Photo printer size: 4x6, letter or 13 x 19

29.8 inches. That is how deep Epson says the EcoTank Photo ET-8550 is while it prints, twice its 14.9 inches in storage. Its 13 inch rival from Canon goes from 379 mm to 837 mm with the trays out. Photo printer size is quoted as a sheet of paper, and the trays that feed and catch the sheet need room of their own.

Type what size photo printer do I need into a search box and you are asking two things. The first is the biggest print you will make, which picks a class. The second is the surface it lives on, measured with the paper moving. Answer only the first, and the printer can fail the second.

The five printers below are the picks on our photo printer shortlist, and between them they span all three classes.

Photo printer size is three classes, not a dial

A 4x6 photo printer, a letter inkjet and a 13 inch inkjet are different machines, and the chemistry splits between the first and the other two. There is no model that slides smoothly from one to the next.

The small class is dye sublimation. A ribbon lays down three dye colors in turn, then a clear coat, and the paper comes in a box with the ink. The two inkjet classes share hardware so closely that Epson makes one machine in both sizes. Northlight Images found that apart from size, the ET-8500 is identical to the 13 inch ET-8550, and that their ICC profiles are 100% interchangeable.

It simplifies the decision. Moving from letter to 13 x 19 buys paper size and a longer scanner bed and little else, so the only question is whether you will print big often enough to give up the desk.

What does 4x6 actually cover?

Postcards, wallet cards and stickers, and nothing larger. Canon lists the SELPHY CP1500 at 100.0 x 148.0 mm borderless for a postcard, 54.0 x 86.0 mm for a card and 50 x 50 mm for square labels, and Trusted Reviews adds that it will not print on plain paper.

The shape catches people more than the size does. A 4x6 sheet is 3:2, and a KODAK Dock Plus owner, writing the printer up on a personal blog, notes that phones make images in the 4:3 ratio. That printer cropped the sides off; shrinking the photo in the app saved the frame and left a white border top and bottom. Fit a 4:3 frame to a 3:2 sheet and about 11 percent of it goes, so compose loosely or plan to trim.

Both small printers fit on a bookshelf, given room behind the SELPHY for the print. Only the SELPHY can run on a battery: Canon sells the NB-CP2LI for it, while the Kodak runs on mains power.

Letter against 13 x 19 on the same inks

Here the arithmetic is simple, because Epson's two spec sheets differ almost only in the rows that describe size. Both print with the same six inks, at the same 5760 x 1440 dpi, from the same 552 bottles. The ET-8500 tops out at 8.5 x 14 inches (Legal). The ET-8550 takes 13 x 19 inches (A3+) and 11 x 17, and its scanner grows from 8.5 x 11.7 inches to 8.5 x 14 with it.

What the larger one costs you is room. While printing, Epson gives the ET-8500 as 15.9 x 24.1 x 13.7 inches and the ET-8550 as 20.6 x 29.8 x 16.9 inches. The bigger one is 4.7 inches wider and 5.7 inches deeper, and 6 lb heavier at 24.5 lb. PCMag points out that even though the ET-8550 prints pages more than twice the size, it has the same paper capacity.

Our ET-8500 vs ET-8550 comparison covers the rest of that pair. For sizing, one test settles it: if nothing you print this year is wider than 8.5 inches, the ET-8500 covers it. An 11 x 14 print fails it, and so does A3.

The photo printer footprint while it prints

Both makers give a photo printer footprint twice. Epson's sheets list each machine in storage and while printing, and the ET-8550 goes from 14.9 inches deep to 29.8.

The Canon grows more. Canon UK's specification for the imagePROGRAF PRO-310, which Northlight Images reproduces in its review, gives 639 x 379 x 200 mm with the trays retracted and 639 x 837 x 416 mm with them extended. Call it 33 inches deep, roughly 3 inches more than the Epson needs. Digital Camera World says the top input adds little to the footprint, unless thick or panoramic media needs the lower manual feeder. Measure against Canon's extended figure anyway.

Then leave the back open. Northlight says the rear feed needs extra space for access with larger papers such as 13 x 19, and room in front for the finished print as well. On a shelf with a wall behind it, the PRO-310 loses its manual feed, the slot for media up to 0.6 mm thick.

The 4x6 machines have the same problem at a smaller scale. Trusted Reviews says SELPHY prints briefly poke out of the rear during printing, so the printer cannot sit flush against the back of a desk.

Heavy paper narrows the field

Thickness splits the big printers more than size does. Both Epsons take media up to 1.3mm through a single sheet rear straight pass, and Epson says the path accommodates cardstock. The PRO-310 manual feed handles 0.1 to 0.6 mm, and Canon Canada rates both of its feeds at about 380 gsm of Canon's own media. Epson's sheets give 300 g/m2 for its own premium glossy photo paper. Both weight figures describe each maker's own media, so check thickness and weight on the paper you plan to buy. Northlight says the curved print path will not accept board or stiff media, although less so via the rear feed path.

Both makers sell length as well. Canon rates the PRO-310 for long paper to 1.8 m, and Northlight adds that the driver only allows the longest panoramas with Canon's Long Form media settings. Epson lists user defined sizes to 13 x 78.7 inches on the ET-8550, and Northlight's ET-8500 review links an ET-8550 panorama printed on roll paper. The same reviewer found custom sizes on the ET-8500 stop just short of a meter on a Mac, while Photo Review's driver dialog allowed two meters, so check your own driver before buying for length. If panoramas are why you are going big, the space behind the 13x19 photo printer you choose matters as much as the desk under it.

Owners report marks from the paper path too. Of about 51 ET-8500 owners we counted in video comment threads, 6 describe roller marks on prints, and 4 of those tie them to heavy paper. On the ET-8550, 5 of about 60 owners report marks from the paper transport, and only one of the five names heavy stock. Test one sheet of the paper you plan to frame before buying a box.

Buy for the size you print every month

A photo printer that prints different sizes up to 13 x 19 is tempting, because the big print is the one you imagine hanging. Digital Camera World's reviewer, who had just reviewed the 17 inch Canon PRO-1100, argues the other way. They would buy the PRO-310 and order prints online on the rare occasions they want to go larger. Apply the same logic one step down. If letter covers a normal month, the ET-8500 and a print lab cover a big print, and the desk keeps 5.7 inches.