Photosmart Pro B9180

True colour

The HP Photosmart Pro B9180 has two features under the hood that will appeal to photographers and artists who are serious about their printed images: a colour calibrator and pigment-based inks.

The most important of the two features is the HP Photosmart Pro B9180's closed-loop calibration system. This is a simple densitometer built into the printhead mechanism that measures the colour values of a self-printed target. This process takes approximately 15 minutes: as it prints, the densitometer compares the newly printed target with the original colour values, which were stored in the printer at the factory.

If it detects any differences, the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 automatically recalibrates. What this means is that you'll get predictable, reproducible colour from print to print. Epson has been providing this for years in their high-end photo printers, but this is a first for a printer at this price.

To produce those calibrated images, the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 utilises eight pigment inks -- cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, light grey, and matte and photo black -- each with its own dedicated cartridge.

Like most pigment-based printers, the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 uses one less ink colour when printing. For papers with glossy and semi-gloss finish, the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 automatically uses the photo black ink; when printing on non-glossy and fine-art paper, it switches to the matte black ink. Thankfully, you don't have to swap the matte and photo black ink cartridges out of the B9180 when you change paper types; doing so wastes valuable ink.