Printing Photos using Pictbridge What is Pictbridge? How does it work, and what are some of the disadvantages?

What is Pictbridge?

Pictbridge is a facility supported by some digital cameras and printers that allows you connect your camera directly to a printer via a Pictbridge USB cable.

If you are thinking of using this facility you should check to make sure your camera and printer supports this option.

Why use Pictbridge?
Pictbridge is a good way to print photos straight from your camera without the need to use a PC or Macintosh. Pictbridge is also a useful alternative to use if your camera doesn't support DPOF marking, or you cannot insert memory cards directly into your printer.

How do I use it?

Usually all you need to do is use the special USB cable, that should come with your camera, to connect to the Pictbridge supported USB port on your Photo Printer. Not all printers and cameras support this function, so you should check to see if your equipment is compatible first. Most cameras come with some sort of USB cable to allow you to connect your Camera to a PC or Macintosh; but just because your camera comes with a cable doesn't mean that it is Pictbridge enabled.

The main disadvantage with Pictbridge, apart from compatibility, is that your camera needs to be switched on while it is connected to your printer. If you do not have a convenient power source available, then your camera could run out of battery power in the middle of a print run!

The only HiTi printer that is Pictbridge enabled, is the 641PS. We would recommend you remove the memory card from your camera and insert it into the printer to prolong the life of your camera battery.

Other Ways of Easily Printing Photos
If your camera or printer doesn't support Pictbridge, (or you do not wish to use this facility), there are other ways to print off your pictures. Stand alone HiTi Photo Printers have a controller which you can use to select how many pictures and which pictures you want to print; as well as allowing you to adjust the properties of the pictures, (i.e. sharpness, colour, contrast). Click here to learn more about using HiTi controllers.

All HiTi Photo Printers allow you to choose which pictures you wish to print on a PC using their Photo Desiree software. Click here to learn more about using the Photo Desiree software.

You can also use DPOF marking, (if your camera supports this). This allows you to digitally mark your pictures using your camera to automatically print photos. Click here to learn more about DPOF printing.

Disadvantages with Pictbridge
Although at first it may seem that there aren't any disadvantages with Pictbridge, there are some things you should be aware of.

If your camera is connected to a Pictbridge printer, then it needs to be switched on when in use; your battery is of course being used all the time whilst the printer is downloading and printing your images!

It might be obvious, but you cannot use your camera for taking photos whilst it is connected to the printer, so you might miss that superb shot while your printer is printing!

Printer manufacturers often offer pictbridge compatibility, just so they don't have to provide the option to allow the use of memory cards in their printer; i.e. to save costs!