I just can’t help myself. I get really excited about large-format photo printing. To me, there’s something truly magical about taking a data file from one of today’s best professional digital cameras and turning it into a real-life, physical photo print. Sure, you can print picture postcard sized or even letter sized photos, and that’s great. However, try hanging them on a wall and they just look lost. By contrast, go large on your printing and you can make imposing artworks that really make a statement.
You might be an enthusiast photographer wanting to make top-quality prints for yourself, family and friends. Then again, you might be a semi-professional or professional photographer who wants to make the best possible prints for your portfolio and for exhibitions and competitions, or to sell to clients. Either way, the best large-format printers give you full creative control over the whole printing process, while also enabling you to make prints right at home or in your studio whenever you want. And you can generally be assured that the finished prints will last a lifetime or even longer, which is an important factor if you’re creating prints to sell.
Most pro-grade large-format printers for photographers run on pigment-based inks, as they’re more robust and better suited to matte photo papers and fine art media. Meanwhile, dye-based inks are generally the best choice for glossy or luster photo papers, as the ink is fully absorbed beneath the outer protective layer of the paper. The best examples of both breeds tend to feature eight or more inks, to ensure a really wide color space or ‘gamut’, as well featuring multiple black and grey inks for an enhanced tonal range in monochrome photo printing.
Desktop or tabletop large-format printers tend to be available for creating up to 13-inch (A3+) or 17-inch (A2+) prints. They often enable panoramic output, so while you’re limited to these widths, you can create longer prints or banners. For even larger prints, you’ll need a roll-fed printer, like the 24-inch and 44-inch width printers that I’ve included in this guide. And if you’re content with smaller sized output, you might want to see our guides to the best photo printers and the best all-in-one printers.
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.
The Quick list
A worthy upgrade from the classic PRO-300, the new model features an upgraded set of pigment inks for greater quality and robustness.
This is my favorite large-format printer for top-quality output on glossy and luster photo papers, for both color and mono photos.
I feel that this is as good as it gets for 17-inch / A2+ printing, based on 12 next-generation Canon pigment-based inks.
With only six inks, this entry-level 13-inch printer isn't the best for either color or mono, but it offers reliable A3 printing at a very attractive price.
This A3+ printer is a great option for high-volume printing. It has 'eco-tanks' that you refill from bottles, driving down running costs.
I love that this printer delivers super-sized, extra-high quality photo prints. Its roll-fed design take paper up to 24 inches wide.
View the full list ⤵
This is basically the same top-notch printer as the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-2600, but upsized to accommodate paper rolls of up to 44 inches wide.
The best large format printer
Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.
The best large format printer overall
I love that, as a pigment-based printer, the Pro-310 is particularly versatile. It delivers superb-looking output on glossy as well as matte and fine-art media. Like the older Pixma Pro-300 and larger, A2 format ImagePrograf Pro-1100, it features a Chroma Optimizer cartridge. This smooths out the finish when printing on glossy photo paper, so that there’s relatively little difference in the reflectivity of different colors and tones.
I’m impressed that the ink range itself is very comprehensive, with ten separate cartridges in total. They’re all from Canon’s latest Lucia Pro II line-up, giving the potential for a wide gamut (color space) with rich, vivid color rendition, as well as high-fidelity black & white photo printing, complete with superior scratch-resistance. The 14ml cartridge capacity should prove sufficient for around 30 to 60 A3+ prints (depending on color) although quantities naturally vary depending on the prominent colors and density within images.
Media handling is very good. I like the inclusion of a rear-mounted upright paper feeder plus a horizontal manual feeder, the latter being more ideal for fine art and thicker media. The manual feeder also enables oversized printing for panoramic and banner output, up to almost a meter in length. A 3-inch color LCD screen is another handling bonus, although it’s not a touchscreen. Unlike Canon’s previous pigment-based printers and as with the Pro-200S, the Pro-310 enables borderless output on matte and fine-art media, instead of just on glossy, semi-gloss and luster photo papers. I find that gives me far more options for full-bleed printing.
Image quality is spectacular, for both color and mono photographic prints. A particular highlight (or perhaps the opposite) is that the printer delivers incredibly sumptuous and richly detailed blacks, which add a real depth to print quality. It’s pretty speedy for a pigment-based printer as well, even in its highest quality mode, although it can’t match dye-based printers for speed and, as usual for pigment-based inks, prints aren’t touch-dry as they leave the printer.
Read my full Canon ImagePrograf Pro-310 review
The best dye-based large format printer
Canon’s Pixma Pro-100 had long been my favorite A3+ / 13-inch pro-grade printer for creating photo prints on glossy and luster papers. Running on eight dye-based inks, including black, grey and light grey, it delivered sumptuously smooth glossy prints with immaculate color rendition and very good tonal expression for black & white photographic images. The replacement PRO-200 brought a number of improvements and enhancements, with further refinements in the latest PRO-200S model.
