Photo finish

Printers for photographic output come in many shapes and sizes. Discover the perfect match for your requirements from these best buys

It's that time of year when the further north you are, the colder, longer and darker the nights are. Hardy souls might make their way outdoors for some frigid winter night shots. Those of us who like our creature comforts might prefer to stay indoors and create prints of the shots we took during more clement seasons.

Erring on the side of comfort, we're focusing on some pretty epic photo printers. We'll kick off with the more modest options and work our way through to large-format models that can output prints of a suitable size for hanging on your wall, or submitting to galleries and exhibitions.

First, we'll cover three A4/8.5-inch models that are suitable for mono and colour documents, while also working well as photo printers for outputting bordered or borderless glossy prints in popular sizes, including 4x6-inch, 5x7-inch, A4 and 8.5x11-inch. For many, they represent the perfect compromise, enabling a raft of home-office duties while delivering impressive photo-quality output.

Upsizing to A3/11x17-inch, the Epson XP-970 'small-in-one' printer enables larger-format printing while retaining a compact build and office-friendly features. Larger still at A3+/13x19-inch, there's the Epson EcoTank ET-8550 printer and Canon's PIXMA PRO-200 and imagePROGRAF PRO-300 models, which use dye-based and pigment-based inks respectively. Largest of all is the Epson SureColor P900 for A2/17x22inch photo prints. Matthew Richards

The contenders

Canon PIXMA - G650/G620 £255/$329

This dye-based, six-ink Canon MegaTank printer is aimed squarely at high-volume photo printing