyday printing needs.
Types of Portable Printers
Portable printers come in three main flavours:
Inkjet Printers: These are the most common portable printers, and are commonly used for home printing of photos and other image-based documents.
Dye-sublimation Printers: While dye-sublimation printers in commercial settings tend to be larger in footprint, there are a few such printers designed for portability and accurate photography reproduction.
Pocket Photo Printers: These are specifically made for printing photographs, and are often carried around for events like weddings, parties and other occasions where “instant” photos are needed.
If you need to print out documents as well as photos, an inkjet printer is likely to be your best bet.
Dye-sublimation printers, on the other hand, are more specialised printers. Used to produce high-quality photo prints, they are ideal for professional photographers. The downside is that such printers are expensive and are not suitable for printing text documents.
Meanwhile, pocket photo printers are more suited for once-off uses — such printers are unable to handle a large variety of printing jobs.
Now size can be misleading — you might think that the smaller the printer, the cheaper it is. This simply isn’t the case. On the contrary, portable printers that have an extremely small footprint may cost more than larger multi-purpose printers.
Brother DCP-T520W is one of Brother’s most popular ink tank printers, suited for printing high-quality and long-lasting photos, while also capable of handling document printing jobs.
This refillable ink tank printer features a transparent cover that allows for easy front access to the embedded ink tank and handles a variety of print jobs speedily and efficiently. With a document print speed of up to 17/9.5 inch per min (ipm), this nifty printer will empower you to print more in less time. It also works with Brother’s Ultra High Yield Ink bottles, which roughly translates to 7,500 pages in black and 5,000 pages in colour!
Considering a pocket photo printer?
The Kodak Photo Printer Mini is a pocket-sized printer that can print wallet-sized photos from iOS or Android devices.
At just 0.9 by 3 by 6 inches, the Mini’s star quality is definitely its portability. You can easily slip it into a handbag or even a large pocket, making it a useful companion for parties or events where you want to snap photos and give out to friends.
How Does Portable Printing Work?
Most portable printers in the market today come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology to enable seamless communication with your laptop, smartphone or tablet.
Some of these are also battery-powered, which allows for even more freedom in printing documents, photos and other materials when you are on-the-go.
In short, portable mobile printing no longer requires you to lug heavy printer cables to connect from your device to a printer. What a relief!
What To Look Out For in a Portable Printer
In this section, you will learn all about the key features and functionalities of portable printers, as well as what you should consider prior to buying a portable photo printer.
Size/Portability of Portable Printers
Portability is one of the biggest decision-making factors when choosing a portable printer. While they may be easier to carry, smaller printers usually result in a trade-off in print quality. Hence, you have to balance the need for easy transportation with your ideal print quality output.
While small pocket-sized printer options do exist, you will experience some limitations in your print sizes. In the long run, you may get more bang for your buck by investing in a compact desk printer that can handle document printing while printing consistently high-quality photos.
Print Resolution of Portable Printers
Most photo printers — be they inkjets, sublimation-dye, or pocket-sized — offer good resolution, providing better-quality prints relative to traditional printers. A photo printer with a resolution of 1,200 x 3,600 dpi or even higher would suffice for crisp-looking photos and images.
Inkless vs. Ink Cartridges
Another important consideration is the type of cartridges or ink used.
Today, most printers use Zero Ink (or Zink for short), which involves embedded dyes in the photo paper itself. Zink saves money in the long-run but has trade-offs in print resolution or the ability to reproduce a rich black colour.
A traditional inkjet printer, on the other hand, shoots microscopic dots of ink to produce an image or a printed page. Only the necessary ink for the image is used, and the remaining ink in the cartridge can be used for subsequent prints.
For Brother printers that work with ultra high-yield ink bottles, you can enjoy printing up to 7,500 pages in black and 5,000 pages in colour on a single round of cartridges!
A dye sublimation printer works by heating a special ribbon containing solid inks. The ink sublimates (becomes a gas without liquefying first), laying down varying amounts of the three primary colours onto the paper. The gas then solidifies on the page, resulting in full-colour images.
The dye sublimation process tends to result in lower efficiency in terms of ink: the printer transfers only a portion of the ribbon’s colour panels onto the page. The ink that remains on the panel cannot be reused.
Paper used in Portable Printing
Inkjet printers work with copier paper, envelopes, labels and other forms of office media. They offer greater flexibility as inkjet printers can accommodate specialty paper with matte or glossy finishes for photo printing.
Dye sublimation printers, on the other hand, require specially-coated paper. Beyond postcards and photo prints, dye sublimation printers can also be used to print novelty items such as T-shirts and tote bags. All these are fine and dandy at the beginning but your printing costs can chalk up quite easily.
Print Speed of Portable Printers
If you require high-volume printing, look out for print speeds shorter than 10-15 seconds per print when you choose your portable printer.