For me, a headline upgrade in both the PRO-200 and Pro-200S is that they have a new and improved range of inks that deliver a greater color space, superior vibrancy and deeper reds, blues and blacks. I find that paper handling is intuitive, as with the pigment-based Pro-310, with an upright rear feeder and a secondary manual feeder that enables custom print lengths of up to 39 inches (99.1cm). Other similarities with the Pro-310 are the addition of a 3-inch color LCD screen and compatibility with Canon’s excellent Professional Print & Layout software, which is available as a free download. The printers are also fully compatible with a large range of top-quality fine-art media from the likes of Canson and Hahnemühle. Media configuration as well as Wi-Fi support are improved in the latest PRO-200S version.
As I’d expect, print speeds from this dye-based printer are faster than from the pigment-based Pro-310 model. As is often the case these days, the difference in print quality between standard and highest quality modes can look fairly negligible, unless you’re viewing photo prints with a high-magnification loupe. Even in standard mode, the Pro-200S delivers fabulous photo print quality and is simply the best in the group for glossy photo paper, although the Pro-300 is better for black & white images, especially on matte and fine-art media.
Read my full Canon Pixma Pro-200S review
The best 17-inch large format printer
Like Canon’s L-series camera lenses, the PRO-1100 printer has a ‘red line’ on it denoting superior quality aimed at professionals. It packs 12 pigment-based Lucia Pro II ink cartridges, compared to the 10 inks for the PRO-300 at the top of our list. I found blacks to be richer and deeper as a result - improving on the already-stunning results that we got from its predecessor, the PRO-1000.
The chroma optimizer helps to apply a smooth top coating when printing on glossy photo paper to minimize bronzing and gloss differential. Even so, the printer achieves its highest quality with matte and fine art media, on which color and mono output are truly magnificent. The A2/17x22-inch prints are certainly imposing, and you can create panoramic prints of up to 1.2m in length, although there’s no optional roll-feeder so you have to cut the paper to length manually in advance. The biggest downside, of course, is the price.
Read my full Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 review
The best budget large-format printer
If you need to go large on a budget, we recommend the Expression Photo HD XP-15000. This is an entry-level 13-inch / A3+ printer that's more for a back bedroom than a pro studio, but we found it to be reliable while also coming in at a practical size for home use.
The initial outlay is relatively low. Inevitably, that means some sacrifices, and there are only six inks here compared to 10 or even 12 in some of the other large format printers we reviewed. We found the large LCD screen easy to adjust settings on and a suite of mobile printing apps enable you to take advantage of the printer's wireless capabilities. While the front-loading tray handles A4 or US Letter paper, the rear paper feed is suitable for A3+ prints, including use of thicker media.
Read my full Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 review
The best economical large format printer
The Epson EcoTank ET-8550 is different from most dedicated A3+/13x19-inch inkjet photo printers as it is much more of a multi-function device. In fact, we also included it in our pick of the best all-in-one printers.
Specialist photo printers often have a significantly wider color gamut, with eight or more different inks. this has only six, but we found the combination of pigment-based black ink for crisp black text and dye-based inks for color produced good results on the whole. Where the ET-8550 comes into its own is that it has ink tanks rather than cartridges. These are replenished via 70ml bottles, at a cost of around $17.50/£16 each, which makes this most cost-effective in the long run.
Epson says that the ink cost is therefore reduced by around 80 percent overall. The flip side is that the ET-8550 costs nearly three times as much to buy in the first place when compared to a conventional A3+ printer in the same class.
Read my full Epson EcoTank ET-8550 review
The best 24-inch roll fed large format printer
I've already mentioned Canon’s A3+/13-inch imagePROGRAF PRO-310 and the A2/17-inch PRO-1100. These both deliver gallery-quality photo and fine art prints from conveniently compact desktop machines. Now, take that quality up to a grander scale, and you have the imagePROGRAF PRO-2600, a much larger, freestanding printer that takes rolls of paper up to 24 inches in width.
In my tests I found found the PRO-2600 delivered spectacular print quality for both color and mono photographic images, based on a range of 12 Lucia Pro II pigment-based inks that includes that chroma optimizer we've already mentioned. The sumptuous image quality left me lost for words - and really has to be seen to be believed.
There's support for a huge range of fine art media from the world’s best paper companies like Canson and Hahnemühle. We like the auto paper cutter and Canon’s supporting Professional Print & Layout software makes the whole process quick and easy when creating bordered or borderless prints in custom sizes.
If you find a 24-inch print width to still be restrictive, the imagePROGRAF PRO-4600 and imagePROGRAF PRO-6600 are even larger and use the same ink cartridges and print heads for 44-inch and 60-inch print widths respectively.
