Using PictBridge to Print Photos

PictBridge is a global standard that allows a digital camera to be connected directly to a printer, without having to go through a computer. Most new printers are PictBridge compliant, so it’s not something you have to pay extra for, but if you’re a shutterbug and like to print your photos, make sure the printer you look for has the PictBridge logo on it.

Photo printers often feature a large LCD screen that can be used to select a picture and, in many cases, to edit the image (for example, removing red-eye). But even printers that don’t have the big LCD screen can be PictBridge compliant. Simply attach the camera to the printer with a USB cable and use the camera itself to select the pictures to be printed and any available options.

My Pixma MP530, for example, a multifunction printer, has no screen for viewing photos but I can still print photos directly from a PictBridge-compatible digital camera. Once connected to the printer, the printer allows some basic choices (such as compensating for backlit photographs), and then I can start printing.

So if you take a lot of photos and like to print them out, make sure the printer you buy is PictBridge-compliant. Look for the logo seen on the right.