It’s only natural that people like to print photos with their photo printers. At the same time, they want these same machines to do double duty and print regular text and graphics. One problem - photo printing and regular printing require different kinds of paper. So if your printer has only one paper tray, you may have to manually switch your photo paper with your plain paper when you print your photos, then switch back when you’re done. And in an industry where automation is fast becoming the norm, manual labor requirements can quickly cool a consumer’s interest.

 

Fortunately, more and more new printers offer separate plain paper and photo paper trays. A couple of recent examples include the Kodak ESP 7 and ESP 9, both of which have separate trays for letter-sized paper and smaller format photo paper. So if you print a 4”x6” photo, the printer pulls paper from the smaller format photo tray, and letter-sized text and photo prints come from the other tray.

 

That said, the process of telling the printer what you need to print and having it draw paper from the right tray isn’t always a one step process. For example, a review for the HP Photosmart D5460 reports that it took a few too many clicks to print a photo from the dedicated photo paper tray. Consumers who place a high priority on separate trays should research a range of models and find out how hard or easy it is to print from a specified tray, especially when extra steps in the process can negate the convenience of not having to switch paper. In any event, look for manufacturers to address this issue as the demand for automated photo printing continues to grow.