As many photo-printer owners would know, paper and ink costs can quickly exceed the cost of the printer. So, think about more than the price of the actual printer and look ahead to the price of printing pictures.

But there are some things you can do to lessen the cost of printing pictures on your wireless photo printer that you already have. Here’s some tips:

Raise the Resolution: Almost all digital cameras now can capture 1 megapixel of data per shot which is sufficient to print a good quality 4 x 6 photo. If you can, increase that to 2 megapixels because that will contain enough information to put out a higher quality print of the same size.

Adjust your camera to its highest resolution when taking shots that you might want to print.

Don’t Compress Photos: Save your originals – don’t compress them into JPEGs or other file formats.

Enhance the Photo Image: Instead of printing every picture as is, use your image editor to crop, contrast, brighten, etc. until you’re satisfied with it. Then, when you print the pictures, you won’t waste ink on photos that you don’t like.

Draft Prints: Sometimes you want to make test prints. In that case, reduce the image size and then load the printer with plain, inexpensive paper.

For 4 x 6 images, print on matte-finish photo cards instead of glossy photo paper.

How to save on ink: You can purchase special photo inks which provide you with a more refined color palette and save you money at the same time.

It pays to comparison shop though. Generally, general purpose cartridges can look just as good as photo ink and can be purchased in bulk for a lesser price.

Get your Cartridges in Line: Use your printer’s controls to realign your cartridges–especially if you see vertical or horizontal bands, unwanted lines, gaps, or bleeding colors in your prints. Right-click the printer’s entry in Control Panel’s “Printers and Faxes” or “Printers” applet, click Properties, and search for a cartridge maintenance option.

Practice Good Housekeeping: By keeping your printer’s mechanisms clean, you will ensure that the device runs at its best.

Keep the ink nozzles clear of dry ink. When you leave an inkjet printer idle for even a week, the ink in the tiny tubes that feed the nozzles begin to dry. If you are printing for the first time in a few days, wipe the nozzels down first.

You can make the ink last a lot longer in your wireless photo printer by following the advice in this article.

For more tips on your Wireless Photo Printer or to buy a new one, go to http://www.WirelessPhotoPrinter.net