See my full Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-2600 review
The best 44-inch roll fed large format printer
This wide-format printer is designed for mini labs and photo studios needing something that can handle both scale and a high volume of output. With the ability to print at up to 44 inches wide, there’s a lot of versatility built in here: as well as printing photographs at exhibition quality with 12 pigment inks (7 of them color), the size means this printer can also produce signage and banners.
The print head offers prints to a maximum 2400 x 1200dpi resolution, with a Chroma Optimiser cartridge to enhance dark density and produce deeper blacks. Canon also claims its ink is scratch-resistant, with high light-resistance that keeps it color-fast for 200 years.
The downside is the imagePROGRAF PRO-6600 doesn't fit on a desk by any means, so you'll need space for it. Oh, and it costs as much as a secondhand car!
See my full Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-4600 review
How to choose the best large format printer
The best large format printer for you will depend on just how big you want to go. For many enthusiasts working from home, printing images at A3 will be sufficiently rewarding. The size of print from a 13-inch printer is large enough to make an impact on a wall while still being reasonably affordable, and these printers are still desktop printers, which makes them more practical if you have limited space.
However, if you want to print at a size that will really make an impact in a larger room, you can go much larger, and we've reviewed printers that can produce prints as large as 64 inches. These larger printers are free-standing so you need the space to be able to accommodate them. They're also very expensive. However, they print on rolls rather than sheets, which can be beneficial for printing large volumes.
Of course, buying a printer isn’t a one-off investment, as you'll need to buy good quality inks and paper too. Consider the type of ink a printer uses when making your purchase decision, as this will directly influence the running costs. While it is possible to buy third-party inks to refill printers, we generally advise using the official refills to ensure maximum quality because every part of the system is developed, designed, and honed to work together.
How we tested the best large format printers
As you can, printers come in so many shapes and sizes, from pocket photo printers to large-format professional models. This is to reflect the wide range of photographers and customers – while some might want to print greetings cards, others will be printing premium prints for high-end clients.
We check the suitability of models for wide-ranging tasks, from printing office documents to high-end photographic output and, consequently, the type and quantity of dye/pigment inks. Additional features can include a built-in scanner, a standalone control panel, touchscreen interface, Wi-Fi connectivity, direct fax functions and connectivity specs such as a card reader slot.
Our test procedure begins with installing the latest software drivers and running nozzle check and print head alignment routines. We then create test prints from mono documents, mixed text and graphics color documents, and a wide range of digital photos that include landscapes, portraits, and black & white images.
During testing we also make sure to try out the various available quality modes, including optional image enhancement features. We create prints from our own specially created test chart to test the printer's accuracy in terms of color reproduction, tonal range, retention of detail in bright highlights and dark shadows, and the ability to deliver smooth gradations in subtle color variations. The printer manufacturer’s own-brand inks and papers are used throughout the entire testing procedure.
For output speed, we record the time taken to produce various sizes of prints at different quality settings. Ink costs are calculated on typical page yield against average prices for the manufacturer’s own-brand cartridges or bottles.
FAQs
What is a large format printer?
While the definition can vary, large format printers are generally considered to be any printer that supports a print width wider than A4/Letter size paper, starting from A3 and going much larger. Within large format printing, there is the more specific term 'wide format printer', which is generally considered to refer to any printer that supports a print width of between 18 and 100 inches (460 and 2,540mm). Printers that can handle even wider print rolls are known as super-wide or grand format.
How are maximum print sizes measured?
In the US, the maximum paper size is possible is described using the maximum widt that the printer's head can stretch to. For large format printers, therefore 13in and 17in widths are the most common - but with more specialist printers being able to go wider. In the UK and Europe, the maximum size is usually described using standard European paper sizes - so for large-format printers that is A3 or bigger. An 13in printer is therefore the same as an A3+ printer. In the table below you can see the dimensions of common large-format print sizes…
Name | Millimetres | Inches |
|---|---|---|
A0 | 841 x 1189 mm | 33.1 x 46.8 in |
A1 | 594 x 841 mm | 23.4 x 33.1 in |
A2+ | 432 x 610 mm | 17 x 24 in |
A2 | 420 x 594 mm | 16.5 x 23.4 in |
A3+ | 329 x 483 mm | 13 x 19 in |
A3 | 297 x 420 mm | 11.7 x 16.5 in |
What are large format printers used for?
Large format printers are used for anything that needs to be printed at a size larger than that provided by a standard printer. That can include photos, with large format printers being ideal for fine art prints, as well as posters, banners, wallpaper, duratrans, architectural drawings and signage.
Do I need a large format printer?
It depends on what you will use it for and on your budget. If you're an enthusiast photographer and you plan to produce large format prints of your work only occasionally, it may be most cost effective to entrust the job to a print shop. However, if you're planning to exhibit or to go into business selling prints at large sizes, having your own large format printer may save you money in the long run. Having your own printer also gives you more direct control over the process.
Also see our guide to the best photo papers for inkjet printers
