CONSIDER A WIDE FORMAT COLOR PRINTER

The digital camera has become one of the most successful consumer electronic product of the decade. The conversion from film to digital cameras is pretty much complete. Oh sure there's still a place for film but that place is really quite small these days. Digital cameras are being used by everyone from the average point-and- shoot amateur to the high-tech professional. Photo-journalists for example, beam their digital images directly to news organizations to capture up to the moment news that would not be possible if they had to send the film out to be developed. Even the most picky of portrait photographers have succumbed to the digital siren. Now they can remove blemishes, even make clients look thinner with just the click of a mouse.

But let's get back to the average person with a digital camera. Today's models typically sport megapixel ratings of 5 megapixels or more. And while those higher resolutions are capable of producing beautifully rendered images, you may be surprised to find out that the one peripheral on most everyone's computer that's not taking advantage of all that power is the printer.

The major advantage of taking pictures in a higher megapixel range is that you can print larger images without pixilation. Pixilation occurs when you over magnify a digital image. A digital picture has a finite number of tiny little colored dots or pixels that make up the color image. When they are close together, they fool your eye into thinking that it's looking at one continuously smooth image. But when you magnify those little dots, the picture begins to take on a grainy appearance. So the more of those little dots you have making up the picture, the bigger you can make it without pixilation occurring. So if you plan to make bigger images, then a higher megapixel image makes sense. Trouble is that the average printer can only print 8 by 10 inch images on a standard sized sheet of paper. That's where a wide image format printer comes in.

A wide image format printer as the name implies can accept and print its images on a larger sheet of paper. The Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer for example, is Epson's latest consumer-level wide format printer. With a retail price of $399.99, the printer is capable of printing images up to 13 by 19 inches. And if you've ever seen a full color image at 13 by 19 inches, you'll understand why your higher megapixel camera has been shortchanged by your lower format printer. And if you're into scrapbooking, the 1400 is ideal for printing images in the popular 12 by 12 inch format used in modern scrapbooks.

The bottom line is that if you want to take full advantage of your higher megapixel camera, you need a wide format printer to take advantage of your digital camera's extra resolution. Otherwise, if you just plan to print out those 6 by 4 inch photos, then you might as well dumb down the camera's resolution. Most digital models will let you adjust the resolution of the images you can take. Because a 6 by 4 image will look identical displaying a 3 or a 5 megapixel image. By reducing the resolution, you'll be able to take more photos with the same amount of you camera's memory.

While checking out the Epson Stylus Photo 1400, note the printer's other really cool abilities such as being able to print directly on printable CDs and DVDs. Epson also recently announced their newer Claria Hi-Definition inks that last longer and resist fading.

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time.  Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com

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