The longer the print time, the slower your workflow will be.
Wireless or Mobile Connectivity
There are several ways to connect to a printer. Some printers offer direct connections to your computer, laptop or mobile device using a USB port, while also supporting Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Most printers will also support both Android and iOS devices. Remember to consider the devices you would be using with your portable printer, and double-check the compatibility before making a purchase.
Price of Portable Printers
How much do portable printers cost? Well, it varies. Most portable printers are priced between S$130-S$300. Do remember though that this price only covers the printer and the initial round of ink, and excludes the costs of consumables such as paper (or other media) and ink, as well as their power consumption.
Be sure to include the longer-term costs of these consumables in your budgetary considerations.
How to Print Photos From Your Phone
There are various ways to print photos directly from your smartphone.
Apple Airprint
For iPhone users, Apple Airprint is the easiest, most fuss-free way to print from your device to any wireless printer that is on the same wireless network. You do not even need to download and install additional software (drivers).
Here is a step-by-step guide:
Make sure your phone and your printer are on the same Wi-Fi network
Open the Photos or Gallery app
Select the photo you wish to print and tap the Share icon
Scroll down the options and select ‘Print’
Tap on Select Printer
Select your printer from the list
Change the paper size, if necessary, specify the number of copies), and send your print job off!
Major printer makers—such as Brother, Canon, and HP—cover iOS devices and are compatible with AirPrint.
For Android users, you can utilise a range of wireless apps for direct printing from most printer vendors. There are also printing apps, such as Mopria Print, that you can download and use.
Brother iPrint&Scan
Whether you are team iOS or team Android, Brother’s iPrint&Scan app allows you to print or scan effortlessly from your smartphone, tablet, or notebook – without the hassle of wires.
The app also comes with a range of advanced features such as document editing, faxing, and machine status updates.
iPrint&Scan is also compatible with AirPrint, Mopria, and Windows Mobile Print.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to choose a photo printer, and are acquainted with the key essentials that make a good portable photo printer, what will your choice be?
A pocket photo printer for fun and spontaneous moments or a practical desktop inkjet printer that can meet your other printing needs as well as churn out good quality photos before you can even say “Cheese”?
Looking For The Right Printer? This Flowchart Will Help
Which printer should you buy—inkjet or laser printer? How do you select the most suitable printer for your home or office?
With so many different brands, functions and types of printers out there, this seemingly easy task can suddenly seem astronomical by proportion!
Do you need your printer to have wireless connectivity? Do you only need the print function or an all-in-one multifunction printer? Which printer can handle all your printing needs?
To save you the headache, we have put together a useful flowchart to help you figure out which is the best printer for you.
Follow your desired attributes path and find your best matched printer!
Frustrated With The Never Ending Printer Problems? Here Are Some Solutions
Are you struggling with your home or office printers? Wonder why your wifi printer does not work properly? Frustrated with printing errors from your duplex printer?
These problems can be a huge headache to those who simply want their printing work done.
Help is here! In this article, we have put together a list of the most common printer problems and their solutions.
Slow Printing with Wifi Printers
Home / Office Printer Not Printing
Duplex Printer Printing Error
Extra Printed Blank Sheet of Paper
Paper Jams
Unclear Printed Texts
Poor Quality Inkjet Printed Photos
Poor Black and White Print Quality
Thick Ink on Inkjet Prints
Unreliable Error Messages
Take a deep breath, calm yourself down, and try these solutions before you call your printer repair man!
1. Slow Printing with Wifi Printers
In today’s fast-paced world, a slow printer can be exasperating when you have a sizable number of pages to print.
The common reasons for slow printing are due to large photo sizes and large presentation files. You can either lower the quality of the output or simply send a part of the document at a time to speed things up.
If you are printing wirelessly, do check that the distance between your printer and your router isn’t too far—poor wireless connection could be a possible cause for slow printing. A simple solution would be to place your wireless printer as close to the router as possible, since wifi speed slows down with distance.
Do also check your print settings. Higher quality prints do take more time to print. If an average print quality (eg. for a text document) is good enough, consider switching your printouts to draft mode or the lowest quality setting your printer has to speed up your printing process.
2. Home / Office Printer not Printing
Are you staring at a printer that is just not printing? Well, you are not going crazy, there’s probably a reason for it. Before you start kicking your printer, consider checking if the paper tray is empty—yes, we’ve all made that silly mistake!
OK, there is paper in your tray. So what could have gone wrong?
Consider checking the connection of your printer. There may be multiple printers in the office and you may not have connected to the right printer.
There is a chance that you have accidentally sent the print job to another printer—be sure to double check just in case you are printing confidential documents!
If your printer is still not working, then your print driver may be corrupted. You need to upload the latest version for your model and reinstall it on your computer. Should that still fail, it is best to call your local printer technician.
