The two printers that will make any crafter happy

If like me you have been left baffled and confused when trying to shop online for a good printer you can use for both regular printing and for your photo printing and other art projects, find solace in knowing I was there once. After many years of trial and error ending up with models that drove me crazy and frustrated, hours of online research and asking for the opinion of techie friends, I finally found the two perfect printers for my needs. Read on and I’ll explain why these two options are so great, and check out the videos at the end to see them in action.

3 in 1 photo printer (sCAN, COPY, PRINT)

My choice is the Epson EcoTank 7700. I had very little clue of what technical specs to look out for in a printer and confess I was dubbed into the wrong options by clueless shop assistants for years. I suggest you check out the manufacturer’s website for a list of all the full specs if you want to know all the exact details, but let me run you through the 6 criteria I set myself and that this printer not only meets but exceeds:

1. It had to not cost the Earth, I was prepared to pay a little extra if I knew it would be worth it but I had a finite budget

2. I wanted it to print high quality photos

3. It had to be low maintenance and not be prone to frequent ink clogging and having to do all that hideous maintenance stuff of cleaning the printer heads, testing the alignment, bla, bla, bla. (My previous Canon printer was a nightmare when it came to all of these, despite not being a cheap option at all)

4. I wanted the running costs to be as low as possible, i.e. how much each page costs to print, to be as low as possible (genuine printer cartridges can be so expensive and run out in the blink of an eye if the printer is prone to problems - those maintenance tasks I was talking about consume ink like crazy!)

5. I wanted it to have a good quality in-built scanner

6. It had to be easy to connect to via wi-fi (again my previous models were so troublesome and erratic on this front I had to buy a separate wire to connect the laptop. Sigh)

The Epson ET-7700 ticked all these boxes and more. It is also a more ecological alternative as instead of much smaller traditional printer cartridges, it uses a bottle refill system (don’t worry, the refilling mechanism is error and accident proof). It comes with enough ink in the starter kit to print up to 3400 10*15 cms photos (wow!); it has a handy SD card slot so you can print photos directly from there; enables borderless printing; has a handy colour display console; and you can even print CDs (I know they’re rarely used these days in terms of computers, but I’m sure us crafters will find a use for this!)

PORTABLE PHOTO PRINTER

I have recently become addicted to scrapbooking using planner style albums (think Filofax style but even cuter) and a few fellow enthusiasts in a Facebook group introduced me to the concept of compact photo printers that allow you to craft on the go and easily print photo collages, perfect for small scrapbook and journalling projects. This was ideal for me as wanted to complete a Christmas photo album whilst I was abroad for the festivities.

Here’s why the Canon Selphy 1300 is so great:

• it’s very easy to use and to setup the connection to your phone or laptop via wireless or direct connection

• you get great professional quality photos

• it’s perfect to create photo collages easily with the Canon Selphy app (or you can use another app of your choice - compatible with Apple and Android devices)

• the low running costs per print are very reasonable (about $0.27 /£0.31 each 6*4 print)

• you will always know when you’re about to run out of ink - you buy refill packs that include both the photo paper as well as the ink cartridges and both will run out at the same time, so it takes all the complication out of it

• it’s super convenient to print as you craft along. No need to decide upfront what photos you will want, order them online and then wait for them to arrive. You can just have it on your desk, select the photos you want to match your scrapbook or journaling layout, and pronto, you have a new 6*4 photo in about 40 seconds!

Find yourself a nice little bag to carry the printer and key accessories and your scrapbooking-on-the-go is sorted.