Canon - PIXMA G570

Normally one of the 5/6-ink Canon PIXMAs would be my recommendation for high quality home photo printing, using only genuine Canon ink and high quality photo paper. Canon's own photo paper is excellent and works superbly with their ink, as you'd expect, but some people choose to go with a high end third party brand photo paper instead (Canon even sell some high end third party photo paper alongside their own). With a larger budget, one of Canon's PRO-series machines would be the next step up. The PIXMA PRO-200S is the prosumer/enthusiast model with 8 dye inks. The imagePROGRAF PRO-310 is the professional photographer's A3 machine with 10 pigment inks. The imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is the professional photographer's A2 machine with 12 pigment inks. There are also large format imagePROGRAF PRO-series roll-fed machines from 24" to 60" width, but those would be beyond your budget and a long way beyond what you describe. You really need good pixels, and a lot of them, to get the best results printing on A3 or A2. I'm sure those machines would do excellent work with a high res photo from an exceptionally good phone, but they really need images from a Canon EOS camera (or a high spec Canon PowerShot), or something equally good, to get the best out of them and perform to their full potential. Now, in all honesty, a Canon PIXMA G500/600-series (A4), TS8700/8800-series (A4) or TS9500-series (A3) can do a superb job with a high quality image. Those are the 5/6-ink machines 1 step below the PRO-200S. I've got a Canon EOS camera and PIXMA TS9550, and the prints I get on A4 and A3 Canon photo paper are excellent. That could be all you need. Sure, the prints I would get from my EOS on a PRO-series would be a step closer to perfection, but I love what my PIXMA can do with a good image on good photo paper, and it was relatively affordable. If you don't already have a good enthusiast/pro level camera, I would spend that $1,500 on one of the Canon PIXMAs a step below the PRO machines and the remainder on a PowerShot or EOS R50/R10 starter kit (don't get the R100, it is still a good camera, but a generation behind on the image processor and kinda the no-frills model to entice people into the EOS ecosystem).

Don't rule out multifunction printers from consideration. There are relatively few print-only inkjets these days, most of the market is multifunction machines. The Canon PIXMA G500 series is one of the few print-only bottle-fed tank machines, if it's available in your country (it's not available everywhere). The G600 series is the same machine, but with a scanner. It's a 6-ink machine, so pretty much the highest photo quality without going up to the 8/10/12 ink professional level machines.

Roller marks problem how to fix: Get better quality paper (also some printers if you select thick paper on configurations, also make it leave less roller marks, don't know if this is the case). Or Get a printer that is more focused for photos. (right now the cheapest are the canon G5/6XX series). If you don't find them, then the Epson ET8500/8550 (they do still leave some roller marks but with better quality paper they are fine). Or the epson ET 8100/18100 (it's ink does not have lightfastness). I only recommend ink tank printers for most uses cases. If you are going for pro level printing and going to sell them for high price then there are the Canon Pixma Pro Line, and Epson Surecolor p700/900. About your brother, well i don't recommend because it's a cartridge printer(seriously this black that you used could easily be like 3-5% of all of it's black ink). I would return if still possible. And purchase any ink tank.(If you won't print like 40+ documents pages or 5+ photos a month then it's a fine printer, more than this only if you convert it for ciss or use somekind of compatible cartridge). Edit: Ohh and about consumer level printer that you want mostly for documents, and then some photos. Canon Megatank GXXXX series. And Epson ET 2/4XXX series, then you will compare price and what they offer, like duplex, in case of epson a4 borderless as well. IF you want fewer features but better photos, some epson have 4 dye ink that are better for printing on cheaper glossy ink (you can check if their black tank is the same size as the colored tanks, if it is the same size then it's ink is dye).

Epson ecotank with 4 dye ink (you can see if the model has 4 dye ink by looking at the tanks if they all have the same size). Canon G5XX/G6XX Series. They use 6 INK, with extra Red and Gray. It's ink is more expensive but it's a almost pro level ink for photography that has great lightfastness. But with this printer you will not want to print a lot of documents/non photo because of it's ink price (check for the price if you think it's acceptable). But the ink price is not an extortion, it's just the quality itself.

The only way to do this job is with ink tank printers. The only thing that you need to do is to print a page with all colors one time a week. (WHY IS THIS SO HARD?). Anyway the downside is so small (priting one page a week). For all the cost and perfomance that there is no way that laser is a better solution. And again no laser printer for less than $2000 usd will do a job close to an entry level ink jet printer with the right paper. About printers. You will need a photographic printer/good paper so it does not get lines (if you are talking about lines from the rollers that pull the paper). If it's lines from priting quality then this don't happen even with entry level if you have the right configuration. About printers i can only recommend, ET 8550/ET 8500 or Canon G5XX G6XX lines (with only 3 digits these are photographic printers). If you want less lines from rollers, but again need good quality paper aswell. Their ink are more expensive, but have the same quality of pro level printers that has ink that can last for 20 years+. Edit: If lines that you are talking about is not roller marks, but lines from “missing ink”. Then the fault lies on you, and even g5020 is almost perfect for what you are doing.

It really depends on what you are printing. Fine Art? Then probably the Epson P700 or the Canon Pro line. Middle ground: Canon G500/G600 series or the Epson ET-8500/ET-8550. General/Budget: If you just want photos to sell cheaply that won't be exposed to direct sunlight and don't need to last 20+ years, almost any standard Ink Tank printer can give great resolution. You just need to test them to see if the quality is acceptable to you. (You can as well print using pigmented ink, it will have great resolution, last for an eternity, just won't print on glossy finish(pigmented ink that works on glossy paper and the paper itself are only for fine art printers/papers)). Note: Some of these general use printers use pigment black. If you plan to print on glossy paper, you might need to swap it for dye ink(unofficially) and set the printer driver to Matte Paper, when printing glossy paper, because otherwise it will mix CYM to make black.

At this price range if she is going to print in glossy media the only options are canon g600 series (6 colors one) and ET 2850 (or any all dye ink from epson, you can check by seeing if the black tank is the same size as colors ones). For non glossy media, any epson and any canon really. Epson printers that have the old printhead should print in better quality but slower. Like the ET2850 (1440 DPI). Epson don't have print head issues, the problem that she had is extremely rare, they are built like a tank(the print head not the printer itself), accept sublimation ink, pigmented iink, most of them last for 50k prints easily if used correctly. What she had was a mechanical failure, maybe a paper jam did it before, or idk, it probably would be warranty covered aswell, and epson offer sometimes warranty for 3-5 years. (or 20k prints for entry models).