The best photo printer in 2024: top regular and wide format photo printers

I’ve been testing and reviewing desktop printers for decades and have come to the conclusion that, nowadays, the title of best photo printer is essentially a dogfight between two names: Canon and Epson. While there are other printer manufacturers, Canon and Epson are the only contenders when it comes to desktop printers for high-quality photos. When I want to frame, mount, or display my photos, this is where I need to be.

Key factors to consider are the size of the photos you want to print, and the type of ink you want to use. For this guide, I’m starting off with the best regular Letter-size (A4) photo printers, then moving on to larger-format 13-inch (A3+) printers, and finishing off with 17-inch (A2) printers. Naturally, if you want to create photo prints to hang on the wall, bigger tends to be better. Scroll to the bottom of this page for my top tips on how to choose and use a photo printer.

When it comes to cost, there’s more to it than the price of a printer. Ink refills are infamous for being eye-wateringly expensive. Even so, it’s worth it in the long run if you plan on creating a lot of photo prints, compared with the cost of using the best photo printing services. Better still, I find that making my own prints takes just a few minutes and puts me in full control of the whole process.

I hate wasting ink, so all of the printers on my list use individually replaceable inks. That way, I only need to replace cartridges that have run dry. Alternatively, the more recent breed of Canon MegaTank and Epson EcoTank printers run on bottles rather than cartridges, which can be more efficient, less wasteful and much less expensive over the lifetime of the printer. However, models with refillable tanks rather than cartridges are still much less common when it comes to large-format photo printers.

Matthew Richards
Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal printer reviewer – and has tested all the printers on this list. His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers, and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 


His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 


In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.