HP Photosmart 7960 printer

Page 4.

The PRINT dialog panel.

Now that the printer has been setup and the drivers installed we can have a quick preview of what this printer is capable of producing. The first problem I have encountered is that there aren't any instructions telling me which way up to insert the photo paper - it's face down for your information. The User Guide has not been included on the reviewer's installation CD.

Day 2.

From your application select print and the following Print dialog panel opens. Click on the panels to open a full resolution screen.

The first tab - Paper/Quality	The quick set feature

The PRINT panel is well laid out with easy to follow options. A nice feature is the Print Task Quick Sets, this has a pre-defined list of typical print requirements, you can also define your own and add it to the list. The Paper Size drop down list has a large selection of paper sizes, from A4 through to Hagaki card. A borderless printing option is below. There is also an option to create three custom paper sizes. Below this is the paper source selector, Upper Tray, Lower Tray, Upper, then Lower and Lower, then Upper. The bottom drop down list is the paper type selector. On the right hand side is the Print Quality settings; Fast draft (300 dpi), Fast normal (600 dpi), Normal (600 dpi, digital photography settings are now available), Best (600 dpi, PhotoRet is also available) and Maximum dpi (4800 x 1200 - optimised dpi).

The last option on this tab is the hp Digital Photography button. This launches a basic image editing panel where you can choose to Increase contrast, Sharpen image, Red eye removal etc. I will test this fully when I start to print.

Define up to three Custom sizes	hp Digital Photography Options

The next tab is the Finishing tab which gives the options to print posters (by multiple printing of sections), Rotate by 180 degrees, Print on both sides, etc. The Effects tab gives the options to resize documents to fit media size and center on page. On the right side you can choose to watermark your pictures - this prints a caption over the image. There are many options including defining your own text, opacity, fonts, colour, shading, placement etc. The watermark feature may not be useful for everyday printing, but it might be useful for photographers who want to stop people copying their proof prints.

Finishing tab	Effects tab

The Basics tab offers Orientation, Page order, Number of copies, Print preview option and Advanced features. The Advanced features gives you control on Ink usage. Using less ink means faster drying times. The bottom Dry Time section, enables you to set the drying time for a print before the printer feeds it out.

Basics tab	Advanced features in Basics tab

The Colour tab gives you the option to alter the colour in your picture, Saturation, Brightness and Colour tone - Warmer to Cooler. These adjustments are usually best performed in your imaging application There is also an option to use either sRGB or Adobe RGB colour space. I would have liked to have seen more colour management options on this tab, photographers like to be in total control on all aspects of their digital photography. This tab also has settings for Greyscale printing. Please note that the screen I have put here as a sample is not what you will see. When printing in Greyscale the colour options are greyed out and vice versa.

Colour tab	Services tab

The last tab is the services tab, from here you can clean the print cartridges (heads), print a sample page, print a test page and calibrate the device. It should be noted that these functions can be set via the LCD screen on the printer. The other two other tabs are for checking the ink levels and Configurations. An ink level screen also appears by default whilst printing is in progress.

The ink level indicator which appears whilst printing is in progress.

The printer interface is easy to follow even for the complete novice. I would have liked options to turn off the printer colour management and use my own custom profiles. This printer will appeal to both the home and professional user alike and I think HP have struck a good balance between simplicity and complexity in the printer interface.

© Vincent Oliver 2003 www.photo-i.co.uk
Please use the Forum to post your questions and views.
Shopping is just a click away photo-i shop