The dye-sublimation technology uses heat to transfer dye onto paper. The dye, specifically made for those printers, turns from solid straight to gas state without ever achieving a liquid state. They use a ribbon with a core at each end of the roll, that each has dyes. After transferring colors to paper (through heat) most printers also produce a final protective layer that is meant to guard against moisture, scratches etc. It’s somewhat of a challenge to chose whats best from inkjet or dye sub photo printers.

So, advantages to inkjet printers include the wide variety of media that you can use, in a wide variety of sizes (including non-paper media like cloth, CD’s etc). This is where dye-sub printers don’t do so well. Most of them are limited to 4 by 6 inch prints and you’ll generally have to purchase photo paper. Same goes for the ribbons. Paper and ink are usually sold together in a kit and the cost of consumables is generally higher in the case of dye-sublimation printers. Then again, so is the quality.

The advantage to a dye-sublimation printer is that it has a 16 million color gamut and produces extremely high quality prints. The last coat the printer applies makes the photos be much more resistant over time and also waterproof. Photos produced through the dye-sublimation technology are usually guaranteed to last the same for a high number of years.

As a contrast, even in the case of an 8-ink inkjet, you’ll find it hard to achieve the same kind of quality a dye-sub has to offer. Because of dithering (those little tiny drops of ink printed right next to eachother) you will also be able to see them if you’re looking very closely or through a magnifying glass. Sure, very few users will take the time to use a magnifying class to check out their printed photos, but unfortunately even with a bare eye you can tell that the image is made out of very little dots.

Now, when you are considering whether to buy an inkjet or dye sub photo printer also consider the fact that dye-sub means you’ll only be able to print photos. Inkjets however, even good photo ones, might also offer extra features like scanning and copying, perhaps even faxing. You’ll also use them for various meaningless documents you have to print out (grocery lists, letters, e-mails to name but a few) and you can stick just about any type of paper at any time in them without having to worry if your special photo paper runs low. Choose a dye-sublimating photo printer if you want a compact very high quality device to take along with your digital camera because for that they are amazing.