3. Duplex Printer Printing Error
Having a duplex printer should save you the hassle of flipping each printout manually. But what’s the point of having this functionality if your printer prints the back page upside down?
Fret not, there’s an easy solution to this. All you have to do is select Print on Both Sides, and opt to Flip on Long Edge. Your print jobs should be in the correct orientation now.
But what if you encounter disorderly pages, where the last page is at the top of the document?
There is a way around this incorrect manual sorting—simply print your pages in reverse. This can be found in the Advanced Settings box. You should only select this if your documents are to be put in order once the printing is complete.
4. Extra Printed Blank Sheet of Paper
“Why is there an extra sheet of blank paper after my prints?”
No, your printer isn’t intentionally wasting paper. Rather, this extra sheet of paper probably came about due to your print settings. This is typically used in offices with multiple users and high print volumes, to separate print jobs from different users and avoid documents from being mixed-up.
If your printer is only for your personal home use, you can change the settings using your printer preferences. You should be able to deselect the option for separator pages from there.
5. Paper Jams
Close-up Of Businessman Hand Removing Paper Stuck In Printer At Office
Close-up Of Businessman Hand Removing Paper Stuck In Printer At Office
Paper jams are one of the most common issues people have with their home or office printers. This can happen due to static electricity (which causes pieces of paper to stick to each other) or when your printer tray is overloaded with too much paper.
A quick tip is to square off the stack of paper before placing it into the tray, ensuring that the pages line up and are flushed with the tray guides. Remember not to overfill the tray!
Jams may also occur when the print media used is not compatible with the printer. There are certain types of print media that are way thicker or bigger than the normal A4 Paper which is commonly used in most printers. Be sure to check that your printer is able to handle such media types and change your PC settings to match the print media.
6. Unclear Printed Texts
This problem may be caused by multiple reasons. Thus, you should go down this list to consider which option is the most likely possibility.
First, consider if you are using the draft mode or low print quality setting. Such settings may cause your printed texts to become unclear. By switching to a higher quality print, you will get clearer texts. However, be prepared to forgo your print speed—some printers are not able to simultaneously handle fast and high quality prints.
If you are using a laser printer, there is a high chance that the toner has settled, resulting in blurry texts. All you have to do is to remove the cartridge(s) and shake it gently from side to side to release any residual toner clinging onto the side of the cartridge. This works 90% of the time, but remember that the toner will eventually run out and needs to be replaced.
Finally, if you are using an inkjet printer, check if your unclear prints are due to a dirty nozzle or misaligned print head. Thankfully, you don’t have to deal with this manually (though you can if you wish).
Simply launch your printer’s maintenance menu and select “Clean Ink Cartridges”, “Clean Heads”, “Deep Cleaning” or a similar function. Cleaning the printhead will help improve the quality of the printout. As it uses a fair amount of ink you should only do it if you notice that the print quality is particularly bad.
7. Poor Quality Inkjet Printed Photos
Poor quality inkjet prints would commonly be due to a misaligned print head, dirty nozzles or empty ink cartridges. You can troubleshoot this by following the steps described in the previous point above.
The type of print media used may also affect the quality of your prints—especially if you intend to print photographs or posters in high definition colour. Make sure that you use the right photo paper. Often, third party photo papers are unable to reproduce your prints with the same resolution as the original photo papers from your brand.
Don’t forget to check that you have chosen the right paper type in your print settings and that it is set for photo printing.
It is also possible that your printer is low on one colour, causing discolourations. To achieve vibrant print reproductions of photos in the right hues, you need to ensure that inks in all the different colours are available—having one colour less can make a huge difference to your print quality.
8. Poor Black and White Print Quality
Do you turn off the colour when printing black and white documents? This is probably the cause of poor prints, especially for black and white images.
The colours give your documents smoother gradations and richer tones compared to solely using black. Thus, if you are printing a high quality black and white document, consider turning on the colour option for the best results.
9. Thick Ink on Inkjet Prints
Do your prints have a thick band of ink clustered around certain sections? This happens when your printer is unable to print at a certain resolution, usually on an uncoated paper. When it encounters this issue, it will try to adjust for the higher resolution by using more ink, causing the thick patch of ink (also known as banding) to appear.
To solve this problem, simply opt for a lower print resolution on your printer.
10. Unreliable Error Messages
Wonder why error messages like “low toner” or “ink error” appear when you’ve just replaced your toner or printer cartridge? Unless your new cartridges are faulty or broken, resetting your computer and printer usually fixes this problem. Do follow the instructions of your printer model to reset it properly.
Conclusion
Printer problems like slow printing, poor quality printouts, and paper jams can pose a huge inconvenience, especially when you need to get your work done. Hopefully, these solutions to the most common printer problems can help you to quickly get back on track. Should all of them fail—and we certainly hope that they wouldn’t—you should probably contact your local printer operator for immediate